anything | everything | nothing

Well, the season’s over.  I just got done watching the finale of The Next Food Network Star.  As you’ve probably already figured out from my post’s title, I did not agree with the winner.

The three finalists were Adam Gertler, Aaron McCargo, and Lisa Garza.  For their last, make-or-break challenge, each of them was asked to record a fully produced four-and-a-half-minute pilot show.  They were guided along the way by food show über producer Gordon Elliott.

Lisa’s pilot was called “Beautiful Basics” or something like that.  She did a very good job walking the viewers through cooking black cod with a savory zabaglione, and showed humor throughout the show.  Still, her smile still looked forced and a bit uppity.  She is extremely polished and her food always comes across as excellent, but in the final, as in the previous episodes, sincerity was missing.  I’m not sure if it was because of nerves, or if it’s because she’s truly an ice queen deep inside.

My favorite, Adam, called his pilot “Hungry In Philadelphia”.  In his show, he interacted with a viewer who was on webcam and asking for help in roasting a chicken.  He demonstrated how to do a “faux-b-q” roast chicken that’s cooked sitting up on a beer can, covered in a paprika spice rub to give it that smoked barbecue flavor.  As usual, Adam held the camera extremely well and was completely natural and funny.  The food looked really good, and he shared good techniques, maintaining communication with both the home viewer and the “viewer” on webcam.  His rapport with the camera is excellent and effortless.

“Big Daddy’s Kitchen” was the name of Aaron’s show.  He demonstrated how to make jerk steak with plantains.  Out of the three finalists, he looked the most uncomfortable on camera.  Sure, with editing and artful splicing of snippets scattered across different takes, he came across as likeable and a bit funny, but I still thought a lot was lacking.  His cadence is inconsistent.  Sometimes he feels like a natural, but more often than not he slips into the i’mtalkingabittoofastbecausei’mnervous kind of vibe.

Obviously, I really wanted Adam to win.  If he wasn’t going to be the winner, I wanted Lisa to get it.  But, nooooo!  Silly Food Network execs decided to give the crown to Aaron instead!

WWWHHHHAAAATT??? Are you friggin’ kidding me?  I mean, yeah, he’s a nice guy and all, but what does he truly bring to the table?  The network already has people who do the “big fat dude” schtick (Guy Fieri) and the salt of the earth, warm-and-friendly black people theme (The Neelys).  So why hire a nice enough  yet awkward guy like Aaron?

Adam would have been great.  He’s got the gift of gab, the looks, and the cooking chops to make a great food show host.  The “selection committee” made a mistake on this.  I bet they paid too much attention to the viewer poll on the network’s website.  Aaron had the most viewer votes out of the three remaining finalists.

A big, fat raspberry for Bobby Flay and his two sidekicks!