There's 8 people left. Can Sam Vise pull off more upsets? Can Rich LeFevre, Eric 'Badlands' Booker or 'Cookie' Jarvis add another belt to their legendary status? Can Racer X Tim Janus or Ron Koch show that a rookie can win? Can Sonya Thomas be the first woman to pull it off? Or is this all just window dressing for Takeru Kobayashi, as he goes for yet another championship?

We start this episode in the quarterfinals, where the dish will be Italian Salad. The ingredients include salami, croutons, vegetables and the other salad ingredients. The contestants have a spoon to use - and they CAN NOT use their hands. You can check out the earlier rounds for the rules.

We start with Jarvis Vs. Booker, who weigh a total of over 900 pounds, Yipes. We get more rapping from Booker as he is ready to go. Both of them sign autographs for the kids (my, how audience friendly), and they are ready to go.

We are off! It's a 2 pound bowl of salad. The quarterfinals last 7 minutes, and whoever can eat the most in that time will advance. Booker gets a quick lead with a second plate, but Jarvis is only 25 seconds behind, and Booker's hesitation on the utensils allows Jarvis to catch up. Jarvis, seeing that he's behind, is moving to the shoveling technique.

This one is going to go to the scales. Now in this case, you want the scales to weigh LESS, because that means that more of it is in your stomach. Jarvis's dish weight...13 ounces. Booker's plate weighs...17 ounces. The winner, by 4 ounces, is Jarvis, who advances to the semis in a very close match-up.

I'm sure you want to know EXACTLY what's in this Italian Salad. well, it's got 12 ounces of iceberg and romaine lettuce, 4 ounces of Genoa salami, 4 ounces of black olives, 4 ounces of Roma tomatoes, 4 ounces of croutons, 4 ounces of sundried tomato-basil viniagrette and a teaspoon of black pepper. Burp.

In quarterfinal match #2, we see Tim 'Eater X' Janus Vs. Rich LeFevre. Rich uses the 'double shuffle' method of a fork AND a spoon, while Janus scoops it all in with a spoon. Janus sees that he's behind and switches to LeFevre's method. It seems to work, as he is catching up. Janus switches his plate first and LeFevre switches around 15 seconds later. With time running out, LeFevre makes a last second dash to catch Janus...but it's not enough. Lefevre has 30.5 ounces left. Janus has 25.5 ounces left. Janus advances and there are no more LeFevre's left in the tournament as all Rich can do is be consoled by his wife Carlene.

The next quarterfinal match features Sonya Thomas against Ron Koch. Sonya is a monster - she finishes her first plate in 3 minutes and she's well into her second one, while Ron doesn't get through his first one in the 7 minutes alloted. Sonya finishes her second plate before time runs out and she wins this won in a rout.

Also expected to be a rout? Kobayashi Vs. Sam Vise. kobayashi is doing the '4 spoon' method - he is using 2 spoons in each hand like chopsticks. Kobayashi finishes his first plate in less than 100 seconds and with Vise not even close to the half way mark, the rout is on. Kobayashi finishes his second plate and now he's just picking at his third plate, as Vise isn't even close to finishing his second plate. Kudos to Vise for getting into the quarterfinals, but the road will stop for him as Kobayashi advances to the semi-finals.

Let's see what we've got for the semi-finals -
1. Kobayashi
Vs
5. Jarvis

6. Janus
Vs.
2. Thomas

The food for the semi-finals is potato skins. Sonya Thomas is popping them down like they were chicken nuggets with water. Janus is using lemonade and he is not going at the same pace that Thomas is. The difference shows, as with 2 minutes to go in the round, Sonya has finished 2 plates, while Tim is only in the middle of his second dish. Tim slows down at the minute mark, almost as a possible sign of concession.

Who will Sonya face? This should be a good match between Jarvis and Kobayashi. Both of them have very different styles - Jarvis slams the whole thing in his mouth, while Kobayashi takes rapid-fire bites on 2 potatoes at a time. As the spud itself is very dry, quick bites are probably the best way to solve the tater enigma. Sure enough, Kobayashi is on his third plate, while Jarvis is around half-way done on his second plate. Kobayashi gets to plate 4 and it's all over but the shouting - or the time, which ticks down to zero.

After all of this competition, it boils down to a #1 Vs. #2 match-up. Kobayashi will take on Thomas for $10,000 and the title of U.S. Open of Competitive Eating Champion. The thing that separates both of them from their goal? The ESPN 'Tailgater', which is a 6 pound monster of crudites (carrots and celery), chicken tenders, breaded mushrooms, nachos, and a Buffalo chicken sandwich. Don't forget the spinach dip and chili in the middle, both of which must also be consumed.

The dip and chili both acts a lubricant, which you can use instead of the water provided. Kobayashi does this, while Thomas puts everything into the chili and dip and combines it for a massive stew. Both people complete the first Tailgater, but Kobayashi has around a 30 second lead. Kobayashi drains the dip, and as Thomas is noticing Kobayashi has extended his lead, she slows down. Maybe she thinks that she's lost. Kobayashi will make sure that it's reality as he exhumes the sandwich and completes his second Tailgater with around 30 seconds to spare. Time runs out, and so does Thomas's chances as Takeru Kobayashi wins the championship and the $10,000 to go with it.

That ends this eating competition. Be sure to check the site for more eating competitions, when they happen.