Sara Bates recaps episode 5 for season 9!

Food Network Star – Season 9, Episode 5

I can’t believe we’re down to 8 finalists already!  Episode 5 opened with Giada walking out to greet everyone.  She told the finalists that one of the most important attributes of being a Food Network Star is being confident doing all different kinds of television.  Giada then announced that tonight’s Mentor Challenge was to work on live TV.  And of course to work on live TV, they needed an experienced host.  Terrence Jenkins, co-host of E! News, then walked out and said a few words.  For the challenge each finalist had 3 minutes to work with Terrence and present the exact same dish to him, a sausage and pepper sandwich.

Before the finalists started the challenge we saw Giada and Terrence talking secretly and we learned that each finalist would be thrown a curveball during their show.  Giada wanted to see how each finalist would handle the problem and if they could finish their segment.

Each finalist experienced a different issue during their show.  Viet came out to the kitchen and his peppers and onions were missing.  He stumbled quite a bit at first but was able to recover and finish.  For Russell, the lights went out but he didn’t even flinch and just kept going with his cooking demo.  During Chad’s demo Terrence started coughing and left the set, which caused Chad to really fumble.  He thought Terrence was really choking!  When it was Rodney’s turn, Terrence started to rush him and shaved off about 2 minutes of his time.  Rodney picked up the pace and finished the demo in time, and did it quite well.

After the finalists completed their segments, Giada brought them all together to give them some feedback. She thought Rodney was the most entertaining, informative and calm chef.  He was declared the winner of the challenge and given an advantage in the next Star Challenge.

Now, on to the Star Challenge.  All of the mentors were present as well as Bob Tuschman from the Network.  They told the finalists this challenge was not only to see how they did working on live TV, but it’s also a test to see how they handle pressure.  The Star Challenge is called 4^th of July Live, which is similar to the Thanksgiving Live show they’ve done over the last several years.

4^th of July Live had 8 stations centered on the holiday’s most popular foods.  Since Rodney won the Mentor Challenge, he got to pick his station first and then assign stations to the other finalists.  I thought Rodney really put the other finalists in difficult positions with their stations!  He put Chad on the veggie station and Nikki on fried chicken, clearly not strong suits for either of them.  They had 45 minutes to cook while also talking with Alton and fielding questions from viewers.

Chad was on the veggie station with Farmer Lee and made a steak and veggie sandwich. Chad did not introduce his guest and he had a hard time incorporating him into his presentation. Viet was handling the chips and dips station and decide to smoke some crab in cedar chips for a crab dip. He received a viewer phone call and really panicked and stumbled.

Rodney of course picked the dessert station for himself since he is, after all, the pie man.  Alton asked about the meringues that Rodney was making and he mumbled once again.  Then, he received a viewer phone call for a no bake dessert and he stumbled one more time.  Nikki was on the fried chicken station and also received a viewer phone call asking about a gluten free sub for flour when making fried chicken.  She didn’t really give a direct answer and seemed very nervous.

Russell, on the potato salad station, talked very fast when Alton stopped by and never really said much of anything.  He did have one shining moment though – Alton asked him to take them to commercial break and he did a great job!  You could see at that moment his personality really shining through.

Damaris was on the mixology station and basically seduced Alton with her drink.  Chris took charge of the coleslaw station and he seemed much more comfortable in front of the camera today.  Lastly, we had Stacey who was working outside with butchers Lindy and Grundy.  Stacey did a great job introducing her guests right away and making them a part of her presentation.

When 4^th of July Live was over, we moved on to tasting the food.  The mentors and Bob tasted the finalists’ dishes and brought them in for feedback.  Bob told them he saw some front runners in the group but also saw a few that he was nervous about.  Some of them weren’t growing like he had anticipated.

Giada said Rodney talked a lot but didn’t always make sense.  He picked the dessert station for himself but he didn’t blow the judges away.  His concept was brilliant but the dish itself was not well executed. Damaris was a good cook but they felt she acted in a silly fashion and they don’t always take her seriously.  Alton told Viet that he is a confident cook, but not a confident speaker in front of the camera. He also said his dip was watery from the use of the crème fraiche.

The mentors loved Nikki’s fried chicken but thought her performance was “giggly.”  Giada thought Chris’s performance was right on but she didn’t really love the coleslaw.  Alton basically said Russell’s potato salad sucked, but he loved his throw to the commercial.  Chad did not make his guest the star but everyone loved his dish.  Lastly, they told Stacey that she did a great job with her performance and they loved the BBQ sauces she made.  Overall, Stacey’s performance was the best and she won the challenge and was safe.  Also safe were Nikki, Chad, Chris, Rodney and Damaris.  That left Russell and Viet in the bottom two.

At this point, who would you choose to send home?  I know Viet has struggled during camera challenges but I’ve really taken a liking to him and I think he can cook.  Russell is all over the place and I just don’t consider him a favorite at this point.  The mentors felt differently though.  The throw to commercial for Russell really showed his enthusiasm and they loved it.  In the end that was enough to keep him in the competition and send Viet home.  Do you all agree with their decision?

We saw a sneak peek of next week’s show where the finalists get to pitch their product to three high powered executives.  Enjoy your 4^th of July and I’ll see you all next week!