Three Harvard Students To Represent on 'Millionaire'

Regis, meet three of Harvard's finest.

Raymond L. Andrew III '02 of Adams House, David G. Harris '00 of Quincy House, and Melanie L. Forbes '02 of Winthrop House taped episodes of ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in New York last month.

Nationwide, thousands auditioned for the "College Edition" of television's most popular game show this fall, but only 30 contestants were selected.

At least 24 schools, ranging from Brown University to Moraine Valley Community College in Illinois, will be represented on the show. Georgia Tech, Emory University and MIT will each be represented by two students. Only Harvard has three students appearing.

Trisha L. Miller, a spokesperson for Valleycrest, a producer of the show, said that Harvard is sending more students than any other school.

"Perhaps that says that they're really big fans of the show or that they're just extra smart--I don't know," Miller said. "It's no surprise that a lot of the nation's smartest college students attend Harvard, It's known for having intelligent students."

But it took more than brains to get onto the show. Although all the contestants had to pass a 30-question test similar to the "fastest finger" contest, they were ultimately picked based on their "poise, sense of humor and television presence" during videotaped interviews with "Millionaire" producers.

"Perhaps the students from Harvard that day were just exceptionally poised," Miller said.

Andrew, an Astronomy and Astrophysics concentrator, said that his experience on the show was "awesome."

"The atmosphere wasn't competitive, that was the most surprising part," he said. "Even though we were all trying to get in the hot seat, we rooted for everyone once they got in the seat."

ABC flew Andrew and his parents to New York, put them up in the Empire Hotel, drove them around in limousines and gave them spending money. The native of Pflugerville, TX said that he got the "grand special treatment" during his first trip to New York City.

Although he wouldn't say if he won any money, Andrew said that his friends will be proud of him when they see the show.

"I did the best I could," he said. "It will be thoroughly interesting to watch and see how I did."

The Navel ROTC cadet will continue to clean blackboards in the Science Center and do odd jobs around Cambridge. But he said that doesn't mean that he didn't win money on the show.

"I'd still continue working even if I one a million dollars," he said. "Money's not everything. I just needed enough to pay for school."

The "College Edition" marks the first time in the history of the show that producers have gone into the field and hand-picked the contestants from interviews. Previously, contestants were selected after they answered questions on an 800 number. The show's producers continued to experiment with this new selection format, travelling to 7 cities to pick the contestants for the regular January episodes of the show.

"We found some really interesting, quirky contestants that had some really good interaction with Regis [Philbin, host of the show]. I don't know if that's just because they're younger, hipper and trendier or because we changed our method of selection," Miller said.

The "College Edition" of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" will first air at on ABC at 8:00 PM on December 19.