Our Valentine's Day episode
Feb 14, 2014 16:55:35 GMT -5
BrainBoggler, dreamoffields, and 1 more like this
Post by sdchief on Feb 14, 2014 16:55:35 GMT -5
More than six months of anxious waiting and we’re finally on tonight. Although it feels like we’ve waited the longest for our episode, next week’s group (Taste of the Good Life) has us beat by 1 week between taping date and broadcast date.
I’ll start with a caveat that all of this was my wife Jhen’s idea. She applied to be a contestant in the summer of 2012 and was notified for auditions in Culver City in February 2013. Since it was a couples theme, she invited me to go. I wasn’t the most avid Wheel watcher, and Jhen was always quicker to solve puzzles faster than me, but I figured it would be great fun to audition together and see how far we could go. Long story short, we were selected and were told to wait for the letter in the mail in 2 weeks. Like others who auditioned, weeks and months go by with no letter and we started watching less and less. Soon we wrote-off the whole possibility of being selected.
In mid-July we were shocked to receive an email and voicemail from the contestant coordinators. There was a taping available in two weeks in Las Vegas and they wanted to know if we were available. We immediately called and replied yes, and our FedEx package with all the paperwork arrived two days later. Then it’s a scramble making flight and hotel arrangements as well as a babysitter for the kids. Before we know it we’re in Vegas at the Venetian, waiting with the other contestants.
Julie Fields did such an outstanding and detailed outline of the experience in Vegas that there’s no need to repeat practically the same things we went through. But I’ll highlight our own unique experiences:
1) After sitting down in the audience area waiting for the first taping to start, Jhenice realized that her name badge was gone. It dropped from her shirt somewhere while walking from the quarantine area to audience area. It’s panic mode as we feverishly backtrack our steps, but it was nowhere to be found. We notified the coordinator staff and they miraculously made a new one by the fourth episode taping. I’ve come to realize from this board that nametags have dropped on occasion.
2) There’s a dinner break after the third episode taping. While our group of remaining contestants were escorted back to the quarantine area, we crossed paths with Vanna White and she greeted us in her gown while wearing tennis shoes, making a beeline to catered food stations.
3) Male contestants with tucked-in shirts: When reaching down to spin the wheel, your shirt will begin to untuck. I highly recommend using shirt stays to keep a neat appearance.
4) During the segment breaks, we're rushed with coaching from the coordinators and touchups from makeup. The coordinators brought us water bottles marked for each of the 6 contestants. The kicker is that they’re in a Miller Lite 6-pack cardboard carrier and I would rather had a beer at that point!
5) Also during the break there is dance music being played on the stage and I’m singing along to loosen up a bit. It then dawned on me that I’m still wearing a wireless microphone and stopped singing. (Sorry audio guys in the back!)
I’m sure there’s more I may have missed as it’s a quick blur looking back. But now it’s just a few more hours until showtime on Valentine’s Day….
I’ll start with a caveat that all of this was my wife Jhen’s idea. She applied to be a contestant in the summer of 2012 and was notified for auditions in Culver City in February 2013. Since it was a couples theme, she invited me to go. I wasn’t the most avid Wheel watcher, and Jhen was always quicker to solve puzzles faster than me, but I figured it would be great fun to audition together and see how far we could go. Long story short, we were selected and were told to wait for the letter in the mail in 2 weeks. Like others who auditioned, weeks and months go by with no letter and we started watching less and less. Soon we wrote-off the whole possibility of being selected.
In mid-July we were shocked to receive an email and voicemail from the contestant coordinators. There was a taping available in two weeks in Las Vegas and they wanted to know if we were available. We immediately called and replied yes, and our FedEx package with all the paperwork arrived two days later. Then it’s a scramble making flight and hotel arrangements as well as a babysitter for the kids. Before we know it we’re in Vegas at the Venetian, waiting with the other contestants.
Julie Fields did such an outstanding and detailed outline of the experience in Vegas that there’s no need to repeat practically the same things we went through. But I’ll highlight our own unique experiences:
1) After sitting down in the audience area waiting for the first taping to start, Jhenice realized that her name badge was gone. It dropped from her shirt somewhere while walking from the quarantine area to audience area. It’s panic mode as we feverishly backtrack our steps, but it was nowhere to be found. We notified the coordinator staff and they miraculously made a new one by the fourth episode taping. I’ve come to realize from this board that nametags have dropped on occasion.
2) There’s a dinner break after the third episode taping. While our group of remaining contestants were escorted back to the quarantine area, we crossed paths with Vanna White and she greeted us in her gown while wearing tennis shoes, making a beeline to catered food stations.
3) Male contestants with tucked-in shirts: When reaching down to spin the wheel, your shirt will begin to untuck. I highly recommend using shirt stays to keep a neat appearance.
4) During the segment breaks, we're rushed with coaching from the coordinators and touchups from makeup. The coordinators brought us water bottles marked for each of the 6 contestants. The kicker is that they’re in a Miller Lite 6-pack cardboard carrier and I would rather had a beer at that point!
5) Also during the break there is dance music being played on the stage and I’m singing along to loosen up a bit. It then dawned on me that I’m still wearing a wireless microphone and stopped singing. (Sorry audio guys in the back!)
I’m sure there’s more I may have missed as it’s a quick blur looking back. But now it’s just a few more hours until showtime on Valentine’s Day….
