NFNS: Sayonara Shane

First a little confession.  I have not seen this week’s episode of the Next Food Network Star.  I was at a friend’s house, a friend who hates Reality TV and finds Food TV boring.  The DVR is on the fritz so I did what every obsessed fan would do.  I went crazy.  Then I went to the NFNS website.

 

Imagine my surprise when I saw an exit interview with Shane.  Shane who had finally gotten over his awe at meeting the TFN celebs and had really been on a hot streak.  I was even more surprised to see that he and Kelsey were the last two left in the room after the others were given a pass.  I think that more than once I have mentioned that I think Kelsey is by far the best talent in this group.  I was even more surprised when I saw just how bad Lisa stunk the joint up with her performance on Rachael Ray’s show.  She should have been booted off.  Aaron hit a grand slam, finally we saw an Aaron that was fun to watch.

 

The site has a nice string of behind the scenes interviews and previews that really give you an in-depth feel for what the judges are thinking and how the contestants really feel.  There is a vlog with Susie Folgeson in which she reveals that Bob Tuschman just never liked Shane’s youth and inexperience.  I think that Susie has a similar problem with Kelsey, but that is just my own conjecture.  Bobby Flay joined Susie on her vlog and it is clear that if Bobby is actually rooting for anyone it is Kelsey going so far as to say that if he needed someone to baby sit his kid it would be Kelsey hands down.  Even Susie agreed.

Sunny Anderson joins Adam Roberts on FN Dish to break down the episode.  They are both “shocked” that Lisa was not booted.  Sunny even says, “Dead air is deadly.”  She also said that Lisa, “has five seconds of material for a ten minute show.”  Sunny predicts that Kelsey will be the next to go and then Lisa.  If that is true then this year’s winner will be the next Amy Finley or Hearty Boy.  If they have another winner who does their six episodes and then disappears it will be a sign that the selection process is the problem, not the contestants.  Speaking of Amy, did you know she wrote a book?  Yeah, Me either.

 

There are two exit interviews with Shane and in both he seems genuinely grateful for the chance he was given and the experiences he has had.  Like I have said before Shane is so easy to root for that it is sad to see him go.  After watching all of the post show vids I, like most people who watched, cannot believe that Lisa isn’t gone.  This show is a Reality Show and the reality of life is that polarizing characters like Lisa bring viewers flocking to their sets.  When Lisa is good, she is very good but when she is not on her game it is painful to watch.

 

There is a 10+ minute preview of the next episode where Adam takes on Lisa in variation of Throwdown.  That should be ugly as Lisa is by far the best pure cook in the contest and Adam is by far the worst. They each have to prepare a signature dish of their own and then they have to prepare their opponent’s signature dish.  Adam chose macaroni and cheese for signature dish which almost seems like a gimme for Lisa.  Lisa’s signature dish is the classic French Cassoulet a white bean and sausage stew that Adam has never tried in his life.  Paula Deen also joins the Flay and the final four for dinner at Mesa Grill (Las Vegas) and the spoiler show a very interesting conversation that I am looking forward to seeing more of.