Next Food Network Star, New Season, Comments

Kyle

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May 14, 2012, 11:41:19 AM5/14/12

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I'm skeptical that Brown, Flay, and DeLaurentis really selected each
team member. Why would Brown, the smartest of the leaders, chose
someone as obviously unskilled and inarticulate as Christie? Whenever
the camera was on her, Christie looked terrified and/or on the verge
of nursting into tears. Christie did, however fit the familar NFNS
archetype of the young, pretty, and not-long-for-the show blonde. Shd
had "Hopeless" written all over her.

Giada's blatant airhead was Josh, who I thought looked like a
"rockified" version of her real-life cuckold husband. Josh took every
opportunity to talk ("I'm gonna rock out!") and act (somersaulting
onstage) like a juvenile rockstar wannabe. BTW, I can tell that his
music isn't any good either; he's into attention-seeking antics, not
musicianship. I hope he's gone soon, but I suspect he will be drawn-
out.

I suspect that Flay's butch woman chef, who made the mussels, and his
Asian guy who made the mushroom lasagna, are the best cooks of the
whole lot. Brown's retro-girl has a chance because of her look, her
outgoing personality, and she apparently has some cooking skills.

Citizen Jerry

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May 14, 2012, 7:30:35 PM5/14/12

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It took less than 30 minutes for Team Bobby's Nikki to rub me the wrong
way. Too much like Penny from last season. This one hasn't figured out you
can't build yourself up by tearing everyone else down.

Nancy2

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May 15, 2012, 10:57:09 AM5/15/12

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As to the concept where the viewers decide *something* anyway, it
can't have a worse result than the previous seasons - Guy Fieri is the
only bona fide FN star to ever come out of this "next star" series,
where the judges have always picked the winner.

N.

Kyle

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May 21, 2012, 10:02:32 AM5/21/12

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You're right that the FN's judgement hasn't been good when it comes to
finding nes stars. Many of them have tanked miserably. Only Guy has
really become a star, and that's largely through his cartoonishness.
I quite like Aarti, but calling her a star wpuld be absurd
overstatement. And they havd her on on such funny hours.

Anyway, after seeing the second installment of this season's NFNS last
night, I want to predict that the young, naive-looking, chubby half-
Hawaiian, half Italian guy might win; at the very least, he'll be
there till the end. He induces that look in Tuschman's and Fogelson's
faces.

Nancy2

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May 21, 2012, 10:30:11 AM5/21/12

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He was my fave after the first episode; haven't watched the new one
yet.

N.

Nancy2

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Jun 5, 2012, 4:08:24 PM6/5/12

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> I suspect that Flay's butch woman chef, who made the mussels, and his
> Asian guy who made the mushroom lasagna, are the best cooks of the
> whole lot. Brown's retro-girl has a chance because of her look, her
> outgoing personality, and she apparently has some cooking skills.

Asian guy - Eric Lee - gone after this week's episode. ;-( I liked
him, but he just couldn't get the camera on his side. They still have
hopes for the butch chick. (No offense intended - can't remember her
name.)

N.

Kyle

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Jun 25, 2012, 6:46:38 PM6/25/12

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I was sorry and surprised to see Emily go last night. I thought she was very cute and likable -- and she could even cook! It struck me that the FN people were trying to goad her into concocting some story connecting her 50s thing to some horrible trauma from her past -- preferably one that would make Susie Fogelson weep. She didn't, and she was sent packing.

Nikki strikes me as this season's Penny.

The two remaining interesting contestants are the nerdy kid and the butch woman. The nerdy kid had the savvy to do something Fogelson and Tuschman love; he connected a dish to a sob story, one concerning his father's death. I think both he and the butch woman are a bit too unconventional to be deemed the winner of the series, but the nerdy kid is funny enough in his presentation style and inventive enough in the kitchen that he will have to end up with some sort of show. The butch woman can cook for real too, but if she stays on the network in any way I'm sure they will deem it necessary to de-butchify her a bit.

Nancy2

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Jun 26, 2012, 11:17:35 AM6/26/12

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>
> Nikki strikes me as this season's Penny.
>

Yes, she does. I saw Penny in a Chopped episode, I think.

>unconventional to be deemed the winner of the series, but the nerdy kid is funny enough in his presentation style and inventive enough in the >kitchen that he will have to end up with some sort of show. The butch woman can cook for real too, but if she stays on the network in any way >I'm sure they will deem it necessary to de-butchify her a bit.

Oh, I don't know - she's kind of a mini-Anne Burrell, no?

N.

Kyle

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Jun 28, 2012, 2:11:13 PM6/28/12

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I'll never forget the way Susie Fogelson used to leer at Penny. Penny clearly considered herself a sex goddess -- and it looked as if SF agreed.

Anne Burrell is sort of big and strong, and she has that funny cookie monster voice she goes into. But this season's butch girl, Michele, seems to go out of her way to be mannish. Again, I respect the way her cooking looks.