Interesting group this year. I think they did the right thing in dumping the “comedienne” right off the bat. She was a total waste of space. My wife and I predicted the 4 that would face the panel, and are personally pulling for Jeffrey and Kelsey to be the Final Two.
The Vulcan and the Kid have to go.
The show is on my DVR; I skimmed it, but haven’t watched it in depth. I may root for “The Kid”, but I don’t suspect he will make it into the final eight contestants. I do want to see the tart from Dallas packing up her stuff post haste.
Ditto!
I had hopes for Nipa. I would like to see more ethnic cooking on the Food Network, especially South Asian and real Latin (Ingrid Hoffman is a joke) styles. Alas she looks like a total flake and from next weeks preview that is exactly what she does.
I havent made up my mind about the rest, though I agreed with judges choice this round.
Agreed - the comedienne was very dour and just not good at doing public speaking “on the fly”, which is a really bad thing for someone in this kind of role. She seemed like her perception was that they expected her to be wacky all the time, but considering how often she stammered or clammed up, I think she doesn’t really know how she appeared, at least from the clips they showed.
Kelsey needs to rein in the Miss Cheerleader routine a tad but otherwise seems promising. I don’t remember who Jeffrey is but one of the men I liked mentioned that he does improv acting, which I think will suit him well in this business.
I’m also disappointed with Nipa - yes, that was a bad thing for the store to not have turmeric, but you need to be flexible. That would have been the time to come up with another dish on the spot or make a better substitution of spicing.
Yeah, Nipa bugged me too. I can’t believe a store that large wouldn’t have turmeric, or that she wouldn’t bother to ask someone about it. In a pinch, she could have cobbled up a passable curry powder without it, or she could have amped up the store-bought with additional chili powder and the like. She dropped the ball and paid the price.
Too bad, because there is a dearth of ethnic cooking shows these days.
I thought it was highly obnoxious that they were implicitly and explicitly critical of Nipa’s seasoning choices when Sandra fucking Lee is one of their “celebrity chefs.” Even if Sandra Lee wanted to make curry potatoes, she would have no idea how, and she would absolutely suggest that using a store-bought curry powder rather than making her own would be perfectly appropriate and acceptable. If it’s good enough for Sandra Lee, then really, it should be fine for Nipa.
I totally don’t buy that the store didn’t have turmeric or at least an empty slot (being sold out). No freaking way. And that was such a bullshit excuse; why not get the basic curry powder (for the turmeric that “wasn’t there”) and then add additional spices to make it your own? That was so freaking lazy!
Yeah, but notice that Sandra Lee was the only one who liked them. Nipa made authentic and rich spicing part of her “theme” so if it’s not that full-flavored (the others said the flavor was too mild and just not right) then she shot herself in the foot. If she’d claimed her theme was dumbing down Indian cuisine to appeal to people who don’t like any curry kick, then she would have been right on target.
(I get the feeling that the other chefs probably laugh behind Sandra Lee’s back, or at least try not to think about being on the same network.)
Or at least clam up about the key ingredient being missing. There’s a big difference between tasting something and “Eh, that’s kinda bland” and “You couldn’t find the headline ingredient, but you served it anyway?”
I was amazed that a store with such an enormous spice section didn’t have the stuff. Perhaps they had it alphabetized by variety, and they had Norwegian Turmeric, Mongolian Turmeric and East Indies Turmeric, but she only looked under “T”?
I was so hoping the Vulcan would get the boot first. What was she going on about with the three Cs? Color, cut and clarity? No, that’s diamonds. Something about community service, which to me evokes unflattering images of her weeding highway medians in her high heels and Wilma Flintstone necklace.
Oh my god, the instant that minature blond chickie showed up on the screen I immediately realized that I wanted to strangle her for her detestable perkyness. If she wins it, I may have to throw out my cable box.
Despite the fact that she is now annoying as all get out, Dallas actually may have potential. She has to drop that three Cs crap. Nobody cares about food as community service. Sell yourself as “Cooking with a Hyperkinetic Sepford Wife” and you’ve got possibility. Sort of like Rachel Ray without all of the cute and quirky, or Ina Garten without the serenety and grace. Or perhaps maybe not.
I was sorry that Indian Woman seemed to boot it on the curry dishes. I sort of like her, and the Food Network could use some more ethnic flair.
And the commedienne who was depressing and not funny at all was sort of amusing in a point-and-laugh way. Even so, I’m perfectly happy she was promptly put out to pasture.
The Kid is a good throw-in for the casting, but I don’t think he has much potential. He’ll have to really shine to make it far.
The rest of them seem to me to be an undifferentiated mass of “contestant” at this point.
Thast’s the sad and/or scary thing - these are the ten finalists - the ten most likely best picks - out of however many thousand applications Food Network received. Keep this in mind - there were worse would-be applicants.
Looking at this current batch, I’d bet that the winner will then go on to shoot six or seven episodes of their program, then wilt away just like the winners of Seasons 1 and 3.
I’m not sure that’s quite fair. In the skill-based reality shows like this, they usually have a bunch of contestants starting out that are fairly similar and well matched for the task ahead. Normally, the particularly flamboyant ones flame out quickly and the winner comes from somebody who actually displays the relevant skill set, not the biggest personality. Unlike the pure “competition” shows (like Survivor or Big Brother, for instance), these aren’t really cast to have all of the contestants fit into some memorable category for recognition and deliberate diversity.
That was hilarious. When Sandra Lee likes your cooking, something has gone horribly wrong.
I wonder what was up with the comedienne - she wasn’t ever funny, not in her talking head segments, especially not when in front of an audience. Where is she a comic? On the internet?
Three-C girl? What the hell? It’s great that some cooks and chefs are involved in the community, but I have no idea how you put that on a home cooking show and neither, it seems, does she.
I love how she brought it up AGAIN at the judging table and you could see Alton’s “Jesus CHRIST, she’s bringing up that community service bullshit AGAIN?!?!”
That’s what’s going to doom her the quickest - she can’t respond to criticism well. Anybody with more than 3 brain cells to rub together would have rephrased her “magic mojo that only I have” real fast after Alton crushed her during the taping. I predict that the previews were yanking with us about Nipa next week and the Vulcan gets the axe instead. Then Nipa, then the kid. After that it will depend on what each of them does to fuck up each challenge.
This is the first time I’ve ever watched this series. I am totally shocked that these people are on this show. It almost made me want to apply for next seasons contest. It doesn’t help that I compared them disfavorably to, and think they are a step below the Hell’s Kitchen People.