Guess someone took our advice! CBS’s globe-trotting reality show The Amazing Race kicked off the filming of its 17th season on May 26. Among the 11 pairs of two vying for the show’s million-dollar prize is Team Nassoon: Former Student Body President – and Pyne Prize winner – Connor Diemand-Yauman ’10 and Fantasticks star Jonathan Schwartz ’10 (check out our linked interviews with the two Racers).
Filming began in the Boston area on the morning of the 26th. First came an introductory segment filmed in Gloucester Harbor (Connor and Jonathan are the “Green Team” — you can catch a glimpse of them at around 4:15 in this video). Then the teams made their way to Logan Airport, where they were photographed by bystanders not affiliated with the show. Here’s Connor and Jonathan at the airport en route to the first leg in England (more details after the jump):
Those photographs — and more spoiler accounts from the show — were posted on Reality Fan Forum. According to that site, the Race, currently on its third leg, has since continued on from Boston to Stonehenge and Accra, Ghana.
In the Amazing Race, teams of 2 with pre-existing relationships sprint across the globe performing tasks and solving puzzles. Each episode chronicles a different leg of the race. At the beginning of each leg, teams are given instructions to travel to a new location; at the end of each leg, the last team to arrive at that leg’s “Pit Stop” is eliminated. The show, produced by Hollywood heavyweight Jerry Bruckheimer, has won the Emmy Award for Best Reality Series seven years in a row.
Neither Diemand-Yauman nor Schwartz were present for the week’s Reunions events at Princeton, although due to confidentiality agreements neither was able to divulge why they were skipping their commencement. Diemand-Yauman told some friends he was traveling, and others that he had to start his job hosting a children’s television show in South Korea early. The pair, both members of the Nassoons a capella group, first tried out for the show in February, attending an open casting call in New York City.
The University threw Diemand-Yauman a “mini-commencement” on May 20th in Nassau Hall. Shirley Tilghman and Cornel West both attended the ceremony, according to a witness at the event (who wrote about the ceremony here — pictures included).
Filming is expected to last from three weeks to one month. Check back soon for more information, and in the meantime, read all of our previous posts about Connor HERE.
Edited to add: Fantasticks press release about Jonathan here. Princeton press release about all of Connor’s accomplishments here (Sonia Sotomayor won the Pyne Prize when she was a Princeton senior).