Blogging the National Spelling Bee

I live-blogged the National Spelling Bee a few years ago, and why not do it again!! Here we go!!

8:01 - Oh the drama begins!!!

8:02 - I bet these kids love the host is the same as "The Bachelor." Yeah, that makes sense.

8:03 - Chris Harrison had the kids circle up and say "spell." We now know who's the stupidest person on stage.

8:05 - Way to nail the first word, Arvind Mahankall. Don't want to get up and spoil it in primetime.

8:07 - Ah, how cute! The Ohio girl says Lebron should stay in Cleveland...because they're the best team. She's obviously not a basketball fan...but her favorite word is "xat" because it's a "curveball." She must like baseball.

8:09 - They're talking about the Canadian in the competition. Ahem, NATIONAL Spelling Bee.

8:11 - We have our first hand spelling!!!! Way to be, Joanna Ye!

8:15 - I always love how they use "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" to explain the rules.

8:16 - Okay, this girl is from Puerto Rico. That's kosher because it's a part of the United States (unlike Canada).

8:18 - And down goes the first contestant. Miss Puerto Rico couldn't nail "gyokuro." Adios, Juliana Canabal-Rodriguez.

8:20 - Next up, Aditya Chemudupaty, from Nolan Ryan Junior High School. Sports tie-in!!

8:21 - His word, "engysseismology," was used in sentence with Dance, Dance Revolution. Boo!!!

8:22 - And there goes the second contestant. See ya next year, Aditya! "Obviously, Nolan Ryan would be proud." What color commentary!!

8:23 - Now we get to meet Andrew Grose, from Sheboygan, Wisc. I'm amazed at how hot his mom is.

8:24 - Andrew's a board writer!!! And he nails the word to end the round. Eight remain!

8:28 - NBA Finals promo! Another sports tie-in!

8:29 - Fun fact: 273 competitors started in Round 1.

8:30 - So we're meeting the Canadian now. She shall not be named. "The Canadian" she shall remain.

8:31 - It's a French word. And she's struggling. And she's from Canada. And she missed it. Au revoir! Now it's just 7 Americans!

8:34 - Fun fact: Ohio has won the most bees, at 8!

8:35 - Adrian Gunawan's style is to always stand with one hand behind his back, wears a lucky blue shirt and gray socks. He's a rebel! And he makes "netsuke" look easy.

8:36 - Now here's Erin Andrews to talk to the first contestant out. Riveting, Erin. Simply riveting.

8:37 - Oh, Lanson Tang walks up acting like he knows "leishmanic" is of German origin. He just got smacked down 'cause it's English. Booyah!

8:38 - And he missed it. There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. And then there were 6!

8:42 - Marky Mark and Will Ferrell are doing a celebrity bee. The word is "supplementary." It's turn into a terrible promo for "The Other Guys." Yawn.

8:43 - Elizabeth Platz says her favorite book is the official dictionary of the bee. She's immediately become my pick to win!

8:44 - Come on. "Gnocchi?" That's like a softball! It's on many Italian menus across the country. Yeah, she scarfed that one down easily.

8:46 - Fun fact: North Dakota has never won the bee. With "infundibuliform," Shantanu keeps the great state's hopes alive!

8:48 - Haha! She asked if she could ask any more questions, which is, in fact a question. Helped her nail the word.

8:49 - Erin Andrews is interviewing the Canadian. She's making excuses. She said she misheard it. She said she knew the real word. If you knew the real word, then you would have realized it when you heard the definition. Liar!! Canadian liar!! Get off my screen!!!

8:55 - Oh, Chris Harrison just shamelessly plugged "The Bachelorette" on Monday nights. Pathetic. If he makes a rose reference, I may through something at my TV (good thing it's not mine!).

8:56 - Joanna Ye has quickly become my second favorite. Now, watch her get eliminated with "tailleur."You can do it!

8:57 - "She visualizes the words right in front of her and grabs the one that's right." And she grabbed the wrong one. Nuts!

8:58 - Now the Sheboygan kid's back. I just like typing Sheboygan, almost as much as I like saying it. Oh, no! "Aguinaldo" just made this kid its punta. Another shot of the hot mom as he sulks to his seat!

8:59 - Two eliminated to end the round. So then there were 4 heading into Round 8. They're dropping like flies. This could be a quick finish. This is making the presence of "gnocchi" here even more ridiculous.

9:03 - There's a promo for an upcoming concert special of Miley Cyrus. Apparently she's a superstar. Sigh....

9:04 - They just had the kids lip-synching to "Staplegunned" by the Spill Canvas. Let's not do that next year.

9:05 - I know what you've been thinking. "What are Adrian Gunawan's other interests?" Now we get to find out! When he's not spelling, he's doing homework or studying for tests. I NEVER would have guessed that.

9:06 - I can already tell he's not going to get "terribilita." But come on, that's an awesome word! It's an art term meaning "the sublime mixed with fear and awe." Use that in a sentence tomorrow!

9:08 - Cracking jokes don't spell words! And Adrian goes down, with his lucky blue shirt hanging out. Only 3 left.

9:10 - Elizabeth Platz always says hello to the pronouncer. They doesn't help you to spell. But it's good to see that all these kids aren't brats.

9:11 - She just said the word's definition is boring. And "rhytidome" struck back, knocking her out of the round. And then there were 2.

9:14 - I don't like that commercial that uses the song from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" because every time I hear it, I get excited and think the movie is on. Then I realize it's just a stupid commercial.

9:15 - I love how most of these bee words come up as spelling errors in blogger. Stupid Google!!

9:16 - A bit of firemen spelling. Yawn.

9:17 - The hosts remind us that if the final 2 spellers of this round both miss their words, the round starts all over with the 4 spellers. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Could make things interesting. But it also means that if someone does spell it right, this could be one quick finals!

9:18 - Erin Andrews is getting the skinny from Elizabeth Platz. I don't understand the sentences she's saying. It's nonsense to me.

9:19 - Can Shantanu hit a grand slam with "ochidore" to be the first to spell this round? We just got a shot of his spelling coach. That's like a batting coach, but waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cooler.

9:20 - Uh, oh. He strikes out. That's 3 up and 3 down this round. Wow. There's 1 left that can take this thing. And, of course, they go to commercial break. Gotta make their money if this thing ends early!

9:23 - There is something poetic about all these "Wipeout" promotions during the spelling bee.

9:24 - I just realized that if Anamika gets this word, she'll expand Ohio's all-time wins lead to 9.

9:25 - For the round, she gets "juvia." I'll be honest, seems pretty easy to get with the two pronunciations.

9:27 - She nails it. But she has to spell one more word to take the championship. So why not have another commercial break? Ha! You could hear the crowd uproar with disapproval.

9:28 - We'll enter Round 9 with 1 speller. But if she misfires, her 3 adversaries are back in this thing. If not, she is the greatest speller in the land younger than 15 years of age.

9:29 - Commercial for a new spicy chicken sandwich debuting at Chick-Fil-A on Monday. Oh my God!! That's the best news all bee! Totally worth watching!!!

9:31 - They just had a replay of the kid that passed out years ago. Best bee moment ever!

9:32 - Anamika steps up to the mic. She gets "stromuhr" for the win. She asks for the definition. She asks for the language of origin. She asks for the word in sentence. She asks for the word to be repeated. Then she nails it.

9:33 - We have a winner! North Royalton of Cleveland, Ohio!

9:34 - Now ABC has to fill the last 26 minutes. And I'm not going to stick around to find out. Until next year!!