Obligatory Next Food Network Star Hype Post

Wow, another season premiere.  I'm sort of surprised this is still going.  Okay, so, first critique out of the box--the finalists this year all seem, well, too professional, like all but one of them cook for their 9~5 (several being executive chefs) and it honestly makes it harder for me (the intrepid viewer) to really connect with them because they're too educated and well, too "plastic" for my liking.  This does not apply to everyone, naturally.  The finalists I'm most in support of this time, based on my first impressions, are Chris K., Loreal (I can't help but think she was named after the product brand, lol, no idea) and Lenny.  With Aryen and Reuben being borderline interesting to me and the rest being from "okay" to "meh".  I already know Chris K. from his appearance on Cutthroat Kitchen and Lenny I recall seeing before somewhere, although, I do forget where/when precisely.  I'd like to point out that I totally did not expect Damaris(?) to win the last time around and Rodney was around way, Way longer than I thought he'd ever get (though that may be my personal bias against pies which were his personal hook).  I think Reuben has way too much facial hair, lol, which some of the judging panel agreed with me on (woot!) but barring that, he could be interesting.  I do, to be frank, have a general crush on Chris K. (Christopher L. is sooo blegh as well, but I digress).  He's funny, passionate about his job (caterer) and being attractive doesn't hurt either.  What endears me is that he is among the least polished of the male candidates when it comes to presenting himself to the panel/camera and I love that; if he becomes able to share more personal details in a genuine manner, while maintaining his zeal for people and food, he'll be hard to beat (Loreal is so far the only contestant to truly nail this and I must specify, I did not like her at first reveal).  I don't have much else to comment on yet.  Ciao.