The Next Food Network Star wrapped up last night, with the winner being a pair of guys from Chicago named Dan and Steve, whose new show, Soup to Nuts, will start airing in September in the network's "In the Kitchen" block.
I can't say I'm thrilled with the result. Their on-air personae is a little forced, with a number of their quips sounding rehearsed. They also seem to still have some issues to work out regarding balancing cooking and entertaining. It would behoove them to watch tapes of Two Fat Ladies, I think.
On the plus side, the other finalist, a woman named Deborah, was much more irritating. I had a hard time cottoning to her high energy persona, which didn't always come off as genuine (she has an acting background/interest which may be at fault here). She also seemed to get by on personality when her cooking wasn't great; consider that at one point she couldn't tell how many minutes pork chops should cook.
The voting was interesting, as the 90 minute finale allowed for voting for about a half hour during the show. I'd almost have rather had another episode with just the finalists and their mini-show pilots, as it was a little rushed to have two eliminations, the pilots, the voting, the results, a contestant reunion and favorite outtakes all in one show.
The results were announced by Emeril Lagasse, who seemed very uncomfortable. He also seemed to tip the results, as he mostly focused on Dan and Steve, paying Deborah very little attention until after the results were given. Very strange.
All in all, I didn't think this was a bad series, though in the end I don't think they came up with a "star." Or even two.
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