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Isle contestant
enjoys his shot
at $1 million
Ryan Hamadon reached the
By Pat Gee and Lori Tighe
finals of a hot show and made
points with the host if not
with his answers
Star-BulletinEven Regis was pulling for him.
As Hawaii's own Ryan Hamadon waited to take the hot seat of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" host Regis Philbin kept yelling at him during the taping last night: "Mele Kalikimaka!"
"I think it was the only Hawaiian thing he knew how to say," Hamadon, a 30-year-old real estate investment manager from Honolulu, said, laughing.
Hamadon, a trivia whiz-kid and University of Hawaii graduate, reached the finals of the nation's hottest game show -- airing at 7 tonight on KITV.
He shook hands with Philbin and gave him a cigar-flower lei, which he had hand-carried on the flight to New York in the all- expenses-paid adventure.
"Anything that went wrong on the set, Regis kept telling me, 'It's because you're from Hawaii!' He was joking. But I think he wanted me to get in the hot seat," Hamadon said.
To reach the hot seat and his chance to win $1 million, Hamadon had to beat nine people from around the country by answering questions such as: Place in order starting from the U.S. East Coast the birth places of Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pierce Brosnan and Tom Hanks."The hardest and most nerve-racking thing is to make your fingers work and press the buttons," Hamadon said.
He had already passed two tests and beat 200,000 people to make it this far.
He called the show's 1-800 number and answered three questions. Then a computer randomly selected his name for another five-question test.
With his success in the second round, Hamadon was one of the 10 fastest and most accurate callers in the country to qualify for the show -- "quite an accomplishment," said ABC publicist Pat Preblick. Hamadon was flown in Sunday for yesterday's taping.
A contestant who reaches the "hot seat" opposite Philbin has to answer 15 questions, which increase in difficulty and monetary value, and "there are no strikes allowed. One mistake and you're out," Preblick said.
"It was fun. I was so close, I could see the money dangling in front of me," Hamadon said.
His mom always thought her son was "full of useless information."
Jane Hamadon of Pearl City described her son, an assistant manager for Pacific Guardian Life, as "not studious; he doesn't want to be called a geek," but very intelligent and well-rounded.
As a high school student, Hamadon watched "Jeopardy" all the time and bugged his mom to get him on the show. He also participated on many quiz-bowl teams, she said.
In December, Hamadon won a radio game show five days in a row and was retired to its Hall of Fame, said co-worker Norene Wong. She wasn't surprised he made it on the millionaire show, describing him as detail-oriented, outgoing and gregarious.
When he found out he was flying to New York, Hamadon was "excited, happy and nervous," Wong said. "But he didn't want anyone to know, because he didn't want to disappoint anyone."
Hamadon's father, Harold, wasn't surprised his son was chosen, because he's a "quick thinker, good in math -- he's an accountant by profession, and he reads a lot."
Both parents said that no one, including Hamadon, was speculating what he would do with a million dollars if he won.
"The main thing is for him to enjoy himself and do the best he can," Harold Hamadon said.
If you want to wait until tonight to find out if Hamadon won, don't read any further.
He didn't make it to the hot seat.
"I was disappointed, but the trip to New York City was exciting," Hamadon said. He saw the Broadway show "The Lion King" with his girlfriend, Marcie Oshiro. They walked in new-fallen snow around Times Square and planned to go ice skating in Rockefeller Center today before returning home.
The plucky Hamadon added, "I can try again."
Rules of the show are available on the Web site, http://www.abc.com
