She has also been dissing herself all season.

I'm rooting for Kevin for Fan Favorite and Top Chef.

Wow this thread is dead now. I think that GoingAway killed it with all of her/his etiquette quips and such. I think that these threads should be fun and regardless of whether you live east west or overseas (like me now) you can read and participate on your own timeline. Isn't that the advantage of the internet? You can opt out whenever you want.

Anyway, I thought that last nights episode was amazing and really did bring into sharp focus just how talented the four semi finalists were and how unbiased the judges really are. Remember, this episode is the FIRST time that the judges have seen ANY of the background to the contestants and may have an inkling of any of the behind the scenes drama.

Interesting points:

From Tom Colicchio about the strength of the finalists: "And it�s the first time that the four strongest chefs in a season actually made it to the finale � no one snuck in through a side door to get there � as evidenced by the fact that between the four of them, they always won the Elimination Challenges."

And a comment from Tom again about how sometimes the production adds an element of 'who will win' and question into the story when there really is none: "It may not make sense to you but it was clear to us immediately that it would be Jen who would be going home. What it came down to was that both of her dishes were way too salty. Jen�s overseasoning of both her dishes stood out to the judges like a sore thumb. We had our conversation at Judges' Table about whom to send home, but it was pro forma; we already knew and were in complete accord."

Wow, the finals are going to be amazing with the three finalists. The only real drama will be, what will the twist thrown in. Who will the sous chefs be and will the finalists be asked to pick from fallen contestants. All of them seem to prefer working by themselves.

Well, I hope that I have not raised any etiquette alarms. I know that I may have quoted a bit much from other sources. I think it adds to the thread.

I, like a lot of others, I'm sure, see Top Chef ending as a duel bewteen the brothers. As much as Kevin is my personal favorite, watching the two brothers go at it would certainly make for some interesting viewing. If that happens, we may see the Brothers V on Dr. Phil shortly thereafter.

I have to speculate....

Do the brothers cancel each other out at some point, and when does "personality' become an issue which counts in the judges' decisions?

The brothers may individually be better chefs, but there's something about Kevin and his dishes to date which may make him a better TV personality (more appealing, "package-able for TV).

I was amazed to hear Jennifer say what a great time she'd had - the only thing she did the entire series was frown and look miserable.

Now, can we please plan a "beard intervention" for Kevin? The stupid overgrown thing really has to go!

What did the beard look like on the first episode this season? Was it as Yosemite Sam as it is now?

On the Michael/Bryan speculation, I am not sure why everybody dismisses Kevin just as his dishes are not as cutting edge. I think he has consistently been tops this year without the inconsistencies of the brothers. All are so good though. I am looking forward to the next ep.

I have to agree that it's really nice to see that the 4 strongest candidates by far made it to the final 4. And compared to past seasons, these are extremely strong competitors.

I am glad that Jen recovered from her mid-season slump and pulled it together to get to the final 4, but I also agree that it was her turn to go. Even putting aside the saltiness, the other 3 were just much more consistent throughout the season.

Go Kevin go! I hope he wins it.

If not, I hope it's Bryan, because I can't stand Michael.

Is it my wishful thinking or was Padma looking straight at Bryan (in the center of the 3) during the preview when she said "You are Top Chef"?

I thought she was looking slightly to the right (the red hair guy).

Well I'm going out on a limb and saying she's saying it to Jennifer!

Based on the judges' blogs for the past several seasons, personality would never be an issue unless it affects what comes out of the kitchen (like in team challenges). Also judges don't really know the contestants personality for most of the season until the finale episodes.

If the producers took personality into account and told the judges to vote based on it, do you really think the judges would say so in their blogs?

Let's take these blogs for what they are: advertising for the show.

Actually Tom has mentioned the one or two times the producers interfered with judging decisions.

If the judges took personality as a significant factor into account, then wow, some of decisions in the past five seasons wouldn't make sense.

Besides...by now the judges expect contestants to be confident jack*sses.

I just remember a conversation I had with Eric Ripert where he said "don't believe everything you see on tv" with a wink. I think a lot of it is fixed.

Final, Finale episode this Tuesday. Kevin, Bryan and Michael are still in the hunt and the winner is crowned on Wednesday. Next week Bravo is airing the Reunion Special.

The part that has me a little surprised is that this is scheduled as a standard one hour episode. The finale is just feeling a little rushed. They alway have such elaborate and less hand tied finales and I am not sure how they are planning to whittle down from three to a winner in 47 minutes.

Is there any word about sous chefs this season? will they try and foist runner's up on these finalists. I see that as almost causing more problems than it could help. They all seem to be such individualists and work better with themselves than with others, except maybe for Kevin who has just always seemed very level headed.

It is funny, if you read the blogs, ALL of the judges remark about how consistently and how much Kevin complains about EVERY quick fire and challenge, and then he cleans up on it. They say he is quite the moaner and then internalizes everything and arrives at a better understanding of what is actually being asked for and how to best utilize his time. that is the single skill the V brothers have not mastered and they frequently go off on cooking tangents to acomplish something that the challenge did not ask for as the sacrifice of something that is actually more important.

Anyway, thinking back to the last seasons, I am not sure that I remember going into the final episode with three cheftestants remaining and an hour to wrap everything up.