Hey! An article about a new SyndieBAM contestant!

[MarleysGh0st]

It seems like it's been such a long time that they've been running repeats...

Darrel Fasano, from Cape Coral, FL, enters the Hot Seat on Monday!

http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com/ ... 01599.html

He flew to NYC for his audition, then ended up making two different trips back for his taping, since he didn't get his turn the first time before taping halted for Meredith's trip to the Olympics, so he's starting out about $4,000 in the red, before he has the chance to win anything.

[MarleysGh0st]

Here's another long article about Darrel's upcoming appearance in the Hot Seat.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20090 ... 20362/1013

Darrel Fasano moved to Cape Coral two years ago, lured by a job in the construction industry. Within a year, he was laid off.

There's the "need the money" angle. (Mini-spoiler warning: He doesn't reveal how much he won, but he does indicate that he won something. Something fairly substantial.)

A longtime "Millionaire" fan, Fasano signed up online to be a contestant last April. Show officials contacted him at the end of April, saying he qualified. Thus began his long and interesting journey to Monday and Tuesday's shows.

Articles often make this sound like there's some actual "qualification" in this part of the process, instead of just a first-come-first-served automatic sign-up for a slot.

In May, Fasano flew to New York City to take the written "Millionaire" test at the ABC studios. He joined approximately 200 other people trying out for the show that day, with only about 10 passing the test.

Producers then interviewed each person who passed, asking questions prompted by a nine-page biography each had completed. They cut that group to five and put them in front of cameras for a screen test.

1. 10 out of 200 is a pretty low passing percentage, but 5 ouf of 10 getting to the video interview is pretty high.

2. It's only a three-page application form, not nine. Two of those pages are just the routine name/address/phone number stuff and the standard eligibility questions. And the other one is the nonsense anecdote questions.

[Bob Juch]

It seems like it's been such a long time that they've been running repeats...

Darrel Fasano, from Cape Coral, FL, enters the Hot Seat on Monday!

http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com/ ... 01599.html

He flew to NYC for his audition, then ended up making two different trips back for his taping, since he didn't get his turn the first time before taping halted for Meredith's trip to the Olympics, so he's starting out about $4,000 in the red, before he has the chance to win anything.

I get a broken link.

Even if he flew first class and stayed at the Four Seasons, he'd have had a hard time spending $4000.

[madamemeisha]

2. It's only a three-page application form, not nine. Two of those pages are just the routine name/address/phone number stuff and the standard eligibility questions. And the other one is the nonsense anecdote questions.

It's a three-page application form at the audition, but once you get the call to be on the show they send you a nine-page questionnaire. It was exhausting. I assume he mentioned both questionnaires he filled out and the reporter misunderstood.

[peacock2121]

I loved the questionnaire. They were my kind of questions.

Most people don't want to spend much time with me at a party, as those kinds of questions are what I rely on when others rely on "What about those Mets."