Heidi Liu, 17, of Plymouth, a Blake senior, recently participated in Jeopardy’s 2007 Teen Tournament. The tournament doesn’t begin airing until Feb. 5 and Heidi is not allowed to divulge how she did in it before then. (Submitted Photo)

Heidi Liu knows a lot of things many others don't. This is evidenced by the fact that she qualified for Jeopardy's 2007 Teen Tournament.

But one thing she knows now that few others do is something she is not allowed to talk about - how she fared in the tournament.

Heidi, 17, of Plymouth, a senior at Blake's upper campus, flew to Los Angeles the first week of January to tape her part in the tournament. She knows how she did, but since the show won't air until Feb. 5, no one besides her and her family members who were present will know until then. And she can't talk about it before that date - otherwise she will have a lawsuit coming her way.

So while she can't detail specifics, she is willing to talk about the experience overall. "I had a lot of fun just being onstage and meeting Alex Trebek," she said. "He's very funny off camera. I expected someone more serious, but he has a very good sense of humor."

She said she and the other contestants, who ranged in age from 13 to 17, were all nervous when the taping began since they were filming before a live studio audience, but after a while they found their groove.

When they were on camera, the competition was intense, Heidi said, but off-screen everyone got along well and became friends by the end. She said it was nice to meet people from across the country that had similar interests as her.

Heidi has been watching Jeopardy since she was 5 years old. Growing up, she realized she had a knack for trivia. She has been playing the Jeopardy computer game since she was young and is the captain of Blake's Quiz Bowl team, which she has been on for four years. She is also the editor of Blake's literary magazine.

In September, she was one of 10,000 teens across the country who participated in an online tryout for Jeopardy's 2007 Teen Tournament. In November, she found out she was one of about 400 who qualified for the next round, which for her was an audition in Chicago.

Heidi said she was honored to have made it that far, but she really couldn't believe it when she got a call at school in early December telling her that she was one of 15 teens who qualified for the tournament. "That's when I went into really big shock," she said.

Of course she didn't know what questions would be asked at the tournament, so in her month of preparation, she stuck to what has worked for her in the past - reading a lot from a variety of sources and doing practice rounds with her Quiz Bowl team.

"The most important part is being interested in what you're learning," she said about preparing for trivia tournaments.

She said she's accumulated her trivia knowledge mostly from reading, but added that Jeopardy highlights academic and non-academic strength so you never know what pop culture or other non-school-related question will pop up.

On Quiz Bowl teams it is common to have team members who specialize in a certain subject, but Heidi said she tends to be more of a "mix-all" person, so she can answer questions in math, science, literature and pop culture.

Heidi, who is interested in a career in cognitive neuroscience, said she enjoys trivia because you never know when a bit of random knowledge is going to help out in life.

"I like knowing for knowing's sake and seeing how well it relates to something in the future," she said. "It's nice to see how things connect."

Since returning from the taping, she said it was fun to watch Jeopardy now and know that she was on that stage too, providing questions for Trebek's answers.

Each of the teens in the tournament is guaranteed a minimum of $5,000 and the top three finishers earn $75,000, $25,000, and $15,000 respectively.

Heidi's friends and classmates are looking forward to watching the tournament next month to see how much richer their friend has become. But for now, only she knows the answer to that.

Jeopardy's 2007 Teen Tournament will air 4:30 to 5 p.m. Feb. 5 to 16 on NBC.

On Quiz Bowl teams it is common to have team members who specialize in a certain subject, but Heidi said she tends to be more of a "mix-all" person, so she can answer questions in math, science, literature and pop culture.

Heidi, who is interested in a career in cognitive neuroscience, said she enjoys trivia because you never know when a bit of random knowledge is going to help out in life.

"I like knowing for knowing's sake and seeing how well it relates to something in the future," she said. "It's nice to see how things connect."

Since returning from the taping, she said it was fun to watch Jeopardy now and know that she was on that stage too, providing questions for Trebek's answers.

Each of the teens in the tournament is guaranteed a minimum of $5,000 and the top three finishers earn $75,000, $25,000, and $15,000 respectively.

Heidi's friends and classmates are looking forward to watching the tournament next month to see how much richer their friend has become. But for now, only she knows the answer to that.

Jeopardy's 2007 Teen Tournament will air 4:30 to 5 p.m. Feb. 5 to 16 on NBC.