Junior 'Jeopardy' finalist moves on

IU junior Brett Dvorak has qualified for the semifinal round of 'College Jeopardy.'\nIn the quarterfinals, broadcast Tuesday night, Dvorak finished behind Thomas Zamora from the University of Southern California and Mysti Kofford from Boston University, but finished with a total high enough to qualify for the next round.\nDvorak said he wasn't sure what his family and friends were cheering about after Final Jeopardy, when he had the lowest total, of $6,600.\n"I didn't know I was going to the semifinals when that show ended," Dvorak said. "My fans knew I had a high enough score to get into the next round."\nDvorak will take on contestants from UCLA and Stanford in the semifinals round to be broadcast at 7:30 p.m. tonight on Bloomington cable channel eight.\nNine contestants compete in the semifinals.\nDvorak, who is majoring in political science and history, was selected as one of 15 college students to take part in Jeopardy's annual College Champion-ships, taped Oct. 6-7 at the University of California at Los Angeles.\nThis year's college champion is guaranteed $50,000, a specially designed trophy and a brand-new Volvo. In addition, the winnings of the first, second and third place contestants will be matched by Volvo and given to the winner's respective schools as scholarships. Every contestant will go home with at least a $2,500 scholarship.\nDvorak said he was surprisingly not very nervous for the show's taping.\n"I thought I'd be real nervous," Dvorak said. "It was so surreal with (Host Alex) Trebek up there in front of me, that it was really funny."\nA good-sized contingent of family and friends also made him more comfortable, he said.\nAlthough Dvorak had prepared fake stories about himself to tell Trebek, the show's producers used a true story -- about Dvorak's blue "blanky."\n"Some of the lining has ripped off it, but it's still intact," Dvorak told Trebek.\nIn the quarterfinal round, Dvorak jumped out of the gates quickly, answering the games first two questions. But from there, things tightened up. Dvorak went through the first round without a misfire until the round's final question.\nHe answered questions about everything from elevators to ivory pool balls and answered correctly a Daily Double question with the category UCLA -- an answer he knew only from talking to an alternate contestant from Pepperdine before the show's taping.\nDvorak said he missed a "What is Indiana?" question because the buzzer is tough to get the hang of.\n"A light comes on when the buzzer can be pushed," he said. "If you buzz in before, you get locked out."\nWhile Dvorak wore a gray sweatshirt in the quarterfinal round, he said he wore a crimson sweatshirt in tonight's round.\nIn September, Dvorak told the IDS he decided to apply for the tournament somewhat haphazardly.\n"I watch 'Jeopardy' a little too much," Dvorak said. "I was just watching the show and I saw an advertisement about the College Championships and just applied online. I never expected them to call me back"