This should be the theme of round 4 of The Next Food Network Star (NFNS): “There’s no crying in Food Network.” In the premiere episode, barely out of puberty Shane is cute as a button at 19 but at the end of the show when judge Bob Tuschman said, “I’d like to see more of that young 19 year-old come out” I don’t think that he meant for the kid to start lower-lipping like a baby. You can see a glimpse of Shane's sweaty tear swelling in the video at min 2:19.
I was seriously expecting Bobby Flay to pull a Tom Hanks and look the guppie in the eye and bark, “There’s no crying in Food Network. Man up and find your cojones.” Instead, Flay nodded in agreement with Shane as if to say, “I feel your un-done tenderloin pain.”
What I find fascinating about this NFNS competition is that you have to be both a good cook AND entertaining. You have to have your "culinary point of view" burned into your brain like a tattoo, and you have to keep your personality engaging so that bazillions of people feel like they would spend half an hour of their precious time watching you create a mouth watering quiche or pan seared tilapia. Just doing videos for YouTube, I can tell you how not-easy it is to show both your proficiency and your engaging-ness with the pressure of a little red camera light glaring at you. Forget about your arugula wilting, you’re worried about your personality going flat.
I totally felt for these 10 contestants, and I could understand why comedienne Cory just buckled under the pressure. It seems that she couldn’t translate her stage presence to TV. You could tell that Cory was so nervous about making a good impression that it over took her and sucked the funniness right out of her.
Granted, who wouldn’t be terrified presenting in front of a table of famous food network celebrities judging your 3-dish cuisine. The scene felt like watching little Nemo standing in front of a whale contingency. I thought it priceless that we got to see a bit of Giada’s testy claw side as she is always perky-nice on her show. Lesson learned: Be yourself. Be yourself.
And oh boy! What about Lisa, the one I like to call, “The Devil Wears an Apron.” Her three C’s to me were more like Cold, Condescending, and Climber. Oh you know it. If put in the situation to choose between getting ahead or doing the right thing, Lisa is going to jump on the climb. Team her and Nipa together and watch the live crabs in a boiling pot scratch to the top. Good times, reality TV style.
Having been a former marketing person, I had a good idea of what the judges were looking for and I nailed the first six who got to move forward, and new immediately that Cory was the one going home. My prediction for the final 4 will be: Aaron, Jeffrey, Adam, and a tossup between Kelsey and Jennifer. Kelsey has that sweet Reese Witherspoon type persona, and Jennifer has the very appealing and sign-of-the-times single mother culinary catch. As of now, Kelsey has the overall “Fan Favorite” lead but I’m thinking Aaron might pull it off. It will be fun to watch!
