The Great Australian Spelling Bee (season 1)
The first season of The Great Australian Spelling Bee premiered on Network Ten on 3 August 2015.[1] The season was hosted by Grant Denyer and Chrissie Swan,[2] and also starred Chris Edmund as pronouncer.[3]
| The Great Australian Spelling Bee | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Network Ten |
| Original release | 3 August – 8 September 2015 |
| Season chronology | |
Anirudh won the season, receiving a $50,000 education scholarship, $10,000 worth of equipment for his school, a Macquarie Dictionary, a Sprout computer, and a HP Pro Slate 8 tablet in prizes. In addition, the five runners-up received scholarships worth $10,000, a HP Pro Slate 8 tablet, and $1,000 of education goods for their school.[4]
Contestants
The series began with 52 contestants aged 8–13 years old which was cut down to the Top 26.[3][5]
| Speller | Top 26 | Top 24 | Top 20 | Top 16 | Top 12 | Top 8[6] | Final[7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anirudh | Safe (speed spell) | Safe (speed spell ) | Immune | Immune | Safe (flash cards ) | Safe (Letter By Letter) | Champion |
| Grace D | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Immune | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | 2nd |
| Mica | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Immune | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Show and Spell) | 3rd |
| Harrison | Safe (flash cards ) | Safe (flash cards ) | Immune | Immune | Safe (speed spell ) | Safe (Letter By Letter) | 4th |
| Harpita | Safe (Flash Cards) | Immune | Safe (Flash Cards) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | 5th |
| Marko | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Immune | Safe (Show and Spell) | 6th |
| Amelia | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Immune | Safe (Flash Cards) | Eliminated | |
| Peyton | Safe (Flash Cards) | Immune | Safe (Flash Cards) | Immune | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Eliminated | |
| Amanda | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Eliminated | ||
| Grace P | Safe (Spell Check) | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Eliminated | ||
| Harpith | Safe (Spell Check) | Immune | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Eliminated | ||
| Karl | Safe (Spell Check) | Immune | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Eliminated | ||
| Aimee | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Eliminated | |||
| Holly T | Safe (Spell Check) | Immune | Immune | Eliminated | |||
| Jye | Safe (Flash Cards) | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Eliminated | |||
| Stuart | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Immune | Eliminated | |||
| Holly R | Safe (Flash Cards) | Safe (Flash Cards) | Eliminated | ||||
| Jack B | Safe (Speed Spell) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Eliminated | ||||
| Ryan | Safe (Final Spelling Bee) | Immune | Eliminated | ||||
| Tej | Safe (Flash Cards) | Safe (Speed Spell) | Eliminated | ||||
| Bella | Safe (Speed Spell) | Eliminated | |||||
| Ben | Safe (Speed Spell) | Eliminated | |||||
| Josie | Safe (Flash Cards) | Eliminated | |||||
| Timothy | Safe (Flash Cards) | Eliminated | |||||
| Josh | Eliminated | ||||||
| Jack H | Eliminated | ||||||
Episodes
Episode 1
This episode consisted of 4 person heats, with 2 in each group winning a spot in the top 26.
Episode 2
At the beginning of the episode it was announced that Emma had to quit the competition due to family reasons. Because of this Harpith (as the most successful eliminated contestant) was brought back into the competition. Josh and Jack also got sent home.
Episode 3
| Team | Spellers | Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter by Letter | Show and Spell | Spelling Bee | ||
| Blue | Harrison | 7 points (4th) | N/A | |
| Mica | ||||
| Amanda | ||||
| Jye | ||||
| Stuart | ||||
| Tej | ||||
| Green | Marko | 10 points (1st) | Lost Tiebreaker (3rd) | N/A |
| Grace D | ||||
| Bella | ||||
| Jack B | ||||
| Anirudh | ||||
| Timothy | ||||
| Red | Holly R | 8 points (2nd) | 3 points (1st) | 7th |
| Grace P | 4th | |||
| Aimee | 12th | |||
| Amelia | 5th | |||
| Josie | 11th | |||
| Ben | 2nd | |||
| Yellow | Harpith | 8 points (2nd) | Won Tiebreaker (2nd) | 1st |
| Karl | 10th | |||
| Peyton | 9th | |||
| Holly T | 6th | |||
| Harpita | 3rd | |||
| Ryan | 8th | |||
Episode 4
At the end of Speed Spell, the Top 6 were deemed safe from elimination. In no particular order, those spellers were Marko, Anirudh, Mica, Tej, Grace D and Jack B. The remaining 12 spellers went head-to-head in Flash Cards, where the theme was technology. The winning spellers, Harrison, Aimee, Amelia, Amanda, Holly R and Stuart were then safe from elimination. In the final spelling bee, 6 spellers spelling in multiple rounds to determine the 2 spellers who would be safe from elimination (Jye and Grace P). The other 4 spellers, Ben, Bella, Timothy and Josie were sent home.
Episode 5
In the Final Spelling Bee, Yellow Team was facing defeat against Green Team. It was a three-on-one situation, as Green Team had three members and Yellow Team only had Mica as their last member. However, Mica rallied in an impressive showing to obtain a astounding come-from-behind victory and gain immunity for her team.
| Team | Letter By Letter | Show and Spell | Final Spelling Bee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grace P Tej Amanda Jack B Marko |
Out | N/A | ||
| Amelia Ryan Aimee Grace D Peyton |
In | Out | N/A | |
| Holly R Jye Harpith Harpita Karl |
In | Out | ||
| Mica Stuart Holly T Anirudh Harrison |
In | Win | ||
Ratings
- Colour key:
- Highest rating episode during the series
- Lowest rating episode during the series
| Episode | Original airdate | Timeslot approx. | Viewers (Millions) | Rank (Night) | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode One" | 3 August 2015 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.921 | #7 | [8] |
| 2 | "Episode Two" | 4 August 2015 | Tuesday 7:30 pm | 0.801 | #8 | [9] |
| 3 | "Episode Three" | 10 August 2015 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.655 | #16 | [10] |
| 4 | "Episode Four" | 11 August 2015 | Tuesday 7:30 pm | 0.642 | #12 | [11] |
| 5 | "Episode Five" | 17 August 2015 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.662 | #16 | [12] |
| 6 | "Episode Six" | 18 August 2015 | Tuesday 7:30 pm | 0.616 | #16 | [13] |
| 7 | "Episode Seven" | 24 August 2015 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.665 | #16 | [14] |
| 8 | "Episode Eight" | 25 August 2015 | Tuesday 7:30 pm | 0.589 | #16 | [15] |
| 9 | "Episode Nine" | 31 August 2015 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.639 | #19 | [16] |
| 10 | "Episode Ten" | 1 September 2015 | Tuesday 7:30 pm | 0.624 | #14 | [17] |
| 11 | "Episode Eleven" | 7 September 2015 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.662 | #16 | [18] |
| 12 | "Grand Final" | 8 September 2015 | Tuesday 7:30 pm | 0.755 | #11 | [19] |
| "Winner Announced" | 0.901 | #7 | ||||
References
- Knox, David (20 July 2015). "Airdate: The Great Australian Spelling Bee". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- Knox, David (26 April 2015). "Chrissie Swan, Grant Denyer to host The Great Australian Spelling Bee". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- Thomas, Sarah (30 July 2015). "The Great Australian Spelling Bee to highlight smart's of the nation's brightest kids". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- Bowden, Ebony (8 September 2015). "The Great Australian Spelling Bee gives winner surprise $50,000 scholarship". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- Knox, David (24 March 2015). "TEN spells out The Great Australian Spelling Bee". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- Knox, David (8 September 2015). "Great Australian Spelling Bee finalists". TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
- Cronin, Seanna (8 September 2015). "Anirudh wins epic battle to take out Spelling Bee trophy". The Chronicle. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- Knox, David (4 August 2015). "Monday 3 August 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- Knox, David (5 August 2015). "Tuesday 4 August 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- Knox, David (11 August 2015). "Monday 10 August 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- Knox, David (12 August 2015). "Tuesday 11 August 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- Knox, David (18 August 2015). "Monday 17 August 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- Knox, David (19 August 2015). "Tuesday 18 August 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
- Knox, David (25 August 2015). "Monday 24 August 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- Knox, David (26 August 2015). "Tuesday 25 August 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- Knox, David (1 September 2015). "Monday 31 August 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- Knox, David (2 September 2015). "Tuesday 1 September 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- Knox, David (8 September 2015). "Monday 7 September 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
- Knox, David (9 September 2015). "Tuesday 8 September 2015". TV Tonight. Retrieved 14 September 2015.