Live-blogging the 2006 Bee (updated)

Posted on by

Tonight a Spelling Bee champion will be crowned in America. Unlike the Kentucky Derby there is no chance that one of the competitors here will be shot if they come up lame. Most likely. This competition marks the annual pinnacle of Indian American intellectual flexing, and we can almost guarantee a Thomas Friedman op-ed tomorrow.

Tonight we (Indian Americans) make up for all of the incidents where we got picked last in gym class or that one time we didn’t make the high school badminton team because we cut our head open and had to get like a whole bunch of stiches the night before tryouts and were in the emergency room until very late at night and the doctor said that we should stay away from all strenuous physical activity for at least a week but we tried out anyways…and got cut, from the badminton team, which even our other more nerdy friends made it onto.

Throughout the rest of the day please check this post for updates. I might be a little behind some of you during parts of the day but I will hopefully be online for the championship round this evening which will be televised on ABC.

Here are the desi horses in the race starting from Round 4 onwards. This is how it works. If you see a word appear under their picture it means they have been eliminated and should be banished forever from our thoughts. There is an ages old Scottish saying that is quite appropriate here: “There can be only one.”

I haven’t seen such a line-up of pictures since the Dream Team.

Aishwarya
suivez
Akshat
filoselle
Anjay
sterlot
Dhanya
malaguena
Kavya
gematrial
Midhat
cassideous
Nandhini
thalian
Nidharshan
paillon
Nilesh
trullo
Prateek
sulkate
Rajiv
heiligenschein
Rana
papeterie
Sameer
dialylus
Samir
aeromocausis
Shruti
Quonset
Bonny
empyrumatic
Michael
appenzell

Now, I hate to bet on little kids but my money is on Samir. He has this look that just says “I’m going to eat you alive. You just don’t know it yet.” I am often wrong though.

You can all follow along here. If I missed a kid then let me know in the comments.

Update 1 (4:10 PST) : I thought we should take a look at the “final four.”

Here is the scouting report on Rajiv:

Rajiv is a 13-year-old spelling whiz from Chesterfield who breezed through the first four rounds of the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee here on Wednesday.

His spelling success means the eighth-grader from Sperreng Middle School, who is making his fourth consecutive appearance at the national bee, will advance to today’s final competition rounds…

Last year, Rajiv placed fourth in the national competition. This year, he said, he hopes to beat that performance…

On Wednesday, Rajiv – who plays soccer, tennis, and chess, among other hobbies – was performing like a champion-in-waiting…

After studying five or six hours a day in anticipation for this week’s competition, it’s no wonder Rajiv exuded more confidence than jitters during Wednesday’s competition.

“I’m a little nervous but I’m used to it,” said the veteran spelling bee contestant. “The experience helps…” [Link]

<

p>Her friend and fellow Kansan Aishwarya (TMBSITW) went down, but our girl Kavya is still in the hunt (and is not using the Spelling Bee to get into Harvard):

City: Olathe

Age: 10

Grade/school: Fifth grade, Regency Place Elementary

A troublesome word: “Steenjiz,” from the Afrikaans language

Verbatim: “I like Latin and Greek words a lot, getting into the root. It’s a little easier to put together than French, which depends on etymological rules…” [Link]

<

p>Tomorrow could turn into an absolute nightmare for members of the press if Nidharshan Subra Anandasivam of Texas wins but the press might need a shot in the arm to get off of their lazy asses.

The crowd cheered after the eighth grade student from St. Joseph Academy in Brownsville politely corrected Dr. Marty Lewis, English professor at the University of Brownsville, and continued to spell the winning word.

“I was pretty confident but not 100 percent sure (I would win again)” Nidharshan said holding his first place trophy. “I have a talent for spelling…” [Link]

<

p>Correcting an English professor? Gangsta. The dark horse in this race seems to be Michael Christie of New York. There isn’t a lot known about him:

Michael Christie never wavered in his defense of The Post-Standard/WCNY Spelling Bee championship. The soft-spoken eighth-grader from Clay watched his last competitor, Humma Sheikh, misspell whilom in round 10 of the competition Saturday at the WCNY studios on Old Liverpool Road. Whilom means former.

Christie, an eighth-grader at Bishop Grimes, then spelled dirndl on his turn. Dirndl is a dress style copied from Alpine peasant costumes.

Then, Christie had to spell one more word to make it back-to-back wins. He correctly spelled tephra, which is solid material ejected into the area during a volcanic explosion. [Link]

<

p>

<

p>Tephra? Any non-geologist that knows that word scores points with me.

<

p>Update 2 (4:23p.m. PST): Just a reminder that on the West Coast the Bee will be taped delayed by three hours. East coast readers can feel free to post comments but I will be Live Blogging for the West Coast.

<

p>Update 3 (6:10 p.m. PST): Screw it. I just can’t wait. I will just update live EST.

<

p>Kavya got taken out and so did Nidharshan Subra Anandasivam. There were sighs of relief from the press corp when the latter misspelled “paillon.” Only two desis left. So much hangs in the balance.

<

p>Update 4 (6:30 p.m. PST): Only one left. Can Rajiv come through for us??

<

p>Update 5 (6:44 p.m. PST): It is over. The dream is dead. There will be no joy in Brownsville this year.

Where do we go from here? Where can we turn to? If the Canadian wins then Friedman will still write his article.

91 thoughts on “Live-blogging the 2006 Bee (updated)”

  2. I was watching a few minutes ago, and I was surprised to hear several South Asia origin words. “Dhole” (a kind of dog), “Sikhimese”, and “Raita” were all words. The kids who got “Dhole” and “Raita” got eliminated, while the non-Indian kid who got Sikhimese got it right.

  4. I know this is silly, but I got excited when I saw “Sikkimese” as one of the words in the sixth round. Also “basmati” was one of the words in the first round. Yay desis and desi words. 🙂

  5. I know this is silly, but I got excited when I saw “Sikkimese” as one of the words in the sixth round. Also “basmati” was one of the words in the first round. Yay desis and desi words. :

    well then they will open a can of worms w/ say a name Birender, Birendar, Birendra(all 3 romanized spellings are used). or Kapoor, Kapur.

  7. I know this is silly, but I got excited when I saw “Sikkimese” as one of the words in the sixth round. Also “basmati” was one of the words in the first round. Yay desis and desi words. 🙂

    I wouldn’t get too excited. Some of the parents might complain that the deck is being stacked in favor of brown folks. There could be Congressional inquiries and the like. 🙂

  9. But notice that none of the Indian contestants have gotten an Indian-origin word. (I wonder if they are considering that in selecting words to give them)

  11. “gymkhana” made it phew. Its important for these kids to know what places to avoid.

  13. Imagine how badly the press will kill these kids’ names if any of them win (particularly the southies). Of course, Michael and Bonny are the exception. 🙂

  14. WOW if Bonny Jain wins…he’ll be the Indian Bo Jackson…Geography and Spelling BEEATHLETE!…craaaaaaaazy! (i bring puns)

  15. or that one time we didnÂ’t make the high school badminton team because we cut our head open and had to get like a whole bunch of stiches the night before tryouts and were in the emergency room until very late at night and the doctor said that we should stay away from all strenuous physical activity for at least a week but we tried out anywaysÂ…and got cut, from the badminton team, which even our other more nerdy friends made it onto.

    Does this not sound too specific to be made up ?

  16. Samir Patel is the Lebron of the bee, Bonny Jain is Shaq, and Rajiv Tarigopula is the Kobe…

  18. Samir Patel is the Lebron of the bee, Bonny Jain is Shaq, and Rajiv Tarigopula is the Kobe…

    Amar…is that you?? 😀

  23. They just finished round 7. Only 4 browns left out of 13 remaining: Michael, Kavya, Rajiv, and Nidharshan. I can’t believe Samir got eliminated!!! 🙁

  25. Imagine how badly the press will kill these kids’ names if any of them win (particularly the southies). Of course, Michael and Bonny are the exception. 🙂

    Especially Nidharshan. I can barely pronounce it myself..

  30. Where’s Samir Patel’s pic?? He didn’t get eliminated, did he? He’s my hero…

    Samir lost. He is dead to me.

  35. I thought this was going to be a live blog…hasn’t been updated in a while.

  36. filoselle

    Who gets to decide how this above wierd word gets spelled?? I want to be the decider .. anyone know how to do that?

  37. MG

    thought this was going to be a live blog…hasn’t been updated in a while

    Competition resumes at 8:00 p.m. EST

  38. ESPN interviewed Samir as the crowd fav. Poor kid was crying, he said he’ll be there next year “provided I get through my regionals” Awww..

  39. Goth, Schmoth. Bee kids are the true underground heroes of our age, shunning the path of non-conformity thru the easy avenues of supposedly transgressive fashion&music choices, but rather actively inviting scorn from their peers thru rote memorization.

    Blessed be the child who drowns out the frequency of MTV Cribs/My Sweet 16/G-Unit ring tones and concentrates on word lists. Hail the Bee! V-E-R-I-T-A-S!

  40. or that one time we didnÂ’t make the high school badminton team because we cut our head open and had to get like a whole bunch of stiches the night before tryouts and were in the emergency room until very late at night and the doctor said that we should stay away from all strenuous physical activity for at least a week but we tried out anywaysÂ…and got cut, from the badminton team, which even our other more nerdy friends made it onto.
    Does this not sound too specific to be made up ?

    jeez abhi… bitter?

    chickpea…you seriously had an office pool? hehehe…that is funny.

  41. I thought this was going to be a live blog…hasn’t been updated in a while.

    Sorry dude. Next time I am getting a root canal I will check and make sure the timings are okay with you. I’m back now but there is a hitch. ABC is tape delaying the broadcast until 8p.m. PST here in LA. That means you East Coasters will get to watch it live while I will have to Live Blog by following along on-line

  42. My bet is on Anjay…..I know that smile…All those kids in Hindi school who laughed at / looked at me in disdain cos I could not spell in Hindi….I see each one of them in Anjay. He is going to take it home. Don’t go by the innocence on his face…I knowwwwww…dammit I know that LOOK!

  44. but rather actively inviting scorn from their peers thru rote memorization.

    Sirc, its not just rote memorization. I suspect they often have to figure out the root/origin (language etc)/meaning of a word, and then guess how it might be spelled. There is no way they could have come across every single word they get asked.

  45. My predictions of how the browns will place amongst each other:

    1. Rajiv
    2. Nidharshan
    3. Michael
    4. Kavya

    Of course, I’ll be happy if any of them win…

  46. · Abhi on June 1, 2006 02:38 PM · Direct link Aishwarya–> TMBSITW

    The most beautiful sound in the world? What is TMBSITW?

  48. lavanya on June 1, 2006 07:02 PM · Direct link Megha — S is for speller. 🙂

    Yes, as you can tell, not all indians are the brightest bulbs in the room 🙂 Thanks Lavanya. I came up with tons of S words to substitute…Speller, however did not cross my mind. Now I know why my father refuses to acknowledge me in public..

  49. I noticed that more than 10% of the 275 kids were home schooled. Is home schooling a good thing? Is it expensive to find home tutors?

  50. Megha

    Now I know why my father refuses to acknowledge me in public..

    Haven’t you seen/heard about the Great Indian Nod ?