Tune in to watch National Oratorical Finals live

The 85th American Legion National Oratorical Contest gets underway Saturday, May 18, at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich. The 52 high school participants won their respective American Legion post, district and department oratorical competition to advance to the finals where they will speak on the U.S. Constitution. See the list of competitors. 

The competitors will be divided into nine groups for the quarterfinals Saturday morning where before judges they will give an eight to 10-minute oration on the U.S. Constitution and a three to five-minute oration on a phase of the Constitution selected from Articles and Sections. The top 18 competitors will advance to the semifinal round Saturday afternoon where they will again present their prepared oration and assigned topics. The top three finalists from the semifinal round will advance to the finals Sunday, May 19. 

The finals will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday. Watch the competition live by visiting legion.org.

The top three finalists will win $25,000, $22,500 and $20,000 respectively.