MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Student to be on 'Fear Factor'
By Lauren Bristow
Ibristow@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Would you eat cow, sheep and fish eyeballs? What if you could win $50,000 for doing it?
Eating eyeballs is just one of four outrageous stunts that challenged Tom Fahrbach, Haven graduate student, in his quest for $50,000. He will appear on the reality television game show, *Fear Factor*, tonight at 7 on NBC.
"All these people have to do is do this stupid stuff and you win $50,000," Fahrbach said. "When people would quit because they were too scared to perform the stunt, I'd be yelling at the screen, 'You idiots!'"
Because Fahrbach is still under contract with NBC, he can't say whether he won the prize money or say which stunts he completed.
But he can describe the four stunts that he and five other contestants faced. Fahrbach said the show was taped in February 2002 and included stunts ranging from swinging Tarzan-style across a busy street, eating the various
Fahrbach's family and friends weren't surprised when he told them he was going to be on the show.
NBC representatives interviewed 30,000 applicants during the interview process and six where chosen to compete on the show, Fahrbach said.
eyeballs and sliding down the outside of the 350-foot-tall Luxor Hotel pyramid while trying to grab flags. The winner had to bet half of the prize money on one hand of blackjack, Fahrbach said.
"I got an e-mail while Tom was in Brazil and all it said was 'Fear Factor baby, Fear Factor,'" said Bryce Gahagan, Fahrbach's roommate. "I thought to myself,
Fahrbach sent his five-minute audition tape almost two years ago and had forgotten about it when he got a call from NBC.
"I went with some friends to Brazil for about five months while I was waiting to see if I had gotten into medical school," he said. "When I got the call, I cut my trip a couple of weeks shorts so I could fly to Chicago for the interview."
Fahrbach's mom, Patti Fahrbach, said she was thrilled her son was going to be on the show. But Fahrbach's dad, Mike, felt differently.
'Of course Tom would get on the show.' If anyone's going to win, he'd be the one."
"I think my dad is a little embarrassed by it because his son is selling himself out on TV by eating eyeballs for $50,000," Fahrbach said. "But he still thinks it's funny and gets a kick out of how stupid V'll be."
To watch the show, Tom's mom is having family and friends over while Tom and nearly 200 of his closest friends will be watching the show from a bar on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo.
As for the $50,000 prize money, Fahrbach said if he had won he'd probably spend a little on something frivolous like a motorcycle and save the rest. But his mom thinks differently.
"I think he'd end up using it foolishly by buying a fancy car or taking a trip," she said.
— Edited by Anne Mantey
By Lauren Bristow
lbristow@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Alumna shoots for star status
From playing Mammy Yokum in Buhler High School's production of Li'l Abner to singing country music on the stage of the Acuff Theater in Nashville, Tenn., KU alumna Amy Chappell is pursuing her dream of becoming a country music star.
The 27-year-old Hutchinson native appeared Saturday night on the debut of Nashville Star, the USA Network's country cousin of American Idol.
Emmerich and her husband, Kip, gathered with nearly 75 family members and friends at Chappell's aunt's restaurant in Hutchinson to watch the first show.
"We're just so extremely proud of her," said Pam Emmerich, Chappell's mom. "I'm elated, and it all seems a bit surreal."
said. "Just to realize that she was one of the final 12 and to see how many wannabes auditioned was amazing."
We sat there, so totally excited whenever her face would come on," Kip Emmerich
Chappell was one of 12 finalists chosen from more than 8,000 auditions nationwide. The pre-taped show that aired on Saturday showed local audition contests, semi-final performances and interviews as three judges made their way across America selecting finalists.
Starting this Saturday, all shows will be live performances, said Karen Byrd, a publicist for the show.
To add a more reality-television touch to the show, contestants live together in a house on Music Row in Nashville, Byrd said. Cameras will record the daily lives of contestants for footage that will be aired on the show.
"What makes Nashville Star different is that it has the reality aspect of the contestants living together." Byrd said. "But a second thing that sets Nashville Star apart from other shows is
that contestants also have to perform original music at times throughout the show."
Chappell, reached by e-mail, said she wouldn't be available for an interview because of the hectic show schedule.
According to Chappell's mom, Chappell studied music therapy at the University of Kansas. After graduating in 2000, Chappell moved to Nashville.
"It was an opportunity for her to work with her music therapy degree," said Kip Emmerich. "But she was also talking about the aspect of being a singer and songwriter in Nashville."
Nearly 40 members of Chappell's family are leaving on Friday for Nashville to see the first live show.
Judges and the viewing audience will eliminate finalists during the next nine weeks and the winner will receive a recording contract from Sony Music Nashville produced by country music star Clint Black.
- Edited by Anne Mantey
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