University of North Texas student and recent Jeopardy! contestant Monica Thieu was most surprised by the size of quiz show's set.
"The set is so much smaller than it looks on TV," said the 18-year-old, who is a senior in the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, a two-year residential program at the University of North Texas for high school students.
But once Thieu started playing, she said, she got lost in the game.
Thieu was one of 15 college students who taped episodes for the Jeopardy! College Championship on Jan. 5 and 6. But the process started almost a year earlier, when she took the online qualifying test on spring break.
Thieu had taken the test a couple years prior to compete on the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament but didn't make it to the second stage of the process.
In June, her fortunes turned, and she was invited to an in-person audition.
To become contestants, people have to pass two tests, know how to play the game and have a positive personality, said Maggie Speak, contestant producer for the show.
The auditions for all the Jeopardy! tournaments start the same way: with an online test. Those who make it to the next level take another test during an in-person audition.
"Then at the in-person auditions we have them play a mock version of the game," Speak said. There's also an interview, she said, to give producers a better idea of the potential contestant's personality.
To compete in the College Championship, students have to be full-time undergraduate students with no previous bachelor's degree.
Speak said she enjoys the College Championship because she gets to meet so many eager college students interested in the process.
"It's probably my favorite tournament of the year," Speak said.
After Thieu's audition, she was told taping for the College Championship would be in March and the show would only call her if she had been invited to compete.
Thieu was excited when she got the call the first week of December.
"I'd forgotten I was waiting for it, so it was good," she said.
The show, which is filmed at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif., ended up taping in January instead of March. She said when she got the call inviting her to the tournament, taping was only a month away "and it was really hard to wait."
Thieu was chosen out of about 12,000 students. If she won, she will receive the grand prize of $100,000.
The college championship will air Feb. 1 through 14.
RACHEL MEHLHAFF can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is rmehlhaff@dentonrc.com.
TO WATCH
The Jeopardy! College Championship will air at 11 a.m. Feb. 1-14 on KTVT-TV (Channel 11).
