Hell's Kitchen USA

Sixteen contestants get a shot at culinary stardom and a chance at nabbing an executive chef position in the Canadian resort town of Whistler, British Columbia. The chefs are immediately put to work preparing their signature dish and are split into teams.

A contestant from season five returns, and the 15 remaining chefs prepare for a seafood-accented dinner service by deveining shrimp.

Chef Ramsay wakes up the 14 remaining chefs in the middle of the night and orders them to prepare a spaghetti dinner for hungry firefighters. The team that serves the food first wins; the losers must wash and wax fire engines.

The aspiring chefs must craft perfectly proportioned six-inch sausages. The guests being served a cold and salty dinner include: Drew Lachey, John O'Hurley, Tom Green, Melinda Clarke, Christopher "Kid" Reid and Kristy Swanson.

The 12 remaining chefs must plan menus for a gastronomic salute to a returning US Marine. The losing team will have to clean and decorate the dining room for the party under the guidance of Gordon Ramsay's wife, Tana.

The remaining chefs must create three-course meals that only total up to 700 calories. The winning team spends a day at the beach and receives volleyball pointers from Olympian Annett Davis while the losers prep both kitchens.

The teams roll dice to determine which ingredients they will use for their challenge dish. The winning team earns a trip to Las Vegas.

The nine remaining chefs take a blind taste test. The winners score a dinner date with Chef Ramsay in a pitch-black dining room where they can't see what they're eating.

The budding chefs make crepes, and the winners dine at a French restaurant while the losers must prepare for a French-themed dinner service.

Winter Olympic medalists Sasha Cohen and Jonny Moseley are the special guests and judge the meals prepared by the contestants. All the ingredients are brought in from Whistler, B.C. -- the site of the restaurant where the winner will be stationed.

The six remaining contestants must replicate dishes that Chef Ramsay prepared for them. The winners will dine with season four winner Christina Machamer. For dinner service, the teams are merged.

The challenge for each of the remaining contestants is to make a dish that looks as good as it tastes. The dishes are judged by the editorial staff of Bon Appetit Magazine. Then, the evening's dinner service turns out to be something of a disaster.

The final four contestants meet a diminutive version of Gordon Ramsay -- British child actor and impressionist Felix Light. Then, they must prepare meat-free meals for 80 other youngsters.

In part one of the season finale, the three remaining competitors must each prepare a dish with components from around the world, which will then be judged by a group of international culinary experts.

In the final part of the season finale, the two budding chefs go head-to-head as they prepare dishes worthy enough for them to be named head chef at Araxi, the restaurant and oyster bar in British Columbia.