The E:60 crew was at the Nashville Qualifier to capture Juliet Lee win her seat at the Krystal Square Off finals.

ESPN’s prime-time television newsmagazine, E:60, will spotlight this year’s Krystal Square Off V on Tuesday, October 21, at 7 p.m. ET, as the show takes an in-depth look at the sport of competitive eating.

A camera crew from E:60 covered several stops along this year’s Krystal Square Off tour, including qualifiers in Nashville and Knoxville and the World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga. Among the competitive eaters who will be showcased include Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut, “Crazy Legs” Conti and Tim “Eater X” Janus.

A press release from ESPN describes the coverage as follows:

There are 80-100 competitive eating events a year at venues across the country. The top two are Nathan’s in New York and Krystal’s hamburgers in Tennessee. In a sport replete with colorful personalities, E:60 correspondent Jeremy Schaap takes an in-depth look at competitive eating . . . Highlights include interviews with some of the greatest “eaters” in the world such as Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut, Juliet Lee, “Crazy Legs” Conti and Tim “Eater X” Janus.

Set your TiVo for ESPN, tomorrow night at 7 p.m. ET. We’ll send a tweet beforehand to remind you of the broadcast.

If you missed out on watching Joey Chestnut successfully defend his title at the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship on Sunday, or you were there in person and wanted to see if your “Crazy Legs-Palin 2008″ sign made it on television, FSN South is re-airing the one-hour broadcast of Krystal Square Off V tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST. It looks like only Direct TV users will be able to watch this replay but be sure to check listings for when the Krystal Square Off is replaying on your cable provider.

Also, check out this Dutch TV news story on Krystal Square Off V and wait for when the music kicks in. Pretty funny. And watch a Slovenia TV news report on Krystal Square Off V after the jump . . .

Joey Chestnut proved once again why he is competitive eating’s biggest star on Sunday by besting a field of the finest gurgitators in the world at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship. As the video below shows, Chestnut jumped out to a three Krystal-lead in the first minute and never looked back as a massive crowd of 10,000 plus cheered him on.

It was also in the first minute that the race for second was defined as Pat Bertoletti let it be known that this wasn’t just a two-eater race between Takeru Kobayashi and Chestnut, as most had expected. The young Chicagoan with the trademark mohawk drew even with the Japanese eating star during that first 60 seconds and the two went virtually bite-for-bite the rest of the way. In the end, it seemed Kobayashi had come out on top but a two burger deduction by officials put him one behind Bertoletti and into third place overall.

Watch the action unfold in the video below or on YouTube here.

Photo Gallery from Krystal Square Off V

Hailed as the Super Bowl of competitive eating, the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship annually fields the finest eaters in the world who all have one thing on their minds: winning the title. And while it is the championship belt and trophy they’re after, the prize money always makes a victory taste sweeter, and at Krystal Square Off V yesterday, even a defeat tasted pretty darn good.

A total of $50,000 in prize money was awarded to the 12 gurgitators, making it the largest cash purse in competitive eating history. Joey Chestnut was of course the biggest winner of the bunch, pocketing his largest cash payday ever, $20,000. Pat Bertoletti also earned the biggest prize of his career, taking away $10,000 for his runner-up finish. And even the last place finisher, Kyle Brogdon, who joined the finalist on stage at the very last minute thanks to winning The 12th Eater contest, earned a cool $500.

Below are the official payouts for the 12 finalists:

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, San Jose, Calif. (93 Krystals) - $20,000

Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti, Chicago, Ill., (85 Krystals) - $10,000

Takeru Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan, (84 Krystals) - $5,000

“Humble” Bob Shoudt, Philadelphia, Pa. (76 Krystals) - $3,000

Tim “Eater X” Janus, New York, N.Y. (64 Krystals) - $2,500

Hall “Hoover” Hunt, Jacksonville, Fla. (63 Krystals) - $2,000

Juliet “The Lovely” Lee, Germantown, Md. (55 Krystals) - $1,850

Crazy Legs Conti, New York, N.Y. (49 Krystals) - $1,500

Rich “The Locust” LeFevre, Henderson, Nev. (47 Krystals) - $1,400

Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama, Murfreesboro, Tenn. (43 Krystals) - $1,250

Eric “Badlands” Booker, Long Island, N.Y. (41 Krystals) - $1,000

Kyle “12th Eater” Brogdon, Hixson, Tenn. (10 Krystals) - $500

American eating sensation Joey Chestnut retained his hamburger eating title today at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 24-year-old from San Jose, Calif. downed 93 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes, ten shy of his world record mark set at last year’s championship.

Billed as the highly anticipated rematch between Chestnut, the No.1-ranked eater in the world, and Japan’s speed-eating legend Takeru Kobayashi, the contest quickly became a one-man show as Chestnut jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as a crowd of 10,000 cheered him on in downtown Chattanooga.

Kobayashi, a three-time Krystal Square Off winner who missed last year’s championship due to a jaw injury, finished in a disappointing third place, eating just 84 Krystals, 13 less than he ate when he won Krystal Square Off III in 2006. Twenty-three-year-old rising star Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti was the second-place spoiler, out-eating Kobayashi by just one Krystal.

“Chestnut’s win today at Krystal Square Off V proves once again that he is competitive eating’s new superstar and the undisputed number one ranked eater in the world,” said Brad Wahl, vice president of marketing, The Krystal Company.

Chestnut pockets $20,000 for his win, along with the coveted Krystal Square Off Champion’s Belt and Trophy made out of crystal. Bertoletti earns $10,00 for his second place finish while Kobayashi takes away $5,000. The remaining top eleven finalists receive payouts ranging from $3,000 to $500. The $50,000 total cash purse is the largest in competitive eating history.

Presented by The Krystal Company and featuring the iconic fresh, hot, small, square Krystal hamburger, the Krystal Square Off is one of the two majors in the sport of competitive eating and the only world hamburger eating championship sanctioned by Major League Eating, the governing body of all stomach-centric sports.

“There are precious few moments in professional sports when you can watch as a competitor affirms his place in the history books. With this win today, Joey Chestnut just said to the world: I am Krystal King hear me growl,” said Richard Shea, president of Major League Eating. “In today’s economy anybody can be negatively impacted by unforeseen circumstances. Kobayashi is feeling that impact, but if I know him he’ll be back.”

Today’s victory was Chestnut’s first win over Kobayashi in a Krystal-eating contest, and further cements his dominance over the 30-year-old Japanese eating star. Kobayashi is responsible for first bringing the sport of competitive eating into the American mainstream more than seven years ago, only to see his star fall lately after several high-profile losses.

The official results are as follows:

1. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, San Jose, Calif. - 93 Krystals
2. Pat “”Deep Dish”” Bertoletti, Chicago, Ill. - 85 Krystals
3. Takeru Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan - 84 Krystals
4. “Humble” Bob Shoudt, Philadelphia, Pa. - 76 Krystals
5. Tim “”Eater X”” Janus, New York, N.Y. - 64 Krystals
6. Hall “Hoover” Hunt, Jacksonville, Fla. - 63 Krystals
7. Juliet “The Lovely” Lee, Germantown, Md. - 55 Krystals
8. Crazy Legs Conti, New York, N.Y. - 49 Krystals
9. Rich “”The Locust”” LeFevre, Henderson, Nev. - 47 Krystals
10. Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama, Murfreesboro, Tenn. - 43 Krystals
11. Eric “Badlands” Booker, Long Island, N.Y. - 41 Krystals
12. Kyle “12th Eater” Brogdon, Hixson, Tenn. - 10 Krystals

UPDATE: Click here for hundreds of photos from today’s Krystal Square Off V in Chattanooga, including the tailgating party, The Marshall Tucker Band concert, arrival of eaters by boat, autograph alley, crowd shots, Sackful Challenge and the 8-minute championship.

The lobby of the Sheraton Read House hotel in Chattanooga, TN, is a hive of activity at the moment as competitive eaters start working their way down to catch a shuttle to Ross’s Landing for the Krystal Square Off V. While hanging around, the eaters have found some time to get in some last minute preparations and media opportunities.

We spotted Humble Bob Shoudt out in the lobby giving a quick interview. Juris Shibayama was mingling with friends and family, and Pat Bertoletti was seen in Starbucks filling up his cooler with boiling water, which he hopes will be the perfect dipping temperature by the time he gets up on stage in about three hours.

All the eaters had to have their stage needs in their bins by 11:45, so what is done is done at this moment. The shuttle leaves at 12:15 to ferry the eaters down to the where they will meet up with the grand entrance cavalcade, the details of which still remain secret.

The competitive eater's bins are packed and ready for the trip down to the Riverfront, awaiting their opening on stage.

The KSO blog crew will be on hand to reveal the secret of the eater’s grand entrance and to provide posts and instant Twitter updates throughout this afternoon as we get closer to the big event. So, stay tuned and make sure to bookmark us and come back often.

As part of the events over the Krystal Square Off V weekend, competitive eaters Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi, Patrick Bertoletti and Humble Bob Shoudt went out to the Krystal restaurant in Hixson, Tenn. to sign autographs during the “Sample Saturday” celebration, where customers get to try out Krystal menu items for free and enter to win a $100 gift card.

Fans came out to see their gustatory heroes and get their official Krystal Square Off V event guide signed by four of the best eaters in the world. Once again, both Chestnut and Kobayashi were asked how many Krystals they were planing to eat tomorrow, and both said that they were looking to set a new record and were aiming around the 110 mark. Looks like it’s going to be a close, tense rematch tomorrow. However, even if just for an hour, all four got to hang out with their fans and relax for a little before going back to mentally prepare for the pending showdown.

Here is a quick video of the autograph signing and you can check out some photos here.

Krystal Square Off V officially kicked off the weekend of festivities this afternoon with a pre-event press conference held at Ross’s Landing in Chattanooga. On hand to talk to the media were competitive eaters Pat Bertoletti, Takeru Kobayashi and defending champ Joey Chestnut.

After being introduced by Major League Eating chairman and founder George Shea, Chestnut was asked how many Krystals he was looking to put down this year. His response: 110. Shea’s introduction of the eaters was then followed by an impassioned speech about the importance of the rematch between Chestnut and Kobayashi and a presentation of this year’s championship belt and trophy.

Chestnut and Kobayashi were then filmed and photographed by the media doing a one Krystal eat-off, or what looked like an eat-off. Kobayashi did not actually swallow his Krystal after putting into his mouth; he didn’t want to ruin his preparation for Sunday’s big event which includes keeping his stomach empty from here on out. “You tricked me,” said Chestnut after realizing his rival hadn’t eaten the Krystal.

Below is a quick video recap of the press conference and check out loads of photos from today’s press conference here.

Stay tuned for more Krystal Square Off posts and news throughout the course of the weekend and don’t forget that you can follow the KSO Twitter feed to get instant updates.

When we ran into Joey Chestnut this morning at the Sheraton Read House Hotel, he told us that his world record will be broken this year by both him and Takeru Kobayashi, and now we know why he’s so confident.

In an interview with TheStreet.com, the No. 1-ranked speed eater in the world and reigning hamburger champ said he’s done up to 114 in practice, 11 more than he did officially at last year’s Krystal Square Off IV.

To be exact that’s not 114 of the famous Krystal, the official competition hamburger of the world championship, but instead a modified, shipped-frozen, cheese-covered version of a less tastier, slightly smaller, microwaved morsel of beef and bun. But still. 114? Wow.

Chestnut also reveals he’s been training for over a month and compares his technique to Kobayashi’s method of speed-eating. Read the full interview here.

The fact that Joey Chestnut is the current hamburger-eating world record holder and reigning champ doesn’t seem to carry much weight with readers of the popular competitive eating site EatFeats.com. Consisting mostly of dedicated speed-eating aficionados and pro gurgitators, the site’s readerbase has so far picked Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi over Chestnut by more than 2-to-1 in its latest poll to win Sunday’s Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship. Three-time Krystal Square Off king Kobayashi has received 23 votes to Chestnut’s 10 the last we checked.

Currently Pat Bertoletti has received the third most votes (5) followed by Humble Bob Shoudt (4).

All but three eaters–Crazy Legs Conti, Tim Janus and Rich LeFevre–have received at least one vote so far. Even the yet-to-be-picked 12th Eater received a vote, proving that the scientific validity of an open web-based poll may be somewhat questionable.

Click here to cast a vote for who you think will take down the biggest Major League Eating event of the year this Sunday in Chattanooga.