Jeopardy! Teen Tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Jeopardy! Teen Tournament is one of the traditional tournaments held each season on the TV quiz show Jeopardy! Contestants in this tournament are primarily high school students, and between the ages of thirteen and seventeen. A field of 15 players compete in this tournament; one alternate is invited as a standby, but the alternate has never entered competition.
A second Teen Tournament will take place in the last two weeks of July 2007 as the Summer Games Tournament. This will mark the first time in its 20-year history that there will be two Teen Tournaments held in the same season.
Contents |
[edit] Format
The Teen Tournament format is similar to that of the College Championship as well as the Tournament of Champions: 5 quarterfinal games produce 5 semifinalists (winners) and 4 wildcard semifinalists (high scorers among nonwinners); 3 semifinals produce 3 finalists who compete in a 2-game final.
[edit] Origins during Fleming era
The first Jeopardy! games featuring high school students were held in 1967 on the original version of Jeopardy! hosted by Art Fleming. Not yet referred to as the "Teen Tournament", these games were known as the "Jeopardy! National College Scholarship Contest" and featured high school seniors competing for a $10,000 college scholarship fund. Contestants were recruited from participating high schools across the United States.
[edit] Contestant selection
[edit] 1990s
Would-be contestants mailed postcards with their names and addresses to Jeopardy! 1200 teens were selected at random from the postcard entries and were invited to come (at their own expense) to one of four regional test centers (e.g. Houston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles) to take a timed written qualifying examination with the 50 "answers" read by Alex Trebek on a video monitor at the front of an exam room. Passing scorers were invited back for an interview and mock game using an electronic buzzer system. Their photographs are taken for their files, and they are asked to fill out a short information sheet with interesting facts about themselves that may be later used by Alex Trebek during the interview portion of the show. Selected contestants and alternates were notified that they had been chosen to appear on the show one to two months later. They are then flown to Los Angeles to tape the show. Taping occurs over a period of two days, with the five quarterfinals played on the first day and the three seminfinals and two final games played on the second day. Accommodations were provided for the contestants at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, with taping taking place at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.
[edit] 2000s
Contestants registered on the Jeopardy! web site rather than submitting postcards. As before, a select number of registrants were invited to audition and take a written test at a regional audition. Accommodations for contestants are provided at the Hilton in Universal City, California.
[edit] 2006-present
All web site registrants take a 50-question timed online test at one of several set test times. The test is given using Adobe Flash and takers are given 15 seconds per clue to type in their answers. A random selection of passers are invited to attend regional auditions at which another 50-question written test is given, followed by interviews and mock games.
[edit] Prizes
The prize amounts for all contestants are as follows:
| Period | Finalists (minimum guarantees) | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1st runner-up | 2nd runner-up | |||
| 1987-Winter 1997 | $25,000 | $10,000 | $7,500 | $5,000 | $1,000 |
| Fall 1997-2000 | $15,000 | $10,000 | $2,500 | ||
| 2001 | $50,000 | ||||
| 2002-2003 | $20,000 | $15,000 | |||
| 2004-2005 | $75,000 | $25,000 | |||
| 2006-present | $10,000 | $5,000 | |||
[edit] Other prizes
- 2005 Teen Tournament contestants were awarded a computer package.
- The 2003 Teen Tournament winner was awarded a silver 2003 Volkswagen New Beetle.
- The 2002 Teen Tournment winner was awarded a 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS Convertible ("Spyder").
- The 2001 Teen Tournament winner was awarded a Geo Tracker.
- Prior to 2001, all Teen Tournament winners were invited to participate in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.
- The 1999-B Teen Tournament winner was awarded a Chevrolet Cavalier.
[edit] List of participants
The following is a list of contestants and where they placed in the tournament. Winners and runners-up who earned more than the minimum guarantees are as indicated in parentheses.
| Finalists | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Trebek Era (1984-present) | ||
| Season 3 (February 2, 1987-February 13, 1987) | ||
| Winner: Michael Galvin 1st runner-up: Mitch Epner ($13,800) 2nd runner-up: Dana Venator |
Paul Egendorf Brian Kalt David Simon Salil Kumar Lisa Patterson Mike Becker |
Dawn-Marie Nolan Curt King Amy Wilson Sara Stanchina Cres Formey Felicia Corralez |
| Season 4 (February 8, 1988-February 19, 1988) | ||
| Winner: Michael Block 1st runner-up: David "D.J." Javerbaum 2nd runner-up: David Graham |
Jason Albert Chris Cappazola Sasha Dublin Neil Gronewetter Stephanie Wulfestig Mark Wong |
Mia Diamond Sarah Fanning Delaine Foss Gene Hayes Eric Reid Julie Robichaux |
| Season 5 (February 6, 1989-February 17, 1989) | ||
| Winner: Eric Newhouse ($28,100) 1st runner-up: Stan Wu ($15,700) 2nd runner-up: Elena Whitley ($13,400) |
Peter Morris Kristen Brimus Don Chase Ryan Godfrey Matt Lindley |
Matt Pearson David Dodson Tracy Fisher Marnie Helfrich Samantha Moeschler Laura Speer |
| Season 6 (February 5, 1990-February 16, 1990) | ||
| Winner: Jamie Weiss ($26,000) 1st runner-up: Andrew McGeorge ($15,400) 2nd runner-up: Richard Morris ($11,799) |
Scott Hoffman Mike Grant Avi Stadler Wen Shen Peji Ghanouni Beth Mullins |
Jennifer Dikes Kate Veksler Chris Black Dionne King Stacey White Sharon Kristal |
| Season 7 (February 11, 1991-February 22, 1991) | ||
| Winner: Andrew Westney 1st runner-up: Dana Bacon 2nd runner-up: Julie Knauer |
||
| Season 8 (February 24, 1992-March 6, 1992) | ||
| Winner: April McManus 1st runner-up: Cori Van Noy 2nd runner-up: Jill Young |
Muffy Marracco Morris |
|
| Season 9 (February 1, 1993-February 12, 1993) | ||
| Winner: Fraser Woodford ($28,999) 1st runner-up: Mit Robertson 2nd runner-up: Jesse Roach |
Carrie Pruett Colin Rafferty |
Anne Black Nancy Dickmann Patricia Larash Lev Osherovich Suj Vijayan Brent Keeling Jessie Gile |
| Season 10 (February 7, 1994-February 18, 1994) | ||
| Winner: Matt Morris ($29,601) 1st runner-up: Peter Steffen 2nd runner-up: Paul Loeffler |
Felicia Wu E.J. Ciraki Jesse Irwin Jeremy Manta Gerry Tansey Dorothy Thompson |
Scott Alport Rebecca Cinderbrand Alice Handley Carsten Reichel Valerie Voldivici Jonathan Zimmerman |
| Season 11 (February 6, 1995-February 17, 1995) | ||
| Winner: Matthew Zielenski ($42,300) 1st runner-up: Susannah Batko-Yovino ($26,200) 2nd runner-up: Deborah Sager ($17,300) |
Chuck Truesdell Halla Yang Chris Jacobs Shannon Shelton Matthew Sandler Sujit Raman |
Gwen Shen Gus Splittorf Erika Brown Jim Stichen Courtney Donovan Martha Van Hoy |
| Season 12 (May 6, 1996-May 17, 1996) | ||
| Winner:1 Amanda Goad ($31,200) 1st runner-up: Derek Bridges ($31,200) 2nd runner-up: Joe Gurski ($24,800) |
Linda Alila Geoff Hatchard Peter Friedman Anthony Chiu Ben Healy Julee Baber |
Talisha Burton Heather Burnett Carmen Abrazado Lawson Fite Penelope Pajel Jodi Sangster |
| Season 13 (February 3, 1997-February 14, 1997) | ||
| Winner: Joshua DenHartog 1st runner-up: Justin Powell ($17,125) 2nd runner-up: Akiva Fox |
Matthew Burgess Tanis O'Connor Pooja Dhume Faith Hillis Fran Bigman Brandon Frantz |
Alex Rubalcaya Chad Bell Audrey Droesch Sharon Druck Rita Hamad Brian Joseph |
| Season 14 (November 3, 1997-November 14, 1997), at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC | ||
| Winner: Sahir Islam ($26,300) 1st runner-up: Enos Williams ($20,800) 2nd runner-up: Kristen Stuckey ($14,400) |
Kathy Thompson James Sumner Bea Vo Kira Whelan Evan Johnson Jonathan Lowe |
Justin Watkins Julie Anastasi Rachel Johnson Deon Lackey Jennifer Rehmann Meghan Arnold |
| Season 15 (February 22, 1999-March 6, 1999) | ||
| Winner: Melissa Sexstone 1st runner-up: Trish Ranney ($17,600) 2nd runner-up: Elizabeth Nyman ($8000) |
Sam Sanker Oliver Longwell Jeff Cary Katie Halliday Lina Ghosh Joan Williams |
Milo Dochow2 Rubani Trimiew Lindsay Enbysk Kitty Roberts Nate Budde Brian Dunlap |
| Season 16 (November 1, 1999-November 12, 1999), at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City | ||
| Winner: Chacko George 1st runner-up: Emily Deveau 2nd runner-up: Kristy Jones ($10,700) |
Brittan Heller Jack Challis Elizabeth Norton Chrissy Ijams Gerrit Hall Erin Gall |
Brian Polk Marcia Hensley Adam Trabka Miguel Dickson Brian Golden Scott Duquette |
| Season 17 (April 30, 2001-May 11, 2001), at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||
| Winner: Graham Gilmer 1st runner-up: Andy Siegler 2nd runner-up: Colleen Mahoney |
Katherine Bushey Ryan Ballangee Logan Bell Misti Coronel Jonathan Reinstein Alexis Stevens |
Caley Anderson Paige Feldman Tom Hartmann Nicole Reimer Amanda Trujillo Farah Zolghadr |
| Season 18 (February 4, 2002-February 15, 2002) | ||
| Winner: Bernard Holloway 1st runner-up: George Nelson ($29,497) 2nd runner-up: Seth Disner ($28,900) |
Lindsey Bartlett Heidi Greimann Emily Karrs Andy Kravis Evan Stewart Liana Walters |
Anna Gohmann Blake Hernandez Seveen Kannankara Margaret Monroe Allie Pape Dan Royles |
| Season 19 (February 3, 2003-February 14, 2003) | ||
| Winner: John Zhang 1st runner-up: Tyler Allard 2nd runner-up: Anthony Valente ($24,799) |
||
| Season 20 (February 9, 2004-February 20, 2004) | ||
| Winner: Jennifer Wu 1st runner-up: Christopher Holden 2nd runner-up: Courtney Bennis |
Megan Apfelbaum Heather Goodlett Kerry Lambeth Muhammad Meigooni Matthew Nordsten Oliver Sherouse |
Ashley Anderson Emily Birkel Lauren Drell Bradley Hoff Jason Rindenau Zachary Schopflin |
| Season 21 (January 26, 2005-February 8, 2005) | ||
| Winner: Michael Braun 1st runner-up: Wes Kovarik ($30,000) 2nd runner-up: Anne Shivers ($18,000) |
Steve Golden Peter Severson Orlando Zambrano Caitlin Cook Ruvani Fonseka Jimmy Li |
Vanamali Compton Amy Fletcher Allan Long Whitney Prince Kerri Regan Chloe White |
| Season 22 (February 6, 2006-February 17, 2006) | ||
| Winner: Papa Chakravarthy 1st runner-up: Andrew Kreitz 2nd runner-up: Matt Klein |
Camille Bullock Joseph Graumann, Jr. Iddoshe Hirpa David Hoffelmeyer Sebastian Johnson Allison Peña |
Laura Ansley Katie James Loren Loiacono Lauren Romero Kenneth Schlax Andrew Watkins |
| Season 23 (February 5, 2007-February 16, 2007) | ||
| Winner: David Walter 1st runner-up: Ben Schenkel ($42,800) 2nd runner-up: Stephen Fritz ($25,460) |
Caroline Bartman Frank Firke Heidi Fogle Naomi Hinchen Myles Jeffrey Hank Robinson |
Kristin Briggs Allison Dziuba Jeffrey Gerlomes Caroline Jones Heidi Liu Eliza Urban |
Note 1: Amanda Goad and Derek Bridges were tied for first place at the end of the 1996 Teen Tournament. The tie was broken in a special tiebreaker round.
Note 2: Due to a questionable judges' ruling, Milo Dochow was brought back for the Winter 2000 Jeopardy! College Championship.
Note 3: Peter Morris in 1989 and Muffy Marracco Morris in 1992 are the only pair of siblings ever to appear on the Teen Tournament. Peter Morris appeared again on the 1998 Teen Reunion Tournament.
[edit] Merchandising
A console game based on the Teen Tournament was released in the mid 1990s.
[edit] External links
- The official Jeopardy! website
- J! Archive - An archive of past and present Jeopardy! games, including some from the Teen Tournament
- John's Jeopardy! Events Archive (1997-Today)
| Jeopardy! | |
|---|---|
| Annual tournaments/competitions | Tournament of Champions · College Championship · Teen Tournament · Celebrity Jeopardy! |
| Special tournaments | Super Jeopardy! · Million Dollar Masters · Ultimate Tournament of Champions · International tournaments |
| Related TV series | The All-New Jeopardy! · Rock & Roll Jeopardy! · Jep! |
| Cast and crew | Creator: Merv Griffin Hosts: Alex Trebek · Art Fleming · Jeff Probst · Bob Bergen Announcers: Johnny Gilbert · Don Pardo · Jay Stewart · John Harlan |
| Miscellaneous | Audition process · Set evolution · Video games · Notable contestants · Broadcast history · In popular culture |
