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Nas, Messi, 'Harry Potter': Cool National Spelling Bee finalists' passions

Lindsay Deutsch
USA TODAY Network
Check out the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee finalists.

They came, they spelled, they conquered.

But who are the kids with the strongest spelling game in the nation? Sure, you know where they're from, how old they are and what words they've formed correctly under lights, cameras and excruciating parental pressure.

But do you know the true essence of the top 10 finalists for the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee? Do you know who has a passion for Harry Potter fan fiction, LeBron James or Macklemore? (Honestly, they're all un-bee-lievable.)

Before you watch the action tonight on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET/PT, take a closer look, with facts courtesy of Scripps:

Speller No. 16, Snehaa Ganesh Kumar

Snehaa Ganesh Kumar | 12 years old | Folsom, Calif.

Interests: Greek history, culture and mythology; drawing, making jewelry, writing stories, playing the violin and dancing (jazz, contemporary dance and ballet)

Fun facts: Snehaa competed in a Spanish language spelling bee in kindergarten and has a tropical fish named Juliet.

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Speller No. 29, Sylvie Lamontagne

Sylvie Lamontagne | 12 years old | Denver, Colo.

Interests: Running races, dancing, hiking, marine biology, Harry Potter fan fiction, correcting grammar and spelling errors

Fun facts: Sylvie has seven fish and two chinchillas

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Speller No. 39, Siyona Mishra

Siyona Mishra | 11 years old | Orlando, Fla.

Interests: Reading, listening to music, dancing, visiting historic landmarks, solving math problems, chess and badminton

Fun facts: Siyona is a Broadcom MASTERS nominee, "the premier middle school science and engineering fair competition." She has visited Easter Island, Stonehenge and Mohenjo Daro.

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Speller No. 90, Vanya Shivashankar

Vanya Shivashankar | 13 years old | Olathe, Kansas

Interests: Acting, playing tuba and piano, riding bikes, swimming, eating pizza

Fun facts: Vanya is the winner of the Mid-America Music Association award for Exceptional Pianist and Jazz Pianist.

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Speller No. 92, Paul Keaton

Paul Keaton | 14 years old | Pikeville, Ky.

Interests: Jeopardy!, basketball, chess, classical music

Fun facts: Paul tells Scripps he would love to "meet Donald Trump to get some business advice."

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Speller No. 132, Dev Jaiswal

Dev Jaiswal | 13 years old | Louisville, Miss.

Interests: Video games, video game music, basketball, martial arts

Fun facts: Dev hopes to one day become an astronaut.

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Speller No. 140, Gokul Venkatachalam

Gokul Venkatachalam | 14 years old | Chesterfield, Mo.

Interests: Basketball, rap and alternative music (Nas, Linkin Park, Macklemore), reading (Life of Pi), movies (X-Men: Days of Future Past), math, economics

Fun facts: Gokul's idol is LeBron James.

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Speller No. 200, Cole Shafer-Ray

Cole Shafer-Ray | 14 years old | Norman, Okla.

Interests: Soccer, history, rap, hip hop, FIFA 15

Fun facts: Cole is a champion historian and competed in the National History Bee. He hopes to one day meet professional soccer player Lionel Messi.

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Speller No. 238, Siddharth Krishnakumar

Siddharth Krishnakumar | 13 years old | Pearland, Texas

Interests: Math, science, Future Problem Solving club, reading, music, tennis

Fun facts: Siddharth says he would like to study robotics engineering at MIT.

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Speller No. 264, Tejas Muthusamy

Tejas Muthusamy | 12 years old | Glen Allen, Va.

Interests: Swimming, karate, Indian classical dance, hiking

Fun facts: Tejas has visited the Empire State Building in New York, the Willis Tower in Chicago and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

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Follow @lindsdee on Twitter, where she'll be live-tweeting the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

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