Vlade Divac is the winner of tonight's Yambo! Congratulations Vlade, you are one of life's winners.
Yambo is a semi-regular feature on the CBS show The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. It is a trivia game that pits Craig's guests against each other in "the brainteasing game of skill and intelligence". When the show returns from the commercial break following Kilborn's interview with his second guest, both guests are standing side-by-side at center stage, with the studio lights dimmed and a blue spotlight shining on them.
It's time for Yambo, the brainteasing game of skill and intelligence, where Craig's guests Dave Grohl and Jason Mewes will face up against each other and against the clock. When the music stops, each player will have three seconds to answer Craig's question. Get three wrong and you lose, three right and you win. Get ready, it's Yambo time!
After announcer John B. Wells finishes the introduction, the music starts and Craig begins circling the guests. Occasionally, he will pause, reverse direction or jump from behind a guest's back in order to throw them off. Suddenly, Craig will rattle off a question, and the guest will have three seconds (longer if the guest is a pretty girl) to come up with a response. Sometimes the questions are challenging (Q: What's another name for beet soup? A: Borscht), amusing (Q: Name the brand of sandal popular with lesbian women. A: Birkenstocks) or related to an earlier segment of the show.
Craig Kilborn: "Make up a TV safe word for breasts, on the spot."
Dick Clark: "Nummy-nums."
Once a contestant answers three questions correctly (or if their opponent answers three incorrectly, a much less-frequent occurance), the winner is announced, the lights come back on, confetti falls from the rafters and Craig hands the victor a bouquet of flowers. The whole production is completely tongue-in-cheek, but some celebrities get very involved (especially Al Franken and Ben Stein, who faced off in an 'Extreme' Yambo in 2000).
Craig Kilborn: "True or false, I actually care who wins this stupid game?"
Cary Elwes: "False."
Craig: "That is correct."
Celebrities who have proved themselves among life's winners include: Divac, Mewes, Peri Gilpin, Melissa Joan Hart, Buddy Hackett, Amanda Detmer, Daisy Fuentes, Martin Mull, Art Donovan, Katherine Heigl and Carmen Electra/Dave Navarro (as a team). Come to think of it, that list of winners is rather depressing...
Sources:
Guide to The Late Late Show - http://www.geocities.com/latelateshowwithcraigkilborn/