bye, Dzintra!

It was with grim satisfaction that Dad and I witnessed the departure of the dotty and diva-ish Dzintra from "The Next Food Network Star." After demonstrating a complete inability to work with her partner (Aria, who must have committed a great sin in a previous life to have been paired with Dzintra), and having created a mediocre dish whose quality failed to match her "I trained at the Cordon Bleu in Paris!" rhetoric, Dzintra was, thankfully, shown the door.

Since these episodes were doubtless filmed months ago and are being aired only now, I imagine that Dzintra today is cowering in a closet somewhere, cringing at how she appears to the American public, who are experiencing her special brand of nuttiness for the first time. But will she have learned any lessons from her experience on the show? My experience with reality-denying people like Dzintra tells me: no. She won't have learned a thing. She'll sulk a while, then it'll be business as usual.

But whatever "business as usual" might mean for Dzintra, that doesn't concern me. I can now focus on the remaining contestants without being irritated at this daffy, arrogant woman who was completely oblivious to how she appeared to everyone else.

Next up: we need to see about getting rid of Paul. He's rubbing everyone the wrong way, and he can't seem to back up his pro-chef smack talk with competent cooking. Once he's out of the picture, we'll be left with a stable of likable contestants.


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