Ever marvel what it takes to be on Jeopardy!? The prepping, the learning, selecting what outfits to put on? In her weblog Kristen VanBloggin’, former Jeopardy! contestant Kristen VanBlargan from New York shares her expertise from when she appeared on the quiz present on March 12, 2025.
In a brutally trustworthy submit, VanBlargan shared her expertise making ready for the sport present, beginning with the cellphone name when she acquired the decision from Jeopardy! employees in December 2024 for her March 2025 look and was instructed to “inform solely the those that must know.” In her case, that meant her boyfriend, her twin sister, and her buddy Jeff.
She instantly started cramming as many ineffective info into her mind as she may utilizing flash playing cards, regardless of sound recommendation from mates who urged her to apply extra sensible abilities, reminiscent of response time, wagering abilities, and discovering patterns with the sport.
VanBlargan spent the weeks that adopted learning Jeopardy! video games and studying find out how to win with easy methods, like betting the utmost on the primary Day by day Double no matter her rating or determining find out how to discover the Day by day Doubles (they’re typically hiding in tutorial classes). For VanBlargan, the objective was to get to the purpose the place Ultimate Jeopardy didn’t matter.
She additionally spent a great period of time engaged on her coordination to enhance her buzzer abilities. After shopping for a apply buzzer, she found which hand labored higher for her through the recreation and ordered a duplicate of The Secrets and techniques of the Buzzer by Fritz Holznagel.
vanbloggin.com
When it got here time to decide on doable outfits, the wardrobe division provided a number of tips:
• It wants to have the ability to maintain a mic pack within the again.
• No busy patterns.
• Pack sufficient outfits to offer the phantasm of every week or extra of choices in case she was on a profitable streak, since a number of episodes are filmed in at some point.
And whereas there was nothing within the manufacturing’s rulebook concerning the minimize of a hemline or neckline, VanBlargan opted for extra conservative appears to be like as a result of she didn’t wish to entice the incorrect sort of consideration.
A couple of choices VanBlargan was mulling over included a classic Chanel skirt go well with with an Ann Taylor shirt, a beige Narciso Rodriguez blazer with a Vince Camuto shirt, a Calvin Klein blazer with a J. Crew shirt, a printed Helmut Lang gown, an Armani gown with a Chanel belt, and a crimson Roland Mouret gown that she determined was too low-cut (see picture above). Altogether, she packed two attire, 4 blazers, six shirts, two skirts, one pair of pants, three necklaces, and 4 units of earrings.
Together with her luggage packed, her reflexes sharpened, and her thoughts filled with info galore, VanBlargan headed to Los Angeles to compete on Jeopardy!. On the present, she shared a shaggy dog story about rescuing a drowning man whereas “swimming with out clothes” whereas placing in a valiant effort againt the defending champ, coming in second for the evening, with a complete win of $18,801. A powerful haul, however she finally misplaced to returning champion James Corson, who ended the evening with $28,800, making him the winner for the evening. Nevertheless, VanBlargan’s perspective, thorough prep work, and spectacular wardrobe made her a winner in our e book.
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