A dream come true A dream come true (April 23, 2004)

MV resident gets her wish to play 'Wheel of Fortune' at SF taping

By Grace Rauh

Elsa Billings fulfilled a lifelong dream last week.

She didn't finish her doctorate program, summit Mount Everest or walk on the moon.

She just spun the wheel. And it felt good.

After tuning into "Wheel of Fortune" nightly since its early seasons and shouting answers to the word puzzles in her living room, Billings secured a spot on the long-running game show and tested her mettle before 2,500 fans gathered for a taping in San Francisco last Friday.

She remained calm under pressure, pulled her hair in excitement and even threw her arms around host Pat Sajak.

"I love to travel, salsa dance, go to the movies and play 'Wheel of Fortune,'" Billings said to a cheering crowd that included her husband, mother, two sisters and two nephews.

Before stepping on the stage with its massive Golden Gate Bridge replica and faux Coit Tower, Billings and her two competitors spoke with Sajak in their private room at the massive Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, where the show was taped. Billings also managed to exchange some words with co-host and fashion icon Vanna White during the shoot. After tuning in for so many years, "you kind of do feel like you know them," Billings said. "They're so sweet."

"Wheel of Fortune," which has been on the air since 1981, leaves its Los Angeles home three times a year to tape episodes in different American cities. Last fall Radio City Music Hall in New York City hosted episode 4,000.

The show is normally recorded in front of a few hundred viewers in Los Angeles -- the people who couldn't get tickets to "Friends," according to Sajak -- a stark change from the thousands lined up for the special Bay Area appearance.

"It's a whole different atmosphere," Sajak said before the show. "It kind of gooses you a little bit."

Billings understands the fuss. A Mountain View resident and Los Gatos native, she grew up watching "Wheel of Fortune." It was a family tradition to gather in front of the television each evening to try and solve the puzzles before the contestants.

"When I was little, I liked it because I was learning how to read," she said after the taping, still shaking with excitement.

Billings initially applied to be a contestant on the "Wheel of Fortune" Web site and was selected for a grueling half-day trial at the San Francisco Marriott. She solved word puzzles, took a test and proved she could give the hefty wheel a hearty spin.

Although they couldn't all attend the taping, Billings expects her 75 cousins and 30 aunts and uncles to tune in when the show airs on May 10. Her 85-year-old grandmother is unlikely to miss the action, as she watches "Wheel of Fortune" every night.

"This is it. This is like her show," Billings said.

Billings is a graduate student at Stanford's School of Education, and she hopes to become a professor. The flashy world of television may exist in a different galaxy than her academic life, but she's always had a soft spot in her heart for the show.

"It's both skill but it's also a lot of luck, and anybody can win," she said. "And I want everybody to win."

Billing's episode will air on May 10 at 7:30 p.m. on Channel 7.

E-mail Grace Rauh at grauh@mv-voice.com

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