Another day, another hilarious Jeopardy! snafu. On Tuesday, April 28, eventual Jeopardy! winner Sarah Jett Rayburn confused legendary singer Chaka Khan with warrior leader of the early 1800s Shaka Zulu. A classic mixup, right? On Wednesday, April 30, Rayburn triumphed again, but not before challenger Alwin Hui, a consultant from D.C., gave her a run for her money in the “Hilarious Wrong Answer†category. The question: name the recipient of the 2018 Icon Award, who took “control†of the the stage “in her first live television performance in nearly a decade.†Hui’s answer: Ariana Grande… Clearly, these Jeopardy! contestants really need to brush up on their divas.
If “control†in quotes wasn’t enough to give it away, you’d think the inclusion of a video clip from the 2018 Billboard Icon Award performance might help clarify that the correct answer was, in fact, Janet Jackson. To be fair to Hui, Miss Jackson (if your nasty) was rocking a hair style akin to (but not identical to) Grande’s signature high pony in the video clip. Even so, shouldn’t the “first television performance in nearly a decade†part have given it away? By 2008, Janet Jackson had already had an historic pop career under her belt while Ariana Grande was 16 and just getting started, performing on Broadway in Jason Robert Brown’s 13 The Musical like the theater geek that she is. Imagine a world where Ariana spent 2008 through 2018, practically her entire career, away from the limelight. Thank you, next.