Michelle Norton
STAFF WRITER
Cries of "Vanna rules!" and "We love ya, Pat!" could be heard from the studio audience as the Wheel of Fortune crew rounded out its two-week stay for college week in the city of Houston.
Fans were ecstatic to be a part of the filming, which was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center Sunday.
"I'm so excited I can hardly hold it in," said Blake Phillips, a junior at Memorial High School who had never participated as an audience member.
Houston diversity was evident in the audience as students from University of Houston, Rice University and several Houston community colleges were present to participate in the well-known show.
Houston Community College environmental science sophomore Joanna Simotas, who received tickets through her school, was no stranger to the game show.
"I have the game on the computer at home," she said.
Located on the third floor of the convention center, the Wheel of Fortune studio set featured Houston spelled out in large block letters inset with pictures from various city landmarks.
Downtown Houston was also painted above the sign in pastel colors.
Charlie, the regular announcer for Wheel of Fortune, entertained the crowd while studio seats were still being filled by acting like a circus ringmaster, pointing out the various feats of crew members.
"May I call your attention to the center of the ring?" he said.
"Here we have our famous aerobatic climbers. They will not be able to go to the bathroom for a while as they have no port-o-potty."
Preparing the audience for what was in store, Charlie also warned members not to call the answer out because the contestants would have get another puzzle and start all over.
He also warned what would be in store for the audience member who dared to defy him.
"We will have to take you outside and slap you silly," he said.
After meticulous readings of each of the rules, the crew and the audience were ready for the taping of the show.
Each taping consisted of the contestants stating their names and colleges, followed by the audience screaming, "Wheel . . . of . . . Fortune."
Going into each commercial the audience was serenaded by Rice University's Marching Owls Band.
The band, dressed up in Blues Brothers decor, brought excitement into the audience and got them pumped up for the next segment of the show.
While all the audience members cheered on each contestant, many couldn't help but wonder how contestants got on the show.
Josie Rios, mother of Alvaro Rios, a sophomore at HCC and $25,000 winner on one of the shows, revealed it wasn't an easy process.
"He first went and filled out an application. They then called him in along with 40 other applicants for an interview. He had to solve puzzles within a matter of minutes," she said.
"Believing that the puzzles were not easy, he didn't know if he would get picked.
"In a couple of days, though, they called him back, and now he is on."
Chris Munoz, a UH architecture sophomore, said, "It was pretty cool."
Referring to the two hours it took to tape each show he said, "If it wasn't for the time allotted for the commercials, we would have been out faster,"
Wheel of Fortune in Houston will begin airing college week starting Monday, May 4, at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 11.