Are you The Next...

...Food Network Star? Last night was the two-hour premiere and you know I just could not pull myself away. I even put it on my Yahoo! calendar so I wouldn't miss it. I love to watch the cooking shows even though I can't eat most of what they make. It's fun to watch their minds working and to see if they are going to work well together when they are put into teams.

I have to say that last night was the most entertaining cooking competition I have seen so far. First of all, to see the Food Network Stars being judges and hosts was just awesome. Iron Chef Bobby Flay was the guest host this week, and Duff from Ace of Cakes and Robert Irvine from Dinner Impossible were guests during the last two challenges. I love both those shows so seeing them was just awesome, as was their commentary on the contestants during the competition.

Duff was there for the wedding cake challenge which is a challenge that isn't fair for most of them. Trying to make a wedding cake is a huge undertaking, but a few of them came out on top. I loved Paul's cake with the two grooms on top which represented his own wedding cake if he ever has one. I cannot understand how Vivien and Rory totally missed the boat that it was supposed to be a wedding cake. Duff even said that he would love to bite into the cakes at the parties where they are being served, but not at a wedding. Robert Irvine then showed up to explain the next challenge...cater a wedding for 100 people in 6 hours!! The teams got $1,800 to cater the wedding. One team (the orange team) got a bonus of $500. And how much of that money was spent? Well, the orange team spent just under $800 because Colombe was so worried about how much everything costs that they didn't spend all of the money OR buy enough food. That became obvious when there was no food on the orange team table multiple times during the wedding reception. And at one point there were no orange team members there to serve, so Bobby Flay went over and worked the table with whatever food was left! The green team spent $1,150 of the $1,800 and definitely had enough food. Needless to say the green team won the challenge, but not everyone on the green team was safe.

Two people were sent home last night, so we are down to 9 contestants. I don't agree with Patrick being sent home, but I did agree with sending Vivien home. Part of the reason they chose Patrick is because they need someone with personality who can capture the audience and keep them interested. Unlike other cooking competitions, this person needs to be in front of the camera and keep people tuning in to their show. For now I am hoping that at least JAG, Paul, and Amy make it to the finals. I like Colombe for her organic cooking and think it would be a good show. I just hope she can develop her personality.

Set Adrift

The premier of Pirate Master on CBS last night was just awesome. At first it seemed a little boring and a lot like Survivor, but the rules are definitely different. That became apparent when half the gold was given to the elected captain and then half of the rest was given to the two officers, leaving only a measly $2000 for the rest of the Black Crew that found the treasure. The rules are definitely different here and I couldn't wait to see how someone would be voted off.

So J.D. (a.k.a. Joe Don) was voted Captain almost unanimously. I agreed with John when he didn't agree that J.D. should be captain. Of course that came back to bite him in the ass later. BTW, I was shocked to see that John was a Scientist and Exotic Dancer. I could believe the Exotic Dancer part with that super hot body and long luscious black hair that any woman would love to run their fingers through as he dances in his little black thong. But as far as being a scientist...well he showed he has brains as well as brawn, and he DID win the challenge and find the treasure when nobody else could.

Being Captain IMMEDIATELY went to J.D.'s head and you could see that his demeanor changed and he turned into a hard ass. You can see that some of the players are already wishing he wasn't captain and probably some that voted for him are feeling it too. The captain was given letters for each of his crew, and three of them had a black mark. The crew member that received a black mark was "marked" and the possibility of being set adrift was placed on them. Louie, Joy, and Johnwere marked. John was of course the obvious choice because he didn't vote for J.D. and was not considered a team player.

At the Pirate Court each crew member was given a chance to state their case for staying. John was the only one who mentioned Mutiny and gave the reason that he had both compasses and if he leaves, the compasses go with him. The Captain (J.D.) told how he could find the north star at night and in the daytime use a stick in the sand and the shadow it casts to find north, south, east and west. John then challenged him to find north right then and there but couldn't because it was raining and you couldn't see any stars. That right there should have told all those that were voting that John is more valuable than they are believing. But alas, when it came down to the vote, nobody wanted to Mutiny, and each vote was for John.

Now I just get nuts because of the way the vote went. They were all pissing and moaning about J.D., and when they are given the chance to mutiny, they don't do it!!! Are they f'in crazy? They are going to be regretting that decision and based on the previews from next week where J.D. doesn't let anybody have any food and he is working them to the bone, they will know for sure they made a bad decision.

I am glad Pirate Master is different from survivor and I can't wait to see what twists and turns they put in this game. However, the eye candy (John) has been set adrift. I must press on with only the game to entertain me now.