The 1997 Spelling Bee introduced us to the GOAT of Spelling Bee’s – Rebecca Sealfon. A homeschooled 13 year old from New York who loves a good scream. Before the Spelling Bee got all soft and started giving out participation trophies and announcing a group of winners as Champs because they ran out of words, there was Rebecca just screaming her way through words. There was never a bigger stage for EUONYM, and Rebecca turned that word into one of the most recognizable ever by delivering the most electric ending to a Spelling Bee ever.
And how about Rebecca ripping that trophy from that old dude’s hands after she won. That old man went to his death bed knowing a little 13 year old spaz just emasculated him on national TV. Tough look.
The interview might be even better. When the reporter goes “Rebecca” and the first thing out of her mouth is “WHAT?!” I lost it. Then she tried to rip down the Scripp’s National Spelling Bee from the inside. It’s never easy when your Grand Champion just won the title and mentions there shouldn’t actually even be a Bee due to the pressure it puts on contestants. That’s like Joe Burrow taking the Natty and basically saying the NCAA shouldn’t have a National Championship because they’re a slightly better version of slavery. You gotta think Dr. Serious couldn’t be happy. This guy.
Relax guy. You’re giving word pronunciations. Not at the U.N. discussing nuclear relations with the Middle East. Let loose a little. Maybe unbutton a button or two.
Remember our boy Akshay who fainted on stage in front of thousands? Couldn’t handle the bright lights. Just wobbling around like he got hit with a Mike Tyson uppercut.
The Spelling Bee needs more contestants like this kid just clapping in his opponents face for spelling a word wrong. Cut throat. What an awesome shot in the background of the kid shaking his head when he knew the kid fucked up his word.
I did some LinkedIn digging for Rebecca Sealfon and it turns out she’s actually dead. Just kidding. She’s teaching Data Science at some coding startup. Also, she absolutely hates the Bee now. No surprise there, but we wouldn’t be talking about her today if it wasn’t for it.
If you haven’t seen the Cheap Seats recap of the Spelling Bee it’s fantastic. Fit with a top 5 Rebecca Sealfon moments from SVP and Neil Evrett.
