"Everybody's a Winner"

You might not remember his name, but chances are that if you saw his appearance on "Millionaire" you rember it. Robby Roseman was the first contestant to get the first question in the hotseat wrong.

"I didn't get much from it but a good story," said Robby. That's a bit of an understatement. Robby got a good story that attracted attention from the public, the press and Rosie O'Donnell.
when it comes to "Millionaire," everybody's a winner.

It started like it does every time Regis Philbin needs to fill the hotseat- with a fast finger question.

    According to their titles, put the following movies in geographical order from west to east.

    A.Viva Las Vegas
    B.Memphis Belle
    C.Fargo
    D.Beverly Hills Cop

Robby won, guessing "D, A, C, B" in the shortest amount of time. He moved into the hotseat, wearing his "lucky shorts" that got him a skybox at a NBA game.

    Hannibal crossed the Alps using what animals?

  • A. Rhinoceri
  • B. Elephants
  • C. Llamas
  • D. Chihuahuas

Robby decided to use a lifeline- 50/50. The answers were narrowed down to "C" or "B." Robby guessed "C." He was wrong; the correct answer was "B".

"Sorry," Regis said to Robby. "Robby's gone before he got here. Robby should take off the lucky shorts and burn them.
"It's only easy if you know the answers. Elephants never forget. Robby will never forget elephants." Regis was right, Robby won't forget elephants. And America wasn't about to forget Robby.

"It was a shock. If I'd got five questions right and won $5,000, it would have paled in comparison," said Robby about the media's glare that followed his appearance. He says that first week after the show aired was tough.

TV shows like Entertainment tonight were calling constantly and Robby couldn't live down his appearance at work either. On the day he returned to the Mercantile Exchange, Robby found the entire floor was covered with pictures of elephants.

"You have to have a sense of humor," laughs Robby. However, he didn't think it was funny that his first question was so much harder than other first questions. "Ninety-nine percent of the time the first question's 'What color's the sky?'"

Robby got to try his hand again at trivia- this time on the Rosie O'Donnell Show. Rosie, who's a big fan of Millionaire and won $500,000 on the celebrity show, invited Robby to answer another 10 questions. Robby and Brian Fedara, who also lost on the first question of "Millionaire," got all the answers right. "Some of them were hard, but they were easier."

As a reward, Rosie gave Robby a 2000 Honda Civic. "It was the redemption of everything," said Robby, whose sister is now driving the car in Florida.

"My fifteen minutes turned into 30," said Robby about all the publicity. That just goes to show that when it comes to Who Wants to Be A Millionaire everybody's a winner.