<select tabindex="5" class="field select medium" name="tapeformat" id="tapeformat" selected="selected" size="1">
                        <option selected="selected" value=""></option>
                        <option value="HDCAM SR">HDCAM SR</option>
                        <option value="HDCAM">HDCAM</option>
                        <option value="DigiBeta">DigiBeta</option>
                        <option value="BetaSP">BetaSP</option>
</select>


$('#tapeformat').change(function(){
    x = $('#tapeformat').val();
    alert(x);
    $('#tapeformat').val(x);
    $('#tapeformat').attr('size', 1);
});