Rao took his seat on the spelling bee stage at approximately 1:45 p.m. See where you watch livestreaming of the bee.
View full sizeAditya Rao, 13, an eighth-grader from Lopatcong Township Middle School, successfully spells "einsteinium" during the prelminary onstage rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee today. The 50 semifinalists are expected to be announced soon. The bee is being held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md., part of the National Harbor complex just outside of Washington, D.C.
The semifinal round is airing live this afternoon on ESPN 2 at 2 o'clock.
Rao advanced to today's semifinals after successfully spelling "gnathonic" and "einsteinium" during the preliminary onstage rounds Wednesday.
The preliminary rounds of competition began Wednesday morning with 281 spellers.
Rao's father, Mohan Sowlay, said earlier this afternoon that his son feels confident going into today's competition.
"He seems pretty well prepared," Sowlay said.
Sowlay said that while his wife is admittedly "nervous," he's instead looking to sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
"I'm going to enjoy it no matter what," Sowlay said.
Rao took his seat on the spelling bee stage at approximately 1:45 p.m. His contestant number is 209 and can be tracked on Twitter using the hashtag, #speller209.
ESPN will stream the event live on watchespn.com.
