The second Bahasa Basudara Spelling Bee Contest on Saturday 16^th October 2021 came to a nail-biting conclusion, when winner Fallavel Lopulalan from Ambon, spelt all the ten words correctly in the fifth and final round. Not far behind her was Naifa Silawane from Ambon who finished second, while Angelica Kundiman from Halong and Fyolitha Aurellia Wakanno from Ambon shared the third spot. Khadija Karepesina also from Ambon ended up in fifth place.

Buzzing to go…
Nineteen spellers took on the challenge this time and were eager to leave the Beehive after Katy Perry’s ‘Roar,’ the opening tune of our contest. Like the previous Spelling Bee last April, it was again competently hosted by Tirsa Kailola. Bahasa Basudara’s founder and Head Judge Jeff Malaihollo welcomed everyone (an audience of around 65) and said that those who participated were in his eyes already winners! This time around he swapped roles with David Maitimu from Jakarta who took on the role of pronouncer and was assisted by judge Richard de Fretes from The Hague.

The other Bees
Big applause should also go to the other fifteen spellers – Francesco, Kevin, Fides, Reagan, Anabel, Cynthia, Einstein, Eldo, Ezechiel, Melody, Gabriel, Angel, Bunga, Angelica and Zachary. You all did tremendously well, and we hope we’ll see you again next year. Now that you know the drill and have shaken off your nervous first-time jitters, the Spelling Bee Contests in 2022 should see some pretty close final rounds. Keep an eye out for your specially designed Bahasa Basudara Spelling Bee certificates which you should receive soon.

Rounds
This time the majority of the spellers got through to the second round without any problems and we could tell that many of the spellers had practised hard and knew what was expected of them. The entertainment was again provided by the talented Fifi Iwane who beautifully sang the song “I’ll rise up” whilst poet, dancer and choreographer Theodora Melsasail performed an elegant dance. Like the first contest, we had another knowledge quiz, based on the four articles all the spellers had to study for this Spelling Bee.

Terima Kasih
Behind the scenes, Dayalima again pulled out all the stops and was heavily involved with the organisation of the second Spelling Bee. Thank you ever so much for helping us out Linda Umar, Vonan, Andi and Talitha (big applause).

The Grand Final
The Grand Final of the Spelling Bee will be held next month on Saturday 11^th December 2021. We will still need to confirm the exact time, but we hope to see you all again soon, so you can cheer on the seven finalists.