A software engineer and Italian translator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

Vito Cortese

Hello Pittsburgh, my name is Vito Cortese. Watch me bring another one home for the black and gold, on Jeopardy!

[2010-11-03 Winner's Circle interview]
How does it feel to be the new Jeopardy! champion?
It feels great. It's been--it's been probably a 30-year, uh, trek to finally get here. Hours and hours and hours and hours of watching, and I always knew I was good enough, it was just a matter of taking the online test, getting lucky, getting picked, coming here, and, uh, and winning.

How did you feel about your competition today?
I-I think you took out two of my best categories in the previous game, and--and, uh, the opponent was really tough. Uh, he had a really good game. I was--I was a little bit afraid of his speed and not having a favorite category, but today proves that--that that doesn't have to be the case, because I--I'm really bad at golf!

What is your first memory of Jeopardy!?
I, uh--my first memory of Jeopardy! was, uh, in the Art Fleming days with the pull cards. I used to watch it with my dad. I don't remember whether it was on during the day or at night, but, uh, that puts me at about 8 years old at the most, and I was getting, uh, questions right back then, I think--I like to think I was!

[2010-11-04 Winner's Circle interview]
How does it feel to win your second game?
I'm getting ready for the third show, and I want to thank my family. I want to thank, first of all, my wife, for encouraging me to take the test. She reminded me the day before the test was due that I had to take--take care of that, otherwise I would've forgotten it, and I wanted to thank my parents for having four sisters after me. That took a little bit of the heat off me, allowed me to focus on my studies, and, uh, isolate myself from all the madness.

[2010-11-05 Winner's Circle interview]
How does it feel to win your third game?
Not at all. Certainly the Tournama--nament... Champions would be great, but, uh, my goal was to win one, and I did that, and then the--the two more're just icing on the cake. Uh, we'll see how far I can go. It's--but it's been a great experience so far. Uh, I encourage everybody to try out for it. Uh, you never know when you might get picked, and it's great just being part of a TV show.

How did you prepare for your appearance on Jeopardy!?
I started out watching Jeopardy! as a kid, back in the old Art Fleming days. Uh, whenever I had a question on one of the--one of the answers, I would rush over to the encyclopedia, get more information, and that's got me on my start for, uh, being here today.

Do you have any advice for future Jeopardy! contestants?
Yes. Anybody who's a fan of Jeopardy! should take the online test, just get--just to get a feel for the--the questions, and you--you--you'd be surprised what may happen.

Season 27 3-time champion: $68,485 + $2,000.

Last name pronounced like "kor-TEECE".

Jeopardy! Message Board user name: HugoZ

Vito appeared in the following 4 archived games:
#6026, aired 2010-11-22 Vito Cortese vs. Aimee Slater vs. George Tsuji
#6015, aired 2010-11-05 Vito Cortese vs. John Wen vs. Jeanne Breen
#6014, aired 2010-11-04 Vito Cortese vs. Rony Josaphat vs. Jennifer Hill
#6013, aired 2010-11-03 Dave Ellis vs. Anne McFadden vs. Vito Cortese

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