National Spelling Bee Finals T-O-N-I-G-H-T

[Deb in IA]

Prime time LIVE broadcast of the Scripps National Spelling Bee! Don't miss it, tonight!

National Spelling Bee rolls to prime-time finale
274 children started, 10 or so expected for ‘reality TV’ finish Thursday night

WASHINGTON - Twelve-year-old Samir Patel, runner-up in last year’s national spelling bee, sailed through three rounds Thursday but then lost his chance at the national title.

After eight rounds, 13 spellers were to return Thursday night to compete for the championship and thousands of dollars during a nationally televised, prime-time final.

Asked to spell “eremacausis,” Samir, who is home-schooled in Colleyville, Texas, seemed disappointed when the judges couldn’t produce answers to his questions about the word’s root.

He asked to hear the definition several times.

He put his hands on his hips and sighed into the microphone. He buried his face in his hands.

He claimed a minute of “bonus time,” to which spellers are entitled just once during competition.

He took a stab at spelling but, sadly for him, it came out wrong: “aeromocausis.” The audience erupted with loud sighs and applause as he exited the stage.

Stumbling on ‘gigerium’
Round seven began with 21 spellers, including Samir. Among the 13 advancing to the next round were masters of such words as “boraginaceous,” “anacoluthon” and “wapiti.” Eight other spellers stumbled on “gigerium,” “empyreumatic,” “mirliton” and other words.

Thursday’s competition was being televised live, with the afternoon championship rounds broadcast on ESPN. The winner was to be crowned Thursday night during a live broadcast on ABC, which was to include vignettes of individual spellers.

The pace of competition on Thursday, in the basement ballroom of a Washington hotel, seemed slowed by the need to accommodate commercial breaks.

“We’re out for another two-minute commercial break,” or “We’re out for about a minute and a half,” bee director Paige Kimble announced frequently. The audience chuckled, competition paused and the spellers and others in the room used the opportunity to stretch their legs.

Outside the hotel, an Internet sports betting company was taking bets on the bee, including whether the winner would wear glasses and whether the final word would have an “e” in it.

Simon Noble, CEO of PinnacleSports.com, said his company had received about $70,000 in bets on seven propositions about the bee as of noon Thursday.

Pool of 274 narrows fast
The competition began with 274 fourth- through eighth-graders.

The spellers sat below hot lights on the red-and-blue, made-for-TV stage. On Thursday, all wore matching white, short-sleeve polo shirts with the bee logo on the left chest.

Spellers made it to the finals by winning contests in the 50 states, as well as in American Samoa, the Bahamas, Canada, Europe, Guam, Jamaica, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

About one-fourth, or 66, were making repeat appearances, including two eighth-graders competing for the fifth and final time. Only one, Katharine Close of New Jersey, made it to the finals.

ESPN has broadcast the second day of the bee since 1994, but this year, in a nod to the popularity of “reality TV,” the championship rounds were moved to ABC for a live, prime-time event before a larger viewing audience. The Walt Disney Co. owns both networks.

The winner goes home with more than $42,000 in cash and prizes.

The Louisville Courier-Journal started the bee in 1925. The E.W. Scripps Co., a media conglomerate, assumed sponsorship in 1941

 

[Deb in IA]

Hmmmm. Overwhelming response, here, I see.

Oh well. Hope SOMEONE saw it, because it WAS a great match!!! Very exciting, nerve-wracking, with an unusual twist -- those of you who watched will know what I am talking about. (And MUCH better reality TV than other shows, IMO )

And the winner?

Katherine Close, 13 year old Jersey girl, who won on the word "ursprache".

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

New Jersey girl wins National Spelling Bee
Teen prevails over 273 others in contest’s 1st prime-time broadcast

WASHINGTON - A 13-year-old New Jersey girl making her fifth straight appearance at the Scripps National Spelling Bee rattled off "ursprache" to claim the title of America's best speller on prime-time television Thursday night.

Katharine Close, an eighth-grader at the H.W. Mountz School in Spring Lake, N.J., is the first girl since 1999 to win the national spelling title. She stepped back from the microphone and put her hands to her mouth upon being declared the winner.

"I'm just in shock," Katharine said. Asked what she'll remember most, Asked what she'll remember most, she said: "Probably just hearing 'Ursprache,' which is a parent language." She recognized the word as soon as she heard it.

The winner goes home with more than $42,000 in cash and prizes.

Runner-up was Finola Mei Hwa Hackett, a 14-year-old Canadian, a confident speller during two days of competition who stumbled on "weltschmerz."

Third-place went to Saryn Hooks, a 14-year-old from West Alexander Middle School in Taylorsville, N.C., who was disqualified earlier in the evening, then returned to competition after the judges corrected their mistake. Saryn fumbled on "icteritious," which means of a jaundiced color.

Driven by the popularity of recent movies, books and a Broadway musical on the seemingly improbable theme of spelling hard words, the bee featured prime-time television coverage for the first time in its 79-year history. ABC broadcast the final from 8 p.m. until the winner was crowned just after 10 p.m. EDT.

Spellers took to the stage minutes before the broadcast, huddling and chanting “1-2-3, spell” before taking their seats. Their parents sat on stage, too, across the aisle.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13078754/?gt1=8211

 

[Lynn CC]

I watched! It was very exciting, I'm glad the girl from Jersey won

 

[Deb in IA]

I guess you and I were the only ones who saw this, Lynn.


Pity.


I really thought there would be more interest in this . . . especially with the recent novels and movies (Bee Season, Akeela and the Bee).

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Not flaming anyone, but I am suprised people actually get so into this.

 

[jlaspoq]

I watched it too - it was fun! I couldn't believe some of the words these kids could spell. The only one I actually knew and had heard used before was "hukilau"...... what can I say, I lived in Hawaii for two years! "Oh we're going to a Hukilau.... a huki, huki, huki, huki, hukilau.....!" Anyone else know it? The announcer even referenced the folk song in his "use it in a sentence" sentence!

 

[becka]

We watched it last night. I have seen bits and pieces of past bees but this was the first time I watched the final rounds. It actually was very interesting and I am always amazed at how these kids know how to spell these words that I could not even pronounce.

It is interesting because you feel happy for the contestants who do well and you feel so bad for those who miss a word. These kids work so hard and you really feel for them. I felt so happy for the girl (Saryn?) that was reinstated. She really thought she was right but she did not protest and she was really a class act in the way she handled it. I thought she showed a lot of grace and I was very happy to see her place 3rd.

 

[Curious]

I didn't see it because I rarely have my television hooked up to watch T.V. except during MLB playoffs and the World Series. We just don't watch television.

I have seen the documentary Spellbound, and really enjoyed it.

 

[Deb in IA]

"Spellbound"!! That's it!!

Thanks, Curious. I KNEW there was a documentary, as well as a novel and 2 movies about these spelling bees; I just couldn't remember the name of the documentary.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

Katherine Close, 13 year old Jersey girl, who won on the word "ursprache".

Take that, you Jersey bashers!

 

[Curious]

"Spellbound"!! That's it!!

Thanks, Curious. I KNEW there was a documentary, as well as a novel and 2 movies about these spelling bees; I just couldn't remember the name of the documentary.

You're welcome. My hat's off to the kids: I wouldn't be able to take the pressure. I only ever participated in one school spelling bee, and that only because all the 6th graders had to. I knew how to spell the word I missed, but got tongue-tied (never again, though, 'cause I made myself learn to spell that word outloud very fast because I felt bad for messing up ). Just as well I blew it: I'd have hated to win, LOL.

 

[lbgraves]

Katharine was very calm at the end. I would have been a bundle of nerves. My kids watched this with me until 9 when I made them go to bed. DS7 was amazed at some of the words that they were given. I hoped that the girl who was reinstated would win. She did handle herself very well considering she believed that she spelled the word correctly.

 

[disneymom3]

Very cool! Maybe by televising this it's the first step in elementary and middle school kids getting over the stigma of being smart. (There is one, trust me!)

I don't get how they know how to spell all those words. It got DD very psyched and my task is to find out info on how you enter for next year. Better break out those Latin and Greek root word books!!

 

[summerrluvv]

I watched it!! I like to think I'm a pretty good speller but I don't think I could spell a single word they had on last night! I couldn't believe that the girl with the long dark hair spelled the german word with a V instead of a W. That really surprised me.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I truly have all the respect in the world for those kids but I just can't watch.

I had it on a couple of years ago when ESPN televised and that boy fainted from the pressure and then got up and spelled the word. I just couldn't stand watching it anymore. I feel the same way about the Little League World Series. About 3 to 4 years ago there was a team that just collapsed and the kids were crying in the dugout. The TV crew from ESPN got the cameras right into their faces and televised it all. They took alot of heat from that and the next year they made a point of turning the camera away from any kid who was anything but happy.

I did see that documentary Spellbound. It was a great movie. Those kids work their butts off, that is for sure.

 

[Blondy876]

I could hardly watch it, I was so nervous for the two finalists. I kept flipping the channel while they spelled and flipping back when I figured they were done.

I was so excited to see a Jersey girl win .

 

[RoyalCanadian]

I was so excited to see a Jersey girl win .

Congratulations to New Jersey! I read with interest some of the words they asked these children to spell and didn't even know the existence of some of those words until stumbling through them in the newspaper story this afternoon.

I would be terribly out-of-character if I didn't get set up a soap box next to those from the state of New Jersey and celebrate the fact that it was a Canadian girl who came in 2nd. Confound that word "weltschmerz"!!!

 

[Blondy876]

I would be terribly out-of-character if I didn't get set up a soap box next to those from the state of New Jersey and celebrate the fact that it was a Canadian girl who came in 2nd. Confound that word "weltschmerz"!!!

I have to agree. The Canadian girl handled herself so well too. She even looked excited when the Jersey girl won. I was terribly impressed.

Weltschmerz, please, there are days I can't even remember to spell my own name correctly. I can't imagine having to spell that one.

 

[lbgraves]

The funny thing about the word that she missed is that her father speaks German so she has heard/seen the language & spellings. She did great with all of the French origin words though. I thought that they all did great!

 

[Talking Hands]

I enjoyed the spelling bee but I far preferred the recent deaf spelling bee in our county. Every child was accommodated. Words were written on a white board by the student except for 2 cases where fingerspelling was easier (deaf blind child and deaf child with CP) All words were signed. Much more interesting.