Alex Guarnaschelli has become ubiquitous on Food Network lately, first on “Chopped” as a frequent judge, and now on her own show, “Alex’s Day Off,” which airs Sunday mornings at 9:30 am ET/PT. The premise of her new show is showing how a working mom, restauranteur and TV personality can juggle all of that and still cook great meals at home.
But our questions focused on Alex regarding her role as a judge on “Chopped.” A few months ago, we published a post asking the producers of the show why the judges have to be so angry and tough on the contestants, and it spawned a lot of comments from viewers who also felt the judges were too harsh. So we had the opportunity to ask Alex about the show–and in particular if the harsh criticism is real or fabricated by producers……
Premium Hollywood: I think I speak for anyone who has watched “Chopped”….are you guys told by the producers to be as harsh as you are to the contestants, or is that how you want to come across?
Alex Guarnaschelli: The producers don’t tell us how to act. We talk a lot, we deliberate, we argue, we struggle with what some contestants make, we wish everyone could be a winner, we sympathize with how the contestants feel, we sweat along with them, because we know how hard it is to compete under such pressure. Sometimes, I may have spoken 10 minutes with someone about their dish and had it edited down to a facial expression due to time. That can be hard to watch! I also think we use a lot of “chef speak”. We speak to each other as we would in the kitchen.
Thanks to the NCAA basketball tournament for giving us the term “Final Four,” because now it’s used in every walk of tournament life. Same with NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” which reached the final four of this season last night.
The episode began with the final five–Rudy, Allen, Liz, Amanda and Danny–talking about Rebecca having been eliminated and now Amanda was afraid she no longer had allies. Then CNBC finance personality Suzy Orman made a guest appearance and talked about how obesity is costing our nation and individuals so much money….really, almost as much or more than cancer. Yikes. They had a challenge in which they walked on treadmills while answering quetsions about how obesity relates to money. Pretty scary stuff! If they got a question correct, they would earn $1000, but if they got it wrong, their speed on the treadmill would increase.
As preparations continue for the impending sale of MGM, it’s an ironic state of affairs that what actually interests purchasers are not films from Louis B. Mayer’s iconic studio, the best known of which have all been sold off, but from the company’s later purchase of United Artists. Even more ironically, that was a studio originally founded by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith in order to be free of people like Louis B. Mayer, but which later found success with two highly profitable continuing characters, Inspector Clouseau of “The Pink Panther,” and James Bond.
In any case, now seems as good a time to gaze on the many faces of probably the best known of all studio logos.
That last Leo looks a bit short of mane and girly to me, but by 1957, MGM really wasn’t quite the same.
I had a nasty case of food poisoning yesterday. Not that you care, but a lot has been happening while I spent a day catatonic before TCM and IFC.
* There’s a new “interactive” trailer for “Avatar” that you can download if you don’t mind also downloading some new Adobe software (at least I had to on the computer I’m using right now). The reason “interactive” is in quotes is that the only thing unusual about this longer trailer is that it pauses and allows you to watch additional short promotional films based around the various characters and some of the hardware, etc. It also allows you to buy tickets early.
I’m not sure what “interactive” really means because just about everything is interactive to some degree and this does not particularly impress me as anything new or different. Maybe we can think of a new buzzword.
* And’s that’s not all. Anne Thompson has the scoop that “Avatar” may premiere at Harry Knowles’ annual, 24-hour invitation-only Butt-Numb-A-Thon despite some issues between Knowles and Fox. Also, you’ve probably heard about/seen this already, but the movie and writer-director James Cameron got the “60 Minutes” treatment Sunday night. Nothing earth shattering in the arguably slightly puffy Morley Safer piece, though it’s nice to hear Cameron admit that when it comes right down to it, amazing CGI/3-D or not, it all comes down to the story and what’s happening in the actors’ eyes. On the other hand, I really don’t need or want to see 3-D news stories. Will I will wind up doing so anyway?
Only two more shows until we have a new champion. I tend to think of it as the first championship, since I had never watched “Dancing with the Stars” until this season. Has there been another contestant on this show as good as Mya, the R&B singer about to walk away with the mirrorball? I doubt it. She really is a gifted dancer and I can’t imagine any celebrity from past seasons that match her ability.
My list of crushes growing up is hazy at best. I remember thinking Larisa Oleynik from “The Secret World of Alex Mack” was very cute. She may have been my first crush. At some point around this time, I saw Pras’ “Ghetto Superstar” music video. The song featured Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Mya, a young singer with a soothing voice and, in my eyes, the perfect face. Now its 2009 and she still looks great — now she’s even a terrific dancer.
Donny and Kelly will have to be phenomenal tonight if they have any chance at winning this thing.
Couples Dance
Each of the judges gave one of the teams some pointers. Let’s see if the couples paid attention.
Kelly Osbourne with Louis Van Amstel (Argentine tango)
This performance was sharp and focused. Still, she didn’t show any character. Actually, the celebrities rarely do. Donny is the only one who attempts to bring any theater to the dance, but that sometimes fails. Although I expect Kelly to finish in third, she has certainly improved by greater strides than any of her opponents — they just had more talent to being with.
Mya with Dmitry Chaplin (paso doble)
So, Mya is the clear-cut favorite to take home the trophy. Even though she nailed the footwork in this routine, I think it lacked intensity. This team rarely bores me, but I expected something more powerful since it’s the finals.
I’ve been watching this show for months and I still don’t know squat, apparently. The judges all loved it.
Donny Osmond with Kym Johnson (cha cha cha)
Donny should have been ousted last week, but American women who grew up with Donny in the 70s kept him afloat. This is the best Donny has danced in a couple weeks — not a bad time to get it going.
Megamix
All couples will dance three styles (Viennese waltz, samba, jive) back-to-back. They will then be judged first, second, and third.
Already, I don’t like this. How can the judges possibly monitor all three teams at once? Each of the couples are dancing to their own rhythm. Which is correct? They are all doing different moves at different times. This looks so sloppy, the judges should just disregard this whole performance. If there is another season (obviously, I’m kidding), they shouldn’t bring back this “Megamix” mess. Here’s how the couples placed:
1st: Mya and Dmitry 2nd: Donny and Kym 3rd: Kelly and Louis
Go figure.
Freestyle
The couples pick the music and construct their own dance, which doesn’t have to stay within a certain genre.
Kelly Osbourne with Louis Van Amstel
She looks really pretty. That’s cool. I’m amazed that she kept her composure after falling. I expected her to break down and cry, but she didn’t. She just kept smiling and dancing.
Mya with Dmitry Chaplin
I don’t think I ever noticed how talented Dmitry was until this dance. I’ve always focused on Mya, which makes complete sense.
Anyway, what the hell happened with this dance? Something just seemed off.
Oh well, they still got a score of 27.
Donny Osmond with Kym Johnson
This was probably the best dance of the night, correct? The choreography was designed in a way to keep everything interesting. I don’t think this dance will get him the mirrorball, but he deserves second place.
Hm, maybe he will win. He just got a perfect score.
