Ottawa native George Tsuji defeated three-time Jeopardy champion Vito Cortese of Pittsburgh, Pa., in a match broadcast on Monday evening. Among Tsuji's opponents in the episode to be broadcast on Tuesday is Robert Kennedy, also of Ottawa. (CBC)

The popular American quiz show Jeopardy will feature two contestants on the Tuesday-evening broadcast from this Canadian capital. The correct response in Jeopardy -speak: what is Ottawa?

Ottawa software engineer George Tsuji came from behind to win $20,000 on the Monday broadcast of the show, taped weeks ago. And on Tuesday night's show he'll face off against two others, including University of California Santa Barbara linguistics professor Robert Kennedy, also an Ottawa native.

And as an added bit of capital flavouring, host Alex Trebek, who hails from Sudbury, Ont., is also an alumnus of the University of Ottawa.

The coincidence was not lost on Kennedy's aunt Joan Kennedy, who said she'll be watching to see how her nephew — who has sworn to secrecy about the result — has fared.

Kennedy said it wouldn't be the first time her nephew and Trebek crossed paths. While a student at University of Ottawa, the younger Kennedy was given an award by Trebek, who was in town receiving an honourary doctorate from the school.

"I hope that one of them wins," said Kennedy. "Of course I'll be rooting for Bob, but if Bob doesn't win I hope George does."

Kennedy said it wouldn't be the first time her nephew and Trebek crossed paths. While a student at University of Ottawa, the younger Kennedy was given an award by Trebek, who was in town receiving an honourary doctorate from the school.

He'll face a tough challenger in Tsuji, who managed to seize a lead late in the contest that aired Monday, and then successfully held off his opponents by nailing the final jeopardy question.

"What is S.O.S.?" Tsuji correctly responded to the question. "It was first transmitted by the USS Arapahoe off Cape Hatteras on Aug. 11, 1909."

"People were cheering the right answers and booing when the other people got it," Tsuji said of the crowd that watched Monday's episode with him at an Ottawa pub.

"It was like [being] a rock star or an athlete … but I couldn't be," said Tsuji, laughing. "So this was the closest that I was ever going to get to it."

Tsuji told CBC News he's watched Jeopardy since the show's early days, but first applied to be a contestant two years ago. Already a member of a weekly trivia league, Tsuji trained specifically for the buzzing-in part of the show.

"One of the tips I heard was to use a phone charger, the one that goes into the car, because it has the feel of pushing back," Tsuji said.

His final trick was to watch the famous Saturday Night Live spoofs of Jeopardy to calm his nerves before taking part in the real show.

Jeopardy airs on CBC TV at 7:30 p.m. local time.