» Spoilers and Spoiler Discussion: 11 Herbs and Spices Options

[MaylynnCarter]

<cough, cough>bullshit<cough, cough>

[PawsODoom]

Oh boy. Things are really going to get crazy now.

Funny that Gail Simmons is quoted a few times in the article.

This post has been edited by PawsODoom: Jan 30, 2007 @ 11:11 am.

[Mrs LAMB]

You forgot to post this paragraph from the main page:

Top Chef, Season Two
Yesterday, an intrepid reality tv fan found a Top Chef story on Food & Wine's server. Food & Wine prepared profiles of both Top Chef finalists in advance of the last episode so that we had a story on the winner ready to publish immediately after the season finale. Now for everyone to see, here are profiles of both finalists, Marcel and Ilan. Watch Top Chef on Wednesday, January 31 at 10PM EST to find out the real winner.

[Elphaba]

I'm not buying it either, but thank you for posting it. Still not watching or recording.

[EdithPrickley]

I call shenanigans.

[lindseyquinn]

"We were all surprised that Marcel made it to the finals," says Top Chef judge Gail Simmons of Food & Wine magazine, describing the showdown in which the chefs created riffs on classic Hawaiian recipes. "But his pineapple poi with hamachi poke bound with xantham gum and his deconstructed salmon lomi lomi topped with tomato foam made him a shoo-in to get to the last round. The dish was modern and very molecular gastronomic, but it was also delicious."

That sounds like the fakest fake quote that ever faked.

[Agnes Gooch]

They had too much lead time from when the finale was shot to require having two articles in the hopper. I am a print journalist who works with both newspapers and magazines, so I know what's necessary vis-a-vis deadlines. You prepare two versions when it's breaking news on a tight publishing deadline (like elections). This is not breaking news with a tight turnaround.

Also, there is no bio listed for the author, as there was with the other profile. This was clearly done on the fly last night, right there in the F&W offices.

[OmahaMtLion]

As I posted before, I think it's within the realm of possibility that they had two stories ready to go and someone just screwed up and the Ilan went public by mistake. Or that they're deliberating trying to create suspense, given that the show has leaned away from Ilan recently. I know I'm moderately interested in the finale again now.

ETA:

They had too much lead time from when the finale was shot to require having two articles in the hopper. I am a print journalist who works with both newspapers and magazines, so I know what's necessary vis-a-vis deadlines. You prepare two versions when it's breaking news on a tight publishing deadline (like elections). This is not breaking news with a tight turnaround.

Also, there is no bio listed for the author, as there was with the other profile. This was clearly done on the fly last night, right there in the F&W offices.

The tight turnaround is from the finale airdate to the print deadline and possibly not wanting to let more people than necessary (i.e., the reporters writing the articles) know who the winner was. The lack of a bio could just be because this writer is a staff writer, not a free-lancer, which I seem to recall the other one being. Look, it could be total bullshit, but there is still a slim possibility that Marcel won and someone let the cat out of the bag, intentionally or unintentionally, on a false Ilan win.

This post has been edited by OmahaMtLion: Jan 30, 2007 @ 11:18 am.

[pabstlulu]

Oh UGH. I cry bullshit as well. They had plenty of time to post the Marcel interview once the Ilan blundering took place. If they had the Marcel interview already done, why didn't they do damage control immediately?

Nope, they probably had some intern throw something together last night. But who knows. Maybe I'm full of shit.

[carmelized]

I'll bet they scrambled to write that story last night, to try to cover their asses. We'll see. The only way there's any truth to this is if Marcel ends up winning. Otherwise, I'll always believe the the real story was accidentally leaked, them this one was deliberately leaked to get people to tune in tomorrow night.

[PawsODoom]

The article on Marcel seems more like "fluff" and that it was hastily put together, especially with the "quotes" from Gail--why her? Why not Tom C? Interesting that she works for F&W. Hmmm...

[Aunt Shelly]

They had too much lead time from when the finale was shot to require having two articles in the hopper. I am a print journalist who works with both newspapers and magazines, so I know what's necessary vis-a-vis deadlines. You prepare two versions when it's breaking news on a tight publishing deadline (like elections). This is not breaking news with a tight turnaround.

Also, there is no bio listed for the author, as there was with the other profile. This was clearly done on the fly last night, right there in the F&W offices.

Not to mention that there's no "I had lunch with Marcel at blah blah restaurant, and this is what he had to say" like Ilan's. This interview seems much less personal and forced.

Oh, and the fact that the only TC person they interviewed was Gail? And we aren't learning much of anything new about Marcel that hasn't already shown up in other interviews online?

[Elphaba]

I Googled Kate Krader and found references that she is a senior editor at F&W. Would a senior editor write such a piece? Was the author of Ilan's peice a senior editor?

I wouldn't believe it no matter what. As has been pointed out, there was never a need to prepare two versions. Though I bet next time, they'll prepare two, just to have one ready to go in case someone screws up again and posts the winner's.

[Honzo Steel]

You are not going to believe what's out there now. I just popped by and they've got links to twin winner profiles up on the home page. Here's the Marcel one:

This is what we call "damage control"

I would just like to state for the record that I am not buying it.

Wow! This is just like the movies. Roxie Hart Guilty. Roxie Hart Not Guilty. Superman Dead. Superman Lives.

[Superant]

I call donkeydicks.

We have either borne witness to the greatest TV swindle of all time or the greatest TV fuck up of all time.

Ok - we're all watching the finale now, kids. We have to see what happens and how they spin this one.

Maybe it's like the movie "Clue," with multiple endings. One, where Ilan wins. One, Marcel wins. Another, Tom C executes everyone by firing squad.