At least she got the Canadian part right! Jeopardy contestant Kate Woomer-Deters was quick to pose the question “Who is Arcade Fire?” when given a clue that required the response “Who is Nickelback?” — thus confusing one of the 21st century’s most critically acclaimed bands with one of its most critically maligned acts.
The musical faux pas happened within the “Billboard Top 200 Albums in 2021” category on Monday night’s episode of the popular quiz show. Reigning champion Amy Schneider had gotten the first four items correct in the category before the contestants were posed the $1,000 clue, “‘The Best Of’ this Canadian band, ‘Volume 1’ included ‘Rockstar,’ ‘How You Remind Me’ & 17 other songs.”
After Woomer-Dieters gave her “Who is Arcade Fire?” response, contestant Harsh Daga rang in at the last second and correctly named Nickelback. Schneider, who is proving to be one of the greatest champions in Jeopardy history with 24 wins in a row, seemed to be stumped by the clue.
Nickelback, of course, are one the most successful rock bands of the past couple decades, and the songs named in the clue are two of their biggest hits. Along with their massive success has come years of backlash from critics who’ve dismissed the band’s radio-friendly brand of rock. That said, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, who once dubbed Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger as “Captain Ego From Planet Douche,” declared a couple years ago that Imagine Dragons have taken on the unofficial title of “Most Hated Band.”
Arcade Fire, meanwhile, were embraced by critics early on, culminating with universal acclaim for their 2010 opus The Suburbs, which took home the 2011 Grammy for Album of the Year. However, their most recent full-length, 2017’s Everything Now, was met with some critical backlash of its own.
So, now the question remains: Who feels worse? Nickelback, for not being recognized by a Jeopardy contestant? Or Arcade Fire, for being confused with Nickelback?
Or perhaps it’s Machine Gun Kelly, who wasn’t known by any of the three contestants a few shows back, prompting host Ken Jennings to remark, “Not fans of Machine Gun Kelly, apparently.”
See how the Nickelback clue played out toward the end of the clip below.
