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The famous show “Deal or no Deal” on NBC is watched by millions of viewers every Wednesday at 9 p.m., but have you gone to college with a person on the show? Students of UNCC can no longer say “no” to this question, because Junior Christina Lampone of UNCC will be on the show Nov. 5 and Nov. 7 at 9 p.m.
“Deal or no Deal,” according to its Web site, is an exhilarating hit game show where contestants play and deal for a top prize of $1 million in a high-energy contest of nerves, instincts and raw intuition.
Based off of the popular international show of the same name, “Deal or no Deal” presents contestants with 26 cases with dollar amounts inside of them ranging from one cent to $1 million. Neither the host, the contestant nor the banker know the amounts in each case.
After the contestant selects a case, he or she then chooses from the remaining to be opened one at a time. Each time a case is opened and its dollar amount revealed, that amount is removed from play of what the contestant can win.
After dollar amounts have been eliminated, the banker offers the contestant a sum - roughly the median of the lowest and highest amount still in play. The contestant can take the deal and win the banker’s offer or keep playing for what could be in his or her case.
“It all started with ‘Deal Or No Deal’ when my brother tried out, last April in Pittsburgh,” said Lampone. “When they had open tryouts at a mall and he made it to the next round, 10 out of 10,000.”
Lampone was supposed to be one of her brother’s supporters, but the producers decided to replace Lampone’s brother with herself. “When we were in front of the producers in Pittsburgh playing a mock game,” explained Lampone, “they said ‘Tia, switch places with your brother. We want you as the contestant and him as the supporter.’” Just two weeks later, Lampone got a call from Los Angeles saying she was picked out of millions of people to be a contestant on “Deal Or No Deal.”
“I freaked out,” said Lampone, “and [I] could not believe this, and [I] was terrified to tell my brother.” Lampone and her supporters were in L.A. for two weeks shooting the show. “It was the most awesome experience of my life,” said Lampone.
Lampone’s supporters consisted of her mother, father, boyfriend and grandmother. “Howie Mandel was hysterical and the whole experience was indescribable,” said Lampone. “Obviously, if anyone has seen the show, they will know what kind of crazy people go on that show. Yes, that’s me.”
Lampone told of meeting famous people other than Howie Mandel, like the models on the show as well as meeting Jenny Finch, a softball pitcher for the U.S.A. women’s softball team, at the L.A. airport.
The only expense Lampone had to pay for was food. “Airfare, hotels and transportation were paid for by ‘Deal Or No Deal.’” When asked about what happens backstage, Lampone had this to say: “I cannot say what life was like behind stage, those details are not allowed to be discussed [as well as] any of the show details ... we just say ‘stay tuned.’”
“I felt absolutely terrible for my brother when the producers decided to scratch him as the contestant and put me in,” said Lampone, “[but] we are very close and I knew we would support each other either way.” Lampone went on to say how this experience was an experience she would never forget, and how excited she was to be on the show.
Some people might give a shout out to their mothers when they are on television, but Lampone went a different route, “I gave a shout out to UNCC!” To learn more about “Deal Or No Deal,” visit: NBC. To see Christina Lampone on the show, watch NBC on Nov. 5 and 7 at 9 p.m.
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