Who became the smartest person in the world? Who pierced themselves with a flame from De Warmste Week, who scored with a tactical masterpiece that surprised everyone and which film connoisseur could kick himself when the answer he didn’t find turned out to be ‘Pierce Brosnan’? You read it for the last time this year in the weekly overview of The smartest person in the world.
Jasper Van Loy22 december 2023, 06:00
Who quizzed the best?
You know the winner by now, but looking at all episodes, the difference between Guga Baúl and runner-up Jacotte Brokken is barely visible. Respect for how the weather woman from Lokeren survived six episodes in the final weeks, while Baúl immediately joined in the final.
Even in the last episode, Brokken was the better for a long time and when she sat opposite Baúl, she had a lead of no less than 138 seconds. Whereupon he bit off his backlog in large bites, and then at the right moment did something that we will remember in ten years as a ‘gugaatje’: to a question about popular plays by Shakespeare he gave four out of five answers, then he lowered himself under Brokken for twenty-two seconds and then gave the fifth answer, completely dry. This allowed him to be the first to tackle the all-decisive question with 17 seconds, compared to 19 seconds for Brokken. Daring, because if he didn’t know that one answer, the path to victory would be open for Brokken. ‘MacBeth’ turned out to be spot on: acrobat Baúl landed on his two feet, with the best maneuver in this quiz since Freek Braeckman dropped to a 1-1 score against Bart De Wever in 2009.
Finally: is it just us or is the historical knowledge of the candidates deteriorating? There was a time when the dates flew around you like bullets in the trenches, this year no candidate thought of the Hundred Years’ War when asked about Joan of Arc and no one found the name of Chancellor Willy Brandt, not even with a image of a flaming Willy Naessens as a tip.
Who was the biggest loser?
The further into the last final week, the more sorry we felt for the dropouts. The only one who had nothing to complain about was Jeroen Leenders on Monday, in a poncho and with the flame pin from De Warmste Week pierced through his earlobe. The man who did not come to quizzes can look back with satisfaction after seven episodes and return twice in the finals week. The next day a sick Robin Pront did not have his day against a not so healthy Charlotte Adigéry and Wednesday was the day on which Alex Agnew was left without a chance. The eight-time participant had fewer seconds after the second round than after the first, collected a meager 221 seconds in total and, as a film connoisseur, could not come up with ‘Pierce Brosnan’ in a question about James Bond in the final. The comedian once again proved that coming in ‘cold’ in the final weeks is not a gift. Or as he put it himself: “Oewisdanameugelek?” In the final, Charlotte Adigéry had an unlucky day at the worst possible time: the 159 seconds on her counter are completely out of proportion to her course on Flanders’ most famous orange seats.
Guga Baúl, Charlotte Adigéry and Jacotte Brokken.Beeld Play4
Who or what was the surprise?
Guga Baúl’s move of course, with the cameo of Danira Boukhriss Terkessidis, last year the smartest person in the world, far behind. The presenter said in the open door round that her question was not ready yet and that she would ask it later, after which she casually entered the studio to ask the candidates who Zwangere Guy is. The funny thing about it was not just that she was there, but that she had already played a role in the 3-6-9 round. Adigéry was instructed to say her name in slow motion, which led to some hilarity about how long that name is. To which Danira laughed and said: “Nice, isn’t it!”
What made us laugh the most?
Not with the finale, as it contained too few original discoveries and too many mediocre words from Erik Van Looy. The best joke came from Charlotte Adigéry, who, when asked about her favorite historical figure, answered ‘Conner Rousseau’. Wednesday’s semi-final depended on the chemistry between Neveneffects Jonas Geirnaert and Jelle De Beule, with Adigéry occasionally pushing back on what she called De Beule’s ‘scout uniform’.
Apart from all that, one man made us laugh more than anyone else: Robin Pront, also full of scabrous and crazy stories on his return. On Monday he told us that he had met the guy again with whom he had fought at the fair in Edegem – a good story from one of the previous episodes – and the editors had chosen his friends Rik Verheye and William Boeva as the jury. Of course they take pleasure in making fun of him. When Pront claimed to donate a lot to charity, Verheye laughed at him flatly: “Name three good causes, Pront.” The answer: “Um, the one with the panda?” A day later, Verheyen admitted that he had been exposed to the rule at school as a child. Charlotte was surprised that Pront, still only 37 years old, had still received corporal punishment, but he himself thought it was fair, “because there was chaos in the classroom and I had just thrown a cactus.”
What was the best question?
There was a wide choice this week, but because you don’t have all day, we’ll limit it to three excellent questions. In the 3-6-9 round we learned that there is something like the golden penis syndrome: there are more and more highly educated women, so men find one more quickly, they get spoiled and they don’t like it any more. In the semi-final, Brokken, Adigéry and Agnew had to portray a run of chickens, a tiger and a werewolf respectively. And finally, if you still have time today to (re)watch something besides Guga Baúl’s tactical masterstroke, let it be the video in which Niels Destadsbader lies on the psychologist’s couch and tells him how many questions he has, such as: “Which car brands sell the most SUVs?” In a weird way that was very, very funny.
And speaking of questions: when does the new season start here?
Robin Pront, Jeroen Leenders and Jacotte Brokken. Image Play4
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2023-12-22 05:00:10
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