The 72nd Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C., on June 2–3, 1999, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.
Winners Fourteen-year-old Nupur Lala, from Tampa, Florida, won the competition by correctly spelling the word "logorrhea." Notably, the 1999 Bee was covered by the Jeffrey Blitz documentary Spellbound, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.Nupur Lala, 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee Winner, Reflects On Win, 'Spellbound' Fame
Second place went to David Lewandowski, a 14-year old speller from Schererville, Indiana, who placed 39th in the prior year's Bee, and who misspelled "opsimath."(4 June 1999). Lala spells logorrhea to win national bee, Times Daily (Associated Press) Third-place was a tie between 11-year old George Thampy of Maryland Heights, Missouri, (he would win the next year) who missed "kirtle," and 13-year old April DeGideo of Ambler, Pennsylvania, who missed "terrene."
Competition and new rules There were 249 spellers this year, ages 9–15. Thirty-three were eliminated in the first round, which began on June 2, followed by 10 in the second round, and 36 in the third round.(2 June 1999). Definition of pain in the head wins national spelling bee contest, Nevada Daily Mail Fifty-five spellers were eliminated in the fourth round, and 105 contestants made it to the second day of competition.McQueen, Anjetta (3 June 1999). Annual bee tense contest, Gainesville Sun (Associated Press)
A new policy this year tried to encourage faster spelling, with 90 seconds for easier words on the first day, and two minutes for harder words in the later rounds, though the judges had some flexibility in applying the limits. The policy was adopted after reviewing time and round statistics for six prior years and finding a trend of spellers using more time.
Although Jamaica's contestant had won the prior year, the second student outside the United States to ever win the bee, Jamaica was excluded from this year's bee under a new rule that all qualifying bees could not occur before February 1, to allay concerns that some spellers could get a greater head start on preparing for the national bee. This caused a fair amount of controversy, with public figure such as Jesse Jackson calling the change "exclusionary".Reichmann, Deb (13 January 1999). Jamaicans stung by spelling bee, Spokesman-Review (Associated Press)(28 May 1999). A Bee in Their Bonnet, The Wall Street Journal (about rule change)
Lala won $10,000 and other prizes for her first place showing. Lewandowski received $5,000.
See also Spellbound (2002 film), based on the 1999 Bee.
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