From NEW CONTESTANT to NEW BABY BUGGY
Apr 10, 2014 20:20:34 GMT -5
Prizes, gamedude2330, and 9 more like this
Post by emilburp on Apr 10, 2014 20:20:34 GMT -5
I've had SO many people ask me about my experience so far in the audition process for Wheel of Fortune leading up to my amazing solve, so I have decided to make a blog/note/blurb about how the experience was for me and for those of you who are thinking of auditioning as well (DO IT!), and what you would expect in this long and tiring process. So thank you BAV for providing me the grounds to post this! 
Day 1: First Audition (August 18, 2013, Jackson Rancheria Casino)
About a week before the audition, I received an email from the Wheelmobile saying that the Wheelmobile was coming to an area nearby!
(Go here to register and find out when the Wheelmobile is coming near you!)
I remembered it was about 8 years ago when I realized the Wheelmobile came really close by (Serramonte in Daly City!), but I was too young to audition then, so this was my chance!
Fast forward to August 18, we were told that there would be 3 different times for auditions, each about 2 hours apart - 2pm, 4pm, 6pm. Basically, if you did not make it on stage at the 2pm audition, you were able to fall in line for the 4pm, followed by the 6pm audition.
My mom, dad, grandma and great-grandma accompanied me in my trip to the first audition (Mostly because the audition was at a CASINO, and you know grandmas and their casinos) I made sure to get there super early, about noon, to find myself and my mom 10th in line. As time went by, the line grew longer and longer. The Wheelmobile squad passed out pens and forms to fill out, basically just jotting down your name, age, address, occupation, what you like to do, etc. My mom didn't want to audition, but I told her 'Why not? What have you got to lose?' So she ended up filling out the form any way.
So came 2pm, we were escorted inside the ballroom, filled with about a thousand chairs, all of which were soon filled with enthusiastic Wheel watchers. Everyone had a chance to get situated and take pictures next to the Pat and Vanna cardboard cut-outs. As soon as everyone took their seats, Marty (the faux Pat) and Morgan (the faux Vanna) came to the stage with loads of enthusiasm (almost the same enthusiasm one would have if they mixed Red Bull, 5-Hour Energy and a quad-shot Starbucks). Their excitement was contagious though, as the whole audience matched their enthusiasm.
So here are how the rules went down this audition. Everyone who filled out a form was placed into a raffle. The hosts chose five names from the raffle and those five got to go on stage and show them what they got! Each audition allowed about ten games.
Warning: Tedious Math & Statistics Time!
So ten games x five names = fifty people being called up per audition. Since there were three auditions, about 150 people get called up for the day. For every audition, you have a 50/1000 shot of getting on stage. That's 1/20! The odds are not in your favor!
So names get called five at a time. They take their picture and queue up to go on stage. Once on stage, you tell the audience a little about yourself and fall back in line to play a puzzle! The host first spins a wheel to show what fun prize you get (fanny pack, shirt, pin, or a 'SURPRISE!'). You play a puzzle much like the Speed-Up Puzzle Round on Wheel of Fortune where you get one letter, a chance to solve, and then it's the next person's turn.
The hosts called names up five by five in the first audition, and my name was nowhere to be seen, so my mom and I returned to the second audition. The host called names five by five again and at the ninth round of five names, our names were nowhere to be found, yet again. He was going to call the last five names and my mom and I were ready to just call it a day and not stick around for the third audition. First name - not me. Second name - not me. Third name - not me. Fourth name - EMIL DE LEON. WHAT?! DID I JUST WIN THE LOTTERY? Yes, folks. I was chosen second to the last. Thank you gods and goddesses of probability and chance! I gave my celebratory 'WOOHOO!', gave my phone to my mom to record it, pretty much ran on up and took my polaroid.
It was soon our turn to take the stage. We went on up and one by one were asked to talk about ourselves. If you've seen my video already, you know what I talked about, so I won't go into that as much, but let's just say that once Marty said to me 'DID YOU SAY KARAOKE?' I immediately eyed the cups on the table and made the executive decision to do the cup song, knowing that this was the personality portion of the audition and I needed to be memorable.
(If you want to see a part of my audition with me singing a little karaoke with Marty, click here)
Then the puzzle showed up. Before & After: _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _ _ _ * _ _ _ _.
I was fourth in line, so when the board came to me, I called my favorite initial letter to call out 'R' and the puzzle was now: _ _R_T_ * _ _ _ _ * S_ _ _.
Not gonna lie, I had no idea what the answer was (I know, shocking right?). Control almost came back to me, and I had known the solution now that a few more letters popped up, but the lady before me, once it was her turn, the puzzle was then: _ARATE * _ _O_ * SUE_ (I'll let you solve that one yourself).
She ended up solving it correctly, but solving was not my goal here. My goal was to make an impression, and that I believe I did. They then told us that we would get a call-back if we made it to the next round within 3 months. And here begins the long and tedious wait for the next call-back.
Day 2: Second Audition (October 24, 2013, Jackson Rancheria Casino)
So after my first audition, I pretty much just spent my time checking through my email and spam email to make sure no 'YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR WHEEL OF FORTUNE!' emails were misplaced somewhere. I knew they said 'within 3 months', but just like that spoiled kid from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 'I WANTED IT NOW!' It wasn't until October 14, when I read the email heading 'WHEEL OF FORTUNE CONTESTANT AUDITION IN JACKSON, CA.' I was overjoyed at the sight at that email heading, and hey, it only took 2 months!
Fast forward to October 24, my mom, my grandma, my great-grandma and I took the trip this time back to Jackson Rancheria Casino (Note the word CASINO, so my grandma and great-grandma followed). We stayed the night so we could avoid waking up early and having to get there at a specific time.
The time came and we were escorted to a much smaller ballroom with 100 or so seats, only about 70-80 of which were occupied by final-round contestants. We filled out a more extensive form than the first audition form, which included more hefty questions such as 'Have you ever committed a felony, DUI, etc?' (Happy to say that I answered 'No' to that one). Afterwards, they called us each one-by-one to say our name clearly so that the judges (four in total) could make a seating chart so they know who is who. Afterwards, we were shown a few videos related to Wheel of Fortune including part of the 4,000th Episode reel which I might have seen a dozen times.
Then came the moment of truth - puzzle time. We would be shown a puzzle. A judge would call out one of our names, and much like the real show, we would spin, 'buy' a vowel or solve until we either made a mistake, guessed an incorrect letter or the judge spinning the wheel purposefully landed you on Lose a Turn or Bankrupt to give everyone a chance.
The first puzzle showed up - Before & After. One of the judges asked the whole audience 'Can anyone explain this category?' I quickly shot up my hand and she called on me. I said 'Before & After is when you have 2 phrases in which the last word in the first phrase is the same as the first word in the last phrase!' One of the judges stated that I was wrong, but the other judge vouched that I was correct, and I received a Vanna photo out of it!
So the puzzles commenced, and one-by-one everyone received a turn at playing the game. Once it was my turn, the puzzle that I got was -
Movie Quote: _ _ _ * _ _ _ * _ _ _ _ _ * _ _ * _ _ _ _ * _ _ _. The thing is, is that I knew the answer to the puzzle with ZERO LETTERS ON THE BOARD, but I couldn't show them that. So much like I would in the game, I spun my heart out and bought as many vowels as I could. I called out in order: R, T, E, H, B, and then the judge purposefully landed me on Lose a Turn.
Movie Quote: _ _ _ * THE * _ _R_E * BE * _ _TH * _ _ _. (One of my favorite movie quotes by the way, I'll let you figure this one out).
I gave a good impression, so I thought. Smiled, clapped, spoke clearly and loudly, but there are always those impressions at the back of my head. Did I smile enough? Did I clap enough? Was I really clear and loud?
So everyone had their chance at smiling, clapping and solving, which led us to the next portion - the dreaded written portion, in which you are given 16 puzzles to solve in 5 minutes (Math: 16 puzzles/5 minutes = 18.75 seconds per puzzle, each with missing letters in them.
If there is any portion in which you should show off, it's this portion. All in all, I fully completed 16/16 puzzles (During all of my NEW BABY BUGGY interviews, I was informed that I actually received a perfect score on the written portion which is quite rare)! I finished super early with a lot of time on the clock to double, triple, quadruple check my answers.
They then graded our tests, so we were given a 20 minute break to mingle or take a pee break. I talked to a few people about how they did on the test and the results were all over the place, some said they got 5/16, some 7/16, some 4/16. I felt good.
After the break, they told us that they were going to make some cuts and eliminate people based on test results and puzzle play in the beginning. They cut probably 40-50 people, leaving about 20-30 to fight it out. I was called near the end (of course, the suspense is killing me). They then told us we had to do a final mock round, but you have to be quick, ready and it will indeed be intense.
They called us up 5-6 at a time and we all played much like the real game, spinning, buying vowels, calling letters, solving with the addition of one thing - spinning a pretend wheel. We had to pretend to spin a 2 ton wheel while playing the game. I was called up to the second group, did well in picking letters until the judge purposefully put me on 'Bankrupt'. We had 2 puzzles in our group, in which I solved 1.
Afterwards, like the first audition, we told a 15-20 second blurb about ourselves. Basically, I said the same thing. Emil, Daly City, CNA, Nursing Student, Love to travel, karaoke and couponing. And then, we sat back down. That was the end of the final audition! They said that we would receive a letter in the mail in 2 weeks if we made it to the studio, and that was indeed what I was waiting for.
Exactly 2 weeks after (Suspense!), I received the letter that I was waiting for for 2 weeks. ‘Congratulations! You have been selected as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune!’ the letter read.
The time between then and January 17 were my cramming moments to prepare myself for what is to come during my taping. I practiced the app, the video game, the home game, the Twitter game, the slot machine (Okay this doesn’t really prep you, but who knows?). I also had some prep with a friend on Twitter (wheelman3690) in which we practiced bonus round puzzles (but that practice couldn’t really prepare me for what was to come that day). If anything, he was the one who helped me with my ‘go-to bonus round letters’, this being HMDO, and we also have a little ‘KIWI’ inside joke.
Day 3: Tape Date (January 17, 2014, Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, CA)
On December 16, 2013, I received an email from Wheel of Fortune, which sparked the beginning of the actuality that this is actually happening. In big bold letters, I read the email heading ‘Wheel of Fortune taping Friday, January 17, 2014’, which initiated my moment to prepare for this big day.
Fast-forward to January 16, since I lived pretty much 6 hours drive/1 hour flight away from SoCal, I had my options. After class that day, I rode along with my family the long drive to Culver City.
January 17, 2014 came along and the day started for me around 5:00 am where we were to be at the studio via a shuttle at 6:15 am. This is where I met a handful of fellow wheel watchers who were set to be contestants like me. I have to say that these were some of the nicest, most down-to-earth people that I have met and the fact that we share the love for Wheel of Fortune just made our bond even tighter, but it slowly dawned on me that these new friends, two of them are to be my competitors.
Funny thing. The first person that I saw in the hotel lobby was Dan and I saw that he wore a suit with a purple dress shirt. My alternate clothing (which we were encouraged to bring) was my suit with a purple dress shirt. I was super glad I didn’t wear the same thing as Dan. That would be like wearing the same thing to the Oscars! *awkward*. We were all then put into a shuttle, which brought us into a studio.
At the studio, we were debriefed and prepped on rules, terms, and conditions, had some refreshments, mingled and signed away our lives for the dream that I’ve been waiting for since I could remember.
We were assigned together in groups of three, which pretty much showed the match-ups in each episode. Then we had to pick out numbers to decide what show each group would appear on. #1-#5 were European Vacation, March 3-7 and #6 meant America’s Game on March 19. I was appointed ball guy at random for my show in which I got to pick out the number. I was 5th to choose a number and voila, I chose #6… Last episode, longer wait, I didn’t know whether to feel depressed or relieved, so I chose the latter later on. We then randomly chose positions and I chose #1, which signified that I would be in the red position next to Pat! We were also told of the trip during our episode. The trip for #6 was a trip to China!
We then got to go out and practice some puzzles, try out the signaling devices and of course spin the big wheel (It looks smaller, but feels heavier than on TV!). I showed off my stuff, solving 2/2 puzzles during my practice run and showing off a lot of enthusiasm.
We were then escorted to our own section of the audience bleachers, where we were to watch each others’ episodes and as having chosen #6, my group had to watch every single episode.
Most of the time, I sat between two very awesome contestants, both of which were down-to-earth and super glad to be there, Dan and Deanna! During each episode, Dan and I would whisper very quietly to each other ‘I KNOW THIS ONE. I KNOW THIS ONE. I GOT IT. I GOT IT.’ It was hilarious now that I think about it and we’re so glad we didn’t get put against each other.
After the third episode, we were given a break with PIZZA! It probably was the best pizza I have ever had, mostly because I was hungry and getting restless. After that, we went back and episodes 4 and 5 went on and eventually it was my turn with group #6.
Game Time
It was then time for my show. I was put up against two of the most enthusiastic, friendliest, super competitive contestants that I’ve met out of all of the contestants.
Charlene from Las Vegas, NV was one to watch out for. She did really well during the practice puzzles and was very calm, cool and collected, exactly the opposite of what I was.
Kendra from Lawrence, KS said to me before the show ‘You’re the one I have to watch out for. I just feel it.’ Little did she know that I felt the same way about her.
Now the moment everyone has been waiting for… for my game play-by-play.
$1,000 Toss-Up: On the Map
I am not going to lie. I was pretty much paralyzed at the fact that I was up there. Vanna was right there. Pat was right next to me. I just couldn’t focus on the puzzle, so I never rang in. Now that I think about it though, now that the X was just showing, I would have gotten it had I not been so shocked at the whole experience, so Charlene took the toss-up with PHOENIX ARIZONA.
The interview part was the most nerve-racking part for me. I just hate talking. I am such an introvert. So Pat went through everything on my card, Emil de Leon from Daly City, Nursing Assistant, Nursing Student, Giants fan. I completely didn’t realize he didn’t say San Francisco so I’m glad Pat picked up on the fact that I meant baseball. I agree that this was probably one of the most awkward and shortest interviews, mostly because I didn’t expect for Pat to talk about karaoke. I had a lot of other things on my card: traveling, couponing, karaoke. I didn’t expect to be talking about karaoke, which I tossed aside on the back burner as a hobby. Overall, I was glad that it was over and I could get back in the zone with puzzles.
$2,000 Toss-Up: What Are You Doing?
The Y, R, S popped up and I probably could have used some more letters just to be sure I was correct, but I rang in any way with PLAYING BOARD GAMES. All-in-all I thought this was a great solve, I can tell that some of the media didn’t watch the whole episode in the case that I thought that this was a really sound solve as well.
_ _ _Y_ _ _ * _ _ _R_ * _ _ _ _S
I hate to Slumdog Millionaire it, but I love board games, I own hundreds of them, so I pretty much solved this puzzle using my interests.
Round 1: TV Title
I called the T and the L, bought the O and the A (Had I given it a little more thought, mid-sentence when I said ‘I’d like to buy a vowel’, I knew the solution so I didn’t need the A, but I bought it any way) and I looked for multiple letters I could spin and bank and called the W (Amidst it all, I realized that there were also double N’s!), so I pretty much hogged the ball and solved WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE for a good $3,500.
Mystery Round: Thing
Kendra rocked this round, picking up 8 T’s and many other multiple letters. I was worried this round, but she landed on small-value wedges, which saved my lead as she banked $4,850 and a ½ Car Tag inching ever so close to me with THE PITTER-PATTER OF LITTLE FEET.
Prize Puzzle: Place
Charlene was up to bat this round as she called sound letters, an N and an E, but the E wasn’t up there, so I took advantage of the turn I was given, landing on a Free Play and calling a dud A, but I was thankful that it was a Free Play. When I had enough money for vowels, I called the ‘I’, which I knew would get me the middle word ‘INFINITY’ and since it was a prize puzzle, I knew that the third word would have been ‘POOL’, but the first word was still a mystery with only _ _ _ _T_ _. So I called the ‘O’, and luckily that helped me get the first word ROOFTOP. Knowing that it was a Prize Puzzle, I solved ROOFTOP INFINITY POOL, banking me a whopping $400 and a trip to Cabo, Sony Alpha NEX-5T and $1,000, making my banked total now $12,449.
$3,000 Toss-Up: Around The House
The puzzle was a little difficult at first, but I could hear all of us click our buzzers at the same time with me luckily sneaking in there with ‘GRANDFATHER CLOCK’, adding another $3,000 to my total.
Round 4: Phrase
This round was a bit iffy. I called a few consonants and bought an A and an E, the latter of which wasn’t up there, thus losing control of the wheel. Kendra couldn’t cash in with the R and Charlene called an S and accidentally called an E again, which gave me the chance to gain control again. I knew the first 3 words SOUNDS A BIT, but the last word was empty and I needed some help, so I bought all of the vowels, with the I finally showing up in the first position I_ _ _. I knew it was IFFY, so I spun for the double letter, and solved SOUNDS A BIT IFFY for $2,650.
Round 5: Event
Kendra called the N and didn’t find any luck with the vowel E, as did Charlene with no luck with S. The puzzle read _NN_ _ _ * _ _ _ _ _N_ * _ _ _N_ _. While calling out the L, I had a brain-blast and knew the solution being ANNUAL COMPANY PICNIC. I wanted to spin for the 3 C’s, but came up unlucky, landing on the only Bankrupt of the game. Kendra called an R which wasn’t up there and then the bell rang in which Charlene banked $3,400 for her solve. I’m actually glad that she solved it so she wouldn’t walk away with the minimum of $1,000. As competitive of a game Wheel of Fortune is, I came to realize that it wasn’t me vs. Kendra vs. Charlene, it was all of us vs. the Wheel, so in this sense, we all won.
And on that note, the moment we’ve all been waiting for… $100,000 Bonus Round
During the break, I got to practice spinning the mini-wheel and I gave it two practice spins because I totally underestimated the spinning physics of the bonus wheel the first time. I got the hang of it the second time and it was time to go. I introduced my family in the audience and spun the bonus wheel, hoping for the best. I passed the envelope to Pat, stood on my marker, which started the 5 minutes that would change my life.
The puzzle was a Thing: NE_ * _ _ _ _ * _ _ _ _ _.
Obvious first word. NEW.
Then I called out my 3 consonants and a vowel – HMDO, which were my go-to letters whenever I play the game on the app, video game, twitter game, practice puzzles with wheelman3690, etc. Vanna stood there motionless and shrugged. During this time that Pat was talking to me, I focused on the used letter board and back at the puzzle and back at the used letter board and back at the puzzle, mapping things out in my head. I used the B in the used letter board and worked my way to find the word BABY for the second word. NEW BABY… It just sounds right. Had the word not been BABY, I would have been doomed. BABY was the phrase that I would have continued using for the full 10 seconds. As for the third word, I thought about what I could find in a baby’s room or what a baby owns that could possibly use the letters on the used letter board. I referred back to my pediatrics class, since we worked with kids and newborns and just kept thinking of what a BABY possibly owns. I started out with the B, and eventually came up with BABY BUGGY which I know is an actual thing so that would have been the first thing I would have blurted out, but still trying to think of other possible solutions. Once the timer started, I yelled my first plausible solution NEW BABY BUGGY, and thought of other sound NEW BABY items using the letter board, but luckily I didn’t have to think any further since after a few seconds of yelling out my answer, NEW BABY BUGGY appeared on the board and I pretty much lost it. I couldn’t believe what I just saw. I couldn’t believe what I just did. And of course, I received the ‘Pat-down’, which I have seen on TV about 2 other times (INGENIOUS DEVICE and GOPHER), but I never expected for any of this to happen at this extent. After that, Pat showed the $45,000 and I was pretty much just overjoyed by everything happening, as my family rushed up to me to congratulate me. After the excitement, my family was whisked away and I was about to do the typical ending segment where you see Pat and Vanna talking to the contestant with the background music and usually Pat and Vanna have a little skit they do at the end to end the show with. Little did I know, the next thing I knew, Pat came up to the guy who was taking my microphone off and told him to put it back on me. Pat wanted me to be in the skit segment with him and Vanna to discuss how the heck did I get that? I only know of certain instances when the skit involved the contestant such as our million dollar winners, so I was nervous, but ready to explain what I just explained in this blog in the time that I had. Of course I stuttered my way through that interview, but it came out how I wanted to prove myself and the audience got a sneak peek of the used letter board.
March 19, 2014 - De Leon Household
At my family's house, we had a little get-together of about 30-40 friends and family, all gathered around the television to see how I did during the show. During the whole day, I could hardly function, especially after the fact that Pat Sajak tweeted a spoiler about the show very early that morning. Overall, the party was a success, especially after my friends and family started cheering, yelling and picking their jaws off of the floor at my unbelievable solve. To top it off, I also had a fun little WOF pre-test and a pretty awesome Wheel of Fortune cake (Wheel image thanks to MarioGS and wheelgenius).
During the madness of the party as well as the following day as many of you all know, I was reached out by numerous forms of media for interviews, so for your viewing pleasure, here are a few of the links provided:
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live
TMZ
Inside Edition
Late Show with David Letterman
The Today Show
Good Morning America
ABC7
Balitang America
And that’s pretty much how my journey from audition to NEW BABY BUGGY turned out and I’m glad to have had this exciting and overwhelming experience.
As for those of you who are skeptical about my solve, have it be known that I have been watching Wheel of Fortune since I could remember to the point where RSTLNE were the first letters I learned. I auditioned much like everyone else and I fought tooth and nail to get on the show. If you watched the full episode, you could also see that I had a lot of skill throughout the game, not only the ‘luck’ that everyone perceives my bonus round to have. Overall though, I am overwhelmed and grateful to have had this experience and excited for what is to come in the future.
Now onto my list of people to thank. Thank you to everyone who supported me. Thank you for everyone who joined alongside me in this journey. Thank you to the whole staff associated with Wheel of Fortune including the contestant coordination crew and everyone else who made everything possible. Thank you to my fellow January 17 contestants who helped put me at ease throughout that day. Thank you to Pat and Vanna, of course, for being so friendly and encouraging the whole day. Thank you all for the kind comments throughout the process. Thank you to my friends and family for all of your support. And thank you for reading!
Day 1: First Audition (August 18, 2013, Jackson Rancheria Casino)
About a week before the audition, I received an email from the Wheelmobile saying that the Wheelmobile was coming to an area nearby!
(Go here to register and find out when the Wheelmobile is coming near you!)
I remembered it was about 8 years ago when I realized the Wheelmobile came really close by (Serramonte in Daly City!), but I was too young to audition then, so this was my chance!
Fast forward to August 18, we were told that there would be 3 different times for auditions, each about 2 hours apart - 2pm, 4pm, 6pm. Basically, if you did not make it on stage at the 2pm audition, you were able to fall in line for the 4pm, followed by the 6pm audition.
My mom, dad, grandma and great-grandma accompanied me in my trip to the first audition (Mostly because the audition was at a CASINO, and you know grandmas and their casinos) I made sure to get there super early, about noon, to find myself and my mom 10th in line. As time went by, the line grew longer and longer. The Wheelmobile squad passed out pens and forms to fill out, basically just jotting down your name, age, address, occupation, what you like to do, etc. My mom didn't want to audition, but I told her 'Why not? What have you got to lose?' So she ended up filling out the form any way.
So came 2pm, we were escorted inside the ballroom, filled with about a thousand chairs, all of which were soon filled with enthusiastic Wheel watchers. Everyone had a chance to get situated and take pictures next to the Pat and Vanna cardboard cut-outs. As soon as everyone took their seats, Marty (the faux Pat) and Morgan (the faux Vanna) came to the stage with loads of enthusiasm (almost the same enthusiasm one would have if they mixed Red Bull, 5-Hour Energy and a quad-shot Starbucks). Their excitement was contagious though, as the whole audience matched their enthusiasm.
So here are how the rules went down this audition. Everyone who filled out a form was placed into a raffle. The hosts chose five names from the raffle and those five got to go on stage and show them what they got! Each audition allowed about ten games.
Warning: Tedious Math & Statistics Time!
So ten games x five names = fifty people being called up per audition. Since there were three auditions, about 150 people get called up for the day. For every audition, you have a 50/1000 shot of getting on stage. That's 1/20! The odds are not in your favor!
So names get called five at a time. They take their picture and queue up to go on stage. Once on stage, you tell the audience a little about yourself and fall back in line to play a puzzle! The host first spins a wheel to show what fun prize you get (fanny pack, shirt, pin, or a 'SURPRISE!'). You play a puzzle much like the Speed-Up Puzzle Round on Wheel of Fortune where you get one letter, a chance to solve, and then it's the next person's turn.
The hosts called names up five by five in the first audition, and my name was nowhere to be seen, so my mom and I returned to the second audition. The host called names five by five again and at the ninth round of five names, our names were nowhere to be found, yet again. He was going to call the last five names and my mom and I were ready to just call it a day and not stick around for the third audition. First name - not me. Second name - not me. Third name - not me. Fourth name - EMIL DE LEON. WHAT?! DID I JUST WIN THE LOTTERY? Yes, folks. I was chosen second to the last. Thank you gods and goddesses of probability and chance! I gave my celebratory 'WOOHOO!', gave my phone to my mom to record it, pretty much ran on up and took my polaroid.
It was soon our turn to take the stage. We went on up and one by one were asked to talk about ourselves. If you've seen my video already, you know what I talked about, so I won't go into that as much, but let's just say that once Marty said to me 'DID YOU SAY KARAOKE?' I immediately eyed the cups on the table and made the executive decision to do the cup song, knowing that this was the personality portion of the audition and I needed to be memorable.
(If you want to see a part of my audition with me singing a little karaoke with Marty, click here)
Then the puzzle showed up. Before & After: _ _ _ _ _ _ * _ _ _ _ * _ _ _ _.
I was fourth in line, so when the board came to me, I called my favorite initial letter to call out 'R' and the puzzle was now: _ _R_T_ * _ _ _ _ * S_ _ _.
Not gonna lie, I had no idea what the answer was (I know, shocking right?). Control almost came back to me, and I had known the solution now that a few more letters popped up, but the lady before me, once it was her turn, the puzzle was then: _ARATE * _ _O_ * SUE_ (I'll let you solve that one yourself).
She ended up solving it correctly, but solving was not my goal here. My goal was to make an impression, and that I believe I did. They then told us that we would get a call-back if we made it to the next round within 3 months. And here begins the long and tedious wait for the next call-back.
Day 2: Second Audition (October 24, 2013, Jackson Rancheria Casino)
So after my first audition, I pretty much just spent my time checking through my email and spam email to make sure no 'YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR WHEEL OF FORTUNE!' emails were misplaced somewhere. I knew they said 'within 3 months', but just like that spoiled kid from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 'I WANTED IT NOW!' It wasn't until October 14, when I read the email heading 'WHEEL OF FORTUNE CONTESTANT AUDITION IN JACKSON, CA.' I was overjoyed at the sight at that email heading, and hey, it only took 2 months!
Fast forward to October 24, my mom, my grandma, my great-grandma and I took the trip this time back to Jackson Rancheria Casino (Note the word CASINO, so my grandma and great-grandma followed). We stayed the night so we could avoid waking up early and having to get there at a specific time.
The time came and we were escorted to a much smaller ballroom with 100 or so seats, only about 70-80 of which were occupied by final-round contestants. We filled out a more extensive form than the first audition form, which included more hefty questions such as 'Have you ever committed a felony, DUI, etc?' (Happy to say that I answered 'No' to that one). Afterwards, they called us each one-by-one to say our name clearly so that the judges (four in total) could make a seating chart so they know who is who. Afterwards, we were shown a few videos related to Wheel of Fortune including part of the 4,000th Episode reel which I might have seen a dozen times.
Then came the moment of truth - puzzle time. We would be shown a puzzle. A judge would call out one of our names, and much like the real show, we would spin, 'buy' a vowel or solve until we either made a mistake, guessed an incorrect letter or the judge spinning the wheel purposefully landed you on Lose a Turn or Bankrupt to give everyone a chance.
The first puzzle showed up - Before & After. One of the judges asked the whole audience 'Can anyone explain this category?' I quickly shot up my hand and she called on me. I said 'Before & After is when you have 2 phrases in which the last word in the first phrase is the same as the first word in the last phrase!' One of the judges stated that I was wrong, but the other judge vouched that I was correct, and I received a Vanna photo out of it!
So the puzzles commenced, and one-by-one everyone received a turn at playing the game. Once it was my turn, the puzzle that I got was -
Movie Quote: _ _ _ * _ _ _ * _ _ _ _ _ * _ _ * _ _ _ _ * _ _ _. The thing is, is that I knew the answer to the puzzle with ZERO LETTERS ON THE BOARD, but I couldn't show them that. So much like I would in the game, I spun my heart out and bought as many vowels as I could. I called out in order: R, T, E, H, B, and then the judge purposefully landed me on Lose a Turn.
Movie Quote: _ _ _ * THE * _ _R_E * BE * _ _TH * _ _ _. (One of my favorite movie quotes by the way, I'll let you figure this one out).
I gave a good impression, so I thought. Smiled, clapped, spoke clearly and loudly, but there are always those impressions at the back of my head. Did I smile enough? Did I clap enough? Was I really clear and loud?
So everyone had their chance at smiling, clapping and solving, which led us to the next portion - the dreaded written portion, in which you are given 16 puzzles to solve in 5 minutes (Math: 16 puzzles/5 minutes = 18.75 seconds per puzzle, each with missing letters in them.
If there is any portion in which you should show off, it's this portion. All in all, I fully completed 16/16 puzzles (During all of my NEW BABY BUGGY interviews, I was informed that I actually received a perfect score on the written portion which is quite rare)! I finished super early with a lot of time on the clock to double, triple, quadruple check my answers.
They then graded our tests, so we were given a 20 minute break to mingle or take a pee break. I talked to a few people about how they did on the test and the results were all over the place, some said they got 5/16, some 7/16, some 4/16. I felt good.
After the break, they told us that they were going to make some cuts and eliminate people based on test results and puzzle play in the beginning. They cut probably 40-50 people, leaving about 20-30 to fight it out. I was called near the end (of course, the suspense is killing me). They then told us we had to do a final mock round, but you have to be quick, ready and it will indeed be intense.
They called us up 5-6 at a time and we all played much like the real game, spinning, buying vowels, calling letters, solving with the addition of one thing - spinning a pretend wheel. We had to pretend to spin a 2 ton wheel while playing the game. I was called up to the second group, did well in picking letters until the judge purposefully put me on 'Bankrupt'. We had 2 puzzles in our group, in which I solved 1.
Afterwards, like the first audition, we told a 15-20 second blurb about ourselves. Basically, I said the same thing. Emil, Daly City, CNA, Nursing Student, Love to travel, karaoke and couponing. And then, we sat back down. That was the end of the final audition! They said that we would receive a letter in the mail in 2 weeks if we made it to the studio, and that was indeed what I was waiting for.
Exactly 2 weeks after (Suspense!), I received the letter that I was waiting for for 2 weeks. ‘Congratulations! You have been selected as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune!’ the letter read.
The time between then and January 17 were my cramming moments to prepare myself for what is to come during my taping. I practiced the app, the video game, the home game, the Twitter game, the slot machine (Okay this doesn’t really prep you, but who knows?). I also had some prep with a friend on Twitter (wheelman3690) in which we practiced bonus round puzzles (but that practice couldn’t really prepare me for what was to come that day). If anything, he was the one who helped me with my ‘go-to bonus round letters’, this being HMDO, and we also have a little ‘KIWI’ inside joke.
Day 3: Tape Date (January 17, 2014, Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, CA)
On December 16, 2013, I received an email from Wheel of Fortune, which sparked the beginning of the actuality that this is actually happening. In big bold letters, I read the email heading ‘Wheel of Fortune taping Friday, January 17, 2014’, which initiated my moment to prepare for this big day.
Fast-forward to January 16, since I lived pretty much 6 hours drive/1 hour flight away from SoCal, I had my options. After class that day, I rode along with my family the long drive to Culver City.
January 17, 2014 came along and the day started for me around 5:00 am where we were to be at the studio via a shuttle at 6:15 am. This is where I met a handful of fellow wheel watchers who were set to be contestants like me. I have to say that these were some of the nicest, most down-to-earth people that I have met and the fact that we share the love for Wheel of Fortune just made our bond even tighter, but it slowly dawned on me that these new friends, two of them are to be my competitors.
Funny thing. The first person that I saw in the hotel lobby was Dan and I saw that he wore a suit with a purple dress shirt. My alternate clothing (which we were encouraged to bring) was my suit with a purple dress shirt. I was super glad I didn’t wear the same thing as Dan. That would be like wearing the same thing to the Oscars! *awkward*. We were all then put into a shuttle, which brought us into a studio.
At the studio, we were debriefed and prepped on rules, terms, and conditions, had some refreshments, mingled and signed away our lives for the dream that I’ve been waiting for since I could remember.
We were assigned together in groups of three, which pretty much showed the match-ups in each episode. Then we had to pick out numbers to decide what show each group would appear on. #1-#5 were European Vacation, March 3-7 and #6 meant America’s Game on March 19. I was appointed ball guy at random for my show in which I got to pick out the number. I was 5th to choose a number and voila, I chose #6… Last episode, longer wait, I didn’t know whether to feel depressed or relieved, so I chose the latter later on. We then randomly chose positions and I chose #1, which signified that I would be in the red position next to Pat! We were also told of the trip during our episode. The trip for #6 was a trip to China!
We then got to go out and practice some puzzles, try out the signaling devices and of course spin the big wheel (It looks smaller, but feels heavier than on TV!). I showed off my stuff, solving 2/2 puzzles during my practice run and showing off a lot of enthusiasm.
We were then escorted to our own section of the audience bleachers, where we were to watch each others’ episodes and as having chosen #6, my group had to watch every single episode.
Most of the time, I sat between two very awesome contestants, both of which were down-to-earth and super glad to be there, Dan and Deanna! During each episode, Dan and I would whisper very quietly to each other ‘I KNOW THIS ONE. I KNOW THIS ONE. I GOT IT. I GOT IT.’ It was hilarious now that I think about it and we’re so glad we didn’t get put against each other.
After the third episode, we were given a break with PIZZA! It probably was the best pizza I have ever had, mostly because I was hungry and getting restless. After that, we went back and episodes 4 and 5 went on and eventually it was my turn with group #6.
Game Time
It was then time for my show. I was put up against two of the most enthusiastic, friendliest, super competitive contestants that I’ve met out of all of the contestants.
Charlene from Las Vegas, NV was one to watch out for. She did really well during the practice puzzles and was very calm, cool and collected, exactly the opposite of what I was.
Kendra from Lawrence, KS said to me before the show ‘You’re the one I have to watch out for. I just feel it.’ Little did she know that I felt the same way about her.
Now the moment everyone has been waiting for… for my game play-by-play.
$1,000 Toss-Up: On the Map
I am not going to lie. I was pretty much paralyzed at the fact that I was up there. Vanna was right there. Pat was right next to me. I just couldn’t focus on the puzzle, so I never rang in. Now that I think about it though, now that the X was just showing, I would have gotten it had I not been so shocked at the whole experience, so Charlene took the toss-up with PHOENIX ARIZONA.
The interview part was the most nerve-racking part for me. I just hate talking. I am such an introvert. So Pat went through everything on my card, Emil de Leon from Daly City, Nursing Assistant, Nursing Student, Giants fan. I completely didn’t realize he didn’t say San Francisco so I’m glad Pat picked up on the fact that I meant baseball. I agree that this was probably one of the most awkward and shortest interviews, mostly because I didn’t expect for Pat to talk about karaoke. I had a lot of other things on my card: traveling, couponing, karaoke. I didn’t expect to be talking about karaoke, which I tossed aside on the back burner as a hobby. Overall, I was glad that it was over and I could get back in the zone with puzzles.
$2,000 Toss-Up: What Are You Doing?
The Y, R, S popped up and I probably could have used some more letters just to be sure I was correct, but I rang in any way with PLAYING BOARD GAMES. All-in-all I thought this was a great solve, I can tell that some of the media didn’t watch the whole episode in the case that I thought that this was a really sound solve as well.
_ _ _Y_ _ _ * _ _ _R_ * _ _ _ _S
I hate to Slumdog Millionaire it, but I love board games, I own hundreds of them, so I pretty much solved this puzzle using my interests.
Round 1: TV Title
I called the T and the L, bought the O and the A (Had I given it a little more thought, mid-sentence when I said ‘I’d like to buy a vowel’, I knew the solution so I didn’t need the A, but I bought it any way) and I looked for multiple letters I could spin and bank and called the W (Amidst it all, I realized that there were also double N’s!), so I pretty much hogged the ball and solved WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE for a good $3,500.
Mystery Round: Thing
Kendra rocked this round, picking up 8 T’s and many other multiple letters. I was worried this round, but she landed on small-value wedges, which saved my lead as she banked $4,850 and a ½ Car Tag inching ever so close to me with THE PITTER-PATTER OF LITTLE FEET.
Prize Puzzle: Place
Charlene was up to bat this round as she called sound letters, an N and an E, but the E wasn’t up there, so I took advantage of the turn I was given, landing on a Free Play and calling a dud A, but I was thankful that it was a Free Play. When I had enough money for vowels, I called the ‘I’, which I knew would get me the middle word ‘INFINITY’ and since it was a prize puzzle, I knew that the third word would have been ‘POOL’, but the first word was still a mystery with only _ _ _ _T_ _. So I called the ‘O’, and luckily that helped me get the first word ROOFTOP. Knowing that it was a Prize Puzzle, I solved ROOFTOP INFINITY POOL, banking me a whopping $400 and a trip to Cabo, Sony Alpha NEX-5T and $1,000, making my banked total now $12,449.
$3,000 Toss-Up: Around The House
The puzzle was a little difficult at first, but I could hear all of us click our buzzers at the same time with me luckily sneaking in there with ‘GRANDFATHER CLOCK’, adding another $3,000 to my total.
Round 4: Phrase
This round was a bit iffy. I called a few consonants and bought an A and an E, the latter of which wasn’t up there, thus losing control of the wheel. Kendra couldn’t cash in with the R and Charlene called an S and accidentally called an E again, which gave me the chance to gain control again. I knew the first 3 words SOUNDS A BIT, but the last word was empty and I needed some help, so I bought all of the vowels, with the I finally showing up in the first position I_ _ _. I knew it was IFFY, so I spun for the double letter, and solved SOUNDS A BIT IFFY for $2,650.
Round 5: Event
Kendra called the N and didn’t find any luck with the vowel E, as did Charlene with no luck with S. The puzzle read _NN_ _ _ * _ _ _ _ _N_ * _ _ _N_ _. While calling out the L, I had a brain-blast and knew the solution being ANNUAL COMPANY PICNIC. I wanted to spin for the 3 C’s, but came up unlucky, landing on the only Bankrupt of the game. Kendra called an R which wasn’t up there and then the bell rang in which Charlene banked $3,400 for her solve. I’m actually glad that she solved it so she wouldn’t walk away with the minimum of $1,000. As competitive of a game Wheel of Fortune is, I came to realize that it wasn’t me vs. Kendra vs. Charlene, it was all of us vs. the Wheel, so in this sense, we all won.
And on that note, the moment we’ve all been waiting for… $100,000 Bonus Round
During the break, I got to practice spinning the mini-wheel and I gave it two practice spins because I totally underestimated the spinning physics of the bonus wheel the first time. I got the hang of it the second time and it was time to go. I introduced my family in the audience and spun the bonus wheel, hoping for the best. I passed the envelope to Pat, stood on my marker, which started the 5 minutes that would change my life.
The puzzle was a Thing: NE_ * _ _ _ _ * _ _ _ _ _.
Obvious first word. NEW.
Then I called out my 3 consonants and a vowel – HMDO, which were my go-to letters whenever I play the game on the app, video game, twitter game, practice puzzles with wheelman3690, etc. Vanna stood there motionless and shrugged. During this time that Pat was talking to me, I focused on the used letter board and back at the puzzle and back at the used letter board and back at the puzzle, mapping things out in my head. I used the B in the used letter board and worked my way to find the word BABY for the second word. NEW BABY… It just sounds right. Had the word not been BABY, I would have been doomed. BABY was the phrase that I would have continued using for the full 10 seconds. As for the third word, I thought about what I could find in a baby’s room or what a baby owns that could possibly use the letters on the used letter board. I referred back to my pediatrics class, since we worked with kids and newborns and just kept thinking of what a BABY possibly owns. I started out with the B, and eventually came up with BABY BUGGY which I know is an actual thing so that would have been the first thing I would have blurted out, but still trying to think of other possible solutions. Once the timer started, I yelled my first plausible solution NEW BABY BUGGY, and thought of other sound NEW BABY items using the letter board, but luckily I didn’t have to think any further since after a few seconds of yelling out my answer, NEW BABY BUGGY appeared on the board and I pretty much lost it. I couldn’t believe what I just saw. I couldn’t believe what I just did. And of course, I received the ‘Pat-down’, which I have seen on TV about 2 other times (INGENIOUS DEVICE and GOPHER), but I never expected for any of this to happen at this extent. After that, Pat showed the $45,000 and I was pretty much just overjoyed by everything happening, as my family rushed up to me to congratulate me. After the excitement, my family was whisked away and I was about to do the typical ending segment where you see Pat and Vanna talking to the contestant with the background music and usually Pat and Vanna have a little skit they do at the end to end the show with. Little did I know, the next thing I knew, Pat came up to the guy who was taking my microphone off and told him to put it back on me. Pat wanted me to be in the skit segment with him and Vanna to discuss how the heck did I get that? I only know of certain instances when the skit involved the contestant such as our million dollar winners, so I was nervous, but ready to explain what I just explained in this blog in the time that I had. Of course I stuttered my way through that interview, but it came out how I wanted to prove myself and the audience got a sneak peek of the used letter board.
March 19, 2014 - De Leon Household
At my family's house, we had a little get-together of about 30-40 friends and family, all gathered around the television to see how I did during the show. During the whole day, I could hardly function, especially after the fact that Pat Sajak tweeted a spoiler about the show very early that morning. Overall, the party was a success, especially after my friends and family started cheering, yelling and picking their jaws off of the floor at my unbelievable solve. To top it off, I also had a fun little WOF pre-test and a pretty awesome Wheel of Fortune cake (Wheel image thanks to MarioGS and wheelgenius).
During the madness of the party as well as the following day as many of you all know, I was reached out by numerous forms of media for interviews, so for your viewing pleasure, here are a few of the links provided:
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live
TMZ
Inside Edition
Late Show with David Letterman
The Today Show
Good Morning America
ABC7
Balitang America
And that’s pretty much how my journey from audition to NEW BABY BUGGY turned out and I’m glad to have had this exciting and overwhelming experience.
As for those of you who are skeptical about my solve, have it be known that I have been watching Wheel of Fortune since I could remember to the point where RSTLNE were the first letters I learned. I auditioned much like everyone else and I fought tooth and nail to get on the show. If you watched the full episode, you could also see that I had a lot of skill throughout the game, not only the ‘luck’ that everyone perceives my bonus round to have. Overall though, I am overwhelmed and grateful to have had this experience and excited for what is to come in the future.
Now onto my list of people to thank. Thank you to everyone who supported me. Thank you for everyone who joined alongside me in this journey. Thank you to the whole staff associated with Wheel of Fortune including the contestant coordination crew and everyone else who made everything possible. Thank you to my fellow January 17 contestants who helped put me at ease throughout that day. Thank you to Pat and Vanna, of course, for being so friendly and encouraging the whole day. Thank you all for the kind comments throughout the process. Thank you to my friends and family for all of your support. And thank you for reading!
