Top Chef: In the end, taste is king

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:
Coming from a much-needed Quickfire win (Padma said "Welcome back"), Jennifer gained back some of her confidence and her win allowed her 30 extra minutes to prepare her platter, a salmon and caviar dish. Everything tasted good - except for the undercooked salmon. The platter was visually intriguing, Padma said, but the whole vision of the dish wasn't well thought-out.
The Volt Bros. also made some surprising mistakes. I was expecting one of them to win the challenge because this time around, elaborate, uber-fancy technique seemed to be the most important factor. Bryan's dish was largely successful - the panel of Very Important Judges were impressed with his skills - but he undercooked the lamb! (Also, how good did that orzo au grain look?)
Michael's salmon dish was supposed to be "Mediterranean" but the mix of cous cous, cauliflower, chickpeas and crab didn't really work for the judges. The platter looked good but there was "a total lack of harmony" in composition. His salmon was perfect, though, but one of the Very Important Judges had a bone in his fish. Yikes.
Eli's lamb was undercooked and imprecise.
Kevin seemed to be having a real off day. He looked seriously unkempt during the whole episode. His lamb loin was delicious but was a little "elementary," judges said. This is where I thought Kevin was going to be docked for his lack of technical skill, something the Volt. Bros proudly acknowledge every episode. (Wow, they're jerks.)
But but but - Kevin STILL wins. I'm shocked. He gets $30,000 and will represent the USA int the 2011 Bocuse d'Or challenge.
I guess, in the end, taste is king. I thought for sure that Bryan would win, but the undercooked lamb was damning.
Eli left, which I thought made a lot of sense because he's given a real uneven performance this season. That leaves Jennifer, Volt Bros. and Kevin.
The next episode will see them out of Las Vegas and somewhat more well-rested for the Top Chef finals. Now that Jennifer is back on her game, I'm not sure I can easily say she'll be the next to leave. But I still think it'll happen. From the looks of it, judging is going to be tough!