Thursday, June 1, 2006

ROUND SEVEN: Bossy but Cute Dr. Jacques makes me feel safe. He wraps me in the warm familiar cocoon of the spelling world and keeps me there where things are factual and safe, either right or wrong, no shades of grey. He tells me to "listen carefully" and orders me to "pay attention" -- his bossy cuteness keeps the Bee a holy place.

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We lost spelling badass Evan O'Dorney on "mirliton".

We lost the mussed-haired rebel Kendra Yoshinaga on "cointise".

There will be no one left to spell in prime time at this rate...

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Ooh. They are switching from ESPN to ESPN 2. You mean they're gonna spell through the round? They're not going to stop? By the way, how nice is it to watch the Bee in High Def? I feel like I'm there.

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BONNY JAIN IS DOWN! The winner of the National Geographic Geography Bee will not win the coveted double crown!!! BONNY JAIN IS DOWN!!!!

Okay, yeah, I'm clearly spending too much time in front of the TV obsessing about Bees. I may want to try leaving the house sometime soon...

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I'm bubbling with respect for Kavya Shivashankar and Katharine Close. Kavya's a first timer and Katharine's a five-peater. Both spell like champions.

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Can I just say how much I love the way they cut to parents in the audience as the parents are basically trying not to go into cardiac arrest watching their children spell? It's actually cute. And, like, when the kid spells wrong and parent leaps to their feet with worry and love to run to comfort their kid? That's moving. It's all very cute and moving. Except when the child spells wrong and the parents get that angry twisty look on their face that tells me somene will be shouting "no wire hangers" sometime soon. Then it's not cute. Then, it's disturbing. But usually it's cute.

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Watching Samir work to spell "eremacusis" is like watching a true artist. I forgive all and regret all things said about his Hollywood polish. In the end, at his heart, he's a speller. He has hands over his face, squeezing his forehead tightly, desperately trying to figure out this word. He asks for bonus time...

AND HE'S DOWN!!

SAMIR IS DOWN!!!!!

OH MY GOSH!

HOLY CRAP!

AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

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Okay, round over. 13 spellers remain to go to prime time. The room was buzzing after his elimination. BUZZING. They could not believe it. Spelling Shocker.

Who do we pick to win now?

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