‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant With Parkinson’s Disease Stuns Fans in Amazing Win

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Monday, March 10 episode of Jeopardy!]

Laura Faddah tried to win her ninth straight Jeopardy! game, but could she do it? The manager faced two new contestants after returning to the game show on Friday, March 7. Fans had to wait to see her play again after a few months of tournaments.

The eight-day champion played against Sabrina Blanks, from Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Harvey Silikovitz, originally from West Orange, New Jersey, on Monday, March 10. Silikovitz, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2019, described himself as an attorney in New York City by day and a worldwide karaoke singer by night. Blanks is a microcrochet artist who owns her own business and recently became a master gardener. Because of his diagnosis, Silikovitz sat for the entire game.

The karaoke singer gave Faddah a run for her money as he dominated the first half of the competition. Silikovitz answered 10 questions correctly in the first half. He then took a big lead after 15 clues when he got the Daily Double right. “The name of this South American capital refers to a feast day honoring the Virgin Mary,” the clue read. “What is Asunción?” Silikovitz answered, which added $1,000 to his total.

By the first commercial break, he led with $7,200. Faddah only had $1,000, and Blanks was in third with $600. Both women only answered one question each, and both got them correct.

The attorney continued to run the competition in the second half of the first round. He answered 18 questions correctly and only answered one wrong. Both Faddah and Black did not answer any wrong. Faddah only got four right, while Blanks got three correct. By the end of the round, Silikovitz led with $11,200. Faddah was surprisingly way behind with $1,800. Blanks was close to her with $1,600.

Double Jeopardy! included a triple stumper, which left the contestants staring at the clue. “Saoirse Ronan said of this mentor who directed her in 2 films, ‘She’s everything I want to be as an actor & a filmmaker,” the clue read. No one buzzed in and knew that “Greta Gerwig” was the answer.

Faddah had a chance to catch up to Silikovitz when she found the first DD of the round. She wagered $3,000 from her $4,600 bank. The clue read: “This domed cathedral on Ludgate Hill in London was one of the inspirations for the Capital Building in Washington D.C.” Luckily, Faddah knew the answer — “What is St. Paul’s?” — bringing her total to $7,600.

Silikovitz found the second DD of the game. He was already in the lead with $23,200, so he could wager a good amount of money, get it wrong, and still maintain first place. However, he chose to play it safe and only wagered $6,000. “This 6th grade & title character says, ‘I’ve been looking for you, God. I looked in Temple. I looked in church,” the clue read. “Who is Margaret?” he answered, which was correct, bringing his total to $29,200, and the round was far from over.

By the end of the round, the karaoke singer had answered 35 questions correctly and only one incorrectly. Faddah answered 10 right and one wrong. Blanks answered seven correctly and one incorrectly. Their totals were as follows: Silikovitz had $36,800, Faddah $11,200, and Blanks $4,400. Unless Silikovitz messed up his wager in Final Jeopardy!, he looked to be the winner. However, anything could happen.

The category for Final Jeopardy! was “World Flags.” The clue read: “A dark blue square in the upper left corner of the flag of this country represents the continent of Africa.” Blanks answered with “What is Liberia?” which was right. She bet $4,398, which made her final total $8,798. Faddah answered incorrectly with “What is Madagascar?” She wagered $0, which made her final total $11,200. It all came down to Silikovitz’s answer and wager. He wrote Madagascar, crossed it out, wrote Belgium, and then settled on “What is France?” He wagered $13,200, giving him a final total of $23,600. Silikovitz won the game and advances to Tuesday night’s episode, ending Faddah’s streak. She is the only contestant to have eight consecutive wins with a total under $100,000. However, fans will get to see her in the next Tournament of Champions.

According to Jeopardy! Fan, Silikovitz had the seventh-best debut Coryat score of all time in regular play, which is the total dollar value of the clues a contestant got right, minus the total dollar value of the clues a contestant got wrong. The website also dubbed his performance as “one of the greatest of all time.”

Reddit users were stunned by the singer’s incredible gameplay.

“Wowzers, what a dominant performance from Harvey! I hope he has a long run and look forward to hearing about his worldwide karaoke singing career,” one said.

“Harvey the giant slayer! What a game! I felt like the clues were pretty tough today,” said another.

“Hell yeah, Harvey!!! You’re a beast man,” commented a third.

“Wowww!!! Go Harvey! For someone who has been trying to get onto the show for a VERY long time, it’s great that he was able to make it pay off so well! Certainly hope he can win at least 4 more games to guarantee himself the TOC slot :). This debut has me rooting hard for him!” said another.

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