top chef all stars, postscript

I went back and looked at my preseason predictions for Top Chef: All-Stars, and have determined that I suck at predicting.

My biggest success was that I felt pretty good about Richard winning. I didn't come out and say he would, but he was my favorite, and he won, so I'm taking all the credit for that.

My biggest miss was probably Antonia. I had her among the first six out, and she made the final three. I don't know what to say. I didn't remember her at all. Looking back, I do remember her from season four now, but I didn't when this season started. I remember that Lisa was the last to be chosen in the elimination before the finale, and that it was a bombshell upset because the person that was eliminated was largely considered superior. But I didn't know who that was. It was Antonia.

So, I said the first six to be eliminated would be Antonia, Stephen, Elia, Spike and both Dales.

It was actually Elia, Jen, Stephen, Dale L, Spike and Casey. So I got four right, and missed the two stunners (literally and figuratively), Casey and Jen.

My prediction for the middle six to be eliminated was Marcel, Angelo, Mike, Fabio, Carla and Jamie.

As it happened, it was Tiffani, Jamie, Marcel, Tre, Fabio and Angelo. So, actually, I got four right again, missing only Tiffani and Tre. I was trying to will Tre into the finale, because I just like him. Looking back, I'm sort of stunned I got Angelo right, because I sort of can't believe he didn't make it until the end. Weird.

For the final six, the little mistakes I made in the first two sections compounded. I had predicted Richard, Jennifer, Casey, Tre, Tiffani and Tiffany. So I only got two right (Richard and Tiffany). But, hey, one was the winner. I probably used poor logic on Tiffani. If I was predicting again, I would still expect Jen to be in the final, and her exit was one of the weirder moment in the series, so I don't feel bad about that one. I underestimate Carla, admittedly. And Mike surprised me. He made it reasonably deep in what was probably the strongest season, but I wouldn't have guessed he would make it as far as he did here.

Anyway, couldn't be happier that Richard won. Can't wait to see what he does as a result.

I did start to think about who wasn't in the cast that probably should have been. (I presume the chefs I name here were probably asked and declined). Top omission was Kevin from season six. And Bryan from that season. Sam Talbot, who should have won season two. Lee Ann Wong from the first season, though she worked on the show for years after her appearance, so that might have been a conflict. Stefan from season five was supposed to be hot stuff, but glad they didn't inflict "Team Euro" on us again.

That said, I'll watch Top Chef Masters, but don't have high hopes for it. Sort of fatigued of Curtis Stone. And I am happy that I haven't heard anything about them bringing back Just Desserts for another season. If they do, hopefully there will be more cooking and less stupid, fabricated drama. That show was a mess.