Probably the most nationally well-known 2014 story regarding a North Alabama native and reality TV involved a person who didn't even appear on such a show. In mid-November, the internet guffawed after Shoals-hailing and Nashville singer/songwriter Jason Isbell posted an excerpt from what he wrote was a "REAL email I received today from a producer on 'The Voice.'" The producer was reportedly inviting Isbell - who'd recently won 2014 Americana Music Awards for album, artist and song of the year - to audition for the NBC singing competition program. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.
Plenty of other North Alabama guys and gals, however, did compete onstage on "The Voice," "Chopped," "The Price Is Right," "Let's Make a Deal," "Jeopardy!" and other reality and game shows.
Here are some insider nuggets about what those experiences are like ... in the words of those that experienced them first-hand.
'Don't overthink, over feel'
"The coolest piece of advice I've gotten from Pharrell (Williams, one of four 'The Voice" celebrity musician coaches) is, 'Don't overthink, over feel.' Pharrell is totally legit. Everything he says on 'The Voice' you can really believe, because he's looking out for the artists first and for the show second, which is awesome. Whatever happens this season, I'm going to grow so much as an artist just from Pharrell."
"The Voice" competitor, University of North Alabama student Jordy Searcy
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/10/the_voice_competitor_una_stude.html#comments
'Is this really happening?'
"I really didn't hear my name because it was so loud in the audience. But they had cue cards, so when I saw my first and last name I jumped up and I was like 'That is me!' and I was pushing everybody out of the way that was in my row. It was just crazy. 'Is this really happening?' I was rushing down the aisle and I was tapping everybody's hand I could reach that was on the outside of the aisle. I was jumping up and down with the person next to me for like 30 seconds and then we finally got it together."
"The Price Is Right" contestant/Huntsville loan officer Amber Latham
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/02/the_price_is_right_contestant.html
'You have to start thinking out of the box'
"What the heck do you do with a red cabbage on a grill? The non-typical grill items are where it gets a little hairy and you have to start thinking out of the box. I never use gas (grills) at home. 'Whoa, I haven't used gas since I was 12 years old helping my dad cook burgers on the back patio.'"
"American Grilled" contestant/UNA director of residence life Kevin Jacques
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/09/american_grilled_5_things_to_k.html
'There was a significant amount of prep'
"People whose matches are before you, you're not allowed to see. Since mine was the Thursday match and the second to last match, I was in the green room for a long time. You just kind of had to sit there and twiddle your thumbs and be super-nervous about how everything's going.
"There was a significant amount of prep, but not really just traditional prep. I don't know if you've ever heard of a website Sporcle and an iPad app called "QuizUp." I used those a lot. They're both trivia apps you can kind of test yourself and play with friends. And I think maybe two weeks beforehand I started looking at this website called J! Archive, which has archived "Jeopardy!" matches, so I would just look at questions and answers to get a feel for the difficulty of questions I could expect.
"I think he (host Alec Trebek) was little taller (than expected) because he was pretty close to my height, and I'm about six-one."
"Jeopardy!" contestant/ Randolph School grad Eric Turner
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/02/jeopardy_qa_huntsville_native.html
'You don't get paid until after the show airs'
"When you go in, you get the option to rent a costume or you can bring your own, so you have a lot of people standing there outside in their costumes. You go in and they're looking to see what kind of energy you have, so you have to scream and yell and dance around and those types of things, so the more entertaining you are the more likely the chances of them ushering you into the studio. So once you're in the studio, of course, the show begins and you have to keep up that level of energy for a very long time. About two hours, maybe a little bit more.
"You lose about five percent (of winnings) to the state of Cali and it's taken out before the check is sent. The rest is added to your taxable income. You don't get paid until after the show airs. All the contestants must wait in a room to fill out paperwork to claim their prizes. Even those who didn't win are given a $100 consultation prize. One interesting fact is that they start the process by asking if you'd like to forfeit your prize. Another is that they make you sign a waiver stating that you won't reveal the results of the games before they air."
"Let's Make a Deal" contestant/ Huntsville aerospace engineer Christopher Randall
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/03/lets_make_a_deal_contestant_ch.html
'Wait a minute. I'm not a chef'
"Way out here in the country ... the Food Network wouldn't be calling me. And then I got on the phone and found out it was the Food Network. I'd always watched 'Chopped,' and most everybody that I had seen were chefs, and I told the lady, 'Wait a minute. I'm not a chef. I'm just a plain-old cook.' And she said, 'That's OK. You're a grandmother. That's what I'm looking for.'"
"Chopped" competitor/ Owens Cross Roads restaurateur owner Wenona Moorer
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/02/chopped_alabama_restaurant_own.html
'They raised us up so it would look equal on camera'
"On TV, the studio audience area looks much larger than it is. And all the contestants are raised based on the height of the tallest person. I was shorter and they raised us up so it would look equal on camera and I thought that was cool."
"Jeopardy!" contestant/ Oakwood University student Kenesha Bennett
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/02/jeopardy_contestant_kenesha_be.html
'I would say to myself, I can't do that'
'Since it's only a two-hour time frame (on the TV show) to get everything in, you don't get to see all the things the ninjas do to warm up. To me it was amazing how they'll be sitting in a chair and then all of a sudden they're standing on top of their head. I would say to myself, I can't do that. Let me sit down and rest. But they're doing unique things I would never think of doing. They have the whole course set-up where you can't see it from the side. So when you finally go in is the first time you see all the obstacles and seeing the set-up and the lights is a whole different experience. 'Wow, this is what you see on TV.'
"American Ninja Warrior" competitor/Madison software engineer Jo Jo Bynum
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/american_ninja_warriors_region.html
'Filming for television we had to do everything three times'
"I'm a little 25-year-old girl from Alabama and these were all big-deal chefs I'm competing against. They completely underestimated me. And you know what? It was the biggest advantage I had because nobody thought I was competition so they didn't feel they had to sabotage me as much. Filming for television we had to do everything three times. So you did one (shot) that was a false start, one that was actual filming and then one for TV. Like when we ran into pantry to shop, we did a false start where we had to sprint just to the door. And then we would come back to our station and then we would sprint in and actually shop, and then we would come back and sprint again. So you were exhausted by the end of the day. The actual cooking was stressful because that was in real time. We actually only had 30 minutes. It's intense."
"Cutthroat Kitchen" winner and Huntsville chef/restaurateur LeeLee Wiginton
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/12/cutthroat_kitchen_winner_leele.html
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