Spelling Bee Team

The story I'm about to share starts unfolding at 8 am, Floor 8 of FDC. At 9 am, the technicians start arriving. Some students and their parents start crowding outside the set.
Passersby get curious and stop to see if they can see any celebrities. A giant yellow bee could be seen on posters, banners and cutouts around the building. They start asking questions to the busiest looking people and find out that shooting for Spelling Bee is on.
Inside the building are: a vibrant and elegant set with podiums on both sides, a huge LCD monitor in the middle and towering bookshelves on the back walls -- all set up for some action. The famous bee is there as well. You all see this set every week where students from all over the country duke it out for the title of 'Spelling Bee Champion'. The story I'm going to share is of the panel, a tiny room tucked in one corner, which is very much a part of the set, but is never seen on TV.
It is the homeroom of all the technicians (sounds, lights and cameras), who tiptoe around the set to make sure everything is working. The director, Hassan Abidur Reja Jewel, walks around the set, talking to the technicians and the participants -- making sure everyone knows what they need to do. The director uses a hall mic to give constant direction to everyone from this tiny room as well. There are also a few more people in this tiny room. Firstly, Surovi Alam: constantly hunched over her laptop, checking and rechecking the words, their meanings and parts-of-speech. We all know why those words are so important. These words can take one of the participant one-step closer to the Champion's Trophy. Secondly, Rezoanul Arefin: staring at the monitor and making sure that the participants see the correct words on their monitors at the same time. Then there is the beautiful anchor, Rumana Malik Munmun, who is in charge of hosting the show, preparing her lines and getting her makeup on at the same time. The official pronouncer, Zunaed Rabbani, is walking around the room rehashing the words' pronunciations one last time. Suddenly the director calls out to end to all the hustle and bustle and starts shooting. The rest of the story is what you see on TV.
Spelling Bee, the brainchild of Champs21.com, has been organised for the third time this year. The show is getting bigger and better every year. This year the number of participants reached almost 300,000. Visiting the set and seeing the efficient way the whole operation runs, the smart way the participants adopt to the camera and to reality television, was astounding. Hats off to the Spelling Bee team and the participants for launching yet another year of Spelling Bee in Bangladesh.