Flamenco is a style of music and dance, and it also means – and sounds like – flamingo in Spanish. So it's easy to see how Wheel of Fortune's contestant, Jonny, made a $7,100 goof yesterday.
Jonny had all the right letters up in front of him, all in the right order, which read "flamenco dance lessons." But when host Pat Sajak said, "Carefully, what's up there?" poor Jonny said, "Flamingo dance lessons!" Bzzz. Wrong answer.
Contestant Ashley then swoops in with the correct pronunciation, "Flamenco dance lessons" and wins the cash prize.
Jonny looks utterly confused, and Sajak, who looks a bit surprised himself, sputters, “So t-to explain, wh-what we all heard was, and I don’t even know [how] to say it but you gave us a ‘g’ instead of a ‘c’.”
To make sure all was kosher, Sajak said they would look things over during the commercial break, but after the break it's decided that indeed, Jonny mispronounced the word, lost the round to Ashley, and thus lost his $7,100 and trip to Europe. Might not seem fair, but them's the rules.
