tonight at the Hamilton Princess.

Six schools have made the finals of the eighth annual Quiz Contest for Secondary Schools, organised by the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation.

Mr. Brenton Roberts, director of the Ministry, said the 7.30 p.m. contest in the Princess Room was worth seeing.

"It's quite an exciting event,'' said Mr. Roberts. "Last year's finals went down to tiebreakers to separate the third place team.

"The kids are keen about it, and they prepare themselves extremely well.'' Eight schools participated, but two were eliminated in semi-final contests held on Tuesday and Thursday.

The six finalists are Sandys Secondary School, Bermuda Institute, Warwick Academy, Mount St. Agnes, Saltus Grammar and Berkeley Institute, the defending champions.

The schools and individual students will share in more than $13,000 in prizes, Mr. Roberts said.

Some of the students interviewed yesterday said they would be a little nervous tonight, especially in front of television cameras which they did not have to face in the semi-finals.

The semi-finals were "tense,'' 13-year-old Jahni Smith of Bermuda Institute said. "You don't know who's going to be in, or who is going to get knocked out,'' she said.

The questions focus on Bermuda, in areas such as history, geography, personalities, music, art, politics, the economy, sports and current events.

Questions are based on about 1,500 facts each student is encouraged to learn while there are another 150 to 200 surprise questions, Mr. Roberts said. Each team has seven members. Five compete and two are in reserve.

Each competitor gets a chance to answer one question from each category. A correct answer by an individual is worth 10 points, while five points are awarded if help from other team members is needed.

For the winning school, prizes include a plaque and two computers from the Bermuda Electric Light Co. Ltd. and Bermuda Computer Services. Members of the winning team receive a luncheon cruise from Meyer Agencies Ltd. and Bermuda commemorative coins from the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

Each student who records a perfect score receives a silver cup. This year, there have already been 10 presented, the most ever.

The winning school in the current events category receives The Royal Gazette Shield, $1,000 of free advertising in the newspaper, and $250 to purchase books for the school library.

Members of the team which fares best in current events each receive $50 to purchase school supplies from The Royal Gazette Stationery Store.

BERMUDA'S BRIGHTEST -- Students from six Bermuda secondary schools square off tonight in the eighth annual Quiz Contest. Pictured (from left) are Sheldon Holder, 16, of Bermuda Institute, Christina Fox, 13, of Bermuda Institute, Desmond Mello, 16, of Mount St. Agnes, Kenneth Caesar, 15, of Sandys Secondary School, Jahni Smith, 13, of Bermuda Institute, Leah Richardson, 16, of Bermuda Institute and Ryan Barrow, 15, of Sandys Secondary School.