Tuesday night, the focus shifts away from the spellers and on to a different group of spellebrities.
For the second year, the Bee also includes a Kindle-sponsored competition for videographers. Each of them made a movie about how to kindle a love of reading.
The Fab Four, a group from Texas, made a Dr. Seuss-themed film about why it’s important to read.
Sisters Kassidy, Kaydence and Kyndall Wilkinson are part of a group of quintuplets. They made the film with their friend Kenzie Vo.
“You get reading and you become a spellebrity,” Kenzie said.
Sisters Brooklyn and Eden Lewis made their film with cousins Anna Noorlander and Andrew Jarvis. Brooklyn and Eden live in Utah, as does Andrew. Anna, whose sister Mary was last year’s winner, lives in New York.
The group made their movie by sending video clips back and forth, where Eden wove them together. They spent a lot of time video chatting, said Anna, who wrote the script.
The group said they were having fun – and were glad they didn’t have to spell.
“They looked very stressed,” Eden said of the spellers following the preliminary test.
Team Champion, from Arizona, is made up of Elijah Glendy, Jordan Wolter, Kya Glendy and Isaiah Rider.
Bigham Yago, a California trio that includes a pair of sisters and their friend, made their film about an indolent girl who doesn’t read much, and is convinced to try books, Emily Yago said.
They included mermaids and fairies in their film.
Emily, and sisters Khara and Lily Bigham, said they didn’t make it to the top five until right before the end of voting. So they were understandably thrilled to be here.
“It’s, like, unreal to be here,” Khara said. “I was not expecting to get this far.”
When she found out at school that they would be coming to D.C., she and her friends screamed at the top of their lungs, Khara said.
They’re all enjoying meeting people and making friends at the Bee.
Bryn Perrins, whose Bryn and the Bee comes from Kansas, made her video about a quest for a new pronouncer when Dr. Bailly is stung by a bee.
She played the interviewer, as well as a pirate and a mime, she said. Her dog also pitched in – but wasn’t right for the pronouncer job.
The dog “just barks,” Bryn said.
Bryn’s brother competed in the Bee in 2014, but it’s different to be here in another capacity.
“I just think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said.