Jeopardy
The Final Jeopardy clue on Jeopardy! on Wednesday (May 7) seemed to be way too easy, but not one of the contestants got it right. The category was The Grammys. The clue: “Best New Artists at the 7th Annual Grammys, this band would be nominated the next six years, but not again until the 39th and 67th events.”
The champion wrote down “Who is the Marine Marching Band,” which was incorrect. The ensemble has never even been nominated for a Grammy.
A challenger wrote down “Springsteen,” which ignored a key part of the clue that it was a “band.” And while Bruce Springsteen has been recording for more than 50 years, the clues indicated a 60-year span of Grammy ceremonies. The Boss hasn’t been around quite that long.
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The second challenger, you figure, has to get it right. He wrote “The Rolling Stones.” As host Ken Jennings pointed out, that was closer, but still not right. To the Grammys’ eternal shame, The Rolling Stones weren’t even nominated for a Grammy until the 1979 ceremony, when they were up for album of the year for Some Girls. And they don’t satisfy another part of the clue, either: They have never been nominated more than two years in a row. But they did win best rock album earlier this year for Hackney Diamonds.
The correct answer, of course, is The Beatles. They won best new artist at the 1965 ceremony, were nominated every year from 1966-1971, and then were nominated again in 1997 (when they won a total of three Grammys for The Beatles Anthology and “Free as a Bird”) and earlier this year (when they won best rock performance for “Now and Then”).
If the contestants had just muttered “Help!” when they saw the clue, and realized they were in trouble, that might have led them to the correct question.
OK, so, these three contestants were not Grammy experts, and perhaps not die-hard Beatles fans. Still, they did very well in other categories during the two rounds of play. This just goes to show that we all have our strong suits and other areas were we draw a blank.
After previously flubbing a Taylor Swift question on Jeopardy!, contestant Drew Goins got smarter in the nick of time before appearing on the show again Monday (Jan. 6).
The Washington Post writer first appeared on the show in September, during which he drew a blank space at the prompt, “The first of Taylor Swift’s record 4 AOTY Grammys was for this album in 2010.”
The answer — as countless Swifties were undoubtedly screaming at their televisions in the moment — is Fearless, but in the moment, Goins simply shook his head, stumped. Four months later, the journalist reflected on the moment with host Ken Jennings.
“Yeah, so I got a Taylor Swift question wrong and went home worried that the Swifties would come rip me out of my bed at night,” Goins said on Monday’s episode. “But it turns out that the angriest Swiftie was my brother. The night before taping, he had prepared an entire practice board for me … and it was entirely Taylor Swift.”
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Jennings then joked that Goins might get his shot at redemption — and that he did. During a category titled “Albums,” the contestant stumbled on the following prompt as audience members started laughing in surprise: “In 2014, Taylor Swift gave us this album named for a different year.”
This time, Goins was ready. “What is 1989!” he cheered excitedly.
“Redemption for Drew!” the host congratulated him. “That is correct.”
The 14-time Grammy winner often inspires questions on the beloved game show, at one point lending herself to an entire board of categories in January 2024. The sections were named “Love Story,” “Our Song,” “Bad Blood,” “Shake It Off,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “The Errors Tour” at the time.
In November, Swift again popped up in a Jeopardy clue, this time alongside her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? is hosted by this man who’s maybe more famous as a bf than as a 3-time Super Bowl champ,” read the prompt, at which a contestant named Derek correctly guessed, “Who is Travis Kelce?”
Watch Goins redeem himself in the eyes of Swifties on Jeopardy! below.
Jeopardy! contestants are expected to know a little bit about everything. They can be a leading authority on the World Series, but that doesn’t do them a bit of good if the categories before them are Shakespeare, U.S. History and 20th Century Women. On Wednesday (Sept. 25), one of the categories was Grammy Winners for […]
The beef that keeps on giving, just keeps on giving. Two weeks after Kendrick Lamar resolutely slammed the lid shut on his verbal takedown of Drake with the iconic “Not Like Us” music video, the two men were in the spotlight again on Tuesday night (July 16) when their bars brawl made it into a […]
There is an argument to be made that Beyoncé is, in fact, a rapper — look no further than Megan Thee Stallion’s Grammy-winning “Savage” remix for evidence — but she did not make Billboard and Vibe‘s 2023 list of the 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, despite what a Jeopardy! contestant guessed on Tuesday’s (Feb. 13) episode.
On the episode, there was a full category based on our list, which we co-authored with our sister publication Vibe early last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
To announce the category, Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings said, “And finally, the 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time — chosen not by me, but by Billboard and Vibe.”
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The contestants only stumbled on the $200 clue, which read: “She invited us to ‘Come Into My House’ & also deal with the ‘Wrath of My Madness’; we bow down before this Queen.” Nicole incorrectly guessed Beyoncé — she of the Queen Bey nickname bestowed by her loyal Beyhive — but the answer was actually Queen Latifah, who landed at No. 44 on our list. “Different queen,” Jennings quipped after Kat got the right answer.
Below, find the final four remaining clues from the category along with their correct answers — and where those artists landed on our list.
$400 clue: “In 1986 it was ‘6 ‘N the Mornin’’ for him in the studio but in 2000 it was SVU for him on TV.”
Who is Ice-T? The rapper-turned-actor is No. 45 on our list.
$600 clue: “Billboard said he is ‘often cited as hip-hop’s GOAT behind the boards…a lead rapper on…1988’s Straight Outta Compton.’”
Who is Dr. Dre? The N.W.A and solo star is No. 40 on our list.
$800 clue: “Some numbers: 3 years after taking 9 bullets, he had a Billboard 200 No. 1 debut with Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2003.”
Who is 50 Cent? The Eminem signee is No. 17 on our list.
$1,000 clue: “‘Backed by rap’s archetypal hype man in Flavor Flav,’ this Public Enemy leader was a ‘Rebel Without a Pause’ in 1987.”
Who is Chuck D? The activist frontman is No. 34 on our list.
There weren’t any questions about rappers in our top 10 — including Jay-Z, who tops our list — but you can revisit the full countdown here to see where your favorite lands.
In the last month, Jeopardy! has featured a category based on Billboard‘s 500 Best Pop Songs list as well as a full Taylor Swift takeover of every category in a round.
Watch the Beyoncé moment below:
–Additional reporting by Josh Glicksman
On Wednesday night’s (Jan. 24) of Jeopardy!, Taylor Swift did what she does best: She took over. Song titles and references to the pop superstar inspired every category in the first round of the latest “Champions Wildcard” episode. The categories included “Love Story,” “Our Song,” “Bad Blood,” “Shake It Off,” “We Are Never Ever Getting […]
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