(From top) Bhoomi performing quiz numbers; the Mahboob Band on stage; Neil O’Brien accepting the hall of fame honour; the final round in progress and quizmaster Derek O’Brien peering into the Science City auditorium for clues. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

The occasion: The Telegraph Open-quiz Show (TOPS)

The title sponsor: Royal Challenge Golf Accessories

Prize sponsors: Titan, Sonodyne, Sparkz, Shoppers? Stop, Orly, Pepe Jeans

Radio partner: 93.5 Red FM

Hospitality: Hyatt Regency

The participants: 500-odd three-member teams

The finalists: Mensa, Amen (only all-girl team), Think, No Chokers, Promite, DIA, Q Junkies, Calcutta Invitation Team

Top 3: Q Junkies, Calcutta Invitation Team and DIA

 

Facts to flaunt

Which US president was featured a record 55 times on the cover of Time magazine? Richard Nixon.

What was Brett Lee advised to do to rectify his bowling action? Run blindfolded.

What name did Pulak Ghoshal give to Jatayu?s script in Bombaiyer Bombaytey? Jet Bahadur.

At cartoonist R.K. Laxman?s first job, on his first day he saw a young man beside him drawing a bird in a cage. Who was it? Bal Thackeray.

What is the origin of the Team India huddle? Deaf and mute players getting together to discuss strategy through sign language.

And many, many more...

Musiquizzically yours

What a performance! Usual medley of hits? No, sir. If it was a quiz show they were performing in, Bhoomi members ensured they were a part of it, completely. They devised questions on instruments and on their own songs and were even sporting enough to play Hotel California, for a question on Eagles. The musical performance, too, had the crowd on its feet, be it on Tomar Dekha Nai or Orom Takio Na. The massive applause that greeted them at the end was appreciation generously given and well-earned.

Whole Five Yards

Models sashaying in saris at a quiz show! Purists did pout, but only till they realised the question attached to the pallu. Name ? the teams were told ? at least two of the four saris that adorned the femmes. ?Wish I?d gone shopping more often with my wife,? quipped a participant. ?Can they come closer so we can have a better look?? was another innocent query. But after much guesswork and confusion (?the one on the left? no, no, the other one? et al) it was a lady ? the only one on stage at that moment ? who had to step in and set things right. Leading the ladies in choreography was model Nicola Gomes.

Band on the run

Q: Who was the evening?s best entertainer?

A: College Street para?s very own Mahboob Band.

A model in the sari round;

Playing Bollywood hits and clad in bright blue uniform, it made a grand entry as soon as the last question of the evening had been answered.

And once on stage, quizmaster Derek O?Brien had a tough time controlling the over-enthusiastic band from Mahatma Gandhi Road.

Each time he gestured and spoke to the teams, the band started to play. The band was eventually told to play only when the winners came on.

And play they did, all trumpets blazing.

The O?Briens

It was an emotional moment for quiz hall of fame inductee Neil O?Brien, son (and quizmaster for the evening) Derek standing beside him, and an auditorium that rose to its feet as the senior O?Brien took the stage.

An uttoriyo, a memento and a scroll were presented to him for being the pioneer in quizzing. ?The standing ovation from the crowd moved me completely,? the grand old man of quizzing later confessed.

The son didn?t fare badly, either. TOPS found Derek O?Brien in great spirits as he threw tough posers to the teams, cracked jokes and even bullied some audience members, much to the delight of the crowd.

But it was his banter with Mahboob Band, trying to explain to them when to play and when not, which was the funniest bit of the evening.

?The most memorable part (apart from the bit we could do for dad) was the two-minute-long applause at the very beginning,? said Derek.