Big News: Martie on Food Network Star Season 8
Sunday, April 8, 2012 at 10:50PM I am so thrilled and excited to finally be able to share the news with you... I've had to keep it quiet for almost a year now so excuse me for shouting but I'M ON FOOD NETWORK STAR!
Yes... it is true: I'm part of the cast for Season 8 of Food Network Star which begins Mother's Day Sunday, May 13th at 8pm Central/9pm Eastern. It has been a long journey to the cast announcement. It all started in July when I saw the casting announcement on the Food Network website. That was on a Monday night. The next day, I made the eleven hour drive to Chicago for an open casting call. More than 1,000 of us waited in line for a chance at our own Food Network television show. I was one of the last to go in to see the casting team; it must have been a very long day for them.
After a series of auditions and interviews, I was asked to audition for Alton Brown (yes, that really happened) who selected me to be part of his team for the newly formatted show. Then, in January I packed up three huge suitcases (jeans, cowboy shirts and boots take up a lot of space) and headed to New York to tape the show. There were 15 finalists selected and one of us will win our own show on Food Network on July 22, 2012.
Food Network Star 2012 is going to be a totally new format. Similar to X-Factor and The Voice, three teams of five are mentored by Food Network stars Alton Brown, Giada DeLaurentiis, and Bobby Flay. Ultimately, it is an individual competition but the mentors make it really interesting by offering their unique perspective, guidance, and direction to their star hopefuls. Here is the cast:
Season eight finalists are: Philip “Ippy” Aiona (Kamuela, HI), Judson Allen (Chicago), Martie Duncan (Birmingham, Ala.), Emily Ellyn(Orlando, Fla.), Martita Jara (San Diego), Eric Lee(Petaluma, Calif.), Yvan Lemoine (Maspeth, N.Y.), Josh Lyons(Jupiter, Fla.), Linkie Marais(North Attleborough, Mass.), Nikki Martin (West Hollywood, Calif.), Malcolm Mitchell (Washington, D.C.), Michele Ragussis (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Cristie Schoen (New Orleans), Kara Sigle (Chicago) and Justin Warner (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
In the premiere episode, the fifteen hopefuls arrive in the Food Network Starkitchen in New York City to meet Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis and Alton Brown - the culinary superstars who hand-selected them to compete on their teams. After meeting with their team leader, special guest Robert Irvine challenges the teams to their first “Star Challenge” - to create their own pop-up restaurant from the ground up, with an extremely limited budget and very little time. Each episode also features a “Producer’s Challenge,” where the contestants up for elimination each shoot a segment with their ‘Star’ mentor/producer to be presented to the selection committee in the “pitch room.” Returning judges Food Network executives Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson decide who 
Vote for me for fan favorite up to 10 times every day!stays and goes, along with a roster of guest judges scheduled to join.
I'd like to thank everyone for your support: from Facebook, to my website, to the live shows, videos, and television segments.... all of it has helped me to get here. Now, I'm very hopeful we can see it all the way through but it is going to take more than a village, it is going to take a nation. Fan favorite voting is happening now and will continue throughout the entire competition. And in a twist, the final winner will be decided by America. That's right... you and I get to vote for the final winner!
Here's the link to the Food Network Star. It will have up to the minute information on each episode plus information on each finalist.
Martie Duncan FOOD NETWORK STAR BIO VIDEO
FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK OR @MARTIEparty on TWITTER FOR BEHIND THE SCENES INFO, VIEWING PARTIES, RECIPES AND MORE!