National Spelling Bee Goes Prime Time
Posted on: Wednesday, 31 May 2006, 09:00 CDT
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
WASHINGTON - A-n-x-i-o-u-s. There's even more reason than usual for the 275 children here for the national spelling bee Wednesday and Thursday to feel that way. As if the competition to be crowned America's best speller isn't intense enough, this year it includes the first live, prime-time network broadcast of the finals.
First up in the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday is a 25-word, multiple-choice test, followed by a round of oral competition in which each speller gets a crack at one word.
The scores are then combined and used to winnow the group to at least 90 spellers, who will compete for bragging rights and more than $37,000 in cash and prizes.
From this point, it's round after round of process-of-elimination spelling until a winner is crowned during the live broadcast of Thursday's final rounds, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EDT on ABC.
How does it work? Spell a word correctly and advance; fumble, and the bell tolls. Contestants may ask questions about a word's pronunciation, definition, part of speech, use in a sentence and etymology.
About one-fourth of the spellers, or 66, are making repeat appearances, including two eighth-graders who are competing in their fifth and final bee.
Spellers range in age from 9 to 15, and are in grades four through eight.
They are almost evenly divided between boys (139) and girls (136) and qualified for the 79th annual bee by winning local 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.
Since 1994, the second day of spelling had been broadcast on ESPN.
But under a new arrangement this year, in a nod to the popularity of "reality TV," the sports cable network will broadcast Thursday's early rounds of competition in the afternoon, followed by ABC's airing of the championship rounds to a larger viewing audience in prime time.
Spelling bees are gaining in popularity, thanks partly to the ESPN broadcasts and the competition's starring roles in movies, including the recently released "Akeelah and the Bee," and a Tony-winning Broadway musical, said Paige Kimble, the bee's director and 1981 champion.
The Louisville Courier-Journal started the bee in 1925. The E.W. Scripps Co., a media conglomerate, assumed sponsorship in 1941.
Wednesday's competition was not being televised.
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On the Net:
National Spelling Bee: http://www.spellingbee.com
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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