"Kat, you are the weakest link. Goodbye."
After missing a question in the second round, Katherine Taylor, a journalism senior, heard the phrase made famous by the popular game show, The Weakest Link.
Taylor participated in a special "College Week" edition of the syndicated version of The Weakest Link, which aired Monday.
Taylor was selected from 150 people in an open audition held in January at the Sheraton Austin Hotel.
"I woke up super early one morning for a doctor's appointment and saw them announce it on the news," Taylor said. "I went after my appointment and ended up coming late. I made a big scene coming in."
Taylor said applicants were given a short application and two minutes to speak about themselves. Three-fourths of the hopefuls were eliminated, and the remaining applicants were then given a test to gauge their abilities.
Once again, people were dismissed, and the rest, including Taylor, were taken to a separate room.
"We played a mock game," Taylor said. "Another UT student was in the room with me. After the game, they told me to take care. They then called me a week later, offering me a spot on a college edition of the show."
Taylor immediately accepted the free trip to Los Angeles and contacted her family. Taylor's mother, Nancy Taylor, was surprised at the news.
"It's very out of character for her," Nancy Taylor said. "But then again she's always doing offbeat things. She doesn't mind a little adventure in her life."
Taylor was flown to Los Angeles on Jan. 17 and returned the following Saturday. On the day of filming, Taylor was told to meet show staffers in the hotel lobby at noon. Contestants then waited in a common area before filming.
"They taped an all-firefighter show earlier," Taylor said. "We were playing cards with the firemen before they called us in."
Instead of calling only six contestants, Taylor said eight college students were flown to LA for the show.
"They do it that way just in case someone can't make it, but this time all eight showed up," Taylor said. "One guy and girl didn't get to be on the show."
The remaining six college contestants then met with producers for a review of rules.
"The producers told us that this wasn't Millionaire and that we did not have to give the thought process to why we came to our answer," Taylor said. "They also told us to keep the game going and not to say 'uhm' because they could take that as our answer. It was a lot of stuff that you would know if you watched the show."
After the debriefing, the contestants were shown the Weakest Link set. Taylor said she was surprised by how different the stage looked in person.
"It was smaller than it looks on TV," Taylor said. "It also looks so hi-tech when you're watching at home. In actuality, those podiums are really flimsy. I bet I could pick up five with my left arm."
The Weakest Link, hosted by George Gray, consists of the six contestants who play five rounds of rapid-fire questions. Every time a contestant gets a question right, money is added to the pot, but when an incorrect answer is given, the pot goes down to zero.
In order to save the money earned, strategic players will "bank" the money, then the prize pot is reset to zero. At the end of each round, contestants vote to eliminate a fellow competitor whom they deem to be the weakest link in the chain. Only one contestant walks away with the money - everyone else leaves with nothing.
"The game started off with three guys and three girls," Taylor said. "The first person voted off was one of the girls."
Taylor was voted off in the second round and said she suspected the males had formed an alliance against the females.
"I pretty much knew either me or the other girl were going to be voted off next," Taylor said. "There was no hope since there were three guys and only two girls left."
Taylor said she believes a plan with good tactics is needed to win the game.
"It's all about strategy and not how well you do on the questions," she said. "What's funny is that the guy who was the weakest link in the first round ended up winning the game."
Though the questions are meant to be general-knowledge questions, Taylor said they could be difficult depending on a person's background.
"I'm not sure what the question I got wrong was, but I do know that the correct answer was 'dew point,'" she said.
After voting a member off, contestants must state their reasoning. Taylor said she didn't agree with the reasons given for voting her off.
"The first guy said that I should have been able to answer the 'dew point' question," Taylor said. "The second guy claimed that I made the 'Hook 'em Horns' sign too much."
The host, George Gray, who is known for his witty comments toward contestants, also picked on Taylor some when she was on the show.
"Although I didn't get much airtime, he did joke with me," Taylor said. "He said that somebody had messed with Texas."
After the show, contestants were taken to a room to answer questions on camera from the producers. Taylor, despite being voted off early in the show, said she had a good time.
"There were no hard feelings after the show," she said. "We all went out for drinks afterwards, and the guy that won bought a round of drinks. He did win $7,000 after all. It was the least he could do."
Taylor said the main reason for her competing on the show was her sister.
"My sister really wanted to go to Notre Dame, but it costs too much money," Taylor said. "Going on a game show would be my best bet to help her out."
Taylor's sister, Jennifer Taylor, an 18-year-old at Kingwood High School in Houston, said she appreciated her sister's efforts.
"Notre Dame is just really expensive," Jennifer Taylor said. "I'm just going to go to UT."
Katherine Taylor said she had not seen the final edit of the show.
"I'm scared to be misrepresented on TV," Taylor said. "I didn't tell too many people that I was going to be on TV, but to the few I did tell, I told them to watch with some reserve, just in case they edited things to make me look bad."
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