Spellers have 2 minutes to spell their word. When the light turns red, spellers have 30 seconds to complete the spelling of their word, or be eliminated.

Dev Jaiswal of Mississippi spelled both his words correctly and will advance to the Champion Finals tonight.

During commercial breaks, spellers got up, stretched, and talked amongst each other.

Each time a semifinalist missed a word in the semifinals, the other spellers would give him a standing ovation.

Paul Loeffler named ten Championship Finalists.

The Championship Finalists each received a medal.

The Semifinals were suspenseful and full of excitement! I got to sit in the front row with other spellers so I had a great view! Last night, all 49 semifinalists had to take another written spelling and vocabulary test (this was Round 4 of the competition). Rounds 5 and 6 occurred onstage this morning and lasted about 3 1/2 hours. After Round 5, 38 semifinalists remained. There were 21 semifinalists after Round 6. Some examples of words that flummoxed spellers were diamante, syrette, eupyrion, and calefy.

Up to twelve semifinalists with the highest overall aggregate scores from Rounds 1 – 6 can move on to the Championship Finals. This year, ten spellers will advance to the Championship Finals which will occur tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST, and will be broadcast on ESPN.

During the Championship Finals tonight, a speller from every state (or country) has the privilege of sitting onstage. I was chosen to represent Kentucky, so if you are watching, you might just see me on stage!

Here I am waiting for the test to begin.

All 285 spellers took the preliminaries exam at the same time this morning.

Rounds 2 and 3 will also occur in the Maryland Ballroom of the Gaylord Convention Center.

This morning we gathered for an assembly. We were introduced to Scripps staff as well as Bee officials including the pronouncer, Dr. Jacques Bailly, and the head judge, Mrs. Mary Brooks. Kate Miller, who was a finalist last year, reviewed the rules of the spelling bee and gave us some suggestions about what we should do for the on stage portions of the Bee.

Round 1 began shortly after the assembly. All 285 spellers took the exam at the same time this year. The preliminaries exam consisted of 26 multiple choice questions which included both spelling and vocabulary. The total number of points that could be earned in this round is 30. A speller needs to do well on this exam in order to have a chance at advancing in the bee because the points from this round are added to points earned on stage during Rounds 2 and 3 tomorrow. However, if a speller misspells on stage, they are eliminated. Only a maximum of 50 spellers advance to the semifinals; these people are the highest scorers through Round 3 of the competition. Some examples of spelling words we were asked were meunière, tarsorrhaphy, and schmierkase.  Using my root word knowledge, I was able to figure out the definitions of words such as viridigenous (producing greenness), and hypercryalgesia (excessive pain due to cold) but there were many other words I didn’t know.

I think that many of the spellers would agree with me when I say that the exam was extremely difficult. I tried my best and I now know that I need to study more word roots as well as language patterns. We will find out the results of the exam tomorrow afternoon.

The highlight of the day was when 3 of my grandparents arrived to cheer me on! I hope you all will be able to watch Rounds 2 and 3 tomorrow on ESPN3. I am speller 93. 

In the pavilion area, spellers and their families enjoyed delicious food and interesting conversation.

My sister loved the arts and crafts area the most.

Forming a “spelling circle” is an efficient way to get your Bee Keeper signed. Simply pass your Bee Keeper around and wait for it to get back to you.

Many spellers enjoyed dancing at the barbecue.

Spellers engaged in sports like volleyball and softball.

Creating sand art was a popular activity among spellers.

It was a beautiful day to be outside and enjoy the Memorial Day Barbecue with the other spellers and their families. There were plenty of activities to keep us occupied for several hours today. People entered dance contests, played volleyball, or engaged in arts and crafts activities. Face painters and caricature artists were also on hand to paint faces and draw humorous portraits. I entered the hula hooping contest and was not the first person out!

This was also a great opportunity to socialize with the other spellers and, of course, collect more autographs in my Bee Keeper. Tomorrow is the first official day of competition; it begins in the morning with the preliminary written exam (Round 1). On Wednesday, Round 2 and Round 3 will occur on stage and will be live streamed on ESPN3. If you are interested in watching these rounds, please go to spellingbee.com for the broadcasting schedule!