Round Six of the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee began with 19 contestants, one of whom had been reinstated after a previous judging controversy. Between the several commercial breaks, only four of the first 13 to spell got their words correct. The primetime broadcast typically begins with around a dozen spellers, so it seemed like the pool was being whittled far too quickly.

After yet another ESPN commercial break, the Bee organizers then announced that all 10 remaining spellers on stage — the four who had already gotten words right, and the six who had yet to spell — would advance to the ABC primetime broadcast on Friday night. The order of spellers, I should note, is based on the alphabetical order of their home state. So the remaining kid from Texas was in, while both kids from California — who had spelled and missed — were out.

And then, chaos. There was some scripted bit involving Shaquille O'Neal. Everyone was trying to take pictures of Shaq. Organizers were trying to set up a press conference for the 10 remaining spellers, less than half of had actually qualified for what is known as the championship round. Parents of at least one recently eliminated speller tried shouting out questions to Paige Kimble, the Bee director, and she tried to silence them.

"The rules have a provision for it," she told the parents and media members. "These children are competing in the championship finals," she said, gesturing to the press conference. "The rules have a provision for this."

Read more. Still looking for a place to watch it tonight, BTW. Anyone?

(via Portland Center Stage PR director Trisha Mead, who is entirely too good at her job.)