by Kylene Hamulak

 

Food Network Star opens with all of last week's survivors discussing the results. That, of course, means, that successful contestants like Nikki Dinki are feeling good about their approach to the competition, while the bitter ones - like Danushka - are prattling on about their rivals.

 

"I would never watch a show where someone's last name is "Dinki"," Danushka tells us. That's pretty strong talk coming from someone with the first name DANUSHKA.

 

Well, ok then. The contestants are dropped off to meet Bobby, Giada, and Alton at the Mansion at Culver Studios, standing in front of a huge stock pile of burger supplies. The challenge is Food Network Star's version of Burger Bash, a major competition held at South Beach and most recently won by Bobby Flay.

 

Challenge: Contestants will create a burger and use a 2-minute live pitch to get as many of the 100 burger enthusiasts as possible to choose their burgers, as each visitor will be able to taste only one.

 

As the mentors visit each of the contestants, everyone seems to have a clear idea about what they're doing. Lovely's turkey burger has caramelized onions and blue cheese butter, Stacey is using jalapeños to spice things up, and Chad's got his bbq burger on the grill. Nikki is taking an interesting approach to a half veggie/half meat burger, and Rodney is, again, trying to make a pie out of something that...well, isn't a pie.

 

And then there's Danushka. She's a private chef for people with refined, upscale tastes, remember? Burgers are kind of boring. When the mentors ask her how she intends to entice the audience, she tells them she'll just take her shirt off. I mean, she's clearly kidding, but at the same time...is she?

 

Andres shares some story about how cooking is as manly as growing a beard, which makes as much sense when he said it as it did when I wrote it. The mentors are really encouraging him to use his weight loss story in is pitch, and he's reluctant to sell himself that way, so it'll be interesting to see how long he can stick around doing it his way.

 

Viet wants to create a Bahn Mi Burger, but he doesn't know how to sell it. Russell is incorporating his seven sins with his burger, and Damaris...well, she's nuts. She's just wiggling at the grill. Chris is throwing everything into his burger - he calls it a "hodgepodge," which Alton suggests he change.

 

The Presentation - The audience ranks each contestant using dials that record how much they like (or dislike) the presentations.

 

Viet - Viet has a fear of public speaking. That's a problem if you want to be Food Network Star. He uses his win on Iron Chef to engage the audience, and they react well to him. The mentors think he has gotten a lot better.

 

Damaris - Damaris informs us that when she's nervous, she gets awkwardly sexy. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that's an oxymoron. It's awkward, yes. Sexy? Notsomuch. The crowd doesn't respond well, and neither do the judges.

 

Lovely - The crowd warms up to Lovely pretty well, though it's not an overwhelming swing towards the positive. As Giada notes, "It's still a little fake."

 

Chris - Though he fancies himself a salesman, Chris isn't as good at speaking as he thinks he is. He's trying to yell out all the ingredients he's using, and is not able to finish his presentation - the crowd turns the dials down in response.

 

Danushka - Danushka thinks one of her biggest challenges has been getting her personality across in the competition. I'd like to argue that her personality is actually the problem. The crowd gives her the lowest rating yet, and the judges remark that, while you can't look away, "it hurts when you look."

 

Chad - Once again, the crowd loves BBQ Chad. Not only are they licking their lips as he describes his burger, but he's got them completely engaged with what he's saying. The meter swings to the right, and the judges love him too.

 

Stacey - As Chris says, Stacey's presentation is very smooth. She's likeable, her burger sounds delicious, and the audience seems pleased with what she's giving them. Alton predicts that, if her "Baja Betty Burger" rocks, she could be a frontrunner.

 

Andres - Despite the advice of the mentors, Andres decides that his presentation should be based on a burger that will make guys "the king of the castle," an idea that doesn't seem to play well to anyone in the audience. He's uncomfortably awkward until he brings up his weight...the crowd reacts well to that, and the judges agree that that is the story he should be going with.

 

Nikki - Unfortunately for Nikki, veggies aren't exactly going to get a burger lover's attention, and her presentation is rough. The audience is sort of bored, though it's not as bad as Danushka would have us believe.

 

Rodney - Rodney is comfortable in front of an audience, but maybe TOO comfortable. He speeds through his presentation, but the crowd loves him. The judges do too, though, as Bobby says, they'd like him to calm down a little bit.

 

Russell - Russell throws bacon and liquor into his presentation. That right there should tell you how the dials turned. He does a decent presentation of his sins, and the mentors agree he did better.

 

The Judgment

 

The crowds line up in front of many of the stations, though Danushka is not among them. Big surprise! Andres is also pretty lonely, and he thinks it's because people like the "fattier sounding burgers" better. Maybe so, friend - I mean, Russell is yelling "BOURBON AND BACON!" That's a pretty good message.

 

Chris's line is short too, so he decides to go out, share samples, shake hands, and do whatever it takes to get them into his line. Viet is getting people to his grill by inviting them to taste the burger that beat Bobby Flay, which is actually a pretty good advertisement.

 

Russell - The judges love his burger. "He brought his culinary sins together," says Bobby. "I feel sinful eating it," agrees Giada.

 

Chad - Giada likes the spicey sweet cole slaw, and Alton thinks he did "a very smart thing" with the fried green tomato on top.

 

Andres - "It just tastes like onions," notes Bobby. "He's gotta bring the flavor," says Giada. His burger is called bland by all three mentors.

 

Lovely - Though it sounded delicious, the judges agree that Lovely's burger is "one note - blue cheese." One guest expresses disappointment that she couldn't taste anything else.

 

Chris - Giada is "pleasantly surprised" by Chris's burger, though Alton seems confused about something on his fork. Still, it's a good sign for him that his dish had flavor, as some of the others haven't scored well in that area.

 

Damaris - Damaris has been declaring Pimento Burger the queen of cheeseburgers, but it's still a surprise when the judges somewhat agree. It's not overwhelmingly great, but she does get a stamp of approval from Alton for the pimento cheese.

 

Viet - The judges like the flavors of Viet's burger, noting that he was able to develop them well.

 

Stacey - Though they think it's a good burger, the judges would've liked Stacey's burger to have about 15% more spice, particularly because that's how she marketed it.

 

Nikki Dinki - It takes less than a bite for the mentors to realize they don't like Nikki's burger. There's no taste, the texture is described by Alton as "ghastly," and Giada is disappointed that she didn't do more with it.

 

Rodney - "I'm sorry," Giada begins, "I'm not a fan of this thing." She says this while pushing her plate of pie burger away. Bobby agrees that the concept seems forced.

 

Danushka - Her personality garnered her two tokens from a couple of guys, but Danushka doesn't care as long as the mentors like her food. And they do. All three enjoy her sliders, so I guess she can call this one a win despite that no one likes her.

 

 

Evaluation

 

As the contestants start counting their tokens, we find out the following:

Russell and Lovely tied with 15 tokens

Chad had 14 tokens

Chris received 13 tokens

Viet and Stacey each got 9 tokens

Damaris and Rodney each got 7 tokens

Nikki got 6 tokens

Andres got 3 tokens

Danushka got 2 tokens

 

The judges give feedback to each contestant, telling them what we already know. Lovely, for example, has to deliver with good food and not just a great personality. Danushka is totally off-putting, and Andres needs to embrace his weight loss. Damaris needs to drop the shimmy...and also needs to not cry when the judges criticize her.

 

The Standouts: Russell, Chad, and Stacey are the standout three for this challenge and are safe.

 

Also Safe: Viet, Chris, Lovely, Rodney, and Damaris are all safe as well.

 

Up for Elimination: Danushka, Andres, and Nikki are up for elimination. Two of those three are not surprises, and Nikki is there because her burger wasn't any good. Giada is concerned that she might not have mastered vegetables yet, which could be an issue if that's her platform. The problem with Danushka isn't her food - it's her personality. And then Andres. The mentors recognize that he doesn't want to be the person they think he should be, and that's hurting him.

 

Nikki is the first to find out that she's safe, right before Andres is told he's leaving. Danushka is safe again.

 

Andres is eliminated.

 

Catch Food Network Star every Sunday at 9/8c on Food Network!

 

(Image courtesy of The Food Network)

 

Follow Kylene on Twitter @keepingupwithky!