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Reality TV justice has been served. And guess what? It turns out good guys (and girls) do sometimes finish first. Oh, if only the fate of all tired axioms rested in the hands of Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio!
But what a long, strange trip it was. Mid-season, who ever would have guessed that hometown gal Stephanie Izard would have to duke it out with Lisa in the finale to win the title of Top Chef? Even Stephanie herself says she wouldn’t have placed Lisa in the top four—at least, that’s what she told us last week.
The finale wasn’t all smooth sailing for the first female Top Chef. Our hearts sank as we watched the judges’ reaction to Stephanie’s ricotta pound cake, and for a moment, we thought it might all be slipping away. Then we remembered that this was the same woman who impressed
pastry queen Gale Gand with her wedding cake a few episodes back. How bad could it be? Certainly not any worse than the slow death-by-repetition offered by yet another banana “scallop” from Richard. (It’s a shock he didn’t serve it with ras el hanout ice cream.)
Really, it came down to the third course. Note to Lisa: When you’re serving dinner to the man behind Craftsteak, you can grunt and pout all you want, but you don’t mess with his
restaurant she told us about last week. If they don’t, we fully expect Ted Allen to be there asking his server if he can at least get a bowl of braised pistachios.
No word yet on when Season 5 of “Top Chef” will launch, or how it will possibly stack up to the double thrill of a Chicago chef winning a Chicago-based Season 4. As soon as we know more, you’ll be the next to know.

chicago.metromix.com

Gavin DeGraw describes himself as a singer-songwriter but he says it with a sour expression. That’s because these days that term evokes a sensitive pretty-boy image, while DeGraw’s ideal would have a bit more gravel and gravity, along the lines of Kris Kristofferson.
“That’s exactly how I view it,” said the 31-year-old artist, whose self-titled sophomore album debuted this week at No. 7 on the national sales chart after selling more than 66,00 copies in its first week of release. “Right now there are a lot of young men who are singer-songwriters who have this image that is a little softer than I like. I’m more comfortable with men who act like men and make music that reflects that.”
The rock-inflected “Gavin DeGraw” gives the singer his first trip to the Top 10, and his path has, like so many music stars today, been paved by television more than radio. The South Fallsburg, N.Y., native first cut through when his song “I Don’t Want to Be” was selected as the theme song to “One Tree Hill,” and his songs have popped up repeatedly on “American Idol.”
“The era of a Wolfman Jack picking up a song and making someone’s career by bringing it to a radio audience, that’s just not happening anymore,” DeGraw said. “Now you have to find different routes to your audience, and television and the Internet are the ones that seem to be working.”
That approach is working for veterans as well: Neil Diamond, boosted by his recent visit to “American Idol,” saw his latest album, “Home Before Dark,” sell 146,000 copies to claim the No. 1 spot on the chart — the first time the 67-year-old star has reached that top slot on the tally.
Also debuting this week: Toby Keith’s double-disc “35 Biggest Hits” at No. 2 (103,000 copies sold) and Clay Aiken’s “On My Way Here” at No. 4 (94,000). Josh Groban, Dierks Bentley and Luis Miguel also debuted this week with new albums, taking positions 8 through 10 on the chart.

latimes.com

of Truth’ without ‘Idol’
Top new Fox reality show averages a 4.1 in 18-49s
By Toni Fitzgerald
Roughly a third of last week’s audience for “The Moment of Truth” didn’t follow the new Fox reality show to its new, earlier timeslot last night, but even a diminished “Truth” had no trouble winning its timeslot and remaining the night’s No. 2 show behind its former lead-in and new lead-out, “American Idol.”
“Truth” averaged a 4.1 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, off 33 percent from last week’s 6.1 average at 9 p.m. behind “Idol.”
But “Truth” still easily won its timeslot, finishing 64 percent ahead of No. 2 “Deal or No Deal’s” 2.5 on NBC. The lie detector show also pulled a solid 10.4 million total viewers, bettering “Deal” by 194,000 viewers to win the timeslot.
“Truth,” the season’s top-rated new show, may have proven it can stand alone, which is always a concern for shows that are launched behind “Idol,” the No. 1 show on broadcast. “Truth” also averaged a decent 3.6 rating on a Monday night two weeks ago, where it aired in a one-time shot with “Idol” expanding to 90 minutes.
Fox led the night among viewers 18-49 with a 7.1 average overnight rating and a 19 share. NBC was a distant second at 2.6/7, ABC third at 2.1/6, CBS and Univision tied for fourth at 1.8/5, and CW sixth at 1.3/4.

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Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Feb. 11-17. Listings include the week’s ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An “X” in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (1) “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 29.96 million viewers.
2. (2) “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 24.75 million viewers.
3. (5) “The Moment of Truth,” Fox, 14 million viewers.
5. (20) “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” ABC, 13.49 million viewers.
7. (20) “Deal or No Deal” (Monday), NBC, 13.15 million viewers.
8. (X) “NBC Movie of the Week” (Sunday), NBC, 12.72 million viewers.
10. (X) “Deal or No Deal” (Thursday), NBC, 12.18 million viewers.
11. (18) “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 11.9 million viewers.
12. (X) “Fox Daytona 500 Post-Race,” Fox, 11.76 million viewers.
14. (29) “Deal or No Deal” (Wednesday), NBC, 11.07 million viewers.
15. (7) “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 10.87 million viewers.
16. (26) “Law and Order,” NBC, 10.22 million viewers.
17. (48) “Old Christine,” CBS, 9.9 million viewers.
18. (18) “Without a Trace,” CBS, 9.65 million viewers.
19. (26) “Cold Case,” CBS, 9.57 million viewers.
20. (39) “Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrieann,” ABC, 9.16 million viewers.
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is a division of CBS Corp. Fox is a unit of News Corp. NBC is owned by General Electric Co.

sfgate.com