# So I'm auditioning for "Millionaire" tomorrow... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380 "2011-07-26T13:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/1 "2011-07-26T13:32:12Z")
Yes, it’s still on (in daytime syndication). No, I didn’t know either. There are “road auditions” in Tampa tomorrow, and a bunch of friends suggested I go. I’ve taken the _Jeopardy!_ online test a couple of times and gotten qualifying scores, but never a phone call ☹ Has anyone else auditioned for WWTBAM before? I’m really not looking forward to leaving home at 5 am to make it to the 7 am session. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/2 "2011-07-26T13:38:44Z")
I’ve never been tried, but I’ve been told from someone else how they used to do it: it was over the phone, and it was a lot of fast thinking stuff, more like the Fastest Finger Questions. This was enough to discourage me, as I could never handle that part of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/3 "2011-07-26T13:41:01Z")
Don’t mention your nick here. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/4 "2011-07-26T13:41:48Z")
That’s what I assumed, but the road auditions are just a written test followed by a producer interview. I think they’ve eliminated the fastest finger portion of the show from the syndicated version and people just play in turn. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/5 "2011-07-26T13:53:18Z")
I would think that they’d be more interested in personality and TV presence than intellectuals on WWTBAM. The first 6 or 8 questions could be answered by 12 year olds. Last time I watched it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/6 "2011-07-26T13:58:36Z")
That’s why I’ll be ignoring **Cicero** ’s advice. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/7 "2011-07-26T14:27:07Z")
Moved MPSIMS --\> Cafe Society [/mod] I tried out maybe 10 years ago – passed the test but never got called, probably because I’d previously been on _Jeopardy!_ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/8 "2011-07-26T14:30:57Z")
Oh, good luck! I keep thinking I ought to go try out. We watch the show every day at lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/9 "2011-07-26T15:11:53Z")
Be very perky and vivacious. My friend, a former _Jeopardy!_ champ, got through to the _Millionaire_ interview stage after acing the first part, but wasn’t chosen because she acted like a normal adult. You really have to ham it up. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/10 "2011-07-26T15:28:42Z")
I’m a dude. Is it even possible for men to be vivacious? > [@](#): > > Oh, good luck! I keep thinking I ought to go try out. We watch the show every day at lunch. Go tomorrow! You don’t have to sign up in advance… you just have to fill out [this form](http://cdn.origin.dadt.com/millionaire/AuditionApplicationSYN10.pdf) and bring it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/11 "2011-07-26T15:33:10Z")
Jeez, I guess I could…now I’m scared! Just for the sake of conversation, where exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/12 "2011-07-26T15:34:41Z")
Grand Hyatt Tampa. [Full info here](http://www.dadt.com/millionaire/auditions/road/). C’mon. This way I have someone I “know” to have lunch with. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/13 "2011-07-26T15:48:01Z")
That would be great. I’m about to go home for lunch and watch the show…I need to confer with Mr. Beetle. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/14 "2011-07-26T16:06:15Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yes, it’s still on (in daytime syndication). No, I didn’t know either. > > There are “road auditions” in Tampa tomorrow, and a bunch of friends suggested I go. I’ve taken the _Jeopardy!_ online test a couple of times and gotten qualifying scores, but never a phone call ☹ > > Has anyone else auditioned for WWTBAM before? I’m really not looking forward to leaving home at 5 am to make it to the 7 am session. I auditioned in NYC back in '05, I think, and did the show in November of that year, I think. With Meridith Vieira (nice lady). Let’s see if I can remember what happened… written test; if you did well on Jeopardy! I think this is the same level, if not a little easier. Next was the interview with a producer. I hit it off with mine - I had done Jeopardy! a year before and invariably I get asked, “Is our show harder?” I said yes, as Jeopardy! is the kind of show you can do if you have general knowledge about a lot of things… as you move up the ladder in Millionaire you really have to know your stuff… and the strategy in choosing when to use lifelines, etc. is another spanner in the works. I was engaging and talked about being a Black guy who occasionally wears cowboy boots and hangs out with a steer from Texas. That got them pretty interested. At the time I was in grad school at Harvard so they thought that was interesting too. I got the call about a month or two after the audition - I think we went to NYC in July/August and I got the call in Sept., and I think the show aired in November. My advice? Get a focus group of folks to hear your “I’m interesting” spiel. With a show like WWTBAM, they want people that the audience will get behind. You don’t want to overthink this, but have a unique story that people will say, “Hey, **RNATB** is a pretty cool person that I want to see win!” It might work better if you ask questions, I’ll try to remember what happened… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/15 "2011-07-26T16:27:42Z")
I think I’m pretty witty, but I’m not sure whether to go with dry humor or something a bit more accessible. I can do the latter, I’d just feel odd goofing around during an interview. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/16 "2011-07-26T16:31:21Z")
I auditioned here in Seattle for the first year of the daytime show. I hadn’t gone for it before because I knew I wasn’t fast enough to get through Fastest Finger, but they dropped that for Meridith’s show. I passed the test, but I guess I wasn’t interesting enough in the producer interview, because I was never called. Sure wish I had been. Because they were just starting the show, they were eager to fill up their contestant roster and were paying people’s travel to NYC, along with accommodations and a per diem while you were in the city. That would have been awesome even if I didn’t win a cent. Now that the show’s established, they don’t do that anymore. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/17 "2011-07-26T16:33:17Z")
Per the application, you have to pay your own way? They don’t kick in anything? Is this common for game shows? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/18 "2011-07-26T16:37:54Z")
It’s the same deal for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/19 "2011-07-26T17:47:58Z")
I’ve done it three or four times, both in New York (at the ABC employees’ commisary, from what I can tell) and at a road audition in Chicago. It is (or was) a multiple-choice, written test. Those who fail are thanked and sent home; those who pass are told to stay around and wait for a producer interview. Then you’re thanked and sent home. A few weeks later you’ll get a card telling you you weren’t selected (unless, of course, you were selected; then I don’t know what happens). FWIW, I’ve heard from people in a position to know that if you are a white, middle-aged male your chances of getting on the show are ZERO. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380/20 "2011-07-26T17:53:26Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > FWIW, I’ve heard from people in a position to know that if you are a white, middle-aged male your chances of getting on the show are ZERO. I’d agree with this, if only because 90 percent of the folks who pass the test fit this demographic. I had a friend in grad school who was fascinated with game shows, even planning an LA trip to try out for multiple shows. He asked me my secret, and I told him “genetics.” This is especially true for Jeopardy!. I think they salivate when they have a competitive non-White, non-lawyer contestant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-auditioning-for-millionaire-tomorrow/590380.md?page=2)