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You guys are right: The problem with The Next Food Network Star is that it challenges the contestants with tasks that I can't imagine them having to face if they actually win. I watched last night with a friend who had never seen before, and he was pretty much laughing out loud. That said, I still kind of really like it. Agree? Disagree? Read on.
For their first challenge, Iron Chef America Cat Cora asked the contestants to take 30 minutes and 6 ingredients to compose a dish. Then, the contestants went before the camera to describe another contestant's dish -- a task that they did not perform very well. The chefs who described the dish before tasting it incorrectly described the flavors and ingredients, and those who described it after tasting spent too much time eating and too little time tasting. Shane won, which I thought was smart decision. At least he correctly identified the dish, and managed to say a few words about it.
For the second challenge, the chefs worked in pairs to create 45-minute versions of classic dishes -- beef wellingtons, coq au vin, and turducken. The task is one that would be difficult for any chef, and it was clearly beyond the culinary capabilities of the contestants. It wasn't clear how much time they had to plan, but it didn't seem like much. All three teams encountered problems while cooking, but Lisa and Jennifer clearly had the roughest time with their turducken, owing mostly to Jennifer's mistakes. She broke glass all over the side dish and the duck confit, causing the pair to discard everything in the area. She additionally was the reason that the dish's sauce did not make it onto the plates. The other teams suffered from not having enough time as well, but managed to finish their dishes. As always, they didn't look beautiful, but appeared as though they might have taste pretty good.
At the judges table, Shane and Kelsey got rammed for their beef wellington presentation, though the judges definitely enjoyed the taste. The turducken team -- Jennifer and Lisa -- were scolded for leaving out the components that they left out, though clearly they had no choice. The judges liked that Jennifer was confident during the presentation, and Lisa cried because she can be too harsh. Team Coq Au Vin was praised for the flavors in the dish, but criticized because it didn't resemble the original.
Kelsey and Shane won, probably because their recipe was the easiest to recreate. Their recipes will be featured in Bon Appetit. Lisa was also safe immediately, because she's among the best contestants. Jennifer was sent home, to no one's surprise but her own.
In my opinion, it's still between Shane, Kelsey, and Lisa. I think the show will most likely heat up once these three are the only ones remaining. Lisa's still my favorite, though I found Shane more appealing this week than in previous episodes -- he's clearly becoming more comfortable in front of the camera, and may be able to give the girls a little more competition than they anticipated. Your thoughts?
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6-30-2008 @10:11AM laura said... Jennifer deserved to go home, not only for never turning out a good dish, a good performance , but because she identified UDON noodles as linguine. Who bangs a glass bottle against a countertop? Lisa is a saint for not blowing her top because I would have.
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6-30-2008 @11:22AM GL said... I couldn't believe how bad they were at describing those dishes. I thought Aaron might get through the entire 90 seconds without saying a word.
I like Lisa. She has grown on me and I think if they would ease up on forcing her to adopt a new personality, she might actually be less rigid.
You nailed the top three, the rest are just not in the same league.
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6-30-2008 @12:19PM LizAndrsn said... I agree with your assessment of Lisa-Kelsey-Shane as the Final Three. Lisa is wound a little too tight for my tastes, and cries too easily. Kelsey might make it, but she's too little girl at times. If Shane developes a little more onscreen charisma, then Adam will lose whatever good-vibe he's got that keeps him around.
Poor Aaron. I really feel for him. He probably knows his food, but he isn't conveying his knowledge verbally, and always sounds on the verge of tears. Perhaps his plate is a little too full.
These folks are competing for a shot at a FN programs of their own, and not Iron Chef America. Why are all the challenges so insane? The food description exercise was smart. The ongoing cook from mystery ingredients is wearing thin.
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6-30-2008 @12:33PM Pyrofish said... If you watch the criteria for judging, they're not removing people for how they did in the challenges, they're removing them for how they handled themselves in the challenges. The show is throwing outlandish challenges at them for two reasons. One it's makes for compelling tv, and the second, is to see if they are confident enough to do this.
If you've watched enough food network, you will inevitably see someone do something that isn't right, or there's a simpler way. They own it though, and make most everyone believe they know exactly what they're talking about. Confidence, even when you're wrong, seems to be what they're looking for.
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6-30-2008 @12:34PM rainey said... I think all the food competition shows are dreadful. What does competition have to do with good food?
It's another example of how the FoodNetwork is all network and makes NO contribution to food and cooking.
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6-30-2008 @1:12PM Amber said... How is turducken a classic food?
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6-30-2008 @2:59PM Colleen said... I agree that the challenges are wacky. Still, I think the show's chief weakness is in how it hammers home week after week the idea that the competitors are completely or nearly incompetant and lacking in personality. It seems counterintuitive, since the goal of the show is ostensibly to pick out someone who will go on to be a network personality. Why repeatedly knock these people down when you want viewers to trust and like them enough in the end to watch their cooking show? I don't know if it seemed different in the second season when Guy Fieri won, as he keeps getting new Food Network shows, but this season and last year all the competitors are edited (or put through impossible challenges) in a way that makes them look like hopeless cases. Shouldn't Food Network be asking them to do things where at least some can hit total home runs each week? This last episode, the winners of the challenges basically seemed to just be they who were the least bad. I'm sure there are people who could pull off a decent show among the contestants, but good grief, Food Network doesn't seem to want me to think so.
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7-13-2008 @11:45PM shelli said... Well I am late reading this but I totally agree on who the final three should have been!!!! Yet we are stuck with Aaron and Adam, I sure hope Lisa wins!! I think they are looking for another Guy, and I hate to break it to them these guys ain't it!!
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