World o' Game
Don't Forget The Lyrics!
(2007, USA, Fox)

The opening titles, and here's Mark Thompson's opening spiel in full:

"Tonight, ordinary people will get the chance to win millions of dollars just knowing the words to the biggest hit songs ever recorded.

It's a dramatic, heart-pounding million-dollar rollercoaster ride. But when the music stops and the words disappear... some will soar, while others will choke."

"Tonight, our summer finale is our most dramatic episode ever. Two contestants, each facing unbelievable pressure. They go from the greatest heights to the lowest lows. By the end, one of them may be going home with a million! And one of them may be going to the hospital. It's our most shocking finish ever! And it all starts right now."

Here's a big old wide view of the set. Audience are sat in the round, the live orchestra is housed in the top right cordner there. Copious use of astons.

And there's the logo there on a big screen. Going into and out of breaks, the exclamation mark is a microphone which spins into an exclamation mark.

It's our jovial host Wayne Brady, off of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

And coming down the walkway is our first contestant, Erin Payne!

OK here's the game. Erin is ten songs away from a million dollars. In front of her are nine categories.

Every time she completes a song, she advances up the money ladder. There's a safe point at $25,000 - if you get there you're guaranteed to go away with it even if you get a song wrong.

If she completes the nine categories she can attempt the million dollar song.

She's chosen Whitney Houston to begin with. She now has a choice of two songs, and she goes for Greatest Love of All.

She will have to fill in three missing words. The amount of words she will need to fill starts small, but will rise to double figures when the money gets big.

The band strikes up and she sings along with the words on the big screen, which are also replicated down the bottom for the viewers at home.

And then the music and lyrics suddenly stop (usually at the end of a line) and she must sing the requisite number of words to fill in the blanks.

Her words are in yellow. She can change them as many times as she likes.

If she's confident, she can ask to "lock in those lyrics" - they turn blue and now can't be changed.

Oh we've captured this shot a little bit too late, but if she's correct the lyrics turn green with an accompanying power chord.

Here's a graphic, we've moved on a bit clearly.

It's time for a break, but don't turn over! Because coming up is the shocking finish to the season you'll ALL be talking about, apparently.

Well here we are and she seems to be having a few problems with Robert Palmer's Simply Irresistable.

Handily everyone gets three "helps". The first is the back-up singer, she's bought two chums with her and she can call on one of them to help out. The second is that she can pick any two words and they'll get filled in for free. The third will give her a choice of three complete lines.

She's gone for the three lines, and there they are. Unfortunately she's not sure.

But she cunningly combines it with her two words lifeline, and by choosing to fill in the first two words (which turn green automatically), the last two words become rather obvious. Good strategy!

Another reminder about the shocking next contestant later and we're at Culture Club's Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?

To drag the excitement and drama out a bit longer, and because she is wrong, Wayne will ask for certain words to go green (third and fourth in this case)

Are the first two words correct? No, because they turn red in a shot that's a bit too quick for me to capture I'm afraid.

To finish she's invited to sing along with Wayne how it should be sung.

She had a spare help, but she's not lost anything, she goes away with $25,000. Well done her.

It's our next contestant Eddie Vandiver. All we know is that something ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUSLY shocking is going to happen, possibly involving having a heart attack.

He tells us he's a really bad dancer.

You can see his two back-up singers sitting on stools in the background there.

Fast forward through the game, he's having a bit of trouble with Johnny Cash's I Walk The Line.

And he's calling upon his Uncle Ray.

They both sing the song again.

Uncle Ray's suggestion is written down the bottom. Eric decides to go with it and locks in the lyrics.

And he's right! Wayne describes Ray as a "lyrical pimp".

It's time for Friends In Low Places by Garth Brooks but on no, what's this... Eric seems a bit short of breath and looks as though he's on the verge of collapse...

But five seconds later he's alright again. Phew! That was truly shocking.

Unfortunately he got the first two words wrong here and goes home with $25,000.

And that's Don't Forget The Lyrics!