Juliet Lee Finishes On Top After 3-Way OT ‘Eat Off’ In Nashville - UPDATE

Juliet Lee's win in Nashville over Juris Shibayama (on left, above) and Badlands Booker (on right) was far from "lovely" as her excessive debris had some crying foul.

Juliet Lee, the No. 2-ranked female eater in the world, will return for the second year in a row to the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship after a dramatic overtime win at yesterday’s Nashville Qualifier.

In a contest marked by controversy and the hottest and most humid conditions seen on the tour so far, Lee’s victory had some calling foul due to excessive debris during the eight-minute regulation period. After a lengthy conference with judges, Major League Eating made the decision to hold a three person eat-off, the first ever in Krystal Square Off history, between “The Lovely” Lee, Eric “Badlands” Booker and Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama. Each was presented with 10 Krystals, and Lee was first to consume hers, earning her the win.

Explaining its decision, IFOCE.com reports:

Juliet Lee maintained a five second dunk throughout regulation but pre-chewed so aggressively the judges had difficulty determining her final count. Many fans and eaters alike questioned the outcome. Judges determined that the eat off should occur.

Major League Eating has announced it will hold an an impromptu conference call this evening to consider the adoption of a new rule to eliminate confusion in future contests. While the Sheas are expected to be on the call, the league is still trying to confirm the participation of Commissioner Hungry Charles Hardy.

Credited with 51 Krystals each, Badlands and Dr. Bigtime now join Sonya Thomas as the top three non-winning numbers so far. If their numbers hold one more week, the three will compete at the finals in Chattanooga on Sept. 28, as the three wild card winners.

Among other competing in Nashville include Erik “the Red” Denmark, Dave “US Male” Goldstein, “Wild” Bill Myers, “Nasty” Nate Miller, “Pretty Boy” Pete Davekos, Andrew Wong and Steve Larson.

Check back here for photos and video from yesterday’s Nashville Qualifier.

UPDATE: Click here for photos from Saturday’s qualifier and OT eat-off in Nashville.

Badlands Booker Releases ‘Krystal Square Off’ Rap On Facebook

Eric "Badlands" Booker beat a young Pat Bertoletti at the Nashville Krystal Square Off qualifier in 2005.

If you’re following Eric “Badlands” Booker on Twitter, then you know he has released a new rap about the Krystal Square Off on his popular Facebook page.

The hook-filled, ready-for-radio song has the acclaimed recording artist and competitive eating legend laying down rhymes about “the burgers that come in the red box, burgers that you can only get in the Deep South.”

Check it out here.

Badlands is one of the giants in the sport of eating and is coming off a two year retirement in which he dropped 90 pounds. A finalist at both Krystal Square Off I and II, Badlands will make his first attempt to qualify for this year’s Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship this Saturday at the Nashville qualifier.

Top Competitive Eating Pros Take To Twitter

Eric "Badlands" Booker is one of the competitive eating pros who has recently caught the Twitter bug.

Twitter is all the rage these days and it isn’t just for the under 25 crowd. Pro athletes, local politicians and cable news anchors have all hopped on the bandwagon. And if our feed is any indication, the world of competitive eating is starting to catch on.

Since we started our Krystal Square Off Twitter feed we’ve noticed many of the biggest names in the sport of eating signing up for the free “micro-blog” service that allows you to send brief messages called “tweets” via the Internet or your cell phone to people, aka “followers,” in your network. Eric “Badlands” Booker, “Humble” Bob Shoudt, Hall “Hoover” Hunt, Micah “Wing Kong” Collins and Bruce “The Hangman” Pobanz are just some of the eaters who are on Twitter.

And while some of them still need a “nudge” to start “tweeting” away, guys like Badlands, Hoover and The Hangman have started to send updates to give fans insight into what they’re doing and what’s on their minds.

For example, in his latest tweet, Badlands Booker shares, “Preparing myself to make history at the Krystal Square Off in Nashville on Sep. 13th.”

Hall Hunt, on the other hand, let his followers know just before the Jacksonville Qualifier that he was either “Eating, running, praying or sleeping.” Meanwhile after the contest, The Hangman summed up his performance, saying, “Overall the event was good. I did not deuce like I hoped. The weather was not favorable to most of us leaving all but two with low numbers.”

We’re hoping more eaters will get on Twitter soon, and for those who are signed up already we encourage you to give us, and all of your followers, regular missives about what you’re doing. Want to wax poetic about your upcoming contest? Tweet away. In the midst of a training session? Well, let us in on it. Have some news to share? Give us the scoop. We want to hear.

If you’re still wondering what Twitter is all about, check out our original post about Twitter here, and the below video sums it up rather well in simple terms.

After you get signed-up, be sure to start following our feed here.