Hooters® Kicks Off Coast-to-Coast Wing-Eating Competition

World Champion to be Named During Finale Event in New York City

ATLANTA, April 10, 2012 -- Chicken wing expert, Hooters of America, LLC, announced that it has engaged Major League Eating (MLE) to sanction and produce a circuit of wing-eating contests across the United States that will conclude at the Hooters Wing-Eating World Championship in New York City. The finale will take place in late July as part of a weekend celebration of National Chicken Wing Day.

 

"For nearly 30 years Hooters has been known for our original, world-famous hot wings and it's only natural that we establish this inaugural coast-to-coast wing-eating competition," said David Henninger, chief marketing officer, Hooters of America, LLC. "At Hooters, we're all about great food, great fun and this competition exemplifies that spirit."

Chicken wing eating has never previously been a championship circuit to identify and crown an official world champion. This tour will allow Hooters wing-eaters to test their skills against Major League Eating superstars like Joey Chestnut and Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas.

"We are thrilled to be working with this iconic American restaurant," said Richard Shea, president, Major League Eating. "While each contest will feature well-known Major League Eaters, I am confident we'll find Hooters wing lovers with amazing wing-eating talent in each host city."

The Hooters Wing-Eating World Championship tour kicked off in Augusta, Ga., host city of the Masters Golf Tournament, on April 5 with Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas. Weighing in at a mere 100 pounds, "The Black Widow" is the world's top-ranked female eater and current five-time National Buffalo Wing-Eating Champion.

Hooters will go on to hold 9 additional wing-eating contests across the country including events in Baltimore, MD; Detroit, MI; Indianapolis, IN; Jacksonville, Fla.; Mesquite, TX; Oklahoma City, OK; San Diego, CA; St. Louis, MO; and Miami, Fla., with the tour concluding in New York where the first Hooters wing-eating world champion will be crowned.

Hooters wing fans can follow each contest, keep track of the local winners and see a schedule for future events through Hooters' Facebook page.

Major League Eating will register competitors at www.IFOCE.com. All competitors must be at least 21 years old.

About Hooters
Hooters of America, LLC, is the franchisor and operator of over 430 Hooters restaurants in 44 states and 27 foreign countries. The first Hooters opened in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida. Hooters is well-known for its brand of food and fun, featuring a casual beach-theme atmosphere, a menu that features seafood, sandwiches and Hooters nearly, world famous chicken wings, and service provided by the All-American cheerleaders, the Hooters Girls. For more information about Hooters visit www.Hooters.com, www.twitter.com/Hooters, www.YouTube.com/Hooters, or www.Facebook.com/Hooters.

About Major League Eating
Major League Eating (MLE), the world governing body of all stomach-centric sports, conducts more than 80 events annually, including the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, N.Y. and the CP Foods Biggest Eater Championship in Bangkok, Thailand. The competitive eating community is made up of more than 8,000 veteran and rookie gurgitators who travel the world in search of top titles and the glory that they provide. For more information, visit www.IFOCE.com , www.facebook.com/eatfast or Twitter @eatingcontest.

SOURCE Hooters of America, LLC

Food Network Star Returns for Eighth Season with Star-studded Challenges, Brand-New Format and a Fresh Cast of Hopefuls

BOBBY FLAY AND GIADA DE LAURENTIIS JOINED BY ALTON BROWN, EACH SERVING AS MENTOR/PRODUCER TO THEIR OWN HAND-SELECTED TEAM OF FINALISTS

Special Two-Hour Series Premiere Airs Sunday, May 13th at 9pm ET/PT; Preceded by Casting Special on Saturday, May 12th at 9pm ET/PT

 

Audience Vote Will Determine Winner, Announced in Season Finale Sunday, July 22nd at 9pm ET/PT

NEW YORK, April 2, 2012 -- Food Network's long-running hit primetime series Food Network Star returns to New York City this May with fifteen talented hopefuls and completely new twists for season eight – this year, returning stars Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis move from behind the judge's table to square off with culinary favorite Alton Brown for a three-way team competition to find the next Food Network Star, beginning with a special two-hour premiere episode on Sunday, May 13 ^th at 9pm ET/PT.

Bobby, Giada and Alton, all television producers in addition to being culinary superstars, lead the charge to find and develop the new talent by each hand-selecting a team of five finalists, who they will produce and mentor through the 'Star' experience to find one winner who possesses personality and kitchen chops. Viewers can also glance into the 'Star' finalist selection process, with a casting special airing on May 12 ^th and in another turn to the series plot, viewers will vote online before the July 22 ^nd finale to determine who will receive the ultimate prize: their own Food Network show, to be produced by their 'Star' team leader.

"Having Bobby, Giada and Alton compete against each other to discover and develop the next Food Network Star took this series to a whole new level," said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Programming and Production, Food Network. "These three iconic star/producers are ideal mentors for the talented hopefuls they found – but it's hard to say if the competition was more intense among the finalists or their three Star mentors."

Season eight finalists are: Philip "Ippy" Aiona (Kamuela, HI), Judson Allen (Chicago), Martie Duncan (Birmingham, Ala.), Emily Ellyn (Orlando, Fla.), Martita Jara (San Diego), Eric Lee (Petaluma, Calif.), Yvan Lemoine (Maspeth, N.Y.), Josh Lyons (Jupiter, Fla.), Linkie Marais (North Attleborough, Mass.), Nikki Martin (West Hollywood, Calif.), Malcolm Mitchell (Washington, D.C.), Michele Ragussis (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Cristie Schoen (New Orleans), Kara Sigle (Chicago) and Justin Warner (Brooklyn, N.Y.).

In the premiere episode, the fifteen hopefuls arrive in the Food Network Star kitchen in New York City to meet Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis and Alton Brown - the culinary superstars who hand-selected them to compete on their teams. After meeting with their team leader, special guest Robert Irvine challenges the teams to their first "Star Challenge" - to create their own pop-up restaurant from the ground up, with an extremely limited budget and very little time. Each episode also features a "Producer's Challenge," where the contestants up for elimination each shoot a segment with their 'Star' mentor/producer to be presented to the selection committee in the "pitch room."

Returning judges Food Network executives Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson decide who stays and goes, along with a roster of guest judges scheduled to join.

Upcoming episodes feature amped-up challenges to see who has true Star quality, including a Chopped-style battle judged by Alex Guarnaschelli , Scott Conant and Marc Murphy ; a Ted Allen -hosted New York Fashion Week food makeover challenge with a cash prize courtesy of Discover Card; holiday-themed specials hosted by Guy Fieri ; and a Miami beachside competition where finalists shop at Target to style a VIP event for Paula Deen . Season guest stars also include Food Network's Sunny Anderson, Anne Burrell , Melissa d'Arabian, Jeff Mauro , Aaron Sanchez and Geoffrey Zakarian , along with Entertainment Weekly's Jess Cagle and Jill Bernstein , Entertainment Tonight's Christina McLarty and Serious Eats' Ed Levine .

For more Food Network Star, visit www.foodnetwork.com/star all season long for video recaps, exclusive interviews and blogs, behind-the-scenes footage, photo galleries, exclusive snapshots from the 'Star' house and the return of "Star Scrapbooks," a look inside the pages of the finalists' personal journals. Viewers can also join a season-long Food Network Star digital game, where players accumulate points and earn badges by predicting the outcome of each episode and participate in weekly fan votes. The series culminates with an unprecedented finale on Sunday, July 22 ^nd at 9pm ET/PT, when an audience online vote will determine which finalist will become the next Food Network Star.

Food Network Star is produced by CBS EYE Too Productions.

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring and empowering through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 100 million U.S. households and averages more than 9.9 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine has tripled its rate base and delivers a circulation of 1.4 million. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24 hour networks in Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates Cooking Channel (www.cookingchanneltv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), and Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com), is the manager and general partner.

SOURCE Food Network