The stage is all set for the spellers.

The battle for the coveted Spelling Bee Champion title begins tonight. The show promises to be glamorous and intense. This year the audience doesn't merely sit back and watch the show but can also participate and win a tablet computer.
The top 96 spellers have emerged after competing neck to neck against approximately 2,600 others in the Divisional Round. Most of the spellers came through school visits and later divisional rounds but there are four Wild Card entries as well. Chosen by the judges, spellers who did exceptionally well in the written round but were disqualified in the oral round, were invited to be a part of the final 96 team.
Everybody is familiar with 'Spell It', the round where the pronouncer utters a word and the speller has to spell the word. In this round the part of speech, English and Bangla meaning of the word are given to help the speller. In the TV round, participants will also compete in 'Spell Hive' and 'Spell Buzz' rounds. The top scorer of the 'Spell Hive' round will present books to a rural school, to enrich or to start a new library, courtesy of BSRM.
The competition is expected to be fierce as the number of participants has increased, from 72 to 96, and many spellers are making their second or third appearance this season. This year, the competition will be held in five stages: Preliminary, Quarter-Final, Semi-Final, Semi-Final Playoff and Finale. As before, host Rumana Malik Munmun and Spelling Bee's official pronouncer Zunaed Rabbani will guide the participants throughout the journey.
The first Preliminary Round will be aired tonight on Channel i at 7:50pm where six participants will battle it out for their place in the Quarter-Final, with the two top scorers making the cut.
This year, the audience can participate by downloading an Android Smartphone App 'Spell Champs' from Google Play Store, play daily and the highest scorer of the week will win a tablet computer.
The Daily Star is a partner of the programme.