Ottawa man returning to Jeopardy! after winning night
Federal public servant Zorn Pink has so far won $7,400 on the popular TV quiz show
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- Zorn Pink's winning streak ended at one day. He placed third in his second appearance.
An Ottawa man will make another appearance on the popular TV quiz show Jeopardy! Tuesday night after coming out on top Monday.
Zorn Pink, a copyright and trade policy analyst for the federal government, missed the Final Jeopardy! answer — it was Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, not French painter Paul Gauguin, whose obituary said he "loved Samoa better than any other place" — but so did his two opponents, including a Los Angeles man who'd racked up more than $93,000 over four days.
I used to watch it a lot with my parents when I was a kid.- Zorn Pink, Jeopardy! contestant
"I always loved the show," said Pink, who ended the day with $7,400 after coming up with 18 correct answers. "I used to watch it a lot with my parents when I was a kid."
Pink said the process of qualifying as a Jeopardy! contestant took about a year. After completing an online test consisting of 50 questions, he was invited to Detroit for an in-person audition, where he participated in a mock game.
"If you have a love for the game, I think they really like that it shines through because you're just having a fun time," he said.
Filmed in November
Three months later, Pink got the call to tell him he'd made it. He flew to L.A. in November for filming.
"You have about a month to prep, and then after that you're on," he said.
Here at home, Pink attends a weekly trivia night with friends at the Centretown pub Pour Boy.
"We usually play there, but when you win they handicap you, so when we get handicapped too much we just switch bars," he laughed.
Pink, who's originally from Jamaica, said his family will be watching his performance from back home with pride. "I think [my mom] told half the island. She was really, really excited."
Although he remains tight-lipped about how many episodes he filmed, Pink did say it was nice to meet Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1961.
During Monday's show, Trebek mentioned his Ottawa connection to Pink, who told the host he'd seen the campus building named after him, Alex Trebek Alumni Hall.
"My friends were saying, 'Oh, I think he likes you because you're from Canada, he still has a soft spot for Canadians.' That was my feeling, but he's hard to read," Pink said.