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GRAHAM — For his seventh birthday, Charles Patton received an encyclopedia set from his parents.

“I was just excited, which I’m sure is the nerdiest thing you’ve heard ever,” the now-25-year-old Graham resident said in a telephone interview. “But that’s me. I’m the first person to go to Wikipedia for something, just because I want to know it.”

The facts he gleaned from those encyclopedias came in handy when he took the hot seat opposite Meredith Vieira.

A self-professed knowledge junkie, Patton ventured to New York last month to compete on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” His episodes will air Tuesday and Wednesday on WXLV (ABC, Channel 45).

A 2002 graduate of Clayton High School and an alumnus of UNC-Chapel Hill, Patton works as a band instructor at Southern Alamance High School. He said he’s watched the show since he was in high school, and at the urging of his grandfather decided to go to an audition in June at a theater in Charlotte.

“The audition, it was kind of nerve racking,” he said. “It’s 30 questions, they give you 10 minutes and it was the most random test ever, covering everything from TV slogans to geography to history. Everything. I got an interview, did OK there, and then they called me and said, 'Hey, you’re going to be on the show.’”

He attended a taping in August with Regis Philbin. On that show, he was one of 10 contestants taking part in a fast finger competition. He didn’t make it into the hot seat but was called back the following month. With his mother Carolyn in tow, he went to the Big Apple for the taping.

The experience, he said, was more intense than he expected.

“It was a lot of fun, but I had been really, really nervous all day,” he said. “We had to practice. You don’t actually get to play in practice, but they show you how the monitor works for game play. They show you where your lifelines are going to show up on the monitors. You practice getting in and out of the chair because it’s sort of top-heavy, and if you don’t get in it right, you fall over. ... And you have to sit down with the lawyers and hear about everything, like what you can or can’t tell the media.”

Among the things Patton has to keep mum about is how he did. But that doesn’t keep people from inquiring.

“I’m ready to have people quit asking,” he said. “My band kids are all like, 'So, Mr. Patton, what are we doing today in class? Oh, that’s cool. What’s your favorite color? Hey, by the way, how much did you win?’ ”

For the record, he said he planned to use any potential winnings to help pay off his college loans.

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com