Food Network Star Season 8

Food Network Star Season 8 debuted a few weeks ago and it seems like a good time to take stock of the newest competitors for a new show on The Food Network. This season is a little different in that Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis, and Alton Brown each handpicked 5 contestants to be on their team. The teams compete and then the bottom two contestants (or three in last week’s episode) are chosen and have one last chance to impress the judges by cooking with a mystery ingredient and then making a presentation to camera. It’s been fun so far, although this season doesn’t look promising in terms of producing a “star”. Perhaps I say that at this point of every season.

Here’s how I would rank the 15 contestants at this point:

We Hardly Knew Ya

15) Cristie – well someone had to get voted off first and she was pretty bad in the premiere so I guess that’s that.

14) Kara – I actually thought she was better than Judson in their show down in episode 2, but I don’t think anyone’s going to miss her now that she’s gone.

13) Josh – possibly the worst contestant ever on Food Network Star, and yet also one of the most entertaining. Probably could have been voted off in the premiere, but I’m glad we got his antics for a couple more episodes. His point of view was some kind of Asian-Dutch-Rock ‘N Roll fusion, which was . . . uhhh . . . weird. But he did do a somersault (Air Guitar!).

Not Looking Good

12) Judson (aka “Waterworks”) – as I mentioned in the Kara section, he’s lucky to still be around. He was the first to cry (and when the person voted off has to tell you to stop crying there’s a problem) and wears a bow tie. Can’t see that working out.

11) Martie (aka “The Old Lady”) – the constant complaining about her age has already grown annoying. She isn’t bringing anything to the table and it would be a major upset to see her advance much further.

10) Malcolm – I really thought he was going to have potential, but then the last couple of episodes happened and I realized I was wrong.

9) Linkie – Her bio says she’s a “cake baker”, and that’s usually not a good sign in this competition. She does have the South African accent going for her (even if I mistook it for Australian), but I don’t see her as a viable contender.

The Wallflowers

8) Yvan – just waiting in the weeds right now. I honestly think he probably belongs in the last category, but I can’t think of anything he’s really done wrong. He’s the definition of a vanilla contestant right now.

7) Martita – could eventually move up to the contenders’ section, but they haven’t focused much on her, so I have no idea what her deal is. Let’s just keep her here to be safe.

6) Michele – one minute I think she has no chance, and the next I’m thinking maybe she could pull it off. Let's just move on before I move her further down.

The Contenders

5) Justin (aka “The Young Alton”) – like the judges, we’re still trying to determine if he’s wearing lipstick, but the kid does have personality. Could he be this year’s contestant that loses but still ends up with a show?

4) Emily – I don’t get her “retro rad” cooking point of view, and I know Mrs. won’t agree with her ranking this high, but I do think the judges like her. I guess she’s unique, but there’s a lot of room for improvement. We’ll see if she gets there.

3) Ippy – I’m probably way too high on him, but I have a gut feeling he’s going to go far. He can definitely cook, but his laid-back demeanor and Hawaiian cooking point of view might limit his ability to win it all.

2) Nikki – how is she #2? Ugh. I predict she'll start to annoy me within a couple of weeks. Her bio says she’s younger than me, but she looks like she’s pumped full of Botox and collagen, so I'm not convinced. But having said that, her presentation last week in the vote off was impressive and someone is going to have to step-up to take her place in the rankings.

1) Eric – we were making fun of him in the first episode (and the second and third) because of his constant reminder to the camera that he quit his job to be in the competition. But he seems to be hands down the best cook, and although he’s not terribly dynamic, he’s been ok presenting his dishes. Probably needs to loosen up a bit and add some humor, but for now, he’s the man (and did you know he quit his job to be here?!)

Just seeing Eric and Nikki as my two favorites at this point makes me wonder if we’re headed towards another Amy Finley-like debacle of a winner. The jury is still out. And based on my rankings it looks like Team Bobby has the leg up right now. We’ll see if Giada or Alton can get the last laugh.