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Saundra Robertson might just consider 223 her new lucky number.
It was with that contestant number that the Cordova woman was called to "come on down" and "play The Price is Right" during a December trip to visit relatives near Los Angeles, Calif.
"Before I went out there, my sister asked me what I wanted to do," Robertson said. "I said, 'I would like to go on "The Price is Right."'"
Robertson's sister secured a pair of tickets to the final 2007 taping of the show, Dec. 13, which will air at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, on CBS.
Robertson's dream of seeing a live taping of one of her favorite shows was nearly shattered when she arrived an hour late to the studio.
Disappointed, she asked if there was any way she could get tickets for the afternoon taping.
"They told me I could try to switch them," she said, and Robertson was able to get tickets to the 1 p.m. taping. She and a family friend waited and were placed on standby before being given name tags, a number and separated into groups of potential contestants.
"They were calling people, and every time, I went and jumped in line. At one point, I just stood there," she said. "In the meantime, I was talking with everybody. Everybody was so nice."
Robertson said she has no idea how contestants are picked -- she's just glad she made the cut. She said producers asked her to scream, wave and give her most excited expressions.
Apparently, she showed the right amount of enthusiasm.
Robertson wasn't among the first four called to contestants' row, where players bid on an item for a chance to play "The Price is Right."
"I was in the back -- maybe two rows from the back," she said. "Every time someone's name was called, I moved."
"Then, next thing I know, it was my name being called, and that's when I got crazy," Robertson said. "I'm still not off it -- I'm still on my high. I won't be off it until I get my prizes."
Although she's not allowed to disclose what prizes she won on the show, Robertson said she did win "one of the things I've been wanting for a while." The prizes will not be delivered until after the show airs, she said.
Robertson said she's excited about Tuesday's broadcast.
"That's what I'm waiting to see -- how I looked when my name was called," she said. "When I got called to the stage, I went running to (host) Drew Carey. I hugged him and I said, 'I'm so glad you got the job.' He's a very nice person." Carey was named the show's new host last year following Bob Barker's retirement after 35 years on the job.
Family members and friends are in disbelief about her experience, Robertson said.
"When I called South Carolina and told my children, they said, 'Stop, Momma,' like they didn't believe me," she said. "Everybody thinks I'm telling a fib. Everybody was in disbelief that it really happened."
Robertson, a second-semester early childhood education student at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, said she hopes to start a day care after she graduates.
"I'm a big 'Price is Right' fan. I'm so excited. I've been watching it for years," she said. "Now I rush home to watch it. I just feel like I know the whole set."
Friend and neighbor Sharon Zeigler, who called The T&D about her friend's good fortune, said "it felt real good" hearing her friend had been on "The Price is Right."
"That's why I called. I said, 'I've got to make sure this gets in the paper,'" she said.
T&D Features Editor Wendy Jeffcoat Crider can be reached by e-mail at wjeffcoat@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5546.