Ray Lalonde the latest Canadian on Jeopardy! streak with 12th straight win | 24CA News
It’s not your creativeness: Jeopardy! streaks are getting longer.
Ray Lalonde, a Toronto-based scenic artist who’s received 12 video games and counting, is simply the most recent in a brand new era of trivia titans to take up residence on the Alex Trebek Stage — named for the Canadian-born host who was the face of the present for 37 seasons till his loss of life in 2020.
After Friday’s sport, the final of 2022, Lalonde — who was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ont. — had amassed greater than $350,000 US ($475,000 Cdn).
Consider additionally Mattea Roach, the 24-year-old Canadian Jeopardy! phenom who received 23 straight video games earlier this yr, giving her the fifth-longest streak within the present’s historical past.
The two are amongst solely 16 contestants within the present’s historical past with profitable streaks of at the least 10 video games, stated Andy Saunders, a blogger primarily based in Guelph, Ont., who’s behind The Jeopardy! Fan.
Of these 16, seven appeared on the present in 2021 or 2022, together with Amy Schneider and Matt Amodio, who maintain the second- and third-longest streaks of all time.
Saunders has a principle as to why.
“The show lowered its barrier to entry,” he stated.
Near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the present’s producers started permitting would-be contestants to audition at any time, reasonably than solely with the ability to take an entrance check just a few days out of the yr.
Host Ryan Vickers visits a highschool classroom in Moncton — and leads a lunch-time follow.
And for many who ace that preliminary check, the second spherical of auditions is now carried out by way of video name, Saunders stated, reasonably than requiring quiz present hopefuls to journey to a serious metropolitan centre to check out in individual.
“There were a lot of people out there who are very good at Jeopardy! and just needed that extra nudge to try out, making it that little bit easier for them,” he stated.
A spokesperson for Jeopardy! didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark about whether or not the variety of candidates has gone up in recent times, however Saunders stated he is eradicated a number of the different attainable explanations.
The present’s clues are not any tougher, he stated, and the “super-champions” use a wide range of completely different methods, so it is not their type of play that is giving them an edge.
But regardless of the rationalization, Saunders stated he enjoys the lengthy streaks.
“I absolutely love watching excellent players do well,” he stated.
Not solely does it provide you with one thing to root for, however you additionally get to investigate the sport in a barely completely different approach, Saunders stated.
“You can definitely tell with the longer streaks that certain players are good in certain categories and not as much in others.”
It appears to be working for the present, he stated: “The ratings are still going up whenever there’s a longer streak.”
