Second audition before the call?

[boson]

Matthew Church - a two-game champ from last year who is a student here at Queen's - shares some of his experiences on the web here: http://www.queensu.ca/news/articles/jeo ... xperiences

One interesting tidbit: he had two in-person auditions
"In June I was invited to audition in person on-camera in Toronto. Fairly soon after that I got a call back for another interview and by August I was given one month’s notice to get to Los Angeles for filming.”

Has anyone else had this second audition before getting the call? I hadn't heard of that happening before.

[alietr]

To quote TPH, "NHOI".

[davey]

Or an on-camera audition for that matter.

[immaf]

When I had an in-person audition last June, they were, in fact, running a video camera. That's a new policy, and they said they were doing it just in case they wanted to be able to show a part of your interview for some reason. (I guess there was some kid last year, when they really wanted to be able to show his audition?)

For example, when asked what I would do with the money, I said something like "Well, if I reached Ken Jennings sort of levels, I imagine there would be a certain amount of fame attached to that. I would like to parlay that fame into a stint on "Dancing With the Stars". Now, if I ever in fact get asked to do the show, have Ken-Jennings-like success, and get a stint on DWtS, I'm sure the powers that be would like to be able provide ABC with the clip that showed me saying that's what I wanted.

Not gonna happen. None of it. And I would make a *terrible* ballroom dancer, but wouldn't it be cool to see a Jeopardy! champ on that show?

[davey]

When I had an in-person audition last June, they were, in fact, running a video camera. That's a new policy, and they said they were doing it just in case they wanted to be able to show a part of your interview for some reason. (I guess there was some kid last year, when they really wanted to be able to show his audition?)

For example, when asked what I would do with the money, I said something like "Well, if I reached Ken Jennings sort of levels, I imagine there would be a certain amount of fame attached to that. I would like to parlay that fame into a stint on "Dancing With the Stars". Now, if I ever in fact get asked to do the show, have Ken-Jennings-like success, and get a stint on DWtS, I'm sure the powers that be would like to be able provide ABC with the clip that showed me saying that's what I wanted.

Not gonna happen. None of it. And I would make a *terrible* ballroom dancer, but wouldn't it be cool to see a Jeopardy! champ on that show?

Thanks for the info. I suppose it's overdue in our recorded society.

[georgespelvin]

Well, it looks like they've added a "screen test" portion to the audition. I'll bet the real reason for the recording is to see how you might look on TV and, when picking groups for a taping session, getting a varied looking group of people. Do the invites now request a certain type of clothing to be avoided (e.g. stripes, bright colors) that would not be conducive to filming?

[sarah0114]

I don't recall my audition email saying anything about patterns/colors to avoid at the audition. They aren't using the fancy TV cameras/lighting so it might not matter as much.

[georgespelvin]

Thanks for the information Sarah, best of retroactive luck next week!

[Setho]

When I auditioned back in 2009 they took polaroids of everyone. Do they still do that? Perhaps this has replaced taking photos.

[the_phil]

When I auditioned back in 2009 they took polaroids of everyone. Do they still do that? Perhaps this has replaced taking photos.

They still take the polaroids. I get the impression that the video is for them to double-check what stuck out in their minds, etc. That, and to counteract any bad pictures on the polaroids. When Maggie took my picture, she wrote "better looking than this" because the picture was blurry and from a funny angle.

[AlphaDummy]

They still take the polaroids. I get the impression that the video is for them to double-check what stuck out in their minds, etc. That, and to counteract any bad pictures on the polaroids. When Maggie took my picture, she wrote "better looking than this" because the picture was blurry and from a funny angle.

In which case, there is probably a photo of me in a file somewhere that has the note "Even uglier than the picture "...

[MFalk]

One interesting tidbit: he had two in-person auditions
"In June I was invited to audition in person on-camera in Toronto. Fairly soon after that I got a call back for another interview and by August I was given one month’s notice to get to Los Angeles for filming.”

Do you think that the "call back" for another interview might be referring to a phone call back, rather than a callback audition? I know that people have reported getting a call from contestant coordinators out of the blue, and then getting The Call shortly thereafter.

[Magna]

she wrote "better looking than this" because the picture was blurry and from a funny angle.

I'll have to remind them to write that on my photo at the next audition!

[TreehugginCowgirl]

Not gonna happen. None of it. And I would make a *terrible* ballroom dancer, but wouldn't it be cool to see a Jeopardy! champ on that show?

Challenge accepted.

[lisa0012]

We had Polaroids in October, but I don't remember the video camera. We did have one for awhile because they were taping pieces for a news story, but after that guy left (he just stayed for the intro stuff) I don't think there was another one. Unless I was so nervous I just didn't see it?

[dhkendall]

she wrote "better looking than this" because the picture was blurry and from a funny angle.

I'll have to remind them to write that on my photo at the next audition!

I'm writing that on my name badge at the audition.

[alamble]

When I had an in-person audition last June, they were, in fact, running a video camera. That's a new policy, and they said they were doing it just in case they wanted to be able to show a part of your interview for some reason. (I guess there was some kid last year, when they really wanted to be able to show his audition?)

It was Leonard, last year's Teen Tournament winner.

[NYCScribbler]

When I auditioned back in 2009 they took polaroids of everyone. Do they still do that? Perhaps this has replaced taking photos.

They were still doing it last June- it was one of the few photos of me that was not completely awful, and I asked Robert if I could get a copy. No luck.

[Vermonter]

Well, it looks like they've added a "screen test" portion to the audition.

When I tried out in 2003, the ONLY thing I told myself was to pretend to be telegenic. Speak loud! Smile! Vary your pitch! Have fun!

I reverted to monotone with flat affect soon after.

[debramc]

One interesting tidbit: he had two in-person auditions
"In June I was invited to audition in person on-camera in Toronto. Fairly soon after that I got a call back for another interview and by August I was given one month’s notice to get to Los Angeles for filming.”

Do you think that the "call back" for another interview might be referring to a phone call back, rather than a callback audition? I know that people have reported getting a call from contestant coordinators out of the blue, and then getting The Call shortly thereafter.

Hmm, that seems possible. I hadn't heard of anyone getting a call between the audition and "The Call", but I'm not disputing it might happen. I know when I got my Call from Maggie she asked me a whole lot of questions and it almost felt like another interview, though not about content - more about going over all the eligibility rules. And she didn't actually say "We'd like you to come out and tape the show with us on such-and-such date..." until well into the conversation. I suppose it's conceivable that conversation could end with "Well, you may hear from us again soon. Thank you!" but doesnt seem real likely especially for someone like Matthew who was photogenic, charming, entirely capable - all around a better contestant than I was. Unless perhaps there was some eligibility issue they had to iron out first. Who knows?
Or perhaps in all the excitement Matthew misremembered some details, or the person interviewing him for the story got confused.