Collections from Irina, Carol Hannah and Althea

Last night's finale saw major sniffles, a minor meltdown from Tim, a made-up runway show and maybe some cheating? (It was also brought to you by the letter 'M', apparently.)

Last night saw, perhaps, Top Chef's most difficult challenge: the remaining five challengers had to participate in a shortened version of Bocuse d'Or, an international "Food Olympics" for chefs. (That's really all I know about it, admittedly, so Wikipedia away!)
Each competitor had to prepare an elaborate, technically impressive platter of a protein and two creative, intricately-presented garnishes for a panel of 12 judges.
You could tell that it was a doozy of a challenge - because everyone made mistakes:

There's no denying that the Voltaggio Brothers on the current season of "Top Chef" are talented.

They are also pretty arrogant, and at any given moment, act like they want to beat the crap out of each other.

Tell us who you think would win in a fist fight between Bryan and Michael (and why) and we'll give someone a copy of Season 5 of "Top Chef" on dvd. Suitable for regifting! You can post here or email me. Beatdown entries taken till noon (EST) Thursday (November 19). 

"Top Chef" airs tonight on Bravo at 10pm. Go Kevin. 

As we near the "Top Chef" finale and reflect on this season's wealth of strong personalities (aka "crazy people"), we're thinking how much we'd love to see some of the soapy drama going on behind the scenes in Las Vegas.

You can help us fantasize by sending your own plot summary for a Lifetime-style movie starring the angry, competitive Voltaggio Brothers, the verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown Jen, the much-despised motormouth Robin (always in our hearts!), and Kevin the kindly king of pork.

You can even throw in Padma and Tom if you like.

Before I recap this week's episode, I must offer a confession: Top Chef is making me fat.

It's not difficult to figure out why: watching a show about delicious food is akin to fast-food commercials - external hunger pangs trigger immediately, and within a few minutes (seconds), I'm craving all sorts of culinary delights I can't even begin to pronounce. There's all sorts of science behind this.

Last night got out of hand, though. After having dinner around Glee-time (I was trying to take preventative measures by stuffing myself before the show), I lost my willpower right about when I saw Padma and guest judge/food vixen Nigella Lawson indulging in breakfast while wearing plush white robes in a hotel room. So I ordered pizza. Just for me. Heinous. I didn't eat the whole thing, mind you, but the fact that I can't even be trusted enough to watch a television show when I'm full without ordering food is something that concerns me. Perhaps I'm not the only one out there with this problem.

We put up with so much, don't we?

In this case I'm speaking of how we put up with establishments that give so-so service but we keep going because it's the closest place or it's cheapest place or we really like somebody who works there.

But don't you just wish they would get it together?

That's why I love Bravo's Tabatha's Salon Takeover.

If you've been watching Bravo's "Flipping Out" this season, you know there has been a lot of turnover in Jeff Lewis' design business and also in his life.

Around the middle of the season, Jeff believed he had discovered that his longtime best friend and business partner Ryan Brown had been stealing business from him. Jeff eventually confronted Ryan (he denied any wrongdoing) and the two ended their professional relationship.

Tuesday night's reunion show was our chance to see if any of those fences had been mended since the taping of the season finale (which showed Jeff attending -- and paying for -- a birthday party for Ryan's daughter).

Sadly, fences were not only unmended, they were essentially trampled and set afire Tuesday night.

Comedian Kathy Griffin, the two-time Emmy-winning star of Bravo's "My Life on the D-List," was scheduled to do a show at the DPAC back in April, but had to cancel due to illness. That canceled show was rescheduled for this Friday, October 16.

We talked to Kathy back in April about her upcoming trip to Durham. She had some very nice things to say about Clay Aiken, and also some warnings about anyone foolish enough to try to bring kids to what she described as "an adults-only evening of swearing and general negativity."

So get a babysitter and enjoy the off-color-term-for-part-of-the-male-anatomy jokes. 

The third season of Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing" debuts tonight, but since Triangle cable viewers didn't have Bravo during MDL's first two seasons, the show can be a new and somewhat horrifying experience. At least to start with.

In the first five minutes of the season premiere, I had decided that I despise the show's three soulless stars, and that there was no way I could even finish the episode. But once I had my gag reflex under control and my eyes stopped hurting from all that rolling, two funny things happened: First, I became mesmerized by Chad's phenomenally intimidating hair. Second, I found myself actually liking this show about three hipster real estate agents in Beverly Hills.

There's no mistaking that they are all (L-R above: Madison, Josh, and Chad) impossibly and infuriatingly smug. But these self-assured little a-holes are also very good at what they do -- which is making gobs of money off high-end California real estate. And doing it with style. 

Bravo has just announced nationwide casting calls for the new season of their hit show, "Top Chef."

The closest location to us is Washington, DC, which isn't far at all. We've got so many great chefs and aspiring chefs in the triangle, surely someone here will try out for the show. (If you do, let us know!!!). 

The Washington casting call is November 4 at  Occidental Grill & Seafood at the Willard InterContinental Hotel.

Here's the full information from Bravo.

Good luck, chefs!