Dear Gossips,

Wednesday night it was Beyoncé. Last night it was the Spelling Bee. A total Nerd Bowl. I love the Spelling Bee! I sweated through an entire set of pyjamas watching the Spelling Bee. And these two finalists, Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga, were particularly – and unintentionally – theatrical. Untrained stage performers who somehow brought the most drama. They fist-pumped. They quipped. They smirked. They hung their heads at particularly suspenseful moments. They hugged each other when they were told of the possibility that they would win together and made everyone cry. It was the most riveting television reality. How about the expressions (barely disguised disappointment) on their faces when they knew the other was about to get it right? Or Nihar shaking his head when Jairam was getting it wrong?


That’s not shade, OK? It’s just…sometimes a know-it-all can’t help himself because all that knowing can’t be contained in an 11 year old body. It has to come out! Like the way he had to TELL the Spelling Master the word origins instead of asking for them even though it was his first time at the national competition. Because he KNOWS. He knows it all! They both know it all. Which is why they are co-champions.

It’s the 3rd year in a row now that the Spelling Bee has had co-champions. Even before the competition was halfway through, experts were predicting that this would probably be the result? You know why? Because “spelling is (an) arms race”!!! A true sport! These kids have figured out better training methods to improve their spelling the way an athlete might adopt more sophisticated training programmes and schedules to run faster, swim faster, and drop their times. Basically the most elite spellers are advancing and evolving beyond the Spelling Bee itself. The creation is smarter than the creator. The dictionary can’t keep up.

Have a great weekend!

Yours in gossip,

Lainey