My Millionaire Experience

My name is David Miles, and I just wanted to share a bit about my Oct. 10 appearance for those of you who are interested in becoming a contestant. I had an amazing experience and walked away with $20,250. Not a bad day at the office! I wanted to thank my producers (especially Mandy and Daisy) for helping me prepare and stay calm during my taping day.

I auditioned Aug. 1 in Salt Lake City. First, I had to pass a timed multiple choice test, and I would advise potential contestants to keep track of their time because I was working a little slowly at the halfway point and had to pick up the pace a bit to complete the test. Then I returned later in the day for a "screen test" that included a mock game in which they taped me answering about 5 questions. This is where they want to see your energy and enthusiasm, so make sure you shine here! They want you to react to each question, so talk about each question and the 4 possible answers before answering. Just saying "D. Final answer" makes for pretty boring TV, so talk some.

I also would suggest wearing something different to make yourself stand out visually. I wore my lucky deer antler, and the producers were instantly drawn to it. Terry Crews even asked me about it during the show. Dress nicely, but find something unique to wear as well.

I was surprised to get a call 3 days after my audition asking me to fly out to NY for an Aug. 30 taping. I spent the next month watching previous episodes of Millionaire on YouTube, studying trivia, and watching TV shows like TMZ and Entertainment Tonight because so many of the questions are about pop culture, such as current movies and music. I also made flash cards to study. Some of my friends and family thought I was nuts, but it all paid off when I got a question about Wesley Snipes' character in The Expendables 3. I joked with Terry Crews that I wished I could use him as a lifeline because Terry was in the movie, but I actually knew the answer by watching those entertainment TV shows.

There are 2 rule changes this season that make things trickier for contestants, and I think it's important to strategize your use of lifelines based on these changes. The first change is that there is only 1 Jump the Question now, so you have to use that lifeline strategically. You don't want to use it too soon, but I also think you should use it if needed when there are still smaller dollar-value questions remaining so that you might jump over one of those. I did this and ended up jumping over the $100 question, so that could not have turned out any better for me.

The second change is that they don't give contestants the categories in advance any more. I was planning to use the categories to help guide my lifeline use and help me decide when to walk away, but I ended up being in the dark on that issue. I brought my sister as my Plus One in hopes of getting a science or classical music question, but that never materialized and I had no way of knowing what the next questions were going to be about.

Also, be careful with your Ask the Audience lifeline. This is good for current pop culture questions and not much else. I ended up using this lifeline and my Plus One for a history question about how Americans renamed German measles during World War I, and I actually ended up with TWO ties: 41% of the audience said both Allied measles and liberty measles, and 9% said both "our measles" and Star Spangled measles. I was thinking about the correct answer (liberty measles) because the question also mentioned freedom fries, but the tied result from the audience and the fact that my sister had never heard of either Allied measles or liberty measles cast enough doubt in my mind that I took the money and ran. I've seen too many contestants just take a wild guess and walk away with $1,000, so I didn't want to risk that.

Finally, I would remind future contestants to stay calm and take your time because you have as much time to work through the questions as you need, as long as you're not just trying to delay forever. This came in handy on my first question. Terry Crews actually mispronounced "calcium carbonate," but I remembered my producer telling me that if this happens, you are answering the question that appears on the monitor in front of you. Although I was flustered, I took a deep breath, read the question on the monitor and all 4 possible answers, ruled out the wrong answers aloud, and came up with the correct answer (sidewalk chalk repels ants). After the game was over, they re-shot Terry asking the question with the correct pronunciation of calcium carbonate. However, they aired my same perplexed and befuddled reaction. I guess contestants don't get do-overs. lol

All in all, though, it was an amazing experience! Terry was a very positive host who is rooting for everyone to win money, so I really enjoyed meeting him. The producers helped make the 9 hours waiting for my name to be called be as painless as possible, and I enjoyed meeting all of the other contestants. I recommend taking a chance and trying out for the show for anyone who is interested.