Scripps National Spelling Bee 2021: TV Schedule, Live Stream, Start Time, More

It's been two years since the Scripps National Spelling Bee crowned a champion. (Well, make that champions, as the 2019 event ended in an eight-way tie.) The 2020 competition was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but that only gave the top spellers more time to study.

Now, the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee is down to its 11 finalists, who will compete for the title Thursday night at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. And there won't be a tie this time, as a sole winner will be crowned.

How can that be guaranteed? Well, J. Michael Durnil has since taken over as the event's executive director and has implemented some changes. Among them is a 90-second lightning round in which participants will see how many words they can correctly spell. It will only be used if a single winner doesn't emerge in traditional fashion.

"I think the spellers don't enter into our competition thinking that they're going to have to share the ultimate distinction of the spelling champion with anybody else," Durnil told Ben Nuckols of the Associated Press in April. "From a competitive standpoint, we owe it to the spellers to identify the champion of the spelling bee."

Here's everything else you need to know heading into Thursday's finals.

Finals Information

Date: Thursday, July 8

Start Time: 8 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN2

Live Stream: ESPN app

List of Finalists

Roy Seligman, 12 years old, Nassau, The Bahamas
Bhavana Madini, 13, New York City, New York
Sreethan Gajula, 14, Charlotte, North Carolina
Ashrita Gandhari, 14, Leesburg, Virginia
Avani Joshi, 13, Loves Park, Illinois
Zaila Avant-garde, 14, New Orleans, Louisiana
Vivinsha Veduru, 11, Fort Worth, Texas
Dhroov Bharatia, 12, Dallas, Texas
Vihaan Sibal, 12, Waco, Texas
Akshainie Kamma, 13, Austin, Texas
Chaitra Thummala, 12, San Francisco, California

Preview

Because of the pandemic, the earlier rounds in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee were conducted in a virtual format. However, that will change for the finals, as the 11 participants will compete in person, with only one emerging as this year's champion.

While it's a small group of finalists, the competition began with 209 national qualifiers. But only the top spellers are still standing. And after going nearly two full years between competition, they've been working hard to make it to this point.

"My love for spelling is what has kept me going. If you don't truly have a passion for spelling, the quarantine could be really, really hard for you," 13-year-old Akshainie Kamma said, per Nuckols.

Even though many of these finalists have experience in this event in the past, there's always the potential for nerves to show up when getting this close to the end of the contest. Especially considering they haven't been competing in person so far this year.

However, this group of finalists has also been preparing for that throughout the downtime for the event.

"Yoga has also helped a lot over this past year. All these things have given me time to work on my weaknesses, which were prevalent back in sixth grade," said 13-year-old Avani Joshi, who misspelled a word on stage in 2019, per Nuckols.

It's extremely hard to qualify for the national spelling bee. It's even more challenging to make it this far. And it's incredibly difficult to win. That's why the winner will receive some big rewards.

The winner of this year's spelling bee (per the event's official website) will receive a $50,000 cash prize, a commemorative medal, the Scripps Cup, a $2,500 cash prize and reference library from Merriam-Webster, $400 of reference works and a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium.

Considering none of the finalists are older than 14, none of them will be going to college quite soon. But that money could certainly provide a boost to their savings for when those days arrive.

Not only that, but the winner and one parent will travel to New York City to appear on Live with Kelly and Ryan and to Hollywood to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

On Tuesday, the White House announced that First Lady Jill Biden will be attending the spelling bee finals and meeting with the 11 finalists and their families to congratulate them. So even though they won't all win, they'll get quite the memorable experience.

Get ready to be impressed, because these words aren't going to be easy. And because of that, the event is always entertaining to watch, as these bright young minds battle it out on the national stage to see who will be standing as the competition's best speller.