Taeolas

I noticed that right away as well; but as I watched closer, the neck area seemed to flex and look different from skin. I think he had a pale scarf/turtleneck on, and it wasn't his actual skin. It would be a blatant clue otherwise and they don't usually mess up like that. Rest of my thoughts are in the episode thread. Space Ranger should probably have gone home, but I didn't see Bat lasting long either.

Watching the ep now, no spoilers yet (other than those previous posts which make my assumptions wrong). Boogy Woogy is pretty good, especially for the song; he covered the range pretty well and might be the pool winner. Or at least the one who gets the Top 2. Love Griffin's costume, and he can sing decently. He might be the Top 2 for this pool. Space Ranger has a fun costume, I want to see more, but he feels like the weakest singer and most likely to be eliminated (apparently not). They feel like they've all but revealed him so far, so I'd be surprised if he wasn't revealed. Bat has a decent but somewhat plane costume. A decent singer, could go further but they seem to be almost revealing her too so I'm not sure. Pearl decent costume, great vocals and great range. Definitly has some singing experience and probably the other Top singer for this pool. Not sure it's Shania; but I think the show wants to get her sometime. Shania is going to be a judge on Canada's Got Talent, but I don't see that sort of cross promotion happening. (CGT has almost no impact in the States and are on different networks in Canada) Gut feel: Boogy Woogy and Pearl will be the Top 2 for this pool (unless Pearl's contract calls for an early elim). Space Ranger or Bat for the first two elims. Griffin will be the last eliminated from the pool. I do like that the costumes have some more clues as to who they are. Not sure if that's always been the case, but it's a nice touch.

Despite the current political climate, I am looking forward to seeing this season, and looking forward to the US show being more Canadian than Top Chef Canada. Hopefully Foodnetwork Canada (sorry Flavour Network now), will take a few lessons and be more willing to move the show around the country and not just stay in the GTA.

One of the recent eps, they were like 1$ off from beating the cage. Ouch; I'm really surprised they couldn't find a sheet of wrapping paper or something they could award them to get up to the 50k mark. I think saving a couple of items to the side of the door for a quick grab is a strategy more contestants should consider. Especially with the 5second warning in the final raid. It could be risky but could also make a difference.

The volunteer "twist" was fine. I wonder what brought it on? Seemed kind've random. But as a way to shake up the early rounds it's fine. I got all but 1 of the Star Trek ones (though a couple I had a small brianfart on). TNG/DS9/VOY are my era, and I pulled TOS in at the same time. So I only blanked on the Discovery guy, though I recognized him. I was a bit spoiled by this thread for the Cardassian, but really it almost had to be either Garek or Dukat. Really I was a bit disappointed by how much the "expert" missed on that category. I'm also disappointed they didn't 'splurge' and actually 'beam' Rob off the stage when he said "Beam me up" to start it off. For the Math category, I'm fine with it just being a multiplication quiz. It's a very broad category in general and I doubt anyone knew it was multiplication to start. It was an impressive run too. I kept up until they started doing the 12s. A Division or Subtraction category (or just mix all the basic ops) would be surprisingly challenging too I'm sure. In general, at this stage, I think I would be going for 3 as much as possible. The time boost is a powerful advantage, and knocking out some single squares around me means I'm less likely to be challenged by the randomizer. Especially if my territory is surrounding a single square. Once I had three, as long as I was comfortable with my category, I'd go back to the floor and sit pretty; if only to have more time to study my category for a future challenge.

Wasn't really surprised by the results; other than Paparazzo winning the night; I still think Coral is the better singer. I figured Ant or Pap were going home tonight, and Ant felt like the weaker of the pair. Had to do a quick wiki to figure out who Ant was. Not familiar with her story and I'm sad she went through so much; but I'm a bit glad she's out now. On a different note, I'm glad they got rid of the Ding Dong Bell for good (hopefully) and just bring the Top 2 of each group into the finals. I wonder if we'll have a Double Elimination in the finals to keep the episode count consistent?

I noticed in some of the long shorts, when its your turn, the screen in front of you (along with the screen between the contestants) will show the clue. So that's the big indicator on if you are expected to answer or not. Seems like some contestants use the side screen (maybe because it is bigger/closer) so don't realize it is their turn. Watching the ep now, Electronics was a painful category for the "expert", some obvious misses there that an 'expert' should certainly have known (Nintendo Switch?!?)

Nerves can often get people. That seems to often be the problem. Also they sometimes seem to legit forget it's their turn, either forgetting a "Pass" doesn't pass the turn, or just lost track of the pattern. And sometimes they get lost in their head; they recognize it but can't get the name out, so they burn more time chasing down the thread instead of just passing and moving on. Considering for many, this is their first time in the literal spotlight, nerves are obviously a huge factor, especially early in the season.

Coral is basically the shoo-in for the finales. A fun song and good presentation. Paparazo is good too and is probably the final two for the Showdown next week. Not worthy of a DingDong Bell save. (Man I wish they would ditch the bell and make it the 3 runners ups will compete for the final slot). Ant is good, but not great. I'm a little surprise she has some platinum records apparently; but it could be the song choices and her story arc is holding her back. Still, I expect her to be the first to be eliminated next week. Fuzzy Peas was okay, and was clearly having fun. He was also the obvious one for elimination this week. I do like how he stumped everyone it seemed; the misdirections seemed to work well. :) Oh and the opening, Ken singing Allstar was painful, but I'll give it for the show. Shrek and the song are basically meant to be painful fun in many ways; and that song is a karaoke classic. And I'll give kudos for Ken's Farquad costume. Thumbs down for Robin though; he somehow still missed the notes when he came in on the song, and his suit, I just couldn't see the link to Shrek. (the ladies were in Fiona's dress and a Fairy costume, so those were obvious)

Yeah, the 1% club is hosted by Joel. I don't mind him personally; but I don't see the reason to swap hosts like this, aside from turning Fox into the All Joel network it seems. Patton has a dry humour that worked well for a "nerdy" show like 1%; but that talks better for its own show thread. Hopefully after 3 seasons, The Floor should be safe from McHaleification.

The Adirondak chair, I wonder if they had a Canadian if they would have accepted Muskoka Chair. They're basically the same thing, but the later is what Canucks know it ias. I have noticed that generally they will show the name the person said when they get an answer, even if there is another name it could be; usually due ot regional differences. I wonder what is really shown to the contestants as they get an answer. As for shaking things up, I'm not sure what they could do. The Time bonus was a good shakeup and certainly gives people a reason to stay up there. I almost wonder if they had a controversy or mistake, so the "shakeup" is to bring a contestant back, give them the choice of who to challenge and a chance to return to the game or something.

A fairly weak group IMO. Honeypot was the obvious sacrificial singer; but he did decently. Ant feels older than she first presented with her run onto the stage. A good story, but not the stronger singer. Probably going to be gone in the next few weeks. Paparazzo was okay as well and his costume seems decent. Possibly the Final 3 for this batch. Fuzzy Peas, by his costume I would have expected him to be one of the easy elims but he did sing quite well. Not winnably good but decent enough. I think his accent is legit and couldn't be hidden so his song choice may have been affected by it. Coral, IMO was the strongest singer of the bunch and is probably the winner of this group.

It's curious that some US Reality shows are coming to Canada. It doesn't happen often, but Top Chef is certainly a big one. IIRC, I think I heard one of the Bachelor-type shows did a season in Banff or Jasper. And the last season of Tough As Nails was done in Hamilton, Ontario with a US vs Canada friendly rivalry theme. It doesn't happen often, but that it happens is a bit curious.

On a more positive note, I'm impressed that PEI actually hit their radar. It's our smallest province and doesn't really have the connections to the rest of the world like Calgary, Toronto and Montreal have. (Though it is a big Asian tourist destination due to Anne of Green Gables). When the Canadian Maritimes get international attention, it tends to be more focused on Halifax, and rarely on PEI or New Brunswick (or Cape Breton which would have been another great location for Top Chef to visit)

Not too surprising. It was an interesting show, but it just didn't seem to click well enough. The Seth effect also didn't do much for me, and was more of a distraction most of the time. (Though I am impressed that he does seem to be able to legit throw clay) And considering CBCs future prospects with federal funding, they are probably preemptively trimming the budgets.