The Contenders

None of these 15 will ever have to say, "I coulda been a contender."
Here's a list who will go for the gold tonight:
No. 5: Jonathan Horton of Gilbert, Ariz. The 14-year-old home-schooler is sponsored by the Arizona Educational Foundation of Scottsdale, Ariz.
No. 11: Evan O'Dorney of Danville, Calif. The 13-year-old is an eighth-grader at Venture School and is sponsored by the Contra Costa Times of Walnut Creek, Calif.
No. 12: Tia Natasha-Elizabeth Thomas of Coarsegold, Calif. The 12-year-old is a seventh-grader at Mountain Home School Charter. She's sponsored by Sierra Telephone/Mountain Home School.
No. 25: The unflappable Cody A. Wang of Calgary, Canada. The 13-year-old is a seventh-grader at John Ware Junior High School. He is sponsored by the Calgary Herald of Alberta, Canada.
No. 28: Nate Gartke of Spruce Grove, Canada. The 13-year-old is an eighth-grader at Victoria School for Performing and Visual Arts. He is sponsored by the Edmonton Journal of Alberta, Canada.
No. 37: Anqi Dong of Saskatoon, Canada. He is a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Greystone Heights Elementary School. He is sponsored by the Star Phoenix of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
No. 47: Joseph Henares of Avon, Conn. The 14-year-old home-schooler is sponsored by the New Haven Register.
No. 59: Claire Zhang of Jupiter, Fla. The 14-year-old is an eighth-grader at the Bak Middle School of the Arts. She is sponsored by the Palm Beach Post.
No. 102: Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kans. The 11-year-old is a sixth-grader at Regency Place Elementary School. She is sponsored by the Olathe News.
No. 135: Nithya P. Vijayakumar of Canton, Mich. The 13-year-old is an eighth-grader at Detroit Country Day Middle School. She is sponsored by the Oakland Press.
No. 146: Connor Spencer of Platte City, Mo. The 14-year-old is an eighth-grader at West Platte County R-II School. He is sponsored by the St. Joseph News-Press.
No. 161: Matthew Evans of Albuquerque, NM. The 12-year-old home-schooler is sponsored by the Albuquerque Tribune.
No. 169: Prateek Kohli of Westbury, NY. The 13-year-old is an eighth-grader at Hicksville Middle School. He is sponsored by the Long Island Jewish World of Rockville Centre, NY.
No. 245: Amy Chyao of Richardson, Texas. The 13-year-old is a seventh-grader at Murphy Middle School. She is sponsored by the Dallas Morning News.
No. 285: Isabel A. Jacobson of Madison, Wis. The 14-year-old is an eighth-grader at O'Keeffe Middle School. She is sponsored by the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, Wis.