First, American Idol… You know, shockingly, I really enjoyed the show. Well, mostly because my finger was on the mute button. Alot. The oddballs did tend to go by a bit more quickly and having two women on the panel does temper some of the needless cruelty. Clearly Paula is a lot more sensitive to it this season (no shock there, given the fan suicide right down the street from her home) and there was only one time last night where I think it went too far, and that was with the blond guy (who had the medal from elementary school around his neck) who obviously truly felt he had a calling to be there. It was crushing enough for this guy just to be turned away. Simon didn’t need to pile on, in that instance. I am a much bigger fan of the big singing montage, which was to Sign, Sealed, Delivered last night, sung by all the wannabes, hopefuls, clueless and talented alike. Those are fun to watch and relatively harmless, all things considered.

Who/what I liked…loved the two sisters and am glad the spunky one go through. Loved the mom of three there at the end. Great voice. Liked all the supportive families waiting outside to hear. I am SUCH a sucker for that. Liked the guy friend who made it through, and his buddy who lost his wife…oh, I loved him. And would have even if I hadn’t heard the back story. Plus, does he look like he could be Robert Downey Jr’s brother, or what? Thought it was funny they put that one guy who begged through, but then you see how happy it makes his family and I am SUCH a sucker, but I was glad they had their moment in the sun. Will he make it? Of course not. Neither will bikini girl when she has to put some clothes on and actually sing, but hey, give the guy and his supporters their moment. What the heck.

All in all, it was more moving than boring, more fun than creepy, and more joyful than cruel. So, not as bad as I’d thought it might be. And I did like that little David Cook montage in the opener (although seriously, David, PUT DOWN the eyeliner. What, are you channeling the ghost of Freddy Mercury? Cut it out and go back to being shaggy rocker instead of overly tweezed poseur.) But it was cool, seeing that clip of him coming in to tryout from last year and getting a glimpse of what his life is like now, which is beyond anything they can really montage. So I kind of carried a bit of that with me as I watched the hopefuls and their friends and family. I’m actually looking forward to more of the process, but if they decided today to skip to Hollywood week, I wouldn’t be upset, either.

Oh, and the new judge….like her. Nice add. I like the girl power balance. And she has just enough sincerity in her that perhaps that one added voice of reason cushions the blow for some.

Okay…Top Chef. Which I am blogging here as I watch…

Yay! Livestock! Stephan thinking he’s the only, er, non-hen in the group when really he’s just a big….well, you were thinking that, too right? Man, he’s insufferable, really. And I hate that Euro way of smoking a cig where they bring their hand in from somewhere around the angle of the sun. Could he be more pretentious? I’m not a huge Jaime fan, but love that she has no problem giving it right back to him. Mostly last night I felt sorry for Carla and Ariane. Wish they could have teamed up instead.

Okay…so Stephan wins the Quickfire over Hosea and…I forget. But I was pulling for a Hosea win, n not because I like him, he’s a hosebag (see below) but just because. Not that there is any amount of losing in the world that will temper Stephan’s ego, but still. Loser. That’s all I wanted. And yet, Denied. Thanks, Hung.

Elimination challenge - a show of hands on who thought they were going to have to choose which poor critter was going to be slaughtered? Possibly be involved in the process? ::raising hand:: Just me? Alrighty then.

I was happy that wasn’t the case. And so, I heart Fabio even more now for his talk about how pigs are “raise-d” to be ultimately killed for their meat, but that, during their life, you respect them. And could we please just have Fabio do the verbal commentary on the whole season? I love his commentary. “It’s not Top Scallops” from last week, and “1 hour to grill ten ears of corn…. Why?” I know, you have to be there, but, truly, I love this guy. May they please make him one of the bloggers for next week.

Speaking of which….two blogs on the Top Chef website that are must reads: Lee Ann’s and Toby’s. She was a former contestant and is now the production exec on the show and gives great behind the scenes info in her blogs, plus her unvarnished opinion on all the food, as she tastes it all too. And Toby is pretty funny and self deprecating in his blog. A nice counter to his on-screen persona.

So, we have three teams. Fabio/Jeff/Radikha with pork, Ariane/Leah/Hosea (see? poor Ariane, stuck with the no-no-we’re-just-buds cough cough lovebirds…) with lamb, and Jaime, Carla, Stephan (see? Just kill me now if I was stuck where Carla is…) with chicken.

Very unfortunately it’s Stephan’s team with the win, altho it was his soup the judges didn’t like. And, of course, Jaime tried to tell him it was a bad idea…. I had really wanted to hear the judges smack him down, and it was clearly a heavily edited section, so maybe they did, but it would have been rewarding to actually see that. I was also hoping Carla would get the solo win, but they gave it to all three. Which, okay.

Team Pork skates by mostly in the middle, comparitively speaking, though smug Tom picking on Radikha, even if deserved, was a bit too patronizing for me. So Team Lamb is the biggest loser and, for my purposes, I want Leah to go home. I think she is the weak link there, despite being considered a good chef in more than one challenge. I just don’t care for her. Plus, I could do without seeing her and Hosea togeher. Knowing both of them are/were otherwise involved just….ew.

And wow, the home vote which was for which team honored the protein the best (best!) and the landslide winner was….the lamb team? They butchered the hell out of that meat. Did the home viewers misunderstand the question? That was about as off a result as I can remember seeing….

So, Tom and Toby together are quite annoying on judges table and I take back what I said about reading Toby’s blog. He’s just too insufferable for me. I don’t think he fits in with this particular group. Bring back Ted!! Hell, even Gail. (I can’t believe I typed that…) But he really doesn’t add anything and it makes Tom seem even whinier than usual. They make a case for Ariane, Radikha and/or Leah going home. We know who I’d pick….

And the loser is? Wow. So wrong. They proclaim the lamb team the loser…and send Ariane home? I get her problems with this dish, but overall, she’s won time and time again, as has Hosea. What the hell has Leah done? Why is she still here? She just learned that playing it safe and doing nothing, which they all just admitted is what she did…will get her by. Wow. Not happy. Not happy with that call, at all. They gave Eugene more chances than he really deserved, but Ariane, wham. Out on one. And please, if the producers think we want to see more of the Hosea/Leah relationship blooming, they couldn’t be more wrong from what I’m reading out there on the boards. Which, I concur. Ew. Squared. It was great to see all the other chefs in the back were flabbergasted by the decision, too. Thanks, Toby. He wanted her gone and has no clue what she’s done in the past. I mean, whose restaurant are you wanting to visit? Ariane’s or Leah’s? Exactly.

Gail? Gail?

Sigh. What a waste of time and MAC.

And then, next week is Restaurant Wars….but what do the previews focus on? Yep. The stupid relationship between Hosea and Leah. And him saying he can’t let it blossom into anything (because as they have both stated in previous shows, they are both involved in long term relationships…) all the while showing them crawling all over each other. This is a cooking show, Bravo. WE DON’T CARE about that crap. Show me the food! But, if we’re going there….Hosea, dude, NO respect for either of you, my friend. NO respect. You know what you’re doing..and know it’s going to be on television. For your supposed beloved AND all her friends and family to see. Like it’s going to be painful enough if she found out and it was just a private thing. But no. Very, very public. Way to humiliate her, bro. Wow. And Leah…..yeah, well….not a shock. But same goes. Seriously.

I just want to see the food. Speaking of which, catch Ted Allen’s new show on the Food Network, Chopped. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but I really like the premise. It was fun. And about the food. Novel concept. On a cooking show. To be just about the food. Just sayin. Bravo.

What was your take? DISH!

Tags: Writing //