c4countdown

Hello all, I am here again after only 3 years.

I want to see my wife as contestant on spanish "countdown" show, and I think this is the better site to talk about audition.

First of all, I will explain spanish audition:
-You must call by phone or email until you get choose by them.
-You must go to Madrid and do a test writing by hand with 10 questions (4 for numbers and 6 for letters) in 5 minutes.
-You must talk in front of a camera and look calm and funny.
-You must be in top 65 from 200 people in order to get a ticket to the show.

How is english audition?
A spanish friend of mine wants to go to participate on "countdown" tv show. He has won 20 times on Telemadrid show (because the limit) and he will come back to compete against other 20-winners. Now the prize is 400 € per victory instead of 600 €.

I don't find spanish sites talking about cyphers and letters. I love this site and I would like to speak english better.

Bye and I hope stay tunned on longer this time.

Francisco Segura wrote:-You must call by phone or email until you get choose by them.

On the British show, you fill in a form which asks mostly administrative questions like your name, date of birth, other shows you've appeared on, do you have a criminal record, etc. You send that in by post or email, and at some point someone will get back to you and offer you an audition date. Times between application and being offered an audition vary. In my case it was about an hour and a half, but I suppose it could be days, weeks or months.

Francisco Segura wrote:-You must go to Madrid and do a test writing by hand with 10 questions (4 for numbers and 6 for letters) in 5 minutes.

Auditions are held in different locations around the country, with many applicants in one room. However, sometimes they audition people one-to-one by telephone instead. In my case, because they weren't going to be doing any auditions near me for ages they offered me a telephone audition for a date the following week.

In the telephone audition they call you up at the agreed time and explain the rules. It's probably subject to change but when I did it last year I was given six letters rounds, two numbers rounds and three conundrums.

The letters rounds aren't quite the same as on the show. They'll read out the letters to you twice, once in the form "A for apple, B for beefcake" and once in the form "A,B,C". You're allowed to write them down, and you probably should. You get 35 seconds (not sure why 35, probably to compensate for the fact that it's surprisingly difficult to do when there's no music playing) and then you come up with your word. If you've got a safe word and a risky longer word, you can offer both of them and they'll take them both into account.

The numbers rounds are just the same as on the show. You don't get to pick the selection, but they read you the target and the numbers, and you've got 30-35 seconds thinking time after which you have to declare your total and how you reached it.

Conundrums: they read out the scramble, spell it, and read it out again. They'll start the clock. If you get it, say the answer.

If you pass your audition they'll give you a recording date and ask you if you're free then. Between your audition and recording they'll send you lots of documentation to read, sign and send back. The main one is where you declare that you understand the rules of the game and you won't try to cheat, assault anyone, or take drugs on camera (yes, really), and there's a medical form to declare you're fit and healthy enough to play. There's also information about rail fares to the studio and hotel accommodation (both of which are paid for by ITV), and a form that asks questions about you and your hobbies and so on.

Francisco Segura wrote:-You must talk in front of a camera and look calm and funny.

We have none of this shit. This is mostly why I got on.

Francisco Segura wrote:-You must be in top 65 from 200 people in order to get a ticket to the show.

I don't know what the pass mark is, or if the scoring is any different from that used on the programme. I passed getting the max in two of the six letters rounds, both numbers rounds and all three conundrums. Anecdotal evidence suggests that as a guide you ought to be spotting sevens in the letters rounds and getting the numbers exactly or one or two either way.

A spanish friend of mine wants to go to participate on "countdown" tv show. He has won 20 times on Telemadrid show (because the limit) and he will come back to compete against other 20-winners. Now the prize is 400 € per victory instead of 600 €.

Here you play for the famous Countdown Teapot.

Excellent!!

Very good information, I have more than I need.

Thanks a lot.

I had an audition today.

The only thing different to what Graeme said is the conundrums are now typed out on a strip of paper and the person holding the audition holds it up for 30 seconds.

Good luck Chris!!

Chris Marshall wrote:I had an audition today.

The only thing different to what Graeme said is the conundrums are now typed out on a strip of paper and the person holding the audition holds it up for 30 seconds.

And I imagine, unlike what Graeme says, you put your hand up when you have the conundrum rather than say it.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Chris Marshall wrote:I had an audition today.

The only thing different to what Graeme said is the conundrums are now typed out on a strip of paper and the person holding the audition holds it up for 30 seconds.

And I imagine, unlike what Graeme says, you put your hand up when you have the conundrum rather than say it.

I expect that's true at an in-person audition, but my description was about the phone audition.