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B-I-N-G-O

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

All right, let's start the show? You guys ready to start the show?

JONATHAN COULTON: Yes.

EISENBERG: All right, let's do it.

COULTON: Please.

EISENBERG: We have our first contestants. Give them a hand everybody.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: All right. Hi, Tony Hightower. Welcome.

TONY HIGHTOWER: Hi, Ophira.

EISENBERG: You're originally from Toronto.

HIGHTOWER: I am.

EISENBERG: And you are a singer.

HIGHTOWER: I do sing. I have sang.

EISENBERG: Okay, yeah, that would make you a singer.

HIGHTOWER: Yeah.

EISENBERG: I'm going to say yes to that.

HIGHTOWER: Yes, yes.

EISENBERG: Did you come to New York with a band?

HIGHTOWER: I came with a band. The band broke up.

EISENBERG: Okay.

HIGHTOWER: They all left and I stayed.

EISENBERG: Good for you.

HIGHTOWER: Yeah.

EISENBERG: Yeah, you showed them.

(LAUGHTER)

HIGHTOWER: You could say.

EISENBERG: No, that's great. And you now obviously hang and live in New York, and what do you do here?

HIGHTOWER: Now, I'm an event planner. I do karaoke nights. I do the occasional trivia event. I do...

EISENBERG: Oh, everything.

HIGHTOWER: Yeah, basically, yeah.

EISENBERG: What's your karaoke song?

HIGHTOWER: My karaoke song? I do "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears.

EISENBERG: Oh.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: I could see that would be amazing.

HIGHTOWER: I'd like to think so.

EISENBERG: Yeah, well this is a good game for you then. And we also have Robin Wachsberger everybody.

ROBIN WACHSBERGER: Hello.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Now, Robin, I am told that you do some performance-art ghost tours of Brooklyn. Can you tell me about that?

WACHSBERGER: Yes, I've been putting together a ghost tour that involves two German sugar barons, taking folks on tours of bars in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

EISENBERG: That is very hip.

WACHSBERGER: Tickets are not yet available. They will be.

EISENBERG: That's how hip it is, by the way.

WACHSBERGER: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: That sounds amazing. And also, your hobby is fire-spinning. I don't even know what that is.

WACHSBERGER: Poi, yes.

EISENBERG: Poi?

WACHSBERGER: Fire-spinning, yes. Well, I take classes where we spin socks around. And then at the end, there's a recital where you light them on - well, you don't light them on fire.

EISENBERG: Your socks?

(LAUGHTER)

WACHSBERGER: You light Kevlar on fire and spin it around, to make pretty circles.

EISENBERG: Wow.

WACHSBERGER: And plans...

EISENBERG: That's an awesome New York apartment hobby.

WACHSBERGER: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Little tiny spaces. All right, well this first game that we are playing is called B-I-N-G-O, like the song, about a farmer who has this dog, and that's all we know. That's what it's about, right, Jonathan?

COULTON: It's mostly about the farmer and his dog named Bingo, yes. In this game, what's going to happen is we're going to give you some clues to words and names that could fit in that song. B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O and Bingo is his name-o.

So it'll be like that except it'll be a different five-letter word, ending in the letter "O." So, for example...

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

COULTON: There was a Texas battle site of 1836, and can you sing its name-o?

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

EISENBERG: A-L-A-M-O.

COULTON: That's right.

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

EISENBERG: A-L-A-M-O. A-L-A-M-O.

COULTON: Just once is fine. You don't have to go all the way.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: I appreciate your enthusiasm but that's way too much singing.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Okay, contestants, so you have to ring in and sing, just like I did. I know we all set the bar very high as far as vocal training. And whichever one of you gets the most questions right will move on to our final Ask Me One More round at the end of the show. Are you ready?

HIGHTOWER: Sure.

WACHSBERGER: I'm really bad at spelling, but...

EISENBERG: You'll be fine.

COULTON: It's just five letters.

(LAUGHTER)

ART CHUNG: And one of them is "O."

COULTON: And one of them is "O."

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: We've already given you one.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

COULTON: There was a dessert brand that Bill Cosby loved, and can you sing its name-o?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Tony?

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

HIGHTOWER: J-E-L-L-O. J-E-L...

COULTON: That's right, yes.

(APPLAUSE)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

COULTON: There was a U.S. base in Cuba, and can you sing its nickname-o?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Tony?

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

HIGHTOWER: G-I-T-M-O.

COULTON: Yes.

(APPLAUSE)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

COULTON: There was a singer who sang the "Thong Song," and can you sing his name-o?

(LAUGHTER)

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Tony? Robin's like, "oh, this guy again."

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Go ahead.

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

HIGHTOWER: S-I-S-Q-O.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

COULTON: Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: We're all amused that you know that.

HIGHTOWER: I'm ashamed.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: No, no, no, never be ashamed. Never be ashamed by the "Thong Song."

(LAUGHTER)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

COULTON: There was a car whose name means "I roll" in Latin, and can you sing its name-o?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: It's a very carefully written clue there.

EISENBERG: Tony?

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

HIGHTOWER: V-O-L-V-O.

EISENBERG: Yes.

COULTON: Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

COULTON: There was a Supreme Court justice appointed in 2006, and can you sing his name-o?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Tony?

(LAUGHTER)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

HIGHTOWER: A-L-I-T-O. A-L...

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: That's right.

EISENBERG: Robin, don't worry. You have still plenty of time to get on the board, not to worry.

WACHSBERGER: Okay. Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

COULTON: There was a kind of acid found in protein, and can you sing its name-o?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

WACHSBERGER: A-M-I-N-O, A-M-I-N-O.

(APPLAUSE)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

WACHSBERGER: A-M-I-N-O. And amino was its name-o.

(LAUGHTER)

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

COULTON: There was an antibiotic that's good for anthrax, and can you sing its name-o?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Tony?

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

HIGHTOWER: C-I-P-R-O.

EISENBERG: Yes.

COULTON: Yes.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: The most delightful children's song.

COULTON: Yes.

EISENBERG: All right, well, it looks like Tony, you are moving on to our final round, Ask Me One More, at the end of the show.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: A big hand to Robin, everybody, a fantastic contestant. Thank you, Tony. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.