MEL31602's Blog

Hey everyone it's the third week of tryouts at America's Got Talent. Random thought of week: I've been watching the Olympic trials, and I know the Games will air in primetime in August. Will AGT be over by then, or will the Games not be on Tuesday nights? Just wondering.

Anyway tonight we start off in Dallas. Finally a city they haven't been to before this year (I don't think). And of course we're reminded that Terry Fator is from Texas, and that he got a $100 million contract in Vegas. Must they mention this in every episode? It's getting a bit annoying.

After the introduction to the judges, we meet the first act of the night, a cashier named Corky Duke (seriously). He's a 41 year old line dancer and apparently does it professionally. Well he's dancing to "Cotton Eye Joe", which is always a plus, and gets the audience on their feet immediately. But all he really does is kick his legs around, and his timing seems off from the music. Piers X's him immediately, and David is soon to follow. The audience turns on him too, and finally so does Sharon. Piers calls it "a complete and utter waste of time" and the audience agrees. He does not get through to Vegas and gets booed off the stage.

Next a montage of Xs. A group of musicians called the Rodeo Rhythm Kings, a horseshoer named Nolan Leach who does nothing but swing a lasso and jump off his horse a few times, a bad tap dancer named Juli Blue, and a woman named Jaque Kendall who tries to do hula hoop tricks but instead accidentally throws them all at the judges (hilarious!) all get told no.

The judges are desperate for some talent in Texas. But they won't find it with Ross Tinsley, who just kind of stands there and pounds his fists into each other.

Next up is 19-year old Holly Hardin, from Georgia. She seems like Kellie Pickler with her accent and dumb blonde act. She is a country music singer too. Wow she sounds like Kellie Pickler too! She's really good. She needs to work a bit on stage presence but I really like her voice. The audience likes it too! Sharon oddly didn't like it but Piers does. David is on the fence as well. Really? I thought she was so good!! The audience seems to agree with me. She says she'll sing anything if she gets to Vegas, including Dolly Parton. Piers asks her to sing a bit of Dolly Parton now, and now the judges seem more convinced. Piers says yes, and so do the others! Holly is going to Vegas!

Now finally some more good acts. Acrobats called Duo Genesis balance on each other. A bit boring, but it does take skill to do that. An 11-year old named Lewis (not the cute kid from the commercial, but another one) plays the piano, and I'm not an expert on piano but he sounds pretty good. A group called the Shaolin Warriors do some flips and acrobats. Again not my thing but they're talented too. All three get through to Vegas.

After the break we meet BBDC, a dance troupe ages 12-17. They're like a family, according to Jerry Springer. They are led by Justin, who is a father figure to the young dancers. They are good! The routine is very entertaining and energetic, complete with tons of impressive flips. And they are really in sync as well. Wow a dance group I actually like! The audience and Justin are impressed, and so are the judges. Piers does hate the outfits though, along with the makeup (I agree on the bad makeup, not so much on the bad outfits). He does love the dancing though, and they sail through to Vegas.

Now animal acts! One is a pot-bellied pig named Smithfield. Apparently he can paint. Okay that's a bit weird. They paintings are abstract apparently. David says the pig looks like Piers haha. But the pig refuses to paint at first. Then it does, but it's just lines on a paper. Piers says the pig would be more useful on his bacon sandwich! Ouch! That's kind of rude, to say the least. Then he? refuses to leave the stage and hisses at Jerry! Priceless! Needless to say he doesn't get through to Vegas.

And now more animal acts. Diana Ross (no, not that Diana Ross) has a cute puppy that just kind of walks around (it was supposed to dance). Sean Paul (what's with all the contestants with famous names) and Juliane have a monkey that can ring a buzzer. Busy Bee Dogs have dogs grab frisbees and roll on tires. And to make matters worse they leave one of the dogs in a cage onstage! That poor dog! Nothing too impressive so far, as none of them get to Vegas.

Next up is Paul West with his dog Tucker. Aw he's really cute (Tucker, not Paul). Paul seems proud of his attachment to his pet. His act is an acrobatic canine disk routine. I like dogs and all but really I wasn't as impressed as the audience. Tucker jumps up and catches frisbees in the air, and while he does do a few nice flips most of it is just jumping and catching. The flips alone are probably worth a trip to Vegas but I think he needs more of those kind of tricks to get far in the competition. He does get through to Vegas for now though.

The Dallas auditions are winding down, and now it's time to meet 71-year old Paul, who sings like Frank Sinatra (he claims). He has the look with the hat and suit, but does he have the voice? He's been doing the act 40 years! Wow he actually sounds like Sinatra! For someone so old he sounds really young. Sharon and David are even up dancing. The audience chants "Vegas" and they get their wish! Piers says Paul has Sinatra "perfect", although I've never seen Sinatra before so I don't know if he's accurate in this assessment.

Now the auditions resume in Chicago again. The judges take their seats and prepare for the first act, Junior and Emily. They are salsa dancers from a tough neighborhood in San Francisco. He is 22 and she is 18 and they have great attitudes and costumes. The dance has lots of fast spins and movements. I liked the dance troupe from earlier in this episode better than I liked them but they were still really good. The judges like them too and they're off to Vegas. Piers thinks they could go all the way to the finals.

Next up is a husband and wife duo dressed in bright yellow. They knew when they first met that they would get married. The guy is kind of cute, too. Stephanie and Zane start their singing and immediately sound offkey. It gets a bit better for a moment but then gets offkey again. And they are destroying a really good song too ("Unchained Melody") Surprisingly they get good towards the end and kiss but the crowd is not impressed. Aw... Piers says it is really cheesy and that they even look like "two lumps of cheese". They are given three nos and are headed home but still in love (and promise to come back- my ears hope they don't!)

After the commercial is George the Giant, who is really, really tall- 7 foot 3, to be exact. He wants to make his dream come true to be a performer. He grabs a volunteer from the audience (poor woman!). Then he proceeds to wrap her in a giant straw and puts it up his nose so part of it comes out in his mouth. Gross!! Then he proceeds to drink milk out of the straw, so that the volunteer is essentially a human crazy straw. It's entertaining but definitely really weird and disgusting. And there's more. He has firecrackers on his chest and blows them up to end "with a bang". Odd act, but entertaining. George says at his size he either could play basketball or be a freak, and he chose the latter. And out comes his wife, who is really short. This looks like one of those opposite couples that appear on Maury. And now the vote- Piers votes yes, Sharon says no, and David says ... yes! The giant is off to Vegas.

Next up is Jessica Price, who reminds me a bit of an older Julienne Irwin before she starts singing. Her dad got her into singing but then left the family. It was tough for her but music helped her get through it, and she hopes he's proud of her today. I like the country singer from earlier tonight better, but this one is really good too. The ending was better than the beginning as well. The judges love her as send her to Vegas.

Now the AGT tour has a new stop- Atlanta. Also known as Home of the Hoff, according to Jerry. First up is Allister McQueen, who wears Clark Kent-like glasses and looks a lot older than 18. He starts out throwing a book in the air and then stripping. Judges stop the madness!! Only Sharon holds out from the Xs and lets Allister reveal his shiny underwear. Piers says Allister does not have the right "equipment" for this kind of act, and I agree. David says he needs to eat and he is Jenny Craig gone bad. It's a no from all three judges.

Another man in glasses then also starts stripping. His body is better than Allister's but the dancing is horrible. Next are pole dancers Gravity Plays Favorites, who just kind of spin on top of each other on a pole. Scandalesque Dance Troupe has a bra on fire but not much else. The Hollywood Men have great bodes but not much talent. All are rejected.

Next up is a woman named Busty Heart, and one look at her and one can see why. She says no one has ever done what she does. And she may be right- she crushes objects with her breasts! Impressive, but she doesn't get through to Vegas either.

The judges are having doubts about whether the "Home of the Hoff" has any real talent.

Hoping to change their minds are cloggers The Southern Belles. The are a tight-knit group of four friends. They say their talent is worth more than $ 1 million. Wow they may be right. They clog perfectly in sync, like a mix of tap dance and clogging. Sharon and David give them a standing ovation, as does the crowd. Piers says that's the best of the day (although that's not saying much considering the bad acts in Atlanta so far). Sharon says they are as good as Michael Flatley. I don't know about that but they are one of the best so far and sail through to Vegas.

Next up is Dan Meyer, who also has a "rarely seen" and dangerous act. This could either be really good or really bad. Part of his act involves nudging his heart aside. In fact he's a sword swallower hoping not to kill himself! He takes a long time to actually swallow the sword but once he does he's pretty impressive. Here comes three at one time, and he nails it! David buzzes him and the other judges rail on him, saying that could make Dan lose his concentration and die!!! But it's over and Dan is still alive!!! David fears audiences might run away if they see it but Sharon thinks the act brings great variety. She votes yes and David votes no (much to the chagrin of the audience), but Piers puts him through! Good for him he certainly has talent although it is disturbing and scary to watch.

And finally it's cute kid number two!!! He's nine years old and is a singer despite having autism. He didn't talk until he was three and started singing on the school bus. Now he sings all the time. That really is amazing, but usually when young kids sing their voices are really not that well developed yet compared to older kids. I hope this kid is different. His name is David and he says he's a very good singer and loves the Jackson Five. And now he sings... and he hits some good high notes but he sounds like any other young singer. Sorry but I really don't like young singers without any power in their voice, and he does go offkey several times. Maybe it's just me. Plus he looks pained when he sings. But of course the crowd loves it and so do the judges. It's a unanimous yes.

So that's it for this week. My favorites tonight were Holly the country singer, the cloggers, and the dancers BBDC. Any thoughts on your favorites this week? And am I the only one who did not love David the nine-year-old singer? Post your comments below.

Hey everyone we're down to the final two on Hell's Kitchen. It's sweet Petrozza versus youthful Christina. Rumors have supposedly leaked the outcome of the winner, but I am not sure the rumors are true so it's still anyone's game.

First is the recap of the season. We see Bobby's "black Gordon Ramsay" comment, and the horrid signature dishes of Week 1 (and Chef throwing up again- that clip never gets old!). I forgot Bobby was in the bottom two so early on. And I forgot about the disasters that were Craig, Dominic, Jason and Sharon. And we get more of Jen being obnoxious and Matt being stupid (and cutting off his finger). Ah good memories, and a good reminder of how far we've come this season.

Apparently Christina has been up for elimination several times already, while Petrozza has never been. This may be to Petrozza's advantage tonight.

Wow that was a long season review. But now on to tonight's competition. Chef announces that they each will get half the restaurant to run for their final task. To illustrate this he has two giant white screens, one with Petrozza on it and the other with Christina on it. Christina confesses to the camera, "I've never seen my face 20 feet long" Ha. Petrozza is overcome with emotion already.

In the morning they will meet with designers to create the restaurants of their dreams. They also get to decide the menu and run the kitchen. Christina has tons of ideas for her menu, but Petrozza, who admittedly makes menus all the time as a caterer, has difficulties concentrating. Could the pressure be getting to him already? Even the next morning he can't come up with anything. Christina of course has her whole menu planned out already, which makes Petrozza nervous, for good reason.

We learn tonight that both of the finalists smoke- doesn't that hurt their palettes? Just a thought.

Each finalist gets a designer to help them. But he wants to know the contestants' menus to help him come up with a good design. Uh oh. He makes stuff up off the top of his head, and it does sound good. Christina is more definitive in her plans- she hates the carpet and the booths. Petrozza, meanwhile, wants to keep the booths, so the two restaurants will look drastically different. And Petrozza wants flowers... aw such a softie!

And talk about detail. The contestants even get to choose what the wait staff will wear in their restaurant. And each contestant is totally opposite. Christina hates all the options and wants a black-on-black outfit. JP reluctantly agrees. Petrozza meanwhile opts for a green chef's jacket on the staff, which Christina hates. I kind of agree with Christina's assessment that the wait staff should not wear chef's jackets, although black-on-black does seem kind of stiff and boring. I doubt this competition will be won or lost based on what the wait staff wear, though.

And now for the menus. Petrozza has some ideas (finally). Sweet bread, Chilean sea bass, sounds good. Then he mentions a roast duck. Based on the reaction of the sous chef and the scary music in the background, I'm guessing it's a tough dish to pull off. But he sticks with it on his menu. Christina has a more detailed menu with steak and monkfish. Both sous chefs seem impressed with the contestant's menus.

Now the contestants must go to Chef's office upstairs. I bet here Chef will say the line from the previews that he might have the wrong finalists. But it likely won't be as big of a deal as the commercials made it out to be. Indeed this is the scene from the previews, and after a commercial break Chef says he now knows he has the right finalists after seeing the work they've done so far. So again the powers that be at Fox imply something in a commercial that does not occur. I'm beginning to consider ignoring the previews all together from now on.

Chef then takes the two to NYC to see another one of his restaurants (how many does he have- seriously!). Meanwhile the designers work on the new restaurants. And of course they get a private jet! Petrozza is thrilled- he's never been on one before.

Chef talks with the finalists on the trip, and we get a flashbacks to some of their rougher moments on the show, starting with Petrozza's infamous hen in a pumpkin dish. Who'd have thought when we saw that that he would be a finalist! We also see how far Christina has come, as we are reminded how she almost left because some (aka Corey) thought her to be smart rather than a good cook. Then there's when Petrozza almost quit when he couldn't remember the menu. I'm sure now he's glad he stuck it out. And we see more of Petrozza being messy, yet effective. Lastly we hear that Christina broke a record with a combined nine challenge wins as a team or individual. "I thought it was ten" she laughs. Careful Christina, you sound a bit cocky. But Petrozza's not intimidated. Good for him.

They land in NYC and are awed by the sights. They get out of a giant limo in Times Square. Chef surprises them with a billboard with their names on it. That is really cool! Then he gives them a five night stay in Dubai near one of his restaurants, where they'll get to observe him cook. Like Christina I have no clue where Dubai is but it sounds like a great prize!

Back in the limo they go, and this time the stop is the London version of the restaurant they'll be running in LA. They meet the head chef there, Joshua (so Chef actually has restaurants without HK winners as employees haha). Then they get executive chef outfits (odd since according to rumors the winner does not get this job but a slightly lower one) and are told to cook their signature dish in the kitchen. Please Petrozza, no more hen in a pumpkin!

Luckily for us Petrozza makes a filet mignon with carmelized onion risotto, while Christina opts for a NY strip steak with sweet corn succotash. They both sound good although I have no clue what succotash is! Christina seems confident after winning nine challenges to date, but can Petrozza pull off what would be his biggest win so far?

Both dishes come out looking good too. And the Chef introduces the judges- executive chefs from all his restaurants around the world. The first contestant to get three votes wins.

Mark Sargeant from Gordon Ramsay's at Claridge's (real creative name, haha) is the first to taste the dishes. He likes the flavor but is turned off by Petrozza's cute but odd "paintbrush" formed out of an onion leak. I kind of agree that the idea is a bit too cutsey for fine dining. He also likes Christina's dish, but finds it a bit bland. He picks Petrozza's dish as the winner!

Next is Angela Hartnett from Cielo in Boca Raton. She likes Petrozza's dish as well but finds it a bit too sweet for her taste. She also finds Christina's a bit dry. Wow these chefs are tough! She too votes for Petrozza! One more vote and he wins!

Stuart Gillies from Boxwood Cafe in London is up next. I have a feeling the next two judges will pick Christina's dish to make it a close vote in the end. He likes the presentation of Petrozza's dish but thinks the flavor is too one-sided and not diverse enough. Christina's, meanwhile, is good but he dislikes the red peppers. It seems he likes Christina's dish better, however, and he indeed votes for it. 2-1 Petrozza.

A young looking man named Simone Zanoni from Gordon Ramsay Au Trianon Versailles (don't ask me to pronounce that!) is the fourth judge. He is disappointed that risotto is used as a main dish when it is usually a side dish. I think I agree with Petrozza that side dishes can be good in main courses as well, although part of that is just me wanting to see him win a challenge for once. Simone then likes the combo of flavors in Christina's dish, tying it up at 2.

So now Josh from NYC is the deciding vote. He thinks Petrozza's dish is nice but needs a bit more seasoning. Meanwhile Christina's has "perfect seasoning". Great, Christina is going to win again. We then find out Josh will oversee the restaurant in LA that the winner will run, so they will have a boss after all. Both seem to impress their possible future boss with their dishes, but only one can win the challenge.

After the obligatory commercial break, we get Josh's decision. And the winner is....Petrozza!!! Yeah the big man wins a challenge!!! He's excited, as am I. And he gets a very good reward strategically, getting first dibs on the former contestants for his team in the finale. Not as good as the fancy rewards Christina got the last few weeks, but it will definitely give him an advantage. Christina said last week she wants Corey on her team, so if I were Petrozza I might choose Corey just to weaken Christina's team chemistry a tad.

Christina is getting cocky again, saying to the camera it doesn't matter if Petrozza gets to choose first since her menu is better anyway. I still like her but as the episode goes on she becomes more and more annoying.

And now another surprise for the finalists. Whoopi Goldberg comes by to wish them good luck. They both are understandably starstruck as she wishes them good luck. That was a bit random but still cool for the finalists to meet her.

As they contestants return they get to see the progress on their restaurants so far. Petrozza seems to like his design so far (I especially like the shiny wood furniture, although I don't know if that was there before). Christina, though is appalled to see the white windows and striped wallpaper. The windows aren't that bad in my opinion but the stripes are ugly.

We then see Petrozza's wallpaper and it's not great in my opinion but it's better than Christina's stripes. Then the designer tells the two that the fireplace on Petrozza's side is too big and is going to stick out in the middle of the dining room. So the designer asks if he can push back the walls a bit so that Christina's side of the restaurant is a bit indented. She reluctantly agrees, as she is too upset about the ugly wallpaper on her side to care about the indentation. She claims she had no idea the paper would be striped even though she said she like the stripes the best. So it's her fault this happened, so she has to either accept it or she if she can change it.

She decides to have it changed, painting over the wallpaper so it is a mix of different shades of brown.

After an (attempted) good night sleep, the two prepare for their last day at HK. The phone rings and they are told to go downstairs immediately. And now it's time to pick teams. Petrozza and Ben seem tight, so they'll likely end up on the same team. Ben did seem strong before collapsing the few weeks before his elimination, so it might be a good pick. The former contestants look good out of their chef outfits. Only some, not all, of the contestant are brought back. The finalists get their pick from Corey, Jen, Bobby, Ben, Louross, and Matt. A very male dominated field, which could help Petrozza, who worked with all of them at some point.

Petrozza picks first. Like I said before I would pick Corey to hurt Christina's team, but as long as he doesn't pick Matt or Jen he should be okay. He doesn't pick Corey, but takes a solid selection in Bobby. Christina then of course takes Corey. Next Petrozza takes Ben. Another good choice, as Ben and Bobby seem to work well together. Christina takes Louross, leaving Petrozza the task of choosing between Matt and Jen. Tough call for him. I guess in that scenario I'd take Jen because at least she's proven she can cook, but he seems to dislike her so who knows. Christina though says she can work with Matt but not Jen so she hopes Petrozza picks the last remaining female. Petrozza also has trouble with the choice, and that's how the episode ends.

So next week is the big finale. Thoughts on who will win? Any favorites based on the little we saw tonight of the menus and style of the restaurants? And will next week's episode live up to the "most exciting finale ever" trademark it was given in the previews? It looked to me like both doors led into the winning restaurant, but maybe it's always like that. Post your thoughts below.

Hey everyone we're down to the final six on Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods. After last week's double elimination I'm running out of contestants to root against. My favorite is still Lauren, and after that Bailey and maybe Emma after last week's performance, but it's still anyone's game.Hopefully tonight someone will emerge from the pack in either a good or a bad way.

We pick up with the girls waiting for the results of last week's elimination. I can't wait to see their faces when only one girl walks through the door. The girls discuss how hard the eliminations are, but Bailey wisely hopes Autumn is eliminated because she is the strongest of the three. When just Autumn walks into the hotel, Bailey looks disappointed, and the others look shocked. Autumn wants to redeem herself after last week's disappointing performance.

The next morning they are told to go to a dance studio in Brooklyn. The girls figure out (obviously) that they will be dancing. But if the previews are any indication, they will be dancing on a bumpy sidewalk as well. Meanwhile Emma is still sick and fears it could still hinder her performance.

The girls arrive at the studio and meet Haylie. Two guys stand next to her. They are associate choreographer Denis Jones, who we met earlier in the series, and Nick Kenkel, a member of the ensemble and a hip-hop choreographer. I never knew that choreographers got to be in the shows they choreograph, so that's kind of cool (or maybe he was cast in the show first and then became a choreographer). Anyway the workshop today focuses on dance, which worries Autumn, an admittedly weak dancer.

The guys tell the girls to stand out as Elle would. Then Emma says she needs a cup to spit in. EW!! Since when does bronchitis make you spit? So Nick helps teach them a hip-hop style dance. Autumn struggles immediately with her timing. Nick tells her to be more confident and less lazy. Ouch! The girls rehearse together and it looks like a mess, although Lauren, Natalie and Rhiannon seem to be somewhat getting the hang of it. Meanwhile Emma has to step out to blow her nose and looks even worse than she did before (illness wise, not talent wise). Nick then calls out Lauren to be more aggressive. I agree she does look a little too cutesy for hip-hop, although much of that could be her resemblance to Britney Spears.

Now for the challenge. Nick presents each of the girls with high boots, since Elle dances in shoes, not flats. And then, as shown in the previews, he tells the girls that the challenge will be dancing on cobbled sidewalks, since apparently Broadway stages are not flat. I assumed they were flat like normal stages and even if they are not this seems a bit extreme. I understand making them dance in heels, as Elle is likely in heels for much of the show, but I don't see how dancing on a sidewalk will help them prepare for Broadway. But then again, what do I know?

The girls worry about how they will do on cobblestone and in heels. And now they begin. They're actually not bad! No one is falling yet either! Emma gets winded because of her illness. Then the girls switch lines so Nick and Denis can get a better view of those who were in the back. Wow Emma's really struggling to catch her breath. Natalie and Autumn have to hold her to help her. Denis offers her the chance to sit out but she bravely refuses. The fact that she persists despite this illness makes me like her more even though I really disliked her in the beginning. Lots of shots of Natalie as we begin the second line of dancing. I bet that means she's going to win. She certainly looks good, although a bit over the top (although I guess that's the point, isn't it?).

The girls all get through the challenge and Haylie announces the prize- a yoga lesson with Kate Shindle, who plays Vivienne in the musical. I actually have no clue who that character is- I've seen the movie but not the show. When is the guy who plays Emmett going to be on the show? Anyway the winner is... Natalie. Not a surprise considering the extra focus on her during the challenge. And good for her, she hasn't been on a reward yet I don't think, so this should really help her. I say "should" because the last two challenge winners were in the bottom three that week. And of course she gets to pick someone to go with her, and she picks Rhiannon.

Next the girls get packets with their next audition- the "Shake Your Junk" section in the song "Positive". I have no clue what this scene's about but it's clear from the title that a lot of dancing is involved. In fact it's an all-dancing scene with mostly hip-hop. Laura Bell Bundy does a great job with it in the show- let's see how these prospective Elles will do.

Natalie and Rhinannon meet Kate at the spa. They do some yoga poses, and they claim it's relaxing although I've done a bit of yoga and it doesn't do it for me. Maybe it's because I'm really not flexible at all. So after the yoga the two talk with Kate and even have tea with her. She tells them to be sure not to play too dumb of a blonde, as Elle is not dumb. Kate also says a bit of uncertainty about yourself is okay if you use that for adrenalin and to make yourself stronger. That seems like good advice.

The two then meet the other girls in Bernie's office for rehearsal. Like a few weeks ago, the girls who are not playing Elle will be in the chorus, so they must learn six different formations of choreography. Sounds complicated!! Denis tells the camera "no one shakes their junk like Nick". Haha. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing for him. The girls seem to be getting the hang of it. Well except for Emma, who keeps going in the wrong spot. Then the rehearsal was cut short to challenge the girls to learn something with only a short amount of time with the choreographer. This could happen in a show, especially if there are last-minute changes, so it is good practice to see how they will handle the pressure.

Back at the hotel the girls keep practicing. Then that night they get a call sheet at night, which is odd since they get them usually during the day. It's the questionnaire that was in the previews. The girls must answer who is the weakest singer, weakest actress, weakest dancer, who would most likely sabotage another girl (too bad Cassie already left- she'd be great at answering that question!), which girl should have already left, and which girl will win. I guess I understand that this is to see how well the girls know the criteria for being a good Broadway star, but it seems like the main thing it will do is create more tension in the house, tension that has been absent since Cassie left. The girls are angered by the questionnaire and Rhiannon even cries over it. I wonder if the questionnaire is a trap- maybe they are not supposed to answer it, and it's supposed to test their loyalty to each to each other or something. It really does seem overly mean to make them do this.

Lauren then starts bawling as well, as she thinks the girls will put her down as the weakest actress and dancer. I thought her acting was good last week and her dancing wasn't much worse than anyone else, so I don't know why she's upset. Autumn notes that this survey is not "in the spirit of Elle". So maybe it is a trap to see if the girls will realize this and refuse to answer the questions. They seem to be doing just that, as they revise the questions to say things like "most improved actor/singer/dancer", "most competitive" and other more positive things. The girls then put their sheets together to see who got the most votes for each question. Autumn won strongest actress, followed by Natalie. Autumn was weak last week but was a strong actress the week before, although I think some other girls might be better at acting than Natalie. Lauren gets most improved dancer, and she is overwhelmed with emotion. The girls even give each other snaps as they announce the winners in each category. They really do get along- no bad blood in this house now that Cassie is gone.

Ooh Natalie notes that their audition this week is to the song "Positive". Then I really think the survey was a trap to make sure all the remaining girls are Elle-like in their positivity on and off the stage. Either that or they'll be in big trouble with the judges...

The girls then rehearse some more in the studio, now united after their bonding session over the survey. They stay up all night rehearsing, which shows their determination to get the part. Good for them!

Audition day. Natalie worries about her bad hair. Typical Elle reaction haha. Haylie meets them wearing a red dress with even brighter red lipstick. She does look stunning. Haylie reintroduces Bernie, Heather, and Paul, and of course reminds them that one of them will star as Elle on Broadway (duh!).

No mention of the survey as the girls get ready for their audition. First up is Emma. She's not bad! The judges look impressed too, although she gets tired towards the end. She tells the judges if she had to do a show today she would need the understudy since she can't breathe. I'm not sure if that makes her look brave for auditioning while so sick or stupid for saying this to the judges. Paul tells her that sometimes it is too late to call for the understudy, although Emma has been sick for days so that probably wouldn't be an issue if this was a real performance. Emma is unsure after her performance if she's safe or not. I think it will depend on how the others do.

After the break it's Bailey's turn. She pops onstage with her vivacious nature and I immediately like her better than Emma. It's so over-the-top it totally works. The judges love it as well.

Next is Rhiannon, who is a little worried going in to her audition. Her audition doesn't really work for me. I'm not really sure why, although it must have been hard following Bailey's great performance. It seems a bit too goofy for me. Bernie too is disappointed, and Paul says technically it was one of the worst so far (although there's been only three dances thus far).

Lauren goes next. I hope she does well- I really love her voice and personality. Like Bailey she immediately draws attention to herself, although she loses that a bit and seems a bit unsure of herself at times. But I guess that's to be expected if she was not a dancer when she first came on the show. The judges love it too, especially how she leads the others. She definitely was the second best so far after Bailey.

Autumn is next, needing a strong performance to stay out of the bottom three again this week. The timing seems a bit off to me, and the judges don't look impressed either. Heather likes the goofiness but said she could see her lack of confidence. Autumn says she's tired and feels underprepared. But I think that often Broadway stars feel the same way and still have to come through, and Bernie tells her just that. Autumn then somewhat shockingly runs off stage. Where is she going? The other girls get similarly nervous. The camera follows her into the bathroom (okay that's kind of awkward- hopefully the cameraperson is a woman) and we hear Autumn throwing up. If she can't handle the criticism she might not be cut out for this role.

Autumn admits later on she felt sick during the dance and afterwards she just couldn't hold it in any longer. It must be hard dancing when you feel like you are going to blow chunks any second, so I give her props for that, but again this shows that the pressure might be too much for her. She comes back and the judges seem sympathetic, letting her sit out Natalie's Elle audition.

Natalie picks up where she left off at the challenge, showing off her dance skills and personality as well. I still think I liked Bailey and Lauren's auditions better but hers was definitely in the top three. The judges agree and say she shines under pressure. They even go so far as to say she's on the list and safe for this week. I'm surprised they said that in front of the other girls, although I think it's a pretty clear cut bottom three tonight.

Rhiannon thinks she may be in the bottom, but she doesn't think she will go home. Meanwhile the judges must decide who to put on the list. They fear Emma doesn't have the stamina to be in the show (although how much of that is because of her illness?). Bailey is "on a mission" and is very watchable on stage. Lauren was "a lot of fun". Rhiannon is awkward and goofy, but Heather is not sure if she's Elle. The judges feel bad for Autumn, but she has disappointed the past two weeks.

Now Haylie prepares the girls to find out who is on the list. Barring anything unforeseen the bottom three should be Emma, Rhiannon, and Autumn. Ooh but there's a twist- four girls will be on the list, and only two will be in the casting office. Now it gets interesting. Of the three who were in jeopardy I though Rhiannon might get a break since she's never been in the bottom before. I personally thought Rhiannon and Autumn were the worst, but a performer does need stamina to be on Broadway so Emma could certainly be in the bottom as well.

First the obvious. The first name on the list is Natalie. The next name is Bailey. Again, no surprise. The third name is Lauren. So the "big three" this week get safely through to the next round. I think right now these three might be the favorites to make the finals.

Now it gets interesting. Three girls, one of whom is safe from elimination. Emma and Autumn might get a pass for being sick, and Rhiannon might be safe since she's never been in the bottom before. Unless Emma makes a quick recovery I think these three will be the next to go anyway, it's just a matter of what order. If Emma gets well she does have a chance to crack the top three, although I'm not sure who she'd beat out.

So Haylie calls out the last name on the list... Rhiannon. Sure enough her impressive performances in prior weeks saved her, so it's down to two repeat offenders in the bottom group- Emma and Autumn. I feel bad for both this week since they were obviously sick, but I think Emma's stamina problem may improve when (if) she gets well, while Autumn's nerves seem to be a problem that might not go away so easily. Based on that I think Autumn should be eliminated, although both are definitely talented.

Emma says she thinks other performances were worse than hers. I think of the ones who were safe the only one clearly worse than her was Rhiannon. I was starting to root for her over the past few weeks- I hope she doesn't start getting obnoxious again!

Up in the casting office Paul tells the girls he appreciates how hard they worked despite being sick. Heather says she buys Emma as valedictorian of Harvard but she's not sure she buys her as the fun blonde in the beginning. In other words, Emma looks smart. I guess that's good for her but it might not be the best for this part. Well if that's a problem besides her stamina I can see them cutting her, although I still like her better than Autumn, who has tanked the past two weeks. Bernie criticizes Autumn for using the excuse that she didn't know the routine- he tells her that she must learn it. Heather doesn't think her steps "sparkle" enough. Both girls respectfully make their case to the judges. Bernie says both of them can play Elle, but fears Emma doesn't stand out enough and Autumn has too many questions.

And the judges decision... Emma is cut! I was just starting to like her too (except for the whole part where she said others were worse than her tonight). I did not think at all that she was the worst tonight- she was better than Rhiannon and Autumn. But Autumn has shown more potential over the previous weeks I guess. I don't think Autumn will last too much longer anyway but I still do not completely agree with this decision. I know there are many Autumn fans out there who will disagree though...

And Emma's jealously continues after her elimination, as she calls out Rhiannon, Lauren and Bailey for being "little girls". They certainly are young (especially Lauren) but two of them were better than Emma tonight and the other has been better in the past. Okay now I'm starting to be happy that Emma's gone personality-wise, although I still think she has more potential than Autumn.

Next week the girls also seemed shocked by Emma's elimination, they must do a teary scene and someone gets a bad blonde dye job (I'm guessing Natalie or Autumn, since they're the only non-blondes left).

So thoughts on tonight's elimination? Anyone else think Emma should have stayed? And do you agree that Natalie, Bailey and Lauren could be the final three? Post your comments below.

Hey everyone it's the second episode of America's Got Talent! Last week only had a few standout performances so let's see if this week's auditioners can step it up.

After a short recap of last week (with of course a mention of how many people watched the show's premiere), we start with this week's auditions. We pick up with LA auditions. And there's another shot of a ticket with Terry Fator's name on it. Okay we get it, he's a star, now can we move on to this season please?

The audience gives the judges a standing ovation as they are introduced to the crowd. The judges talk about the high standards this competition are setting.

First up is Victoria, a part-time nanny wearing an odd fairy costume. Apparently she is a "singing fairy". She should get X'd just for that costume alone! Flowers on her head and large wings make her look like one of those deluded contestants on AI. And she sings about fairies too! Of course. She starts singing and it doesn't sound too bad but Piers immediately X's her. The audience goes nuts with boos. The judges try to shush the audience but Victoria sings two more notes and they start booing again. Her voice isn't amazing but it's not horrible. The Hoff finally has enough and X's her, but Sharon lets her finish. Piers tells her she's weird (I think the costume kind of gave that away) He then tells her that "Your dream is your dream but it's my nightmare!" Ouch! Needless to say she doesn't get through to Vegas.

Then we get a string of bad auditions. To the tune of "Beat It". Hilarious! A young singer compares himself to Pavarotti but sounds horrible (and way too high for a guy). Also we get some instrumentalists, including a guy who plays his head. A guy does a weird dance and plays trombone while his mom of all people plays piano.

Next we meet a young man named Eli. He traveled over 2000 miles to get to the auditions. He was in the previews and he sounded really good!! He describes his life of endless travel and playing at hotels for enough money to live on with "You Raise Me Up" playing in the background. Another great song!! (Just added it to the iPod by the way). Anyway he comes out for his audition. He sings and plays "Walking in Memphis" and sounds really good. He sings the song a bit low for my taste but he has an Elvis-like quality to his voice with a bit of country as well. And he's really good on the keyboard as well. Again not really my style but he does have a great voice. The audience is quiet, which I guess it's good because it means they are not booing. And now they stand up and cheer! The judges are shocked in a good way at his voice. I think this guy could be this year's Cas Haley, and I like his style better than I like Cas's. The judges don't stand like they did for Neal, but Piers tells him he has talent. Sharon can't believe he hasn't been signed to a record deal. The Hoff says he reminded him of Billy Joel with the way he told a story with the song. They unanimously send him through. And now the Hoff gives him a standing ovation!! Backstage Piers says he could be a finalist, and I agree.

After the break we meet Cassie, a bartender from a small town. She has blue hair and claims to have a unique talent. She wants to make her parents proud. Aw! Her stage name is Miss Pussykatt, and she does a grinding act. Okay.... when I heard this I thought she meant grinding as in sexual dancing. But no, she means a dancing act while shooting sparks off her body at the same time. It's not really that impressive if you ask me but the audience seems entertained. She almost eats the sparks as well. The crowd loved it, and so did the Hoff, who called it entertaining. Piers liked it too! Sharon is intrigued. She gets thru to Vegas but I hope she won't last too long. I'm just really not that impressed. All she did was dance around and grind sparks against her body. Not that I could do that but I just didn't really like it.

Next we meet two survivors of Hurricane Katrina. I'm rooting for them already and I don't even know their act yet. Surely the judges won't eliminate Katrina survivors. They say their performance helped people forget about Katrina. I'm guessing they are dancers based on their outfits. One of them says his uncle, who was in a wheelchair, was in his house with his family when the hurricane came. He sacrificed himself for himself for his kids, and he inspired the two auditioners. Now the audience and the Hoff stand up and cheer. I think that's a bit much- they haven't even auditioned yet! Anyway they are street performers named Lil Countrie and Page 1ne. They do some great breakdancing with flips. Then one guy spins the other on his head! That must make them dizzy! Of course the crowd is going wild for them. And now one of them rolls on his head likes it's a wheel. Wow! I'm not a big dancing fan (years of recitals from my cousins have kind of taught me to tune out dances) but these guys certainly have skills on the dance floor. The judges all clap as well. The Hoff calls them the best tumblers he's ever seen. Sharon calls them "brillant" and Piers says they are a great inspiration to New Orleans, but that he must judge them honestly. Of course then he says they were brilliant and are on of the early favorites. I liked them but I wouldn't call them one of my favorites, mainly because I'm just not a big dancing fan. Ooh O-Town song in the background! I haven't heard this song in years! Now I have to go put that on my iPod too!

So now we are off to the next city. Now they are back to NYC again! What were there two audition dates in this city? First up is a guy with a suspiciously large suitcase. He's an extreme percussionist, whatever that means. We learn he's a limo driver and his act is called "Drumtazia". It's loud and smoky, and that's about it. The audience turns on him immediately, and so do the judges. The vote is a unanimous no.

Side note: can we skip the segment after every commercial where the contestants say how great it would be to win the money and/or a Vegas show? It's getting repetitive and annoying.

Anyway back to the show. We meet a family boy band Next II None. They look cute, that's for sure. They play up the crowd upon walking on stage. OMG they are singing NSYNC!! The singing is just okay but the dancing is really good and in sync (haha). The crowd, especially the young girls, goes wild. Sharon says they don't have a lead singer but they don't need one. Piers loves the image and the act as a whole. David says they are "pretty darn good" and says they are raw but have good attitude. They get thru to Vegas but I have a feeling their youth and inexperience may hurt them in this contest.

Backstage we meet The Russian Bar Trio. The Russian Bar is a long pole where the girl jumps on it and the guys hold it. It sounds dangerous. I acutally wasn't expecting to be impressed with them but I was. They flip her into the air like the bar is a jump rope, and each time she lands safely on the bar. My only concern is what they will do for an encore if they get to Vegas. This act is good but might get a bit old if they just do the same thing in Vegas. Now the girl does flips in the air as well. This is amazing! The crowd is impressed and Jerry says it's the most exciting act he's seen since he started doing the show. The judges love it as well and they are sent through the Vegas! I hope they step it up in Vegas because they were really impressive.

After the halftime recap we get a pointless but still funny segment on the judges. The Hoff talks about his Knight Rider days and Piers brags about winning Celebrity Apprentice (again!). Meanwhile the audience starts chanting loudly for Sharon, so they seem to love her the best.

And it's a perfect segway, as we meet an Ozzy Osborne impersonator. This should be interesting, to say the least. He claims that meeting Sharon is his dream. He does look like Ozzy, but does he impersonate him well. Best moment of the night is Sharon's face when the guy walks out on stage! Priceless! She does seem honored when he says he's a fan of her family. He is funny (in a bad way) and sounds offkey. Sharon of all people is the first to X him. She probably can't take him destroying her husband's image any more. David is soon to follow. Piers refuses to X him but David and Sharon force him to. Entertaining, but not talent, in my view. Sharon says she's seen a lot of Ozzy impersonators and he is not a good one. Piers thought he sounded just like Ozzy, but he's obviously just taking a stab at Ozzy rather than actually complimenting The Ozzman. He also says the act is better looking than the real Ozzy, which leads to Sharon beating Piers with what looks like a rolled up paper. Piers tells him yes, but the others thankfully say no. Oh no he says he wants to try out again next year!

Next is the Taubl family, a family of musicians. These groups usually get through to Vegas, and Piers usually tells them to drop the young kids. The kids in this group don't look that young so maybe he'll spare this family the choice of fame versus family. Indeed the youngest of the group is 12,and usually its the 10-and-under crowd that Piers says to drop.The mother tells the judges they are good enough to win, and one boy shrugs as if to say "I don't think we're that good". Hopefully the judges didn't see that! They sound pretty but are buzzed by Piers immediately. It is a bit boring. Then they start singing and it's better. They are not amazing but they do good harmonies. The young kids do sound a bit off-key. The crowd loves them. David didn't like them at first and then said they got better. Piers notes the dad didn't do anything. David votes them through, and Piers admits he buzzed them too early and sends them through to Vegas. Again I thought they were good, not great.

After another break we meet a group of guys named the DC Cowboys Dance Company. They have sexual masculine movement in their boots, according to them! The women in the crowd swoon as they walk onstage. They say their act is "Brokeback Meets Broadway" Ha! Hey they're not bad! Plus they are dancing to the song Drew and Cheryl did for their freestyle on DWTS years back! Ah good memories. Anyway the crowd loves it and so do the judges. They unanimously get through to Vegas.


Now it's off to the next city- Chicago. Weren't they here before too? I guess they are showing the auditions in chronological order, not city-by-city, which is a bit confusing but oh well.

First up is Kevin Taylor, the world's fastest brick-breaker. That's something to be proud of I guess. He emphasizes the danger in his act before he goes onstage. He will attempt to break 400 bricks that are on fire. Don't try this at home folks! He gets thru the first batch using his hand. His arm is on fire!! No big deal he just pats it a few times and it goes out. For a finale he cuts thru two more big piles. It was good but for some reason I was expecting him to use his face to break the bricks, which would be more impressive. Still his act was impressive, although I wonder what he'll do for an encore in Vegas. All three judges are amazed as well, but Sharon fears he'll get hurt and thus votes no to Vegas. David says yes, so it's down to Piers. Piers wonders like me what he will do to improve his act in Vegas. Kevin says he wants to drop a brick on himself and break it before it hits him. Piers is satisfied and sends him through to Vegas.

Next up is a realtor named Chellena. She is a singer who gets great support from her husband. I have a feeling she's going to be really good. She then tells her sob story of having cervical cancer and fearing she might die. Of course she overcame the cancer and has been in remission for a year. Great story, will her voice back it up? Yes she sounds good! A real gospel voice. Anyone know if this is what Michael Johns sang in his AI audition because it kind of sounds like the same song but I'm not sure. Anyway she's good but gospel's not really my thing. She gets a standing ovation from the crowd. David is impressed but Piers says it's good, not great. He says some of the other singers that are through to Vegas are better and I think I might have to agree. Sharon loves her heart though. David votes yes, but Piers isn't sure she can win. Piers likes her spirit and sends her through. And Celine Dion plays in the background!! I love the music on this show!!

After the break we meet Johnny O., a magician. Yeah we haven't seen any magicians all season but I've liked the ones they've had in the past! He turns a flame into a tennis ball. Okay but nothing out of the ordinary. Then he drops the tennis ball and is immediately X'd by Piers. He hates it when magicians/jugglers drop things in their acts. Then he tries repeatedly to balance another ball on his nose (how is that magic, exactly?) and fails miserably. Piers hits the buzzers for Sharon and David. I am sadly disappointed with this magician. I really thought he'd be good. Piers tries to kick him off stage, but David and Sharon object. But still he is rejected.

More magic!! One guy takes a bird and makes it smaller, then rips its head off and revives it! Ew! Impressive but I think I've seen that before. Indeed he's rejected as well. Another guy spits cards out of his mouth, knocks over a stand, and has his bird fly away. Another no. A third tries to self-levitate, then falls flat on the floor. Funny, but bad. Another magician also knocks stuff over. Will they ever find a good magician? A fifth dude is actually pretty good. He lights his pants on fire and then has fire coming from a certain area of his body. I thought that was cool but the judges didn't.

Will the Pendragons husband and wife duo end the streak? Well they certainly have a great story (it seems like nearly everyone does on this show). The husband almost died when an arrow went thru his heart. Ouch! He is back to prove that he's alive and well. He shows his scar and it's really gross and blue. I've never seen a blue scar before. First the husband is tied in a bad and locked in a box. Then she magically turns into her husband! And inside the box.... his wife! That was pretty cool! Yeah for good magicians (finally!). Piers likes that he's suffered for his art and applauds him for it. They are through to Vegas!!!

After the break we get another look at the Ozzie impersonator! It's a segway to a bunch of other tribute acts that audition. There actually was an impersonator show on ABC last summer that was pretty good, but got canceled, so now all the people came to this show instead I guess. We have a Rod Stewart, Cydni Lauper, George Bush (that guy might have been on the ABC show!), Elton John, and Dionne Warwick (a guy!!!). I actually though George, Rod, and Dionne sounded okay but the judges hated all of htem.

Now we have a dramatic introduction to... Elvis!! Actually the two who were finalists on the ABC impersonator show were Elvis impersonators, and they were both really good. I don't think this was one of those two but he's cute!! His name is Joseph Hall and I don't know what Elvis sounded like but this guy sounds really good! His dancing is good too! The crowd loves it! Piers says most Elvis impersonators are fat and old, but he was really good. Sharon wants to keep staring at him. Then she says she has shoes older than him (he's 23) but she wants to try him on. Okay... that was sounded a bit wrong. David loves it as well and he's straight through to Vegas.

So now the auditions are over for tonight. Next time we have more auditions. Nooooo not another cute kid singer!!! One of those is too many!!! The dancers look impressive though! See you all next week! Post your comments on tonight's show below.

Hey everyone we're down to the final three on Hell's Kitchen. Tonight the contestants take turns running the kitchen and all hell breaks loose (lame joke, I know).

We begin with the remaining contestants celebrating Jen's demise. The three hug as they go up to their dorms. Corey is relieved to still be around. Christina feels a weight has been lifted now that Jen is gone. Petrozza thinks Chef made the right call in sending Jen home.

Hey Petrozza has a tattoo! He's shown wearing short sleeve PJs and you can see the tip of his tattoo peaking out of his sleeve, although I can't tell what it is. That does make him cooler in my book, though.

The next morning the gang goes downstairs to meet Chef. He decides to cook for each of them personally to celebrate them making the final three. I wonder if he's going to purposely make bad food to see if the contestants have the guts to call him out on it. Well before we find out Chef brings out some surprise guests. It's their families. Not really too surprising, as Chef did the same thing last year. We find out Corey and Petrozza have significant others (and Corey's boyfriend is kind of cute!!).

As JP sits the families down we hear the narrator say that the contestants will have to recreate Chef's signature dish once their families leave. I liked my above idea for a challenge better! Oh well. Aw Petrozza is crying upon seeing his family. But Christina is the smart one. While Corey and Petrozza focus on their families, Christina predicts correctly that the food will be part of a challenge, so she tries to figure out what is in the dish. Looks like she may be well on her way to winning her third straight challenge.

After the contestants say teary goodbyes to their families, Chef announces the challenge- the contestants must make the dish Chef served them. Corey immediately knows she is in trouble. The contestants are given another sampling of the dish, which of course Petrozza and Corey run over to taste since they didn't pay attention when they were served the dish the first time. I think this actually levels the playing field a bit, which seems unfair since Corey and Petrozza should be punished for not paying attention to the dish during the meal with their families.

The fridge is stocked with tons of ingredients, only some of which belong in the dish. Petrozza and Christina think the dish has a buffalo meat, while Corey thinks the meat is venison. But Petrozza retastes the sample and switches to venison. Hopefully his decision will pay off. The contestants have some other similar ingredients. Christina thinks the dish has white beans, but she can't find them in the kitchen, which leads her to think she's mistaken. But she finds the beans in the back and begins to puree them. However she is the only one who has buffalo still, and if the dish has venison and not buffalo she may lose even if the rest of the dish is perfect. Corey, meanwhile, has a potato parsnip puree, while Petrozza has no puree at all. It's unclear if he forgets the puree or just doesn't make it since he doesn't know what is in it. For the sauce, all three have red wine. Corey tastes something sweet in the sauce and decides to go for some raspberries. I think she may win if her instincts are correct.

Chef tastes the dishes and asks for the ingredients. He doesn't say what the true ingredients are until tasting all three dishes, leaving the contestants very uneasy. Chef points out Christina had an extra ingredient in her sauce, Petrozza had forgotten the puree (he admits later he had seen it but forgot about it). Corey meanwhile was right about the sauce and was the only one who put cream in the cabbage (even though Christina's mom had told her earlier that the dish had cream, but Christina did not listen). Unfortunately Corey used the wrong meat (buffalo, not venison) and so is eliminated. I thought for sure her perfect sauce would win but I guess the meat is more important. So it's down to Petrozza and Christina (sound familiar?). I hope Petrozza wins just because he hasn't won in a while and Christina has won the last two weeks.

After the break Chef announces the winner.... Christina. She had everything right but had a few extra things in the dish. Chef tells Petrozza if he had put a puree on he may well have won. Poor Petrozza! This is the second week in a row he's come so close to winning a challenge. As a punishment Corey and Petrozza have to clean the bar and store the ice, which is coming delivered in large blocks that must be C could really help her in the end.

Christina wishes her parents could come on the tour, and sure enough when she steps outside there they are waiting for her. She's really excited to see them again. The tour bus takes them past some great Hollywood sites. At the first restaurant stop (some place named Grace) Chef compliments Christina on her win and notes he doesn't think anyone has ever won three challenges in a row. I've only been watching the show since the end of last year so I have no clue if this is true but if so it's really impressive. Chef tells Christina to do her best in the last few services, and she seems inspired by the presence of her parents.

Corey and Petrozza look like mad scientists as they wear goggles while crushing the ice. Corey says she pretended the ice was Jen to make her angry and thus give her the strength to crush it. I'm surprised she's not jealous of Christina like she was last week- I guess Jen brought out the worst in her. She jokes around with Petrozza about being caveman with no machines to break the ice with. And now more scenes of Petrozza cleaning, just like in last week's punishment! Maybe it will teach him to clean up his workstation too. JP hilariously comes over and shows Petrozza spots he missed on the glasses as he cleaned them.

Like last week Christina joins the group to help in prep. Unlike last week she's not given the silent treatment, but Corey does tell the camera she doesn't think Christina has what it takes to win.

Before the kitchen is opened Chef tells the contestants what the audience saw in the previews- each of them must take turns running the kitchen tonight. As the contestants get ready Chef get each of them to try to practice by telling them to yell at him. The same thing happened last year and I loved it! First up is Petrozza. He starts out a bit weak but really gets loud and mean by the end. This indeed is the clip of him yelling that was shown in the previews. Good to see Petrozza is not going to actually yell at Chef for real (I hope!) Chef too is impressed that quiet Petrozza can be loud and in charge. Next is Christina. I think she's pretty good but Chef says she came across like a cheerleader. She tries again and starts cursing and yelling louder and Chef is satisfied. Finally it's Corey's turn. She tells Chef to feel the raw food just like he always tells them to do. But she is the worst of the three in my view. Chef gives her a demo on how to be mean, and throws a plate in the process. Petrozza then provides the funniest line of the night so far, saying to himself, "Wow, I didn't get to break a plate". Corey's second time around Chef is satisfied, but I still am not convinced she is assertive enough to run a kitchen. This may be what ultimately does her in tonight.

And Hell's Kitchen is now open for service. Chef starts off running the kitchen. They start off strong with appetizers, with the help of the sous chefs. And just like last year, Chef tells the sous chefs to purposely make mistakes while each contestant runs the kitchen to see how the contestants will react. I'm not sure if he did this every year or just last year, but either way shouldn't the contestants see this coming and be prepared for it?

Now it's Petrozza's turn to run the kitchen. He takes charge and impresses Chef immediately. Now it's time for the quality control test. Sous Chef Scott (try saying that three times fast) brings up a rizotto with no peas. And Petrozza fails his first test, as he tastes the dish but does not notice the lack of peas. Petrozza says he wasn't expecting this (didn't he watch last season?) but does reprimand Scott. Hopefully he'll learn his lesson. Petrozza then takes his quality control to Christina, who he claims cooked the scallops too dark. Since Chef doesn't say anything I'm guessing this was a correct assessment. Things go from bad to worse for Christina, who then burns a salmon dish. Then she cooks the salmon too raw. I feel bad for Petrozza having to deal with this. At least the pressure is off him and on Christina. Chef asks her if she wants to go home, and she says no. Petrozza demands the salmon again (now he knows how Chef feels when they give him poor food) and fears that this is making him look bad. I think it's making Christina look bad more than him, since he's at least noticing the poor quality of food being given to him. Then Christina forgets the prawn on the John Dory. Chef wonders if Christina is doing this on purpose to sabotage Petrozza (a though I hate to admit I had as well) but she denies this. I don't think she would do that since it really hurts herself more than Petrozza. Chef tells Petrozza he's impressed by how he ran the kitchen and was assertive (I'm guessing because Petrozza was able to spot all of Christina's miscues) and sends him back to his station.

Now Corey gets to run the kitchen. Hopefully she'll do better than she did with Chef earlier. At first she is slow in reading the first ticket and then messes up what the ticket is. Then Chef notes that the ticket had six appetizers and only five entrees, meaning the waiter forgot to write one of the entrees down. This is of course the waiter's fault, not Corey's but she should have spotted it. She does call out the contestants for not talking to her or each other. Now it's time for her test, as Scott sends up the wrong sauce for the wellington. She notices this error, but of course not until after she pours the sauce on the meat. She is sent back to her station, with a comment from Chef that she was not good enough. She didn't seem that bad to me except for early on but maybe her bad moments didn't make the air.

Chef now tells Christina to run the kitchen, and he warns her that she must pull it together after her poor early performance or she'll be going home. Immediately she makes a mistake, asking the cooks how long they should cook the dishes for rather than telling them herself. Corey cooks some meat well to make up for her mistakes on the pass. Christina yells at Scott for taking too long with the food. She definitely is assertive, more so than Corey. Now the other sous chef Gloria is going to test her quality control. Will she do better than Petrozza and Corey? She gives Christina potatoes with the wrong seasoning. Indeed Christina redeems herself for her poor early performance by being the only one to spot the mistake on time. Chef too is impressed by her performance running the kitchen and sends her back to her station for the desserts.

The contestants complete the desserts and the service and again Chef is impressed. I think Petrozza was the best of the night despite not noticing Scott's mistake on the rizotto. Christina was bad on service but good running the kitchen, and Corey was good on service but bad running the kitchen. If it were up to me I'd send Corey home, since Christina just had a bad night cooking but has proven before she can cook, while it is unclear if Corey will ever be assertive enough to run a kitchen.

Chef tells the group they made it hard for him to decide who will be in the finals. He tells Corey she cooked great but he didn't feel comfortable leaving her on her own to run the kitchen. He tells Christina she was great running the kitchen but was "crap" on her station. Petrozza was a bit careless running the kitchen (referring to his mistake not noticing the pea-less rizotto). According to Chef, he wasn't great, but he wasn't bad. That might be enough to win this sorry season. Chef tells each of them to nominate the person who should go home.

Of course Petrozza struggles with the decision. Corey actually admits she likes Christina (who knew?). Christina also admits she likes working with Corey, and says she'll make a pro/con list for each contestant. I actually might do the same thing in her situation. Petrozza does, as Christina points out, have the most experience.

Now the contestants meet back with Chef to announce their decisions. Chef admits he likes all three and is proud of all of them, so the decision is tough for him as well. Who knew such a horrible original cast of cooks would actually produce three worthy winners?

Corey's nominee is Christina, because she acts like a "deer in headlights" when she's yelled at. Christina' nominee is Corey because she isn't a good leader. So it's down to Petrozza (again). He nominates Christina, mainly because of how she struggled during the time he ran the kitchen. He thinks she is not ready to be a top chef. So if by some chance she did purposely sabotage him it really backfired. Hopefully this means Petrozza is safe from elimination and will make the finals.

And the first person safe and on to the finals is.... Petrozza!!!! Yeah I'm excited! He proved tonight he could be assertive and deserves to make the finals. Corey and Christina obviously thought he deserved to make it too, since neither nominated him for elimination, and they look genuinely happy for him when he gets through.

So now it's down to the two girls. They started out enemies but have seemingly become somewhat friends over the past few weeks. Christina tells Chef that she thinks she showed promise and leadership qualities over the past weeks. Corey tells Chef she is strong and hardworking. Chef clearly struggles with the decision, and we see both the highs and lows of their performances tonight. Chef bases his decision on the contestants' performance throughout the season, since tonight it was more of a tie.

And the person in the finals with Petrozza is... Christina!! Hooray!! The final I have been rooting for for weeks is happening!!! The only thing is now I don't know who to root for. I usually want a woman to win, but I love Petrozza's attitude so much I would love to see him win the title too.

Chef tells Corey to hold her head high. Christina hugs her and tells her she'll pick her for her team in the finale. That will be a good combination. I wonder who Petrozza will pick (maybe Bobby?) Corey is gracious in defeat, and Chef again tells her not to give up on her dreams because she has talent.

In her recap we see some old faces like Ben and Louross (I almost forgot about them) as well as her infamous moment of nominating strong Christina (and Jen, which I had forgotten about) for elimination the first week. But we see some good moments too, particularly her strong meat tonight. She tells the camera there will be something else out there for her. That's a good attitude.

Christina and Petrozza congratulate and hug each other. Chef tells them that one of them will win and run his restaurant, and drops down two huge "HK" signs with flames that scare both contestants.

Next week is the finale! Can you believe the season is almost over? The finalists get to design their own kitchen and menu and get to go to NYC! And we get a glimpse of the booted contestants on the finalists' teams. Just two words: Jen and Matt!!! Entertainment for sure. And Chef tells the contestants he may have the wrong finalists? I disagree entirely, but this may be taken out of context like Petrozza's yelling scene tonight.

So thoughts on our final two? Did Chef make the right call cutting Corey? And who do you think will win HK? Post your comments below.

Hey everyone we are down to the final 8 on Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods. At this point I actually can live with most of the girls winning except Cassie and Emma (annoying and mean to other girls) and Celina (doesn't look like Elle and last week I thought was the worst after watching full clips of their performances).

Anyway on to tonight's show. We pick up with the three girls who survived the last elimination- Lauren, Celina, and Emma, walking back into the house. The other girls speculate on who will be eliminated of the four. They agree they'll be shocked if Emma goes home (again, I like her voice, but she's too arrogant for my liking). They also surprisingly agree they'll be surprised if Celina doesn't return. They apparently agreed with the judges, who put Lauren and Lindsey in the bottom 2 last week as well. When the three survivors come in the girls call a temporary truce and hug in sadness at Lindsey's departure.

Emma takes her trip to the bottom four really hard, and admits she lost confidence as a result. Good, maybe I'll start liking her now that she's not as overly confident.

Meanwhile Celina still is upset by Cassie's comments from the previous week. I still think she was talking primarily about Bailey at that moment, and I think the girls should just move on and focus on their next assignment. But of course they don't do this and Celina confronts Cassie about her comments. Autumn then gets in on the act, along with some of the other girls. Cassie is shocked by this reaction and says she didn't realize she was throwing them under the bus by saying what she said. I think that's a little stupid for her not to realize what she was doing but I do feel a bit bad for her as the others "gang up" on her and because they all waited until now to express their dislike for her. Cassie then admits she doesn't have many girlfriends (can't imagine why!) and thus isn't used to talking to them. The girls tell her nicely just to think before she speaks (good advice) and tell her that she's taking things too personally. Okay now I understand the girls' point of view and I actually think they were very kind yet direct with Cassie about what she has to improve to make more friends in the house. I still do think they could have talked to her sooner, since they appeared to shun her even before her comments last week.

The next morning the girls get a call sheet telling them to go to a studio with a notebook and pen. The girls hitch taxis (what no limo like on ANTM?) and head over there. The girls have no idea what is next, and neither do I.

When the girls open the door to the studio they see Haylie with two little dogs! Aw they are so cute!!! I love Bruiser!!! Holding them is Bill Beloni, animal trainer for the show, and her assistant Kylen. Still don't get what the pen and paper are for... The two dogs are Boo-Boo and Teddy. Such cute names!

Haylie tells the girls they must learn to bond with the dogs. They will take the dogs back to the hotel at the end of the workshop. Apparently Laura Bell Bundy used to have sleepovers with the dogs too just to get to know them. That's so cool! (Can you tell I love dogs?) Anyway the girls are excited as well. Bill will then decide the next day who wins the reward.

Bill teaches the girls some simple commands for the dogs, like "heel", and "stay". Bill says the girls must look comfortable with the dogs. He warns Cassie to look more comfortable with the dogs (she looked like she almost wanted to put him down) and warns Bailey not to drag the dog's leash.

The girls bring their dogs home to the hotel and the dogs get a bit excited. Some of the girls chase after them, but Emma says that would just excite the dogs more, which may very well be true. Autumn and Lauren seemed to bond well with the dogs, while the dogs seem to ignore Cassie's commands.

Emma wakes up feeling really sick. Maybe she's allergic to the dogs? Just a thought. Anyway Bill comes over to the hotel to announce the winner. Haylie announces the prize will be a date with the dogs along with Richard Blake, who plays Warner, Elle's boyfriend at the start of the show. Wow they are getting practically the whole cast in on this show. Ooh he looks cute in his glasses onstage.

Bill has the girls lead the dogs in several commands, and they all seem to do pretty well. The dogs listen really well. Uh oh here comes Cassie. Sure enough the dog refuses to "stay" for her. And the winner is... (after a commercial break, of course) Autumn. Not surprising considering how she dealt with the dogs in the hotel and in front of Bill. Autumn has been coming on in recent weeks and I'm liking her more and more each week.

Autumn then of course has to pick someone to go with her. She picks fellow redhead Celina. Cassie of course complains about not having any good friends in the house and thus never being chosen to go with others on any of the rewards. Wasn't she just chosen last week? Plus if she actually won the challenges she wouldn't have that problem.

Haylie then says the next audition will be the song "Serious" with Richard Blake himself. So of course that helps Autumn and Celina who get to meet him beforehand. It's the song when Warner says he's breaking up with Elle, which means acting will be required as well. Richard really does have a great voice as well- I can see why he got the part of Warner.

Autumn and Celina go to a dog boutique (of course) and meet Richard, who comes bearing flowers, champagne, and chocolate. Aw what a gentleman! Too bad he plays a jerk in the show! They tell him about the experience so far. He seems like such a great guy (and really cute too!)

The next day the girls meet Denis Jones, the associate choreographer who will help teach the girls this scene. It tests not only their singing but their comedy and acting as well, as Elle has to make the audience laugh with her overreaction to Warner dumping her. Seth, the vocal coach, asks if the girls have been dumped, and most of them have, save for innocent and young Lauren.

Autumn seems confident in her ability. The scene looks funny- Elle has to start singing only to be interrupted by Warner, who says he's not finished. Cassie looks a bit too sexual while swaying as Warner sings. Emma is still really sick. Apparently it's from the quitting smoking so suddenly. Who knew quitting smoking made you sick as well? But that very well may the reason since Seth says he had a friend who had a similar problem after quitting smoking. Like I said I don't really like her because of how she acted in the pilot but I'm coming around towards her and I would feel bad if she got eliminated as a result of this.

Seth and Denis tell Bailey she's not acting devastated enough at the breakup. Seth tells her that the judges didn't want her back this week. This seems a bit hard to believe since she wasn't even in the bottom group. Sure enough, it's just a ploy to get her to show the devastation she needs to show in the scene. I had a feeling when I heard that line in the previews it would be taken out of context.

Emma goes to a doctor right after the audition. And it's bad news- bronchitis that is becoming a sinus infection. I wonder if she's going to drop out because of this. It seems to be getting worse not better, which is also not good for her.

Now it's audition day. Emma tries to drink lots of water but she fears she might not be able to audition. Cassie also feels nervous but Autumn is again confident. Be careful, or you might start to annoy me with arrogance like Emma is.

The girls head to the audition and see Haylie wearing a stylish blue dress. Again we meet Bernie, Heather, and Paul. And then Richard comes out. He compliments on their looks. Aw I really want to go out with this guy (I wonder if he's single?) Anyway the girls promise they'll try to focus on the scene and not on his looks.

Up first is Rhiannon. I think her goofy style will suit her well in this scene. I don't really like the singing but she was funny, especially when Warner tells her he's breaking up with her. The judges seem to love it as well. She'll be around another week.

Next is Cassie. We skip to the end of the scene when she's trying to get over the devastation of the breakup. I don't really buy the emotion from Cassie here, although she is a bit funny while crying. The judges again agree and don't buy the emotion either. Bernie says he doesn't see her as Elle. Cassie apologizes for disappointing the judges, a surprisingly classy act on her part.

Then it's Bailey's turn. She's funny too. Lauren is only really shown singing not acting, and since singing is her strong point she sounds great. The judges like it too, and since only a small clip is shown I'm guessing she's safe too. Then we cut to Natalie mid-song. Again, just singing, which she does well, but no acting, but the bit when she loses track of where Warner is was funny. Next is Celina, who needs to rebound after last week. We go to four simultaneous shots of the breakup moment for each of the four. It's hard to watch all four at the same time but I think Lauren's and Bailey's were the best of the four.

Now judges comments. They feel Bailey is consistently good but needs to bring more and not just copy Laura Bell Bundy each week (I thought the point was to be like Laura Bell since she does it so well). Anyway they feel Natalie too must set herself apart from the pack, while they think Lauren did just that (good my favorite is safe for another week). As for Celina, the judges didn't see the comedy in her routine. She may find herself in the bottom three again this week.

Next up is confident Autumn. I hope she lives up to her expectations. I actually thought it was pretty good but the judges said her timing was off. Odd since she had the extra chemistry with Richard after her reward challenge. That's the second week in a row where the challenge winner hasn't reaped the benefits in the audition. She at least admits afterwards that she choked. Maybe last week's performance will save her.

After the break we get to see if Emma's voice will hold up in her audition. She has the overly cute beginning down. Now for the singing. Her voice doesn't sound too bad. Her reaction when Warner breaks up with her is okay but there were better ones early on. I really do like her devastation when she tries to come to terms with the breakup at the end of the scene. She's nearly in tears and is really believable. The judges love her too. She's growing on me a bit too, especially with her performing well while still obviously sick. They said her acting was good too, which is good for her since that's not her strongpoint, but it was tonight. After her audition she tells the camera, "They loved it! Okay, now I'm going to go die!" Great line!

Deliberation time. The judges overall are impressed. Based on their earlier comments I say the bottom three are Cassie, Celina, and Autumn, and I think Autumn will get a pass since it's her first time in the bottom three. The judges say Rhiannon was the best, Lauren was unique and colorful, Autumn's timing was off, Emma was great, Celina is not the role, Cassie was whiny and unbelievable, Natalie was flat, and Bailey was not herself. So Bailey and Natalie may be in the bottom three mix as well but it still seems that Cassie (in my view) and Autumn (in the judges' view) were the worst, and Celina has not looked like Elle since she got there, so they should be the bottom three.

Now Haylie reads off the list. Either Rhiannon and Lauren should be first, or maybe Emma for her great performance through illness. Those three are the only ones definitely safe in my view. Indeed Rhiannon is first, followed by Emma and Lauren. Did I call that or what?

Bailey thinks she's next, which likely means she may be in the bottom three. Or maybe not, as she is called next. So now it's down to four girls and only one is safe from elimination. And that girl is... (after another break) Natalie. So no surprises in the bottom this week, as we are left with three non-blondes on the hotseat. Like I said before I think Autumn was so good last week and has not been in the bottom before, leaving Celina and Cassie, and honestly I don't really care who leaves out of those two. I guess I want Cassie to leave just because she's annoying offstage, while Celina is fine off-stage but just doesn't have the look.

Autumn says she knows she did poorly and deserves to be in the bottom this week. Again, good for her for admitting this. Celina thinks she did well but says maybe Elle is just not her part, which may indeed be the case. Cassie of course is the complainer of the group, saying she's never seen the material before, so the judges should cut her some slack. Well the other girls hadn't seen the material either and they did just fine, so Cassie is obviously just making excuses.

The judges tell the girls what was wrong with their performances. Bernie says Cassie would make a good understudy, and even that may be a bit kind after tonight's performance. Cassie says she doesn't want to be the understudy. She seems a bit condescending to Bernie. Bernie apparently meant that Cassie could learn as an understudy, but Cassie snaps back that she wants to be a star. Her rudeness here may come back to haunt her later on. Bernie says that Celina didn't make the judges laugh, and Celina jokes that she was maybe too subtle. Heather then correctly points out that Elle is not supposed to be subtle. Ouch! Autumn admits again she had her worst performance, and Paul also correctly points out that you can't even have one bad day when thousands watch you on Broadway each night. At least she admitted her faults unlike Cassie.

The judges announce their decision. And Celina is cut rather abruptly. When the judges said her name first I thought they would say she was safe and leave it down to Autumn and Cassie. But instead the judges are quick to dismiss Celina. She has a good voice, but doesn't have the Elle vibe, and I'm a bit surprised she lasted this long. I wonder if the quick elimination means a double elimination? I know I said the same thing last week but I always try to guess "shockers" before they occur. (Just as I predicted Michael Johns would go home on Idol once he was in the bottom three because I thought that would be the most shocking result). Celina graciously exits and says she learned a lot on the show.

Wow did I call this or what? Just as Celina leaves, Bernie tells the girls another one of them is getting cut. It should be Cassie based on her inconsistent performances, along with her rudeness to Bernie tonight. Bernie indeed tells Cassie she's inconsistent, and tells Autumn she was just bad tonight. Indeed Cassie is cut as well, so the tension in the house is gone. Cassie is surprisingly also gracious in defeat, congratulating Autumn as she heads back to the hotel. I can't wait to see next week's show when the girls react to only one girl coming back to the hotel. She even calls Bernie "sir" at the end.

The only bad thing is now I'm running out of girls to root against!!

But of course the old Cassie comes out at the end, as she bitterly tells the camera that she worked hard and was improving. Well she may have worked hard but so did the other girls, and she clearly wasn't improving or she wouldn't have been in the bottom two weeks in a row.

Next week certainly looks good. The girls have to dance on a sidewalk. Not only that, but they must decide as a group who the worst singer, dancer, and actor is in the bunch. That seems a bit harsh. And one girl (looks like Autumn) runs out of the audition in tears! Looks depressing but entertaining!

So thoughts on tonight's double elimination. Anyone else see it coming like I did? And were the right two sent home? Post your comments below.

Hey everyone we're down to the final few episodes of Hell's Kitchen. Tonight one contestant burns Chef's hand so that should be amusing to say the least.

The show starts with the fallout from last week's surprising elimination. Christina knows now Jen will be out to get her after she nominated Jen for elimination last week. Jen thinks the others are threatened by her. Now she tries to make friends by saying she understands why Christina did what she did. I think it may be a little too little, too late, for her. Christina hopes Jen is being honest, but Corey thinks Jen definitely is lying through her teeth. I think I agree with Corey on this one....

The next morning the final four go down to the kitchen to meet Chef. Chef tells them one will become Executive Chef at his new restaurant, even though reports have surfaced that the winner actually gets a lesser title. The winner must not be too impressive, whoever he/she is then.

Chef announces this week's challenge. Each contestant much create their own dish and serve it to 80 finicky customers. The customers will determine the winner.

Christina creates an island turkey sandwich. Sounds creative, although that's really not my taste. It has curry and avocado, which she fears might not go over well with children, who she thinks might be the customers. Other bloggers/commenters have also suggested that the customers are children, which makes sense since they are finicky, but for her sake I hope they're wrong. Corey's lunch is a salmon BLT sandwich. That does sound really good. Petrozza's cooking a spicy Monte Cristo sandwich that also might not go over well with young ones. He does smartly promise not to make it too spicy, since he'll have to appeal to the masses. Jen is making grilled grouper. I have no clue what that is so I can't comment on it, but she seems to be working hard.

The contestants struggle with the hour time limit. Only Christina remains calm, although that might not help her if the customers don't like her dish. Jen decides to bash other dishes (perhaps because she's not confident in her own) and calls Petrozza's "a heart attack dipped into a stroke with a side of cardiac arrest". But if the guests are kids they likely won't care about a meal that could cause heart problems; they'll just care if it tastes good.

All the contestants finish on time, although Corey has fewer than 80 samples and fears she'll run out of food.

In come the guests. They are not kids, but rather hungry pregnant woman dining for two. Pregnant woman can get a bit nuts if they don't like something (not that I know from experience- I've just heard this), so they will be finicky indeed. Each guest samples all four dishes, with each contestant's on a different colored plate. The women will vote on which dish they liked best. Corey runs back into the kitchen to make more of her dishes, which seems to annoy some of the hungry women. Ooh sneaky move by Christina. She goes over to the women waiting online for Corey's food and gives them a sample of her own dish. That's actually good strategy getting in favor with the judges, and it's Corey's fault for not being finished with her dish on time. Petrozza charms the crowd with his smiling face and quick wit, and they seem to enjoy it. Jen thinks her dish is the most complicated and thus should win.

Meanwhile Corey is still back in the kitchen making more sandwiches, and Chef sees this and comes to scold her. Finally she finishes making the rest of her sandwiches and gives them to the women. But will they be so annoyed by the tardiness that they won't vote for her?

Now it's time to announce the winner. Corey finishes in fourth, likely because of her tardiness with the sandwiches. If she had won after not being ready on time I would have been mad anyway. Jen gets third. So it's down to my two favorites, Christina and Petrozza. It was really close- only two votes separate the two. I hope Petrozza wins since Christina just won last week and I don't think Petrozza has won a challenge in a while (if ever). But no, Christina wins again, setting herself up as the favorite to win this competition.

For her reward Christina gets to go shopping in Beverly Hills. Somehow I think she'll enjoy this more than Petrozza would have anyway. She gets a thousand dollar shopping spree. Meanwhile the losers have to clean up the dining room (which is dirty after the challenge) and make it spotless for dinner service. At least Petrozza gets to clean one time while he's here!!

Jen and Christina of course spend the whole time whining about how they wish they were going and how Christina's dish wasn't that good. Petrozza complains a bit about the two vote difference but never bad mouths Christina. Corey on the other hand says that Christina has no style and thus doesn't deserve to go shopping. Jen echoes this sentiment and Petrozza implies that she has a bad attitude. Jen then rips Petrozza in the confessional camera for his too-loving attitude. It's called classiness, Jen. You should try it sometime.

Christina and Chef bond in the limo ride over. She tells him her grandma has to buy all her dresses for her since she can't afford a new one. She has a personal shopper, designer Lisa Kline, dress her in nice clothes. Chef keeps pointing out how great Christina looks in the clothes, and she feels like he's flirting with her a bit. He really seems to like her, which is good for her standing in the competition.

And as if it wasn't clear already that the two ladies were jealous of Christina's win, when Christina returns the two badmouth her clothes selection. I also know zero about fashion but if a designer picked out those clothes they can't be too bad. Petrozza again remains silent, which shows how great of a man he is, since he of all people should have been the most upset losing by such a small margin. Yet the two who lost by the most are the ones who complain, while Petrozza just smiles and does his punishment like a good man.

The three begin prep for dinner while Christina changes into chef gear. She comes down and asks what she can do to help, and they give her the silent treatment. I get why the girls are silent but why is Petrozza?

Indeed Petrozza is the first to break the silence. He admits to the camera he's annoyed she won the challenge but he admits he's willing to forget it and move on for the good of the team. There's the Petrozza I've come to love over the last few weeks!! Anyway he tells her what she can do to help. He apparently inspires Corey as well, who then also begins telling Christina what she can do to help, and even jokes around with her. These two really do have a love/hate relationship.

Chef tells the contestants before the service how big the stakes are tonight. He tells them to unite as a team, but emerge as individuals.

First orders are in. So far the team seems to work well together. Jen and Corey in particular keep communicating on how long their parts of the appetizer will take before ready. Corey is complimented on her scallops, and Jen on her risotto. So far so good for the two complainers of the group. The customers also are impressed.

25 minutes later the appetizers are still flying out. But the first mistake of the night is made by Jen, who cooks the rice to mush. Chef says this proves that Jen does not taste her food before serving it, which is a key for all chefs. He realizes her spoon is mushing the rice when she stirs it, but she does not listen and keep pounding the rice with her spoon anyway. She then slows down a bit but delivers an excellent risotto again. Chef says this confirms that Jen is talented but lazy with her cooking.

Now it's on to entrees. And it's the young Christina who makes the next big mistake. She is the one who burns Chef's hand. He grabs the pan she puts on the pass and is clearly in pain. She had put part of the panhandle over the stovetop, which caused it to get hot and burn his hand. She promises it won't happen again. Chef must be hurt pretty bad since he puts his hand under water for a few seconds before returning to his duties. But a few minutes later she gives him another pan and once again he burns his hand (I think it's the same hand too- that had to hurt)!.

According to the narrator no one else has ever done this before. Wow that's saying something considering the dummies that have been on this show before. The pan must have been really hot because Chef took water from inside the pan and poured it on the panhandle and it began sizzling. Wow I didn't realize how hot it was but no wonder Chef is annoyed. He tells her to warn him if a panhandle is over a flame.

Meanwhile Corey and Jen finally have their first argument of the night. They are finishing up appetizers when Corey, who is also doing other dishes at the same time, asks Jen to help her out by frying an egg for the scallops. Jen says she's too busy, but she only has one pan going of rizotto. Meanwhile the busier Christina, who is working on entrees at the same time, steps up and fries the egg, probably hoping to get back in Chef's favor by doing so. This again proves Jen is lazy or not a team player, or both.

Christina then messes up the eggs and Corey goes to get more. Chef then notices that Jen is still refusing to help out on the eggs, and reminds her that this is a team. She finally does fry the egg. So she's only a team player when Chef tells her to be.

Now all the contestants are working on entrees. Chef asks Corey for a John Dory dish, but she says she's still cooking it. Chef keeps yelling at her to go faster so she takes it out of the pan before it's ready and gives it to Chef. Surprisingly he doesn't notice even with his high standards and serves the fish to the customers. But the customers apparently have higher standards than Chef, and one sends back the undercooked fish. She does recook the fish and it goes back to the table.

Petrozza is complimented on his food. But the niceties end there as Chef notices his pigsty work station. He does tell him he's been the strongest ever on that station (not sure if he means strongest of all time or just this season- I'd guess just this season, but that's not saying much). He serves up some meat that I think looks raw but Chef says it looks great! Go figure- shows what I know about cooking. Anyway Chef says his meat has been excellent all night long. As Petrozza gleefully points out, Chef finally saw past the mess. Unless he screws up drastically in the last few minutes he should be the standout performer tonight, and therefore the one who gets to pick who goes up for elimination.

And dinner service is completed in record time. Chef looks impressed, and he should be. Only a few minor mishaps tonight, although each contestant had goo