International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest

The I.F.O.C.E. Nathan's International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual competitive eating competition held at Nathan's Famous Corporation's original and best-known restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. The event is held on July 4, and is regarded as the world's most famous hot dog eating contest and a colorful tradition of Independence Day in the United States. In 2006, over 30,000 spectators attended the event, and an additional 1.5 million households watched it live on ESPN.[1]

The ninety-fourth annual contest was held on July 4, 2009. Six-time champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi and two-time defending champion Joey Chestnut were the favorites going into the contest; Chestnut prevailed by setting a new record of 68 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. Kobayashi was second with 64½. The contest was televised live on ESPN, which has held the broadcast rights for this event since 2004

History and traditions
According to legend, on July 4, 1916 four immigrants had a hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous stand on Coney Island to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic. The contest has been held nearly every year since, in conjunction with Independence Day at the site.[3] In 1993, a one-time, one-on-one contest under the Brooklyn Bridge was held between Mike DeVito and Orio Ito.

There is a weigh-in with the Mayor of New York City prior to the contest. On the day of the contest, the contestants arrive in the "bus of champions".

In recent years, guitarist and songwriter Amos Wengler has performed one of the songs he had written for the contest. A person in a hot dog costume dances as Wengler plays. Some of Wengler's compositions are "Hot Dog Time!", "Hot Dogs, Hot Dogs" and "Where is the Belt?" by John Jones.

The winner is given possession of the coveted international "bejeweled" mustard-yellow belt. The belt is of "unknown age and value" according to IFOCE co-founder George Shea and rests in the country of its owner. Due to the string of Japanese wins in the first half of the 2000 decade, the belt had been on display in the Imperial Palace in Saitama, Japan near the Nakazato Danchi campus. It was moved to the United States as a result of the 2007 contest win by American Joey Chestnut, and will remain in the United States as a result of his win in 2009.

Rules
Only adults 18 years or older who fulfill one of the following four conditions may compete:
* The defending champion
* Winners of a regional qualifying contest for that season
* Qualifying as one of two wildcards (highest two average qualifier scores without winning a single qualifer)
* Special invitation by IFOCE (see "Controversies" below)

The IFOCE has sanctioned the event since 1997. Today, only entrants currently under contract by the IFOCE can compete in the contest.

Rules used in the early years of the contest were different than today's. For example, in past contests minors could compete (Birgit Felden was 17 when she won the 1984 contest.)

During the event, the field of about 20 contestants stands on a raised platform behind a 30-foot (9.1 m)-long table with drinks and Nathan's Famous hot dogs in buns. Most contestants drink water, but other kinds of drinks can and have been used. Condiments are allowed, but are usually not used. The hot dogs themselves are allowed to cool slightly after grilling to prevent possible mouth burns. In the past, whoever consumed (and kept down until the contest had ended) the most hot dogs and buns ("HDBs") in twelve minutes was declared the winner. However, starting in 2008, the contest is only ten minutes long due to recent evidence suggesting the original contest in 1916 was this length (rather than 12 minutes). However, this has been somewhat controversial and criticized by the reigning champion of the event, Joey Chestnut. [4] There is further confusion about the length because of two articles suggesting the length of the contest was a mere three and a half minutes. A designated scorekeeper, known as a "Bunnette," is paired with each contestant. The Bunnette flips a number board counting the hot dogs consumed. Partially eaten hot dogs count and the granularity of measurement is eighths of a length. Hot dogs still in the mouth at the end of the 10 minutes count only if they are swallowed. There can be deductions in score for excess HDB debris. Both hands may be used. After the winner is declared, a plate with the number of hot dogs eaten by the winner is brought out for photo opportunities.


Qualifying contests
First held nationally in 1993 and internationally in 1997, qualifying contests are used to determine contestants for the July 4th competition. A qualifier winner cannot compete in another qualifier in the same year and no contestant can compete in more than three qualifiers in the same season. Each qualifier can have at most fifteen participants (typically first come/first served). A world record that is broken in a qualifier is official, but the winner does not get to hold the belt.

Prizes
Winners receive a trophy, two cases of Nathan's Famous hot dogs, the famous Nathan's Mustard Belt, and in some years a nonmonetary prize donated by a sponsor. For example, in 2004 Orbitz donated a travel package to the winner.

In 2007, for the first time, cash prizes were awarded to the winners, as a total of $20,650 (U.S.) was awarded as follows[5]:

* First Place: $10,000
* Second Place: $5,000
* Third Place: $2,500
* Fourth Place: $1,500
* Fifth Place: $1,000
* Sixth Place: $500
* Seventh Place: $100
* Eighth Place: $50

Controversy
Controversies usually revolve around supposed breaches of rules that are missed by the judges. For example, NY1 news reporter Adam Balkin reviewed taped footage of the 1999 contest and noticed that Steve Keiner ate half of a hot dog before the contest had officially begun. The judge, who was standing directly in front of Keiner, missed it - otherwise Keiner would have been disqualified. According to the rules, the judge's word is final, so in this case Keiner took first place despite Balkin's discovery. Editors of the website speedeat.com have accused others of cheating at qualifiers where there is less scrutiny.

Another controversy occurred in 2003 when former N.F.L. Player William "The Refrigerator" Perry competed as a celebrity contestant. Though he had won a qualifier by eating twelve hot dogs, he ate only four H.D.B.s at the contest, stopping eating completely just five minutes into the competition. On July 1, 2004 at a ceremony following a showing of Crazy Legs Conti's documentary, George Shea stated that the celebrity contestant experiment will likely not be repeated.

At the 2007 contest, the results were delayed to review whether defending champion Takeru Kobayashi had a "Roman method incident" (A.K.A. "reversal of fortune") in the final seconds of the competition. Such an incident results in the disqualification of the competitor under the rules of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. The judges ruled in Kobayashi's favor; a disqualification would have given second place to Patrick Bertoletti. A similar incident occurred during Kobayashi's 2002 title defense when he consumed over fifty hot dogs[6] in a victory over Eric "Badlands" Booker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan%27s_Hot_Dog_Eating_Contest