Thursday, June 2, 2011

ROUND FIVE BEGINS: Right away Snigdha is eliminated with a word I have never even heard of – “kerystic”. Perhaps the Bee Keepers heard me say that too many Spellers remained at the end of Round 4.

Only 6 Spellers went down in Round 4. Round 5 is a place where we discover our real contenders. I hope.

Veronica Penny spells “arbustum” while we stare into her mom’s expressionless face in a split screen. I applaud the control it takes for her mother to reveal nothing with her facial muscles because she’s obviously on the edge of her seat with nerves.

The word gagaku (the ancient court music of Japan) makes me nervous. But the experts are telling us that Japanese words are easier to spell than most other words. Whatever. I’m playing along at home and I am being outspelled by 10 year old Dhivya Murugan and it doesn’t feel pretty.

Grace Remmer is back up at the microphone. She says “howdy”; BBC Bailly says “howdy” in return. I dig BBC Bailly. His sentences are getting more and more bizarre and he clearly enjoys himself. Grace spells inficete and lives to spell in Round 6.

Claire Zuo is another spelling cutie. I love her devil-may-care hair and her braces and her jeggings. Her favorite sport is Quidditch. I would like to set her up on a date with my 14 year old awesome geek nephew. Except, being a true geek, my nephew has yet to discover the ladies.

9:03 am/12:03 pm: Out of the ten spellers who have gone in this round, we have lost 3. Only 33 spellers remain. Does anyone remember how many spellers traditionally make it to the finals? I’m going to take a pause to check the rules

Am back. I have found out nothing.

Here it is. It is here. My favorite four words to utter every Bee? THE JAMAICAN IS DOWN!!! Hanif exhausted his time clock! He spells the word nataka correctly but he waiting too long to spell the word! BBC Bailly has to say “I’m sorry!” And Hanif is sent away! THE. JAMAICAN. IS. DOWN!
Does anyone else dig Lily Jordan's enthusiastic younger brothers and her naturally apple red cheeks as much as I do?

Cameron Diaz has filmed a video to the Spellers. ESPN is working hard to make sure that everyone knows that spelling is cool. I get it, I respect it. But it still makes me sad that we need to convince anyone. Although I applaud Cameron for getting behind spelling. What I hate? The commentator saying proudly “Celebrities LOVE the Bee.” As if that is more important than the awesome mouth-breathing Siddharth who is spelling his ASS off right now…

9:23 am/12:23 pm: Conor Gunsbury correctly spells conteur (a reciter or composer of short tales especially of adventure: a storyteller). When I retire for writing TV, I am going to become a conteur.

Jenny Solheim is back at the microphone. The poor thing is brilliant but she does not look as if she is having any fun. Her misery is palpable. I worry about her.

Dakota Jones is rocking the microphone again. Although he’s no longer speaking too loud which makes me sad. There aren’t nearly enough quirks amongst this year’s Spellers. They all seem terribly normal and well-adjusted. Dakota correctly spells espadon (a swordfish) while his dad videotapes the entire thing (Umm…doesn’t his dad realize that this is already being taped? Like for TV? Which, you know, means you can get a copy?).


Sriram Hathwar wants to be an ophthalmologist when he grows up. I love that someone wants to be an ophthalmologist when they grow up. He speaks in a tiny voice because he is a tiny kid. He spells desmachyme (connective tissue of sponges) – a word which angers me because I didn’t know that sponges HAD connective tissue nor did I know there was a word for it. My Ivy League educations fails again!

Oh My God! Arvind Mahankali is also a cheese fancier! Just like me! We both fancy cheese! We are turophiles! And yet, he still spells circles around me. Palynology which means…some branch of science that studies something.

Tony Incorvati can’t figure out how to spell syringadenous (of or relating to sweat glands) and he is out. He’s super disappointed. This is his final year of eligibility and so that is the last time he’ll ever face BBC Bailly at the microphone.

Nicholas Rushlow’s dad’s lips involuntarily spell along with his child. I am positive he doesn’t know he’s doing it – both he and Nicholas’ mom have their eyes closed tight in almost a prayer as their child spells. Their relief at his correct spelling is overwhelming. They are both biochemists – in their family, the geek flag flies proudly. I like them.

Spelling’s super model is back. Joanna Ye, a relaxed badass speller, tosses off pinetum (a scientific collection of living coniferous trees) and swaggers back to her seat. Bad. Ass. I am truly praying that she and Laura Newcombe are the last two standing. Just for awesomeness of an all girl badass Spell Off.

Seudah (a Jewish feast or banquet) is too tricky for Chetan who goes down. A lot of Hebrew words this year. Also a lot of French words.

Commentator Sage Steele is taking her job very seriously. I appreciate that. But she did the unforgivable – SHE SPOKE WHILE CHILDREN WERE AT THE MICROPHONE. She spoke over BBC Bailly, she spoke over the kids, she committed an unforgivable sin. Someone stop her.

Oh, look. They made a crazy video of the kids in the White House press room. Please. Make the lambs stop screaming. Please, ESPN. Don’t try to force the kids to be cute. Just spell. I beg you.

Best question to BBC Bailly (from Mashad Arora): "Is there any information that you think would be particularly helpful?" The word chevalet is the bridge of a stringed musical instrument.

Heartbreak! Anna-Marie Sprenger is gone! She misspelled privatim (not openly or in public). She once again said, “I think I got this.” But she didn’t. She didn’t have it. Bye bye, Anna Marie.

Parker is our last speller for Round 5! He makes it through! 9 Spellers went down in this round. On to the next…

67 comments:

  1. Marsha11:46 AM

    You gotta love when the commentators say "this is from the Greek root for breath, but that's a tricky one and she may not see it," and seconds later Laura "The Terminator" Newcombe says, "is that from the Greek meaning breath?" (The commentator then muttered, "show off." Heh.)

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  2. Anonymous11:49 AM

    pritchel is HARD!

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  3. beemused11:52 AM

    Are we only going to get 2 rounds in for the semis?

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  4. The rules are a bit unclear: "<span>The Semifinals consist of rounds of oral spelling and will likely be concurrent with the competition's live daytime broadcast on ESPN on Thursday, June 2. If the ESPN broadcast concludes while a Semifinals round is in progress, spellers who have not spelled in the round will advance to the Championship Finals broadcast on ESPN for the conclusion of the Semifinals round."</span>

    Basically, they'll go until they've got 10-15 kids left for tonight. Hopefully, it happens at the end of a round, and not in the middle of one.

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  5. And now, our first Yiddish word of the round: mandlen.

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  6. Eric J.12:00 PM

    s-o-u-p-n-u-t-s mandlen.

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  7. JB's sentences are getting funnier.

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  8. Another Bee fan?  Mindy Kaling.

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  9. Call it right now, gang: are we getting schnecken today?

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  10. isaac_spaceman12:04 PM

    Shonda, I'm not sure Claire Zuo is a geek.  I think she's more of a badass. 

    I was a little afraid Gina Solamito was going to throw up on the microphone.  She seemed 10% disappointed and 90% relieved to hear the ding.

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  11. Anonymous12:07 PM

    Schneke was yesterday, and the speller didn't ask for the sentence!  I was disappointed.

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  12. Marsha12:07 PM

    OH, Hanif. Not a good way to go. So terribly, terribly sad.

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  13. Oh, poor Hanif Brown: didn't realize he had run out of time, but got the word right AFTER the bill.

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  14. bristlesage12:08 PM

    Oh, the missing on time by the Jamaican, so sad!

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  15. marnie12:08 PM

    I'm with you Marsha. So sad.

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  16. beemused12:09 PM

    oh noooooo!

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  17. isaac_spaceman12:09 PM

    Hanif can at least say he went out without misspelling a word.  He did not look happy; his father did not look happy. 

    Lily Jordan is a dead ringer for the Statue of Liberty. 

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  18. Charles12:10 PM

    Is that the first time someone has fallen out of the Bee for going over the time limit? I feel so sorry for that kid!

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  19. Marsha12:10 PM

    I love Lily's brothers. They're so excited for her!

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  20. The irony, of course, is that it was a fellow Jamaican (Trudy McLeary, 2003) who basically forced them to institute time limits in the first place.

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  21. Heather K12:11 PM

    poor Hanif!!

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  22. Did the judges mishear or were they messing with him? Cause that just seems mean. 

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  23. lisased12:14 PM

    I think he was just spelling too fast.

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  24. Given what I know about Bad Teacher, this promo from Cameron Diaz is inappropriate for these kids.

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  25. Mary Brooks is also taking forever to push the bell when they get words wrong

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  26. marnie12:19 PM

    I noticed that as well. Excruciating.

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  27. sconstant12:19 PM

    Oh, Solomito.  I am so out of the pool.

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  28. Catherine M.12:25 PM

    Yes, as far as I can remember.

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  29. bristlesage12:26 PM

    C'moooon, Dakota, from my hometown!

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  30. Adam C.12:27 PM

    "Are there any alternate pronunciations?  And also, Dr. Bailly, look away!  Shut your eyes!  Don't look at it, no matter what happens!"

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  31. isaac_spaceman12:27 PM

    Ray:  If you are sponsored by the Asbury Park Press, the appropriate greeting is "Greetings from Asbury Park." 

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  32. Hair/Hare. The height of comedy. I love Bee Day! 

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  33. He successfully replaced the swordfish with a fake one of equal weight.

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  34. Oh, poor Ray Wang.  "Marengo" is from an Italian place; there won't be a t at the end of that.

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  35. bristlesage12:30 PM

    You really have to wonder how his parents didn't see all these jokes coming, right? 

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  36. Home, of course, of Bee winner Kerry Close.

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  37. Charles12:31 PM

    I saw on a Twitter feed that the spellers can get a cookie and water during some of the breaks. Thank goodness. I definitely remember being hungry on stage during the long rounds. The same feed noted what someone here saw earlier: the replacement of the Comfort Room with a couch by the stage, where parents can meet their children. I don't know what to think about that. I needed the Comfort Room.

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  38. Heather P12:32 PM

    The sentence that strikes fear into the heart of many a speller: "This word has a homonym."

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  39. I remember feeling very badly for the kids who were assaulted by reporters immediately after erring, especially during the evening broadcast.  Let them cry and compose themselves, then speak if they want to.

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  40. Marsha12:39 PM

    I don't like the little buzzin gbee sound they play when they show the logo. Perhaps it is because I'm listening on the computer with headphones, but the sound is disconcerting.

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  41. I am so glad they didn't have these awkward interviews when I was in it...I feel like these kids are probably going to be really embarrassed when their college friends find these videos 10 years from now haha

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  42. We're already at 18 successful spellers this round, and are still at North Carolina.  So figure we'll end up in the mid-20s.  That calls for one more round this afternoon at a minimum.

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  43. I hate that couch right there.

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  44. Yay JoAnna!

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  45. Hey, Marsha: seudah!

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  46. sconstant12:49 PM

    Ugh.  Seudah.  Or however they choose to spell it. 

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  47. Mona G.12:50 PM

    Is that you, Linda Bolt?

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  48. Marsha12:50 PM

    Seriously, quit it with the hebrew words. Whether seuda/seudah has an h on it or not is entirely arbitrary, and you could certainly argue over the "seu" part.

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  49. Marsha12:52 PM

    [insert usual annoyance here]

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  50. Seudah...ouch. Hard!

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  51. I just went with "suda." Is that even remotely reasonable? :)

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  52. Go Arvind! He's my hometown guy. :)  

    The commentary is great, Shonda. (And commenters.)  I'm just following along with the round results online, so it's fun to get the tv details here.

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  53. Dave S12:58 PM

    Is ESPN keeping going at 1? I'm DVRing and I remember one year they went long and switched to a different ESPN. 

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  54. Marsha12:58 PM

    Why do we need this Kenny Mayne bit? Not funny. Kind of condescending.

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  55. Anonymous12:59 PM

    I thought that Jamaican spellers could only qualify for one year.  Doesn't that mean Hanif can't come back?  Have they changed their rules?

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  56. Jordan12:59 PM

    Do all the Jewish words have to do with food? Actually, that makes sense.

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  57. It's arbitrary, but Merriam-Webster picked one spelling so the kids need to know it.

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  58. in Hebrew it's pronounced more like 2 syllables- like si-oo-duh

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  59. Marsha1:05 PM

    You'd think so, right? Shaytl, which felled (to my everlasting chagrin) Rose Sloan a few years back, is not a food word - it means the wig women use to avoid showing their hair to anyone but their husband.

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  60. sconstant1:05 PM

    It's not arbitrary, since the Hebrew has an ayin (סעודה) and even if you don't pronounce it (as Franz Rosenthal had it, "the sound of incipient vomiting”) you kind of stop there, requiring more than just an oo sound.  But that's not how Bailly said it; I'm sure he was reading the phonetics right, but the phonetics are wrong.

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  61. I actually like the kids who clearly don't know the word but figure it out anyway. They seem so happy when they get it right. 

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  62. Yep. It's the silent sheva under the samech -- Sih-oo-dah or seh-oo-dah.

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  63. Marsha1:08 PM

    I just think there's a fundamental difference between words that come from other languages with the english alphabet, and ones that come from languages like Russian or Hebrew where you're transliterating. The choice the dictionary makes is random, and all the knowing of roots in the world will not help. It's the difference between tricky and arbitrary.

    And JJ is right - I pronounce that word more like "seh-oo-duh," which would have helped him, final h notwithstanding.

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  64. The Unabrdiged has it as <span>süd -- no (eh/ih) pronounced, unlike the Hebrew.</span>

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  65. Marsha1:11 PM

    I meant that the h at the end is arbitrary, not the eu. I think the eu is correct, but that the pronunciation is wrong. I have never heard it said "soodah" even by the most American of Americans.

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  66. sconstant1:19 PM

    Thanks for looking, Adam.  I thought perhaps we'd have our first blog-initiated challenge.  :)

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  67. Nupur3:10 PM

    I think after the fiasco where Akshay Buddiga passed out due to eating too little, this is a great idea on the part of the Bee. 

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