Isle ‘Jeopardy!’ champion comes up short

“Jeopardy!” champion Joshua Swiger, a Makakilo resident, had a substantial lead at $21,000 Thursday going into the final clue.

But that’s where his luck ran out.

Swiger guessed wrong in the Final Jeopardy category of “Advertising and Music.” The clue asked for the name of a song that was used in 2008 by a Southern state for tourism promotion 34 years after it made the Billboard Top 10.

The correct response was “What is ‘Sweet Home Alabama’?” Swiger initially wrote “Georgia on My Mind” but then crossed out “Georgia” and wrote “Carolina.” Michelle Paul of Newark, Del., answered correctly and won.

During the get-to-know-you segment, host Alex Trebek noted that Swiger was wearing an aloha shirt for the second day. Swiger’s first aloha shirt was predominantly white. On Thursday he wore a predominantly black shirt.

Trebek suggested Swiger was trying to intimidate his competitors.

“I don’t think it’s going to work,” Trebek said.

Swiger, a former Marine, is the first “Jeopardy!” champion from Hawaii since 2007.