81st Scripps National Spelling Bee | |
---|---|
Date | May 2008 |
Location | Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, D.C. |
Winner | Sameer Mishra |
Age | 13 |
Residence | West Lafayette, Indiana |
Sponsor | Journal & Courier |
Sponsor location | Lafayette, Indiana |
Winning word | guerdon |
No. of contestants | 288 |
Pronouncer | Jacques Bailly |
Preceded by | 80th Scripps National Spelling Bee |
Followed by | 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee |
The 81st Scripps National Spelling Bee finals took place on May 30, 2008.
Two hundred eighty-eight champion spellers competed in the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., a new record. Most of the spellers were from the United States, with a small showing from other locations such as Ghana, Jamaica, New Zealand, and South Korea. Twenty-two were Canadian. Wikipedian Emily Temple-Wood was one of the competitors. [1] Sriram Hathwar, who would be a co-winner of the 2014 bee six years later, set a new record as the youngest ever participant to date, only a month past his 8th birthday. [2]
The winner was Sameer Mishra, a 13-year-old eighth grader at West Lafayette Junior-Senior High School, in Indiana. He was sponsored by his hometown newspaper, the Journal & Courier. His winning word was guerdon. He won $35,000 in cash and more than $5,000 in prizes. [3]
In rounds 3 through 15, Mishra spelled "demitasse", "quadrat", "diener", "hyssop", "macédoine", "basenji", "numnah", " chorion", "nacarat", "sinicize", "hyphaeresis", "taleggio" and "esclandre" correctly, in that order. In second place came Sidharth Chand, 13, misspelling "prosopopoeia" as "prosopopoea". In third place came 13-year-old Tia Thomas, misspelling "opificer" as "epificer".
In a comical moment during the spelling bee, he mistook the word "numnah" for "numb nut".
Mishra incorrectly spelled "sudation" in Round 2 as "sudatian". [4] However, because a speller's combined score from Rounds 1 and 2 determines whether he or she advances in the competition, a speller can incorrectly spell a word in Round 2 without being eliminated.
As with previous years, coverage was divided amongst American Broadcasting Company properties, the quarter-finals were broadcast on ESPN360, and the semi-finals were aired by ESPN, and the finals were broadcast by ABC. Unlike other ESPN-produced telecasts for ABC, ESPN branding was not used, even though the telecasts adopted the newer-styled ESPN graphics package.
81st Scripps National Spelling Bee | |
---|---|
Date | May 2008 |
Location | Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, D.C. |
Winner | Sameer Mishra |
Age | 13 |
Residence | West Lafayette, Indiana |
Sponsor | Journal & Courier |
Sponsor location | Lafayette, Indiana |
Winning word | guerdon |
No. of contestants | 288 |
Pronouncer | Jacques Bailly |
Preceded by | 80th Scripps National Spelling Bee |
Followed by | 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee |
The 81st Scripps National Spelling Bee finals took place on May 30, 2008.
Two hundred eighty-eight champion spellers competed in the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., a new record. Most of the spellers were from the United States, with a small showing from other locations such as Ghana, Jamaica, New Zealand, and South Korea. Twenty-two were Canadian. Wikipedian Emily Temple-Wood was one of the competitors. [1] Sriram Hathwar, who would be a co-winner of the 2014 bee six years later, set a new record as the youngest ever participant to date, only a month past his 8th birthday. [2]
The winner was Sameer Mishra, a 13-year-old eighth grader at West Lafayette Junior-Senior High School, in Indiana. He was sponsored by his hometown newspaper, the Journal & Courier. His winning word was guerdon. He won $35,000 in cash and more than $5,000 in prizes. [3]
In rounds 3 through 15, Mishra spelled "demitasse", "quadrat", "diener", "hyssop", "macédoine", "basenji", "numnah", " chorion", "nacarat", "sinicize", "hyphaeresis", "taleggio" and "esclandre" correctly, in that order. In second place came Sidharth Chand, 13, misspelling "prosopopoeia" as "prosopopoea". In third place came 13-year-old Tia Thomas, misspelling "opificer" as "epificer".
In a comical moment during the spelling bee, he mistook the word "numnah" for "numb nut".
Mishra incorrectly spelled "sudation" in Round 2 as "sudatian". [4] However, because a speller's combined score from Rounds 1 and 2 determines whether he or she advances in the competition, a speller can incorrectly spell a word in Round 2 without being eliminated.
As with previous years, coverage was divided amongst American Broadcasting Company properties, the quarter-finals were broadcast on ESPN360, and the semi-finals were aired by ESPN, and the finals were broadcast by ABC. Unlike other ESPN-produced telecasts for ABC, ESPN branding was not used, even though the telecasts adopted the newer-styled ESPN graphics package.