Thoughts on the Next Food Network Star

This is kind of spoiler-y, so you might want to look away if you are planning on watching at a future date.

I was happy with the final four last week...I'm not sure I'm as happy after this week, though honestly looking back I can't really say who I wish had stuck around instead. The mini-challenge seemed incredibly unbalanced though. I think it's a completely different skill set to maintain calm when you don't have the implements and protein you're expecting vs. having the host making snippy comments, adding ingredients that you weren't going to use and constantly calling you the wrong name. The other two with the technical errors were a little more balanced, but again, those are harder to deal with than needing to use something other than a fork to beat your eggs. I just really think the first one got off way too easy, so really, it's no wonder she won.

I did like what they did in the main challenge - it seemed like a good way to stretch people out of their usual zones. Though I wonder why Jamika didn't learn from the chick last season who called something "Jamaican Me Crazy" whatever and didn't seriously over the top spice her shrimp. Plus...well...the title is a bit too much, yes?

They did send the right person home, I think. But of the three left...I would really only watch Melissa's show and I figure she'll be out next week. The other two? Meh. I can't even say that I'd want to watch them if there was nothing else on and I was killing time (which is usually how I end up on the Food Network anyway - I don't really DVR anyone.)

It'll be interesting to see who wins - I think I've nailed the final two, but between them? Hard to say which way it'll go...and I'm not sure I care enough to spend a ton of time analyzing it.