Weakest Link says goodbye to LSU student
Show eliminates cheerleader minutes before taping
“Whose B.A. must stand for Bad Answers?”
“Who could rent out the inside of your head as storage space?”
Do these sound familiar? These are the brutal truths of Anne Robinson, sarcastic host of the Weakest Link.
After a long audition process to become a contestant during the show’s special edition of college week, LSU’s own Barry Lowin, a mass communication senior and school cheerleader was selected to participate.
Lowin received notice that he was one of 12 cheerleaders from around the nation being flown to Los Angeles as a contestant on the show. With all expenses paid, Lowin proceeded to the big city.
The show’s normal procedure is to call for 12 contestants so there would be a safety net in case someone cancels since only eight contestants are needed. From the 12, producers would select eight that they felt would make for an interesting show.
“We were aware that only eight were allowed to actually compete on stage but we did not know how they would choose between us,” said Lowin.
The day of taping finally arrived. Lowin and the other contestants stood on the game show set in heavy anticipation of who had been chosen. Lowin described the moment as being nerve racking and cruel.
“It was one thing having to fly all the way to California, but then having to draw numbers out of a hat was ridiculous,” said Lowin.
He and the others were informed that since everyone was so great and so interesting, they had no fair way of picking between them besides pulling numbers. It was as simple as that, numbers one through eight were on and nine through 12 were out. The emotional moment arrived when Lowin pulled number 11.
“They just thanked us for coming, and we were asked to move to the lobby so that they could begin the show,” said Lowin, “this is when they changed from being very helpful to having a ‘we don’t need you anymore attitude.’”
The three other universities that did not make the show included the University of Georgia, University of Oregon, and the University of Michigan.
Lowin said that he was more excited to put LSU out there than anything. “I was the only one in a gold polyester suit, so I definitely would have stood out, and LSU would have been represented well,” said Lowin.
He believes that it was one of those things that would have benefitted the squad like my teammates who were on Good Morning America for winning the national partner stunt competition.
“It felt good to have been selected out of 200 other audition tapes,” Lowin explained, “but the hardest part was returning with the news that I was not on the show.”
Alicia Duplessis