Reality on Bravo

Are you a lurker? A lurker is someone who reads blogs but rarely, if ever, makes comments. Today is the unofficial Great Mofo Delurk 2007, and we’re calling all readers to come out of the woodwork! So, if you regularly read Reality on Bravo (or if you’re simply stopping by for the first time), leave a comment! It can even be anonymous - we just want to hear our readers today.

What can you leave a comment about? Anything! Check out some popular posts on Kathy Griffin and her Emmy Speech, Guest Hosts for Project Runway, and Real Housewives of Orange County Gossip!

Or, if none of those posts strike your fancy, why not delurk yourself around the network. Some recent posts I’ve found interesting include:
Darkside Rainbow’s “The 60 Million Dollar Insult”
Media Criticism’s “Barack Obama as the Next John Kennedy?”
Toy Bender’s “Star Wars Toy Rumors”
Talking NFL’s “The Surprise NFL Comeback Team of the Year. So Far. (At Least Until Sunday…)”
Mom Is Teaching’s “Halloween Recipes to Make with your Kids”
Between the Sheets’ “Sexy Celebrity of the Week: Eric Dane”

And if that’s not enough for ya to work on your delurking, start with this post right here. Who do you think will win Top Chef…and why? We’re down to Casey, Hung, and Dale, with tonight being the finale with a LIVE announcement of the winner! My vote is Casey. What about you?

Padma: Yay! I get to wear cute outfits to match the surroundings!
Ripert: What the HELL am I doing in the middle of the woods eating food from a stump?

Brian: Trout is not a fish. Everyone knows that. And now elk, another non-fish protein. They’re KILLING me here!

Dale: I don’t know anything about…. Well, I guess I have slept with a few cowboys…

Brian: Yee Haw! I’m a cowboy!

Producers: Hung, we’re going to play up the fact that everyone thinks you have no soul. So, you might want to address that…
Hung, to Judges in final plea: I deserve to be in this competition because heart and soul is everything…and I have it.
Tom, after the taping: What the hell was Hung talking about?

Casey: Well, the producers pretty much set this up for me. They gave me the less uneven stump…they used a protein that I’d be more familiar with than everyone else in the elimination challenge. And I still almost screwed it up. Oh well, see ya Malarky. Off to the finals with Dale and Hung!

My Boyfriend: The producers set this one up well. If Dale wins, a gay man with an amazing story wins for the first time. If Hung wins, the “bad guy” wins for the first time. If Casey wins, the first female wins. Way to go, Top Chef.

Me: Is it just me, or is Top Chef really contrived this season?

Tonight is the first part of the Top Chef finale. Are you as pumped as I am?

Who do you think will win? I love Dale, but I don’t think he’s the best chef left. Same with Brian My predictions: Hung and Casey as top two, with Casey the edge to win.

I’m hoping that this year the finale will be a little different…we shall see I guess!

Buddy TV has an exclusive interview with Dale Levitski from Top Chef posted today. Check it out!

Dale: I was watching a Top Chef marathon on Bravo, I wasn’t working at the time, this was in January. And I’d never seen the show, because I would say I was a little bit of a prima donna, like “Oh, I’d never watch that, blah blah blah.” And then I found myself six episodes later yelling at the television and thinking ‘I can do this.’ Then a few weeks later, my boyfriend dumped me so I asked my mom for a plane ticket to L.A. and I auditioned for Top Chef and I got on the show.

Read more here!

Top Chef, Dale Levitski

Don’t they look precious! I’m still a bit disgruntled that Top Chef AND Project Runway lost out to Amazing Race…but at least more and more Bravo shows are getting nominated every year!

Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio

We all know that she should have won this week. Hung only won because of his technical skills, and it takes more to be a good chef than being able to use a knife. You can teach technical skills. You can’t teach heart and soul.

This past week’s Top Chef was one of the most controversial weeks since Sam’s elimination last season. Sure, Tre’s elimination was a shocker, but no one likes when the token “hot guy” leaves. This year, that token hot guy was CJ.

And there’s a lot of controversy surrounding CJ’s leaving Top Chef. Here’s an excerpt from a recent interview:

So what happened with that broccolini? How could you send something like that out to the judges?
Well, I didn’t blanch it very much. I knew it had to go in those weird ovens and I didn’t want it to get overcooked. But they did, and looked bad, so I didn’t want to send them out. I said, “I’m not sending these out.” But they said, “You have to send them out.”

Who did?
I can’t tell you specifically. But it was production. I said, “I lose if I send these out,” and I did. In retrospect I should have said, “Screw you,” but I did send it out so it is my fault.

Interesting. You can read the rest of the article here.

Then there’s the Padma love story. There’s no two ways around it - Padma looked extremely distressed when she had to tell CJ to pack his knives and go, and the two were definitely flirting since episode one. Does that mean they might be an item sometimes in the future? Nah, I doubt it. But I think CJ would like to keep the possibilities open!

So was CJ robbed? I’m not sure. He was luke warm during the whole competition, and I don’t think he had a chance to win it all. I actually think Tre was more “robbed” if we’re going to talk about problems with the show.

And let me just say that I am SICK of the foreshadowing. If a player talks about how close he/she has become with another player (Lia, Sara), they’ll be sent home. If a player talks about their deep desire to make it to the next round (CJ) or win a specific prize (Joey), they’ll be sent home. By about 15 minutes into the show, you can really predict who will be gone. I’m sick of that.

Yum. Padma is a fashionista if there ever was one. I don’t care what people say - I love her!

By the way, did anyone else notice that Padma was overly upset last night when she had to tell CJ to pack his knives and go? Those two have been flirting all season…but maybe it was something more? Hmmm….

Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef

I’ve always thought that Josie Smith-Malave, a Top Chef contestant from Season One, was eliminated too soon. She was a breath of fresh air on that show, and seemed to be very talented. Unfortunately, since leaving the show, she hasn’t really been in the news much.

Until today.

Lawyer Yetta Kurland is reporting that Josie, along with a group of friends, was attacked over the Labor Day weekend. The party was asked to leave the bar in Sea Cliff and once outside, about 10 other “young people” began yelling anti-gay slurs. What started as verbal harassment, which is already pretty ugly, not even uglier when the group began spitting on the girls and, eventually, beating them.

This story makes my heart sad. You don’t have to agree with another person’s lifestyle, but if that’s the case, then simply stay away. It is never…NEVER…acceptable to attack someone for their beliefs.

Josie is originally from Miami, but currently works from Marlow and Sons in Brooklyn as a sous chef. She’s openly gay, and didn’t hide this part of her lifestyle on Top Chef.

There’s no word if Josie and the other ladies with her are OK or if they will be pressing charges (I hope they do). Nassau Couty police are investigating, and I’ll give you more information as I hear it.

UPDATE: The ladies are bruised and one (not Josie) received head injuries. They also had some items stolen during the attack.

For some recent posts by our resident gay bloggers, check out Lez Keep it Real and Darkside Rainbow.

Top Chef, Josie Smith-Malave, homosexuality, gay, lesbian

Will it be Brain with his sweat that seemed, last week, to rival Howie’s? Will it be Dale with his scented candles and bad decor tastes?

Watch what happens!!

In a complete surprise to the cheftestants and viewers (including me), Top Chef sends NO ONE home tonight and instead opts to allow the restaurants to fix their mistakes and open again for a second head-to-head challenge.

Best. Move. Ever.

I really thought Brian was going to go home…and I’m glad he didn’t. He’s a really talented chef and really, are you kidding me? He should NOT have been front of the house! Dale, on the other hand, was killed for bad taste in scented candles and black tablecloths. I actually thought the tablecloths looked cool (especially for a place called “the garage”), but I whole-hearted agree with the scented candles. Really, what were they thinking. That’s food 101.

So who will go home next week (which, in the chef’s time, means “tomorrow”)? I think it will be Howie, Tre, or Sara, unless they can really, really improve.

What did you guys think of tonight’s epi? Was calling it a tie a good decision or should someone have gone home?

And where would YOU rather eat?

Top Chef, cooking, reality television, Bravo

Watch what happens as the cheftestants get to run their own restaurants.

After Joey’s memorable elimination last week, the chefs needed a night out. And, they almost got one. But, on Top Chef, it’s always about the food.

This week, Top Chef began with Dale winning the Quick Fire challenge - mixing up your own Cold Stone Creamary ice cream. Mmmm. (Although, didn’t they do a similar ice cream challenge last year….but I digress…) DALE was the winner! Woo hoo…I really like that guy.

So then, Padma announces that the cheftestants are going to enjoy a night out on the town, which we all know isn’t going to happen. Cut to the apartment and Dale/Sara N. dancing around, talking about how close they have grown. Ok, well we KNOW Dale can’t go home…so I guess it’s Sara N.’s night!

So everyone gets ready to go, and they pull up to the nightclub to find this…Padma, the guest judge, and two portable kitchens. They don’t get to go out. They have to cook for drunk people. Sigh.

They split into two teams and start making their menus. Dale gets to go party - soooo lucky - and enjoy a four-course meal with the guest judge. You can tell from the start which team will win. Poor CJ spends the whole time making things work, while the other team simply meshes.

At the end of the night, the losers - Howie, Sara N., CJ, and Casey - are brought in to the judge’s table. As they are questioning them all, Howie basically refuses to step up to the plate and instead blames the failure on Sara. The team admits that there was timing problem and that it was probably due to Sara, but everyone also admits that they didn’t ask Sara to speed things up and she didn’t know there was a problem. Howie then calls Sara a baby. What. an. ass.

Another issue here was the fact that they had to cook in their dance clothing. This is not a big deal for the fellas (Tre even took off his shirt and cooked in his wifebeater), but it is for the girls, who weer in heals and low-cut tops. That was not cool, Top Chef. Not at all. Yes, boobs bring in ratings, but I 100% with Sara - it was demoralizing. They could have easily helped this problem by providing everyone with Top Chef T-shirts and shorts to change into.

In the end, Sara N. went home. Yeah, I think it was her time to leave, but I don’t feel good about the circumstances. These team competitions are not fair for anyone, an if the show wants to be solely about cooking, they need to have individual challenges. A top chef has to be a leader, and if you’re working on a team full of leaders, everyone will fail. But, if you allow someone else to actually be a leader, you’ll get nailed for not speaking your mind. It enrages me.

And it looks like next week will be the infamous “run your own restaurant” challenge. I hope Howie leaves. I mean, he has been in the bottom more than anyone, and a lot of talented people went home before him, unfortunately. He keeps saying that he’s not here to make friends, but you know what? No one respects him or wants to work with him, and to be a Top Chef, you need both of those things to fall into place.

Thoughts?

Top Chef, Bravo, cooking, reality television

Are you excited about Top Chef tonight? I know I am! From the looks of it, I guess the cheftestants will be told they are going out clubbing, but plans will drastically change, putting them in the kitchen in their clubbing clothes. It also looks like Howie rips on Sara N. Could this be the end of them both?

Watch what happens!!

Top Chef, Bravo, Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, Ted Allen