Sunday, July 27, 2014

Food Network Star Season 10, Episode 9 Elimination

Photo - Food Network.
On tonight's episode of Food Network Star, the remaining contestants were now in New York City, and first had to do a live report from different food places in the Chelsea Market.  Their second challenge was to do a live demo on the Rachael Ray Show.  Each finalist had to solve a culinary problem for a Rachael Ray viewer and do their demo in front of a live audience. 

If you saw the previous post on this website, you know that this episode of the Rachael Ray Show actually aired on Friday, meaning you could watch all of the demos before tonight's episode.  Note - If you want to watch the full demos rather than the edited Food Network ones, visit the link above.  They show much more than Food Network did.

Myself and others suspected that Loreal Gavin would be going home after seeing the performances on the Rachael Ray Show, and our suspicions were correct.  The bottom three were Sarah, Loreal, and Nicole.  Nicole was considered safe, meaning Loreal or Sarah would be eliminated, and the judges decided to send Loreal home.

If you are interested in finding out more information about Loreal, a recent article in the Indy Star has a lot of background information about her.  In another article, Loreal provides some inside information about Food Network Star, such as Luca being covered in tattoos.


53 comments:

  1. Interesting comments from an eliminated contestant. I would like to hear more of that from the others as well.

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  2. Why is Alton Brown on at all? He is horrible. He is unappealing, boring and generally dull. Kick him off

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  3. I just about LMAO when Lenny's pants split! I could not tell that from watching the Rachael Ray videos posted here. So funny, but he handled it well. As far as Loreal leaving, it was a toss up for me between her and Sarah.

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  4. Wow, Lenny really did handle that challenge well! I had no idea his pants split either. I agree - either Loreal or Sarah needed to go home after that challenge.

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  5. Sarah was annoying, but I felt like they ultimately made the right call on booting Loreal. She botched the first challenge and she picked completely picked the wrong dish for the demo and presented it horribly.

    As for Nicole,I think she'd been better going for an elevated fish and chips (but like sweet potatoes or jicama or something else that's starchy). The kids would have been way more open to it than what she made. I will also say that it's a joke that she got to have ice cream as her live segment. So much easier than the rest!

    Lenny did fantastic, and it's nice to see that he can tone the energy down when needed, and I couldn't tell that his pants had split. He really did do a nice job.

    They should have kept the kids out of the room when Luca was cooking. As the judges said: with the kids watching, you couldn't fool 'em, Luca didn't stand a chance.

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  6. In terms of the mentor challenge, Loreal got a butcher counter and still managed to screw it up, so I wouldn't say Nicole had an unfair advantage with the ice cream.

    And Nicole was very smart in determining the vendor was selling ice cream rather than gelato and getting the ingredients from him, which she then relayed in her on-camera presentation.

    As for Nicole's Camera Challenge: Her biggest problem was the sriracha, which was a bit much for the kids—and even for the judges. I liked the idea that she went with lettuce wraps so the kids could make their own, and perhaps if she'd used a whitefish instead of the shrimp, he dish might have come off better, although I'm not so sure the shrimp itself was an issue.

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  7. Lenny nailed it!! He gave a great performance.....and totally true to who he is.

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  8. Personally, I would rather see Giada go.

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  9. How about a new show on Food Network...as in Food Network Stars try and keep their jobs?

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  10. I am glad to see Loreal go home. She does have a bubbly personality, but isn't suited for Food Network. I would have rather seen a double elimination and they send Sarah home as well. She adds no value except to gripe all the time. I hope that next week is the week she goes home.

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  11. Lenny totally nailed it! He is always fun to watch & has great ideas! I hope he wins! It would be really nice to see a normal, NICE, sincere contestant win! Last years winner turned my off so much that I didn't know if I was going to watch again!

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  12. Please remember that we see what the editors want us to see in terms of the confessionals, and the editors have decided to give us more of Sarah's negative commentary than anyone else's. We have no idea how many positive things Sarah may have said or of how many negative comments the others recorded. Add to that the fact that the competitors are often asked leading questions in order to elicit the kinds of responses we see on the air, and it's pretty clear viewers are being highly manipulated.

    I don't care for Sarah, but we have to keep in mind that we see and hear only what the producers want us to see and hear.

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  13. BINGO.....I have always had the feeling that Sarah is not, in real life, the villain she is portrayed to be. FN needed some one to fit into that role for added drama and Sara was it. Aside from the creative editing by FN.....she strikes me as a very nice person!!!

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  14. Sarah is always voted by the fans to go but somehow no matter how annoying she is she seems to stay. Sure hope she is sent home soon.

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  15. I think Lenny got kicked off next week. On the previews for next week, he was hunched over being consoled.

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  16. Merlin_Arrowhead_AddictJuly 28, 2014 at 12:09 PM

    FN is so greasing the skids to get rid of Lenny so we can all vote for their predetermined winner, Luca. Two episodes ago, FN hands his team sea urchin as it's first choice, knowing the captain will pass and Lenny or Loreal (both of which FN wanted to get rid of) would get it . In the last episode, everyone gets a location that fits them, except Lenny. Luca? Oh yes, you get a bounty of seafood to choose from. Nicole? You get ice cream, for the second week in a row. Loreal? Butcher Babe gets meat, again. Sarah? How about a wide selection of fruits? Lenny, you get savory yogurt? really? How many people work with that? Is that a summer food staple?


    I would love to see Lenny win because I get a very strong feeling that FN is doing everything then can to get rid of him.

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  17. In other words, FN wants the viewers to hate Sarah. I almost have to wonder if the show is rigged.

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  18. I would love to see Lenny win, but I almost thing it's going to be Luca. Luca is going to be pitted against someone like Sarah or Nicole in the final two and Lenny may be eliminated because he is the biggest threat to Luca winning. That way, I will know that the show is rigged.

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  19. You think? I'm guessing the final three will be set up so as to give the viewers only one viable alternative to vote for. I wouldn't be surprised if Lenny were eliminated to leave a final field of Nicole, Sarah, and Luca, with the thought that Sarah and Nicole don't have enough supporters to give them the win.

    Just my nasty mind at work again, though.

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  20. It could be rigged, I don't know! I'm hoping I'm wrong. I agree that it will be Sarah, Luca, and Nicole in the final three making Luca a shoe in to win it all.

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  21. Luca is good but not nearly as polished as Lenny. If Lenny doesn't win.....then something smells like rotten fish.

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  22. And here's the thing: many of her comments were actually spot on. Srircha was a horrible idea on Nicole's part. Loreal did pick a way too complex meal. I still don't care for her, but she wasn't as annoying as she'd been in weeks past.

    I still don't get why they love Luca so much, but he's clearly the Annointed One. I'd love for a viewer revolt a la Justin, but I fear Lenny would get screwed the way Justin did.

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  23. Fan votes mean nothing. The show is 99.9 percent in the can.

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  24. That would make sense, since Lenny is the only real competition Luca has for viewer votes. Sarah has been given the mean girl edit, and Nicole has been portrayed as bland, so it would make sense for the judges and producers to push out a final field of Luca, Nicole, and Sarah to try to ensure a Luca victory.

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  25. Just think in terms of last season. Did anyone think Rodney or Russell would win the viewer vote? Damaris—and I like her—was the only palatable choice.

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  26. I'm still confused about Emma. She had the "most improved" edit and had finale 3 written all over her. I think Nicole would be a great addition to FN. But unfortunately it's between the cowboy cliche or the guy I can't understand. Either way it's going to be a "blah" winner.

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  27. I hate the blonde. I would not watch any show she is on.

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  28. Merlin_Arrowhead_AddictJuly 28, 2014 at 8:58 PM

    Are you sure that's not 100% in the can? Do you think the 'fan vote' is real?

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  29. Nah, I don't buy this. They were able to choose their own envelopes for the location. Lenny could have done a lot w/ yogurt, he just didn't think it out.


    No one is "getting" a show. Even if Luca wins, the FN will definately keep Lenny and Loriel around. They'll end up being judges on Chopped or whatever.

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  30. No reason for it not to be. Since it doesn't alter the result, they've no reason to doctor it.

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  31. I think they genuinely liked Emma - hence the F3 edit - but the deeper they got into the competition, it became painfully obvious that she's just not energetic enough for their brand. If you can be convinced to listen to her, she's very warm and charming, but that means nothing if you can't draw a crowd, which she obviously can't.



    The best example of Emma's faults were the week she was cut: she had a great presentation, but for the life of her the best she could do to try and get people to her booth was a very half-hearted "Hey! I'm over here!" That's not good and that's not something you can teach. Luca you can at least give a script to correct his occasional English flubs.

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  32. The fan vote is manipulated by production in terms of the foregoing eliminations to produce a Hobson's choice, with only one of the final three likely to garner the winning votes. That's why I think we'll see Lenny eliminated next, as he's the only real competition for Luca, who I think is the producers' choice.

    I'm also convinced that Martie was the designated winner in season 8, but the viewers threw a wrench into the works by voting for Justin. I'm pretty sure the powers that be thought Justin was too out there, and Michele was too pierced and tattooed to win the fan vote over Martie. And now the network doesn't know what to do with Justin.

    And remember that seasons 3 through 7 did not open a winner vote to the fans.

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  33. There is usually a final three who make "pilots," not a final two.

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  34. dwight mannsburdenJuly 29, 2014 at 12:16 PM

    that was mean, just spent several minutes of valuable work time LOL'ing

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  35. Four left, calm down. No ones life should change over the winner. I would not jump off the 53rd floor if the blonde wins, and although it would be insane, they have produced her to be a bitchy Barbie and I would not be surprised if she wins.
    The producers of this show should all be fired. That is why IMO food network is struggling. Maybe its time for FN to do a bit of house cleaning. You do not have to win to be a star. Just look back at the history of this shows contestants.
    As too everyone's comments about the hosts (mentors) , something is wrong, very wrong. Time will tell. EAT WELL!

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  36. Yes, he should be washing dishes, not in front of the camera.

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  37. I wonder if Alton is being replaced on next year's FNS. He posted a screen shot from Sunday's episode where the wall of stars was shown at FN headquarters. The part he shared showed Guy, Giada and Bobby right in a row and Alton tweeted (on his yellow post-it) "Foreshadowing Season 11?" Maybe he knows something we don't.
    I do have to say that if they put Guy on the show as a judge, I do not think I'll watch because I just cannot like him. I don't care for his shows, his waaaaay over the top personality nor the ridiculous comments he makes on 3D, using the same ones over and over. I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

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  38. I agree MoHub, especially about the editing. I always watch MasterChef and learned a LOT from reading Ben Starr's recaps (he was on MC2), especially about how the editing is done. He mentioned a few times that on that show, they'd sit you down to ask questions, very leading questions and not let you leave until you answered. He said a favorite was who do you think is the worst cook here and why or who do you think is going home and why. Then you could try to throw out a name but couldn't leave until you'd given a why which would then be edited to achieve what the producers wanted. He said they went so far as to make the contestants cook during taping in the same clothes every time so that they could take stray comments from a previous day or week and edit them into whatever episode they wanted. This went on according to him on his season and season 3.
    He'd give recaps of the episodes in season 3 and explain these things when his blog readers would jump on a contestant for meanness or something. He was finally so sick of it that even though people begged him to continue recaps, he stopped doing it. I learned a lot about how reality shows are filmed from him.

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  39. Glad I could point you in a direction that made you laugh!

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  40. I disagree because they put Justin's pilot last to vote (which makes a difference), I believe that they wanted Justin to win but then said never mind when it came to putting up cash to make his show they probably thought wouldn't turn out well.

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  41. Wow, that would explain a lot if what you're saying is true about Martie and Justin.

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  42. I have no proof; it's just a theory on my part based on what I saw in the final three last season and what I think will happen this season. Martie just seemed more like the kind of person FN likes to put on the air, and the network is still trying to figure out what to do with Justin.

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  43. Guy is an OTT pain in the neck, but he has at least been there, done that and might provide valuable input into the judging decisions—if he can tone the buzzwords down—that the current judges/mentors lack.

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  44. Yep. Saw this and had to turn it off as it was so offensive. But then, I felt we got a hint of that back when Lenny referred to the lady "adjusting herself on the stoop," not to mention sitting down at the tasting table with Giada as if he were on a date with her.

    He is a smarmy, sexist, foul-mouthed piece of work, and the entire viewership needs to see his videos before it gives him its votes. (Although I suspect he'll be eliminated next episode and will be out of the running.)

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  45. I felt like Lenny decided before he ever entered the yogurt shop that it wasn't his thing and he didn't spend much time at all asking questions or trying to educate himself. That was his mistake. I was disappointed to see that.
    I also wondered about Sarah. Who pitches something as great for summer without even trying it? Not too smart, although she did manage to save herself.

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  46. True, but those buzzwords are the worst and nobody at FN seems to get that they're old and dated. If they did he wouldn't still be using them. I do agree on the been there, done that aspect though.

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  47. Shibori, thanks for sharing that. It was so disgusting that I too, had to turn it off. I cannot even imagine what he was thinking, trying out for a show knowing this stuff exists on the internet! At the very least he should have deleted it. I've been a Lenny supporter, but no more.

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  48. Considering Lenny is formally European trained, I'd say a lot of his good ol' boy ingredient limitations are an act. I don't believe for one moment he couldn't find something to say about savory yogurt; I believe he was posing.

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  49. Seriously? Sarah the "villain"? This network is so vanilla and squeaky clean. Loreal is the only one I thought interesting. Lenny is way too amateurish. Sarah gets on my nerves, and I would never watch her even if staring at a wall was my only other option. Nicole is sweet and lovely, but blah. Luca is handsome and charming, and unlike Ms. De laurentiis knows the proper pronounciation of the italian language.

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  50. All "reality" programs are heavily edited, especially the confessionals. The prime example for me is season 2 of Top Chef, which spliced its confessionals around the head-shaving incident and played fast and loose with the sequence of events.

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  51. Can't believe I'm defending Giada, but she spoke no English when she came to this country at age 8. Her Italian pronunciation is authentic; it's probably just a regionally different dialect from Luca's.

    As a parallel, my husband is from Indiana and pronounces short es as if they were short is. For example, he pronounces lemon as if it were spelled limmin. I'm from DC, and my vowels are quite different, but that doesn't mean either of us has a more authentically American English pronunciation than the other.

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