Waiting in the wings

Listening to: The Rising-Bruce Springsteen

Longer than usual break from bloggage, but I have been busy.

When you get up before dawn on a cold morning in Ohakune, your car can look like this (note wipers thoughtfully raised the night before to stop them freezing to the windscreen):
Ruapehu looks like this though, which compensates a little:
I left Ohakune at 0615 on Sunday, in order to be in central Wellington by 10.

For a gameshow audition.

The things I find myself doing............

I don't know if I am fulfilling destiny or anything, but when calls went out for participants for a New Zealand edition of 'Who wants to be a Millionaire', I was compelled to go.

Years of peers saying things like 'You should so go on "millionaire"' probably had something to do with it, but forever pondering a missed opportunity also played a part. After so long watching the show and wondering, I'm not even sure if it is solely about the money. A chance to go and give a shot and see how far I got, to see if I had what it takes (whatever that is), also played a part.

Although the money doesn't hurt.

Nice to know that if I get on I will get that shot though. This edition doesn't do the fastest finger first thing, which is good because I hate it. I like 'Millionaire' because you don't have to directly compete with anyone; its just you and the questions, and you are either good enough or not. Fastest finger detracts from that ideal.

The audition itself was fairly painless, although not exactly stress free. A mock millionaire style 30 question quiz provided the first hurdle. I got 22 out of 30, with the highest in the room being 26, and apparently the highest nationally so far 28. I was a bit disappointed, since I knew the right answers to three more questions, but second guessed myself to wrong ones.

The papers marked, a round of 'hands up if you got' ensued, the number of raised hands being counted. As the numbers came down things got somewhat tense. After the hands went up for 22, the counting stopped. Everyone who got less than that was thanked, and asked to try again another time. This eliminated probably two thirds of the attendees, only one of whom I knew. We filled a lecture theatre, so there was probably a couple of hundred or so to start with.

Those of us still in contention filled out forms, and waited for a short interview to assess our telegenicness. And waited and waited. I saw all the interviews, since I was interviewed last of all. Everyone was somewhat jaded by then, I hope it didn't hurt my chances. Very short interview done, I had my photo taken holding my candidate number, and that was it.

Now we wait to hear if we have what the producers are looking for.........