Ox Notes: December 10, 2009

Could this be the most absurd reality show yet? On January 4, ABC debuts the special Conveyor Belt of Love in which women chose their prospective beaus off of a moving conveyor belt. Reality Blurred proposes follow-up specials like "The Lazy Susan of Love" and "The Dry Cleaner Rack of Love."

With Survivor: Samoa winding down, EW posted odds on the remaining contestants' chances of winning. I agree that Natalie's probably the fave to win, at this point.

You've got until Friday to visit the charity auction site Clothes Off Our Backs and bid on tickets to the Dancing with the Stars 10 season premiere or a private dance lesson with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The site is also auctioning off autographed holiday items.

I'm bummed that tonight's new episode of Soundstage -- a Michael McDonald Christmas special -- isn't airing on any of the PBS stations in the Chicago region.

The Amazing Race's third place finishers, Brian & Ericka, gave interviews to People and Reality TV World.

TV Guide interviewed Top Chef Las Vegas fourth place finisher, Jennifer Carroll.

Now, on to last night's Top Chef finale. (Caution: spoilers ahead)

I thought that the editing was dishonest. Until Padma said that Michael was the winner, I was 100% positive that Bryan had won. Even Tom Colicchio wrote in his blog: "Based on how the episode was cut, it had me wondering up until the end whether my memory had failed me or not."

I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that Michael had been edited as a kind of villain all season, and no one likes to see the villain win. In a TV Guide poll taken before the finale aired, only 12% of respondents felt that Michael should win.

As a result of the way the finale was edited, Michael's victory didn't seem justified. Tom and his fellow judges, Gail Simmons and Toby Young, explained the outcome in their blogs, but only a small portion of the viewing audience reads the blogs. Everyone else is left to wonder why Bryan lost after he seemingly won two of the four rounds last night (Chef's Choice and Dessert).

I am glad that the editors included Toby's comment that Kevin may be the real star of the season. If anyone can inspire a cult following, it's Kevin, Patron Saint of Pork. He and some of his fellow castmates spent last weekend dining at his restaurant, Woodfire Grill, as part of their culinary tour of Atlanta.

Bravo's website has interviews with all of the finalists, including a Q&A with the winner and a depressing morning-after video interview with Kevin. Bryan was his usual animated self in his video, while Michael was understandably pleased in his.