Olin College Alumnus and Former Wheaton Resident to Appear on 'Jeopardy'

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NEEDHAM, MA (08/14/2012)(readMedia)-- Former Wheaton, Ill. resident and 2007 graduate of Benet Academy, Daniel Elg is set for a September 19th appearance on Jeopardy, one of America's most beloved television shows.  The show was filmed on July 24th, and, as Daniel is quick to point out, was very difficult to be selected for.  Following graduation at Benet Academy, Elg attended Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Mass, where he was very involved in the school's theater program and was a member of of a 15-person acappella group. He graduated from Olin College in 2011 and currently attends the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in plasma engineering.

The process to appear on the television show consisted of two steps.  The first step was an online test - 50 questions, 15 seconds each.  The next was an in-person callback in Chicago where he met the contestant coordinators, had his picture taken, took another 50-question test and played mock games of Jeopardy.  All of this was followed by a question and answer session conducted by the contestant coordinators, who asked Daniel questions about his life, passions, and what he would do with the money if he won. 

"If your mock game and interview demonstrate that you'd be good on camera and you do well enough on your written test, they call you up and ask if you can come to a taping date," Daniel explains.  "They tape on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, five shows per day.  So an entire week's worth of shows is filmed in one day.  They say they like to give people at least 3 weeks or so notice.  I think I was called up over a month before my taping date; it was the first taping date of the new season."

Daniel was ecstatic that he got the call, citing his passion for acting and his desire to get back on stage.  Being on television made it all the better.  He describes the staff of the show as particularly amiable, and the filming of the show as absolutely surreal.  In fact, it was so surreal that it took him until Alex Trebek walked on-stage to realize that the game he was about to play was not a class project per usual, or just another episode on his television, but rather the real deal. 

The one aspect of the show that Daniel and his fellow contestants seemed to struggle with was the use of the buzzer.  The rule is that no one is allowed to buzz before Alex Trebek finishes talking, and if you do, it results in the docking of a fifth of a second.  There is more to this, though, as a staff member backstage hits a button to unlock the contestant's buzzers whenever he thinks Trebek is done talking.  Because of the challenge of juggling his thoughts on the question, the timing of the buzzer being unlocked, and pushing the button of the buzzer, Daniel says you may see him trying to buzz and not being called on throughout the show. 

On September 19th Daniel will be able to turn on the television and see none other than himself, someone who he has not really thought of ever watching on television before.  "Whenever I watch people who are 'performing' in front of an audience (be it actors, reality show contestants, politicians, or even teachers and professors) I always catch myself thinking of what I'd do if I were in their position.  This was one of those moments when I actually got to be in that position.  So it was really cool."