Why Viet Pham Lost Out On The Next Food Network Star

On last night’s  season finale for “The Next Food Network Star,” Bobby Flay confirmed what contestant Viet Pham suspected enough to ask on camera.  Since he had beaten Flay on a recent “Iron Chef” episode, the Food Network folks were expecting “miracles, and maybe unfairly,” Flay admitted.

“I was so impressed with your food and performance on Iron Chef,” Flay told Pham.

But “Iron Chef” and “Food Network Star” are two very different competitions. “Iron Chef” is all about the food and ability to improvise, while the “Food Network Star” has a lot more to do with personality and entertainment.

“Besides talking to the judges when you deliver your food on Iron Chef, you don’t have to say a word,” Flay said.

Considering who won — the shimmying Southern sweetheart Damaris Phillips — it’s apparent that the Food Network was looking for a bold, brash personality — maybe a younger, sexier replacement for Paula Deen?

At the very beginning of the season, I pegged Viet, Chad (the barbecue guy) and Stacey Poon-Kinney to make it to the home stretch in the competition. Viet could keep his cool in the pressure of the kitchen, but he didn’t try to ham it up every time a camera was pointed his way. I enjoyed his friendly, but more understated, personality.

Both Stacey and Chad seemed very natural and easy to watch.  Maybe the Food Network considered them too natural, because the final three contestants were all over-the-top, personality-wise.  Russell’s “Culinary Sins” point of view didn’t impress me, as it’s pretty easy to make any food taste good if you stuff enough cream, butter, bacon or cheese into it. The real trick is to make food taste good without so many artery-clogging ingredients.

There was runner-up Rodney — goofy with his guitar, and garbled sentences so that all you could understand was, “I’m gonna take this sucker and …..”  or “Awesome,” or “Jack,” and of course, “Pie Style.” I’m just not excited about making EVERYTHING into a pie.  But then, it could be a fun show, with Rodney playing his guitar and making up lyrics to the recipes.

Food Network viewers who voted had to decide whether they want to simply be entertained, or to be impressed by a chef’s skillful technique, or to actually learn something that they can incorporate in their own kitchen.  The best TV cooking shows can do all three. And in my mind, I think Viet Pham could have done that.  But does the Food Network really need another bubbly blonde, with Sandra Lee, Melissa D’Arabian, Kelsey Nixon, and Anne Burrell already in the mix?

With the many culinary competition TV series that have cropped up in the last few years, I’m pretty sure we’ll see more of many of the contestants on future competitions.  Viet Pham already proved himself as the runner-up on “Extreme Chef,” but I’d love to watch Danuschka try to slog through a jungle with a  backpack of food, or swim out to get her ingredients from a capsized boat. There’s always one contestant that you love to hate!

In an interview I did with Kelsey Nixon of “Kelsey’s Essentials,” I asked what advice she would give Viet Pham. Some may remember that she was eliminated on a season of “The Next Food Network Star,” but eventually  ended up with her own series on Food Network’s Cooking Channel.

“The show opens up so many doors for you, whether you win or lose,” she said. “But it’s critical to work hard within the first year to take advantage of those opportunities. I fostered those relationships that were offered up right after the show; because that’s when people are most interested in working with you.”

The sad truth about being on a TV reality series is that people tend to forget you once the next season begins. So you need to strike while the iron is hot, and work those contacts. I heard that advice from “Skinny Girl” Bethenny Frankel, when she was at the Sundance Film Festival soon after her turn on “The Apprentice: Matha Stewart.”  She commented to me that using a reality show as a stepping stone was “like a sponge, where you have to squeeze really really hard just to get out a few drops.”  That was before she became the Reality TV Queen, with one of those “Real Housewives” reality series, “Skating With The Stars,” “Bethenny Getting Married” and “Bethenny Ever After.”