TELEVISION: Lockport native wins on ‘Price is Right’

By April Amadon<br><a href="mailto:april.amadon@lockportjournal.com">E-mail April</a>
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

April 08, 2009 06:17 pm

— A Lockport native who now lives in California won big on Wednesday’s episode of “The Price is Right.”
Katherine Savant, formerly Katherine O’Connor, is a first-class petty officer in the U.S. Navy.
Savant, a 2000 graduate of Lockport High School, was one of the first contestants called to the stage, though she did not get the chance to compete in a pricing game until the second half of the show.
It wasn’t until the last bidding round that Savant made it up on stage, bidding $600 for a mini HP lapTop worth $700.
“You finally made it!” Carey said, as Savant ran up on stage.
She lost the pricing game she was playing — a game called “That’s Too Much,” with a brand new Ford Focus as the prize — but when she got to the wheel, her luck changed.
Contestants get two spins of the giant wheel, hoping to get an amount closest to $1. In the show’s second round, Savant spun first and landed on $.45, then $.55, winning $1,000 and a spot in the Showcase Showdown for getting $1 exactly.
On her bonus spin, she hit the $1 spot — winning $25,000.
At the Showcase Showdown, Savant passed on a showcase featuring swimwear, luggage and a trip to Anguilla. She instead bid $22,000 for a showcase with a Mini Cooper theme, featuring a toy Mini Cooper, a Mini Cooper desk and a brand new Mini Cooper.
Her bid was a winner, as the value of the showcase was $24,858.
In the end, Savant won a total of $50,858 in cash and prizes.
Savant now lives in Santee, Calif., with her husband, Michael. Her mother, Teresa Manna, lives on Franklin Avenue.
“I’m so proud of her,” Manna said.
Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.