Dobbs Ferry, New York: Arnav Krishna, a nine-year-old Indian American from Dobbs Ferry, New York, has made it to the ‘Top 4’ on Lifetime’s competition series, “Child Genius: Battle of the Brightest,” while 10-year-old Vivek Abraham, from Bloomington, Illinois, could not make it past the eighth round in a show that tests the intelligence of the country’s smartest kids.
As per the format of the show, two subjects are covered each week, and the brightest young minds are tested in categories such as mathematics, spelling, geography, and current events, among others.
The Feb. 25 episode of the show saw the little geniuses strut their stuff in the tough advanced logic and world history rounds. Arnav, who has now advanced to the semi-finals, scored nine out of ten in both the rounds.
Realizing that the competition will only get more intense from here on, the Indian American child’s mother, Seema Krishan, said, “Frankly, I think, it could be anybody’s game now. It’s going to be very hard and rough, so he will have to keep it together.”
Vivek, who was one of the youngest competitors on season 2 of the show, lost a crucial point for mispronouncing “Versailles” in the history round. He tied with another contestant, Claire, for the last place, and the judges decided his fate after analyzing the answers.
After his loss, a devastated and teary eyed Vivek said, “I really wanted to get to the last round but it’s alright.” His father, Antony Abraham, tried to cheer him up by saying, “We are very proud of what you have achieved.”
Vivek had earlier appeared on “The Meredith Vieira Show” with another “Child Genius” contestant, Sam Farah, where he shared that “he started doing puzzles when he was eight months old,” and he never believed in fairy tales.
Hosted by former NFL wide-receiver and astronaut Leland Melvin, the show will run for two more weeks, after which one of the four remaining whiz kids will win the title of “Child Genius” and a $100,000 college scholarship.
