How to watch tonight’s Scripps National Spelling Bee

By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press OXON HILL Md AP The best young spellers in the English language are competing at the Scripps National Spelling Bee which celebrates its th anniversary this year The first bee was held in when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington The bee is now held just outside the nation s capital at a convention center on the banks of the Potomac River It started Tuesday and concludes Thursday night This is the th bee it was canceled from to because of World War II and again in because of the COVID- pandemic This year s champion will be the th because the bee ended in a two-way tie several times and an eight-way tie in Yahya Ali Mohammed of Geneva Ill reacts after spelling a word correctly during the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Wednesday May in Oxon Hill Md AP Photo Julia Demaree Nikhinson Indian Americans have dominated the competition for a quarter-century Since of winners have been Indian American including seven of the eight co-champs in How can I watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee The bee is broadcast and streamed on channels and platforms owned by Scripps a Cincinnati-based media company Thursday May Finals broadcast on ION from - p m ET Who is competing at the Scripps National Spelling Bee The bee features spellers with at least one from each of the states and the District of Columbia as well as spellers from U S territories Puerto Rico the U S Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands and from Canada the Bahamas Germany Ghana Kuwait and Nigeria Aishwarya Kallakuri of Charlotte N C reacts after spelling a word correctly in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Wednesday May in Oxon Hill Md AP Photo Julia Demaree Nikhinson Sixty spellers were eliminated in Tuesday s preliminary spelling and vocabulary rounds leaving to take a written spelling and vocabulary test ahead of Wednesday s quarterfinals An additional were eliminated by the test leaving quarterfinalists on the stage Wednesday morning Three quarterfinal rounds narrowed the field to semifinalists and nine spellers made the finals after four semifinal rounds Faizan Zaki last year s runner-up is back in the finals after losing to Bruhat Soma in a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a spell-off The -year-old seventh-grader from Allen Texas was the only speller to get a perfect tally on the written test If Faizan falls short again he would have one more year of eligibility He has won several online bees that top spellers compete in as preparation including the Words of Wisdom Spelling Bee and the South Asian Spelling Bee Faizan Zaki of Dallas reacts after spelling his word correctly during the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort Convention Center Wednesday May in Oxon Hill Md AP Photo Jose Luis Magana The other finalists Aishwarya Kallakuri a -year-old eighth-grader from Concord North Carolina and winner of the SpellPundit National Spelling Bee Harini Murali a -year-old eighth-grader from Edison New Jersey a finalist last year and the younger sister of Navneeth Murali who would have been a top contender in the bee had it not been canceled because of COVID- Esha Marupudi a -year-old seventh-grader from Chandler Arizona who is competing at the bee for the first time Oliver Halkett a -year-old seventh-grader from Los Angeles and a two-time bee participant Sarvadnya Kadam a three-time speller and a -year-old eighth-grader from Visalia California Sarv Dharavane an -year-old from Dunwoody Georgia who made the semifinals last year as a fourth-grader Brian Liu a -year-old eighth-grader from Great Neck New York who was a semifinalist two years ago but didn t make it to the bee in Akshaj Somisetty a -year-old eighth-grader from Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania and a two-time speller who leaped from quarterfinalist to finalist What are the rules of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Spellers qualify by advancing through regional bees hosted by sponsors around the country To compete spellers must not have advanced beyond the eighth grade or be older than Zwe Sunyata Spacetime of Washington center applauds following the quarterfinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Wednesday May in Oxon Hill Md AP Photo Julia Demaree Nikhinson Spellers must get through two preliminary rounds quizzing them on words from a list provided in advance one spelling round and one multiple-choice vocabulary round Those who make it through the preliminaries sit for a written spelling and vocabulary test with the top or so finishers advancing to the quarterfinals The words for the test and for all subsequent rounds are taken from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary Throughout the quarterfinals and semifinals spellers are eliminated at the microphone through oral spelling or vocabulary questions When only two spellers remain Scripps has the option to use a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a spell-off to determine the champion However Scripps has taken away the requirement that the spell-off begin at a specific time giving bee judges more discretion to let the competition play out Related Articles What to know about onetime Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover whose federal sentence Trump commuted Tariffs are back on after an appeals court blocks a transaction court injunction National Spelling Bee runners-up rarely go on to win But Faizan Zaki hopes to defy the odds Smokey Robinson sues former housekeepers for defamation over rape assertions Skittles removes controversial additive targeted by RFK Jr What are the prizes for the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion The winner receives a custom trophy and more than in cash and prizes Here are the prize payouts First place in cash reference works from Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster and a contribution to a school of the champion s choice Second place Third place Fourth place Fifth place Sixth place All other finalists Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since Follow his work here