06

Ten Slam survivors square off in two five-team semifinals staged on different Smithsonian stages, with each team performing four poems. In one competition, New York pins its hopes on B. Yung and Britney, while Ft. Lauderdale looks to punch past an upstart Rochester team (in only its second year) with a daring poem written the night before about Jasmine's illness. In the other semi, defending champ Philadelphia faces tough competition from Hawaii and Chicago, but hurt their cause with an internal dispute about whether to perform a transgender poem. When the dust settles, the top two teams from each semifinal are awarded a place in the finals--or so everyone thinks.