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Shivashankar puts a 'spell' on national bee

Laodicean--adjective--lukewarm or indifferent, especially in religion, as were the early Christians of Laodicea.

While "Laodicean" and its definition might not mean anything to the average person, it was just the word 13-year-old eighth grader Kavya Shivashankar needed tonight in the 16th round to win the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

With the victory, Shivashankar took home over $40,000 in cash in prizes, including $30,000 from Scripps, a $2,500 U.S. savings bond from Merriam-Webster and a $5,000 scholarship from the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation.

Despite all the monetary prizes, the prize Shivashankar had been waiting for all along was the large engraved trophy from Scripps (pictured left). Before tonight's first-place finish, the eventual victor had finished 10th in 2006, eighth in 2007 and fourth in last year's competition.

"I can't believe it happened," Shivashankar said, according to a Yahoo News story. "It feels kind of unreal."

After missing the word "Maecenas," 12-year-old Tim Ruiter finished in second place while 13-year-old Aishwarya Pastapur's miss of "menhir" landed her in third.

Although he seemed to cruise through every round, Kyle Mou bowed out in fourth-place on the word "schizophine."

The biggest shock of the night came when "co-favorite" and last year's second-place finisher Sidharth Chand flubbed the word "apodyterium" early in round eight. Upon his mistake, he buried his head in his hands while the crowd bathed him in a mid-round standing ovation.

With the conclusion of this year's national bee, I'm once again amazed at the ability and dedication these young kids have displayed. While most viewers might tune in to poke fun at the smart, geeky and quirky contestants, this year's competition confirmed my reasoning for waking up at 8 a.m. in the middle of summer.

In my imagination, I can picture a future national spelling bee. The spry and intelligent kid will step up to the mic, only to hear the pronouncer say, "Your word is Shivashankar."

Sticking with the usual question, the competitor will ask, "Can I please hear the definition?"

The pronouncer will say, "The winner of the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee."

Eleven buzz way into spelling bee finals

What event could possibly warrant a 21-year-old college student waking up by 8 a.m. in the middle of summer? A doctor's appointment? A breakfast meeting? A job? No, no and NO (who works these days)! The only plausible choice, of course, is the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPN.

I mean, who doesn't enjoy waking up at the crack of dawn to watch 13-year-old eight graders who will never go on a date in their life show off their remarkable spelling skills? Lord knows that I do.

With the completion of the semifinal rounds, which began with 41 teens, there are only 11 Championship Finalists left to duke it out at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. This is the second year the major network has picked up the finals on primetime with well-known host Tom Bergeron.

As expected, the two favorites in this year's bee--Sidharth Chand (pictured) and Kavya Shivashankar--are still in the hunt for the big prize. Chand, who finished second last year, tackled words like sobornost, machtpolitik and unakite with ease while Shivashankar worked her way through ergasia, kurta and escritoire.

While Chand and Shivashankar are being referred to as the "co-favorites," viewers shouldn't sleep on other finalists like Kyle Mou, Kennyi Aouad and Serena Laine-Lobsinger.

Obviously, part of the reason I watch the spelling bee each year is to see the dorky, quirky and just plain funny participants that grace us with their presence. On the other hand though, I tune in for my love of spelling and my fascination for how well these "kids" are at their craft.

Tune in tonight to ABC at 6 p.m. MST for the final round! It's bound to be a nail-biter!