Sunday, June 28, 2015

Food Network Star Episode 4 Elimination Plus Star Salvation

Photo - Food Network
On tonight's episode of Food Network Star the remaining finalists were split into teams of three and had to create and present food to a crowd of hungry families at a 4th of July cookout.  Bobby Deen was there to help Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay judge the contestants.

Jay, Michelle, and Rosa were one team, Emilia Rue, and Dom another, and Alex, Eddie, and Arnold were the final team.  The teams were thrown a curveball when they had to work with another team's groceries to prepare their meal.

The winning team was Alex, Eddie, and Arnold and all of them were safe from elimination.  The judges decided that the bottom three individuals were Dom, Rosa, and Michelle.  After the deliberation, the judges decided that Rosa Graziano would not continue on in the competition.


In Star Salvation, Christina Fitzgerald, Matthew Grunwald, Sita Lewis, Rosa and all competed for a chance to rejoin the competition.  I will post the outcome of this once Food Network posts the video.

Update - Sita Lewis was the contestant eliminated on Star Salvation and she will not be the next Food Network Star.

Video is after the break if you want to watch:


34 comments:

  1. Another non-surprise. Although I was thinking her team would save her.

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  2. But I do have two MASSIVE gripes with this episode:
    1. Does the product placement have to be SO heavy handed!??? For the love of Pete, I sometimes thought I was watching a commercial and not a show. The spices, the cars, Whole Foods, gah!
    2. Can we please, please, please, please NOT have a side of Giada boob with every meal? Is it possible that her boobs NOT hang outside her clothes!!!

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  3. Why was everyone acting like katsu was so damned unique? Granted, not every place has a gazillion Japanese places like LA does, but still, it's a staple on most japanese menus out here.

    Not surprised to see Rosa go. Not sad to see Sita leave Star Salvation. I do wonder why they're so heavily all "He's back!" about Matthew unless he doesn't make it out - who is missing the guy, and why would you paint him so heavily the villain if you planned to possibly hire him? Oh well. At least I can avoid him until he inevitably rejoin the show. The only way I see him not coming back is if Eddie screws up at winds up in Star Salvation.

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  4. DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS PERSON! Giada's fantastic boobs make up for crappy contestants! And OMG she was soo cute in that outfit in the photo above. Hnnngh. I just wanted to scoop her up and go "eeeeee!" Really happy about those legs too.

    But I'm with you on the product placement. Good heavens. It's just egregious. There was a table of like 200 bottles of Spice Islands spices. I wonder if Spice Girl contestant was created as part of that sponsorship package. Hilarious that she couldn't make something with flavor given her spice gimmick and that enormous collection of spices. "The spices I usually use were not available." What?! Hundreds of bottles!

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  5. Are they planning on doing the 'America picks the winner' thing again this year? Because Matthew has no chance, so why be so heavy-handed with him?

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  6. They aren't - they're doing the picking. That said, I can't believe that FN would hire him. I think they're all seeing he'd be a pain to work with. I wonder if they are being so heavy handed because otherwise it's a drama free cast this year.

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  7. I think they were deliberately overdoing their feigned ignorance of Alex's chicken sandwich ingredients just to drive home to him that he had to know how to connect with a broad national audience that would know a lot less than them (the judges) and him and so need it fed to them simply. I don't think they actually didn't know what he was talking about, but just were playing the role of future viewers who were drifting off during his imagined FN show.

    Sita was a super-dud. I wouldn't pretend I could do better, but it makes you wonder how she made it onto the show out of all the presumably talented people who must have tried out.

    Yeah the Matthew villain-returns moment seems too big for them to pass up, particularly since it would be so satisfying to axe him again. He does seem to be a good cook, and presumably was stung enough in regard to his personality that he'll tone it down enough to make it out of Salvation. If he was a jerk this time, for example, it didn't make it past the editors. But who knows who else he'll have to face.

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  8. I am so sick and tired of looking at Giada "Kardashian's" boobs I could throw something through my t.v. screen. She's always selling herself.

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  9. Some thoughts: Michelle connects with people but is having trouble delivering on food quality. Similar to Rosa.

    Jay. Appears to be the one to beat but d
    o you think he's been getting extra-good-luck in the ingredients he's been getting in these challenges? Will Alex or Michelle be next to go?



    Will Eddie and Arnold continue to slip, or bounce back?
    How interesting. Some cook great but don't present well. Some present well and don't cook that great. Others have done both, only to slide later.

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  10. The product placement really was obnoxious.

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  11. Alex was terrible, eating up all Eddie's time with drivel. He really killed it for his team. Eddie had to rush, and Arnold threw in a quick wrap-up at the end. I wish Alex had been up for elimination, although I think it was Rosa's time to go.

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  12. GREAT points and the very same things that were being said in our house this evening. That dress was terrible.

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  13. Thank you. Honestly, they might as well just have her do the show topless.

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  14. You've got Jay listed on 2 teams above. I was wondering what happened to Eddie until I read through the comments.

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  15. I'm honestly surprised they had him exit so early for that very reason.

    And I'm not surprised they're not letting the public do the picking. We haven't done a very good job of giving the winner any kind of staying power.

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  16. "I love sandwiches that's why I want to tell you everything about Japanese food"

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  17. I thought they would go with the "who wants it?" reasoning and figure Dom keeps leaving so he'd leave. Honestly, none of the bottom 3 seem like they really have a shot.

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  18. Why is Dom in the competition at all? I'm sure he's fine with food, they all are finalists for a reason, but he seems to be afraid of the camera. It's starting to annoy me.

    Right there with everyone else on product placement. Yeesh, it's overbearing.

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  19. I very much doubt they would ever hire him for his own show. But what they would do is bring him on other shows like Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games, Cutthroat Kitchen, etc., to play the villain, just like some of the Top Chef "Villains"

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  20. Matthew first came to public attention on Cutthroat Kitchen,where he lost in the final round. He was back for the CK Evilicious tourney, where he won his preliminary round but was eliminated first in the finale. He became increasingly more obnoxious with each appearance and pretty much trumped himself in Food Network Star.


    However, he's already appearing mellower and more cooperative in Star Salvation, and I have to wonder whether he's being set up for some kind of overall redemption.

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  21. I agree, not surprised to see Rosa go. We knew it was inevitable, however she was really screwed in the ingredient switch. What she was left with was shameful. There are things to do with Portobello mushrooms, sure but it did not seem like she had very many to work with. It seemed Rue only bought enough that they were going to be a component of a dish and not the main part.
    As far as Matt, I can't imagine he has made an about face and stopped acting like a jerk that fast...so that means it's all in the editing. Are they setting him up to be the "amazing boy" who listened to the Mentors, took their advice and grew into the ideal new network star? I sure hope not, but hey, on a positive note Bobby will be the one to have to deal with him since he produces a bulk of the shows on the network now. That won't be fun.
    Poor Alex I think they are going to find a way to lower opinions of him even if they have to over act about their reviews of his food. (Side note: his presentations are too clinical). He is an amazing cook but how will the network truly have 2 shows about sandwiches? It's way too specific. What ..The Sandwich King followed by The Sandwich President? I think not.

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  22. Mo, that's what I said too before I read your post about Matthew. It's too unrealistic that he would have changed so drastically in such a short time. That means it must be due to the editing. The question is, to what end?

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  23. Interestingly, one of the criticisms Guy Fieri received back in season 2—the season he won—was that he talked too much like a chef and he needed to use less technical terminology for a general television audience. He took the advice, and now there's no getting away from him.

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  24. Well, I'm not a GF fan but it certainly worked. Seems Giada and Bobby know what they're talking about there, no surprise.

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  25. Sandwich King is not on anymore

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  26. I felt exactly the same. He was a much different Matthew than the one that got eliminated the other week.

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  27. I just can't figure out if he is really trying to get over the stage fright or if he s hoping it won't be an issue. Because he comes across as hating to be in front of the camera, which is kinda the whole freaking point of the competition.

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  28. That's assuming "we" picked the winners the last 3 times. I believe the voting was heavily rigged and manipulated, and not but FN.

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  29. I agree. I kept thinking Eddie should have tried somehow to signal him to stop, but I couldn't figure out how to tactfully do that, nor could Eddie, obviously.

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  30. Interesting. I guess it's something to watch out for, but I think for some (myself included) it may well be too little, too late. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression and all that.

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  31. Yeah, why is that dolt trying to be the new Sandwich Guy? That position is already filled. New guy might have good food, but OMG please find another POV b/c the Food Network's Sandwich Guy is well established as a likeable guy with good Food Network chops.

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  32. But who would watch his show if he were to win?

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  33. Alex hasn't stood out to me at all.And what he did to Eddie this week was rude.

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  34. He's saving his "A" #jackassery for when they return him to TV.

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