Is it just me or have the questions on Final Jeopardy been really easy since James has been winning so much. It reminds me one question on Final Jeopardy a long time ago I thought it was real easy I don’t remember the exact question but I knew the answer was Mr. Bojangles. Alex went to the contestant and of coarse as her answer the right answer who is Mr. Bojangles. Then Alex says no we cannot accept that. Then the next contestant didn’t know the answer. Then Alex went to the returning champion, I don’t remember who that was, and his answer was who is Bill Robinson and Alex says ” that’s right Bill Robinson was Mr. Bojangles but we had to have his real name. Do what Alex? Why is Jeopardy so pickee sometimes and other times their not? But I have good news, after I have done my research, I now see why Jeopardy wouldn’t accept Mr. Bojangles as the answer. It turns out Bill Robinson was known as Bill “Bojangles” Robison and Mr. Bojangles in the song was a homeless man who called himself Mr. Bojangles. So now I get it Bill Robison was just plain Bojangles and the man in the song was MR. Bojangles.
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson is best known for tap dancing with Shirley Temple. In their first movie together, The Little Colonel” Bojangles Robinson and Shirley Temple hand in hand tap danced up a staircase. This caused outrage “throughout the South” that a black man was holding hands and dancing with our little Shirley. Many theaters refused to show the movie.
As I recall the Jeopardy question did have something to do with “dancing with Shirley Temple and I think that me and the contestant that said the answer was Mr. Bojangles from the song because we heard it from somewhere. Here’s what I think may had happen. You have to keep in mind this a song from the 70s long before the internet. I think a radio DJ thought the song was talking about Bill Robison and said something like you know this song is about that black man from the Shirley Temple movies. It has to be true if a DJ says it is. It’s just that Alex Trebek didn’t listen to same radio station.