The preliminary process for this year’s competition was started eight months ago.
Country’s top spellers are being tested at the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee in suburban Washington, D.C.
The preliminary test was held at the Maryland Ballroom on Tuesday and now all the 291 contestants are busy participating in the Round Two and Three preliminaries. The names of the finalists will be announced approximately 6 p.m. after a one-day long competition. The final competition will take place on Thursday.
The preliminary process for this year’s competition was started eight months ago and the 291 spellers were selected from 11 million participants from the classrooms across the United States.
This year’s competition has already made headlines in March because of the 5-year-old super speller Edith Fuller, who became the youngest contender ever at the nationals. Now, Fuller turned six.
Just like the previous years, we can expect some great performances from Indian American talents as more than 65 contestants out of the 291 are Indian Americans.
Including last three joint winners, winners of past nine Bees were Indian Americans. Last year’s Bee co-champions were Indian Americans Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga. It was the ninth successive time Indian American spellers won the prestigious championship.
The first place winner will get $40,000 cash prize and $2,500 US savings bond; and the second and third winners will get $30,000 and $20,000, respectively.
Presented by Kindle, the Bee is broadcast live on ESPN and its sister channels.