When Matthew J. Cataline of Hubbard tried out in 1996 for a spot on the "Jeopardy! College Tournament" he passed preliminary tests, but never received a call back from the show.

That might explain his recent delight when producers of the hit ABC show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" did call back. On the game show, a contestant sits in the "hot seat" and is asked a round of questions with each worth more than the last. Few people ever reach the fabled $1 million question.

In July Cataline and hundreds of others trekked to Cleveland for a shot at becoming a contestant on the show. He endured a written pre-test chock full of multiple choice trivia identical to questions from the show. Two weeks later he got a post card notifying him he was in the contestant pool. Then, Sept. 10 he got the call he was waiting for.

Producers reached him at work to tell him he would be a contestant on the show. He flew Sept. 19 to New York City, where ABC's network studio is located. It was his first time visiting the city and the show paid for everything.

He and other contestants met with producers that day to go over taping schedules for the following day and rules for the studio.

Contestants were asked to choose and bring along three to four different outfits appropriate for television and the show picked two they liked most.

Before taping players were taken in the studio, shown around and taught the proper way to enter and leave the hot seat.

"It's not bolted down. If you get in it wrong it could tip over," Cataline said with a laugh.

Players are allowed a list of five lifelines, people players can telephone for help if they get stumped. Producers predetermined the order contestants play and Cataline's turn came fairly early in the rotation.

Cataline said he was a bit nervous.

"It's all very stressful until they're like 'okay you're next,' " he said.

He finally got into the hot seat and met Meredith Viera, who hosts the syndicated version of the show on Thursday nights. He said he forgot about being nervous after he crossed the stage to shake Ms. Viera's hand, which he also held during the commercial break.

When he finally left the hot seat he was relieved, but wondered how far he could have gone if he had gotten that one challenging question right.

The show changed a bit from the days of Regis Philbin. The fastest finger portion that used to determine whether a person made it to the hot seat is no longer a part of the game.

Cataline said he isn't allowed to discuss how much money he won, what questions he was asked or who his lifelines were. He can't apply for any other game shows for a certain period of time since appearing on the show.

"They're tight-lipped about those three things," he said.

The show airs the week of Jan. 13 and afterward Cataline will be able to collect his winnings -- if any.

The Hubbard High School honors graduate graduated last year from Youngstown State University with a bachelor's degree in Italian and Spanish.