Here are some quick thoughts on how each of the contestants did with their presentations and how their burgers tasted:
- Nikki Dinki - Did a half veggie, half meat burger. Seems like a way to turn off meat eaters by putting veggies in, and vegetarians by putting meat in.
- Andres Guillama - Went with a Cuban style burger. Judges want him to play off the weight loss POV, but he doesn't want to. Instead wants to teach men how to win over ladies by cooking.
- Rodney Henry - Surprise, went with a pie burger. When I think of a delicious burger, pie always comes to mind. Said about 10,000 words in 2 minutes.
- Chris Hodgson - Korean style burger, and didn't finish his presentation and stumbled a few times. Used his Great Food Truck Race strategies to try to bring people to his line.
- Connie "Lovely" Jackson - The 'Lovely' Turkey Burger. Did pretty well, but they still think she is gimmicky. Didn't hear any Glam stuff this week, which is good, but heard a lot of 'Lovely.'
- Russell Jackson - Did better than last week and played up the '7 deadly sins' slogan that he created. Repeatedly shouted BACON to try to get people to come to his stand
- Danushka Lysek - Playing the villain and said she was going to take her shirt off to attract the crowd. Doesn't like Nikki Dinki's name or maybe anything about her. Did a small Bison Burger that wouldn't hurt her jaw when eating it.
- Viet Pham - Vietnamese Bahn Mi burger, and played up beating Bobby Flay in an Iron Chef battle, which was suggested by Bobby. Did much better than last week.
- Damaris Phillips - Pimento cheese burger. Did a shimmy and tried to seduce the crowd, which 'Lovely' was not feeling. Ended up crying for no reason when being critiqued by the judges
- Stacey Poon-Kinney -'Baja Betty Burger' with chorizo and ground beef. Did very well, and even Giada cheered for her.
- Chad Rosenthal - Memphis style BBQ burger, and he won over the crowd and had them cheering.
After the judges tried all of the burgers and critiqued the contestant's presentations, it was determined Chad Rosenthal, Stacey Poon-Kinney, and Russell Jackson were the top three and would be safe from elimination.
The bottom three was then announced, which was Danushka Lysek, Nikki Dinki, and Andres Guillama. After some deliberation, the judges/mentors (minus Bob and Susie) decided that Andres Guillama would be eliminated. Looks like they are keeping Danushka around as long as they can because people like to root against her. Fans will be angry once again for that reason.
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| Photo - Food Network |
Next week, the contestants will be doing a Chopped challenge, and Alex Guarnaschelli will be a guest judge. (Click here to read all of the episode descriptions for this season)
What are your thoughts on this week's elimination? Angry Danushka is still there? Do you think the dials actually portray what the focus group feels, or does the Food Network edit it however they want? Where were Bob and Susie aka 'The Network' this week?