Hello!
And welcome to the climax of Guest Blogger Ryan Vickers’s three-part post on his experience as a contestant on the French Canadian quiz show Au Suivant (which translates as.. Next!)
So far, Ryan’s applied to be on the show, he’s been interviewed to be a contestant, he’s been selected to be a contestant, he’s made his way to the studio, he’s met his fellow contestants, he’s met the show’s host Stephane Bellavance….
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And then it was show time! I was lucky to snag spot number one in the line so I got to lead off the show. Here’s the episode in its entirety.
As you can see, it was an awesome experience – let me touch on some highlights:
THE HOSTING GIG: When Stephane came backstage to discuss conversation topics, I gave him a choice of three scuba diving stories… or my ambition to be a game show host. I can’t even start to tell you what a MONSTROUS thrill it was to get to host, and to interview Stephane before the show started. The production staff arranged that – and I had no knowledge that it was going to happen before I arrived at the studio. And then came the wait for six months to see if it would make the edit – which it did! I’ve had a fun time sharing that clip.
WINNING THE FIRST ROUND: I was so nervous when the first question came up but so thrilled when the third came up. I had set a goal to at least get one scroll, and now I had the chance. That excitement you see is genuine!
PICKING A SCROLL: We had lessons on how to do this. Use your fingers to slow the carousel. Don’t stop it immediately. Don’t grab a scroll while it is moving.
ON WHETHER OR NOT TO STOP: I had run some numbers based on average winning scores from the previous year’s shows. $6K wasn’t going to cut it. It’s like stopping on 60 cents when you’re the first spinner on the Showcase Showdown on The Price is Right. Sure, you’re probably going to go over, but at least you control your own destiny.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU’RE DONE: You realize you’re done. If you’re me however, you’ve got a massive grin because it was one of the craziest five minutes of your life and you have a smile plastered on your face.
THAT BONUS ROUND: We were SO happy that Sandrine won. Having won big on a game show at a young age makes a massive difference.
My friends and I stayed around for the second episode, got a few pictures and talked with Stephane after it was done.
To conclude: When I was fifteen, I was in an article in the local newspaper, saying that I wanted to be a game show host. 26 years later, it came true. Never give up on your game show dreams!
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I couldn’t agree more, Ryan! I’d like to thank Ryan again so much for taking the time to share his story over the last three weeks, and – in case I haven’t said this before – for his endlessly positive, joyous attitude. Always a pleasure. After all, they are called game shows… and games are supposed to be fun!
Remember, you can follow Ryan on Twitter at Real Canada Man.
And hey – if you’d like to follow in Ryan’s footsteps, and write a guest post (or two) for HowToWinGameShows.com, just let me know! You can contact me, as always, at Stephen@HowToWinGameShows.com. So if you have a game show-related story – or stories – to share, drop me a line! I’m always open to new contributors and ideas.
See you next time, for ….
