Seriously?? Is Padma going to say, "Waiters, this is also a competition for you as well"???

Possibly.

I think that they needed at least minimal waitstaff so that the dishes could be served to the judges blind.

From what I've read the contestants will be drawing knives for a color, the food will be served on a plate rimmed with the same color so it's a blind tasting.

I don't remember how the waitstaff is being chosen but I guess it's either the waitstaff being randomly assigned each time or they are assigned a color which they stay with throughout the season.

Likewise with Top Design, when you're designing a space for someone to live/work in, the only thing that's going to matter in the real world is how happy your clients are. If your client wants their office to be a hideous combination of lime and eggplant, it doesn't matter if those are "good" color choices or not, those are the colors you're going to use.

exactly. I was really annoyed at one of the kids' room judging, where the kid kept saying "I love it, it's exactly what I wanted", but the judges were complaining that it didn't look like a kid's room and marked the designer down for it. The client was over the moon, isn't that the important part?

I'm trying to think what the waiter paired with the winning chef could possibly win, though? (Other than cash.)

I would imagine it's just cash. The way that the carpenter on Top Design got a couple of grand when his designer won.

Changes are that NONE of the judges do a walk-through - all the judging is blind. Also, Ted Allen has been added to the cast. . . sadly, as a judge not a mentor.

This is the only show that still doesn't have a mentor, right? That's always bothered me about the show. I really think they need someone walking through the kitchen doing the Tim Gunn thing.

The way that the carpenter on Top Design got a couple of grand when his designer won.

At the time, I thought that was because they must have decided NOT to do a "fan favorite" award, but in retrospect I can't remember if they ever do that the first season of a new show. I liked it, though. The carpenters worked their asses off.

On that last challenge, maybe, but we didn't see enough of them to really know who was okay and who wasn't.

I think I'll miss the kitchen walk-through, but I love the blind judging. That could get very interesting.

So wait, on American Idol, both the finalists AND the people who wrote the song are all from Seattle? Crazy.

OK, cereal: God forbid Blake wins and that has to be his first single.

And Chris Daughtry doesn't seem to have rocker guy eye makeup on, it looks like Carmindy's Five-Minute Face! t /crossover