OMG they are all terrible.......what I have seen........yikes...this show so bad....in the middle I took the trash out

Yeah, I'd have to agree...

I only got in the house half way through them judging the cakes. What bothers me is that the application and online information said they were looking for amateurs to each techniques to and see how they make out; then this past week they have commercials introducing each of the contestants and all the ones I saw said they own a bakery, or are professional pastry chefs, etc. That isn't what they said they were looking for to be one the show, so I find that aspect very disappointing. I really can't say how the show itself was since I got in so late.

Just wanted to mention I'm pretty sure I saw on here a few weeks ago someone very proud they were going to be on the show. Hoping no one gets their feelings hurt by this...

I see it is on again at 11:15, so I may turn it on. Was anything taught, or were they just tested to do their own decorating?

The only thing I don't understand so far is that they said they were looking for amateur's, then ended up with professionals. Maybe they didn't get enough amateurs that would qualify???????

That guy who made whatever it was suppose to be lol, should have gone home.

Yeah....I actually watched the whole thing. Mainly out of curiosity. I auditioned for the show but didn't get selected. During the application process they said that no experience was needed. As you can see....all of the ones selected have their own bakeries. One of them has even competed in other shows. I found that to be interesting.

I guess I was checking out to "see what I was missing".

a friend of mine sent me the info to apply for this show... I'm SOOOO glad I didn't go through with it.

besides I don't think I have enough experience to even attempt a shot at it either. LOL!

Yes I saw the one man on another show.

On the other hand.Fabulous cakes..........is great...show technique for isomalt etc. I love that they show you stuff

The best part was that Fabulous Cakes follow it! Sorry Buddy, but this was not very good!

did you see that dresser for the little girl with all the girly stuff...amazing...on fabulous cakes of course hahaha

after seeing these people I would be game lol.........
and they say they got together some of Americas best bakers for this show....give me a break

That's what I thought was the best part of the show too, showcasing amateurs with talent and teaching them a new technique each week and seeing how quickly they could learn and master that new technique.

It's on again, going to go watch it.....

I'm watching it right now. I saw the very end earlier. I'm not overly impressed.

I will say that I heard ONE thing that made me feel sooooooooooooooo good:

When Buddy told them that they had 7 (or was it 8 hrs.?) to bake & decorate a celebration cake, he finished by commenting that IT WOULD NORMALLY TAKE HIM 11 HOURS TO DO THE SAME THING!!!!!!!!!!


I feel so vindicated. I thought I was crazy taking so long to do cakes from start to finish--baking to final decor.

I'm like Sally Fields at the Oscars, except I'm saying, "It's not just me! It's not just me!"

Rae

Yeah, it was pretty bad. Most of the cakes were terrible and I don't think Buddy is cut out to host this kind of show.

And really, that guy didn't think to put his cake in the freezer for a few minutes BEFORE icing it with whipped cream?

Sorry, when you go out for a televised, big-money competition you're opening yourself up to criticism and need to have a thick skin. "If you can't take the heat..."

I missed it the first time, fell asleep during the intro the second time.

Was there a theme to what the contestants had to do, or did they have free reign as to what they made?

Theresa

Elcee ~ I said the same thing!! DUH!!! I made the mistake of forgetting a cake one day. The girl sent me a text message at 12:30 to see how the cake was going. She needed it at 5:30. I was 1 1/2 hours away from home and the cake hadn't even been baked yet!! I rushed home, baked, carved, iced and decorated and delivered at 5:28. The freezer was my best friend!!!

I'm glad I'm not the only person who didn't like this show. I was afraid that I would be the only one! I eel so vindicated now.

Many of you hit on the problems with the show and casting. Dana has been on every frigging show except maybe Food Network challenge. Is it really a good show (or casting) to put him on a show with a woman who bakes from home? *shakes head*

I also disagree with the judging. IMO the wrong person won and the wrong person went home. I realize the person who SHOULD have gone home couldn't, but that Chinese New Year cake was abysmal. I didn't see anything good about it, yet the other cake at least had some great looking chicken.

I've watched enough reality competition shows to smell producer calls for "personality" reasons, and this really smells like one of them to me.

i watched out of morbid curosity...and i am dissapointed. there are a few really great cake shows out there, if they wanted to do a challenge type reality type show, i absolutely agree with everyone else here that they should all be amatures, not professionals. i'm sorry Buddy, but this type of show lacks sustance.
why don't they go to a local cake decorating competition-with real life bakers and home bakers and follow a couple of those around?

I totally agree, the oriental girl should've been the first to go especially after making such a dumb mistake of leaving cakes in the oven purposely and then having the odasity of saying that she turned the oven off when she didn't. And the guy who got immunity his cake was a joke! He should've been thrown out too!

Maybe the show will get better, but I really do think that the original concept of choosing talented amateurs, teaching them new techiques and then judging on their ability to learn it would have been much more exciting to watch.

I also have to wonder if one of these peopl who owns their own bakery is actually going to give that up to go work with buddy?????? While is bakery will always continue, his show, like all others, has a shelf life and will end one day, then what, try to reopen your bakery back home? Or do they count of these people NOT wanting to take on the job of working in Hoboken if they win?

Here is an interview with Dana's background: http://www.examiner.com/tv-in-national/cake-boss-next-great-baker-exclusive-dana-herbert-shares-love-for-cheesecake

Leading up the premiere of Cake Boss: Next Great Baker on December 6 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on TLC, were going to be taking a look at each of the contestants vying to win the grand prize of $50,000 alongside the chance to work with one of the biggest names in cake-decorating -- Buddy Valastro.

To view more exclusive interviews with the cast, click here. This time, the focus is on Dana Herbert, a 34-year old resident of Bear, Delaware.

--

Matt: So are you getting excited for the big premiere?

Dana: Definitely getting ready. I have a party on Monday, so I'm looking forward to it.


So this may be the easiest question in the world for you, but what would you say was tougher -- going through the experience or actually sitting back and watching it now?

I'd say going through the experience.


Yeah, that's what I thought. Before we get into some of the major details about the experience, let's talk about your background. So why don't you explain to everyone a little bit about how you ended up becoming a baker.

I started off working with food at McDonald's [as a teenager], and then I went from there to nursing homes and found my way into some hotels and then four and five-star hotels. Once I graduated from Delaware, I went on to culinary school.

So what are you working on now?

I'm a chef for a government agency in addition to owning my own company doing cakes and so forth.

What is it like doing culinary work for the government?

It's pretty cool. I got to work the other side of my culinary brain. I'm over a cafe and a catering operation, so we get to do some cool things with some of the dignitaries and so forth.


So how did you find out about this 'Next Great Baker' show?

I believe I was on a cake page on Facebook, and I was just going down the little fan page and I saw that there was this competition. I didn't realize at first that it was a TV show, I thought it was like a live competition.


So what did you know about 'Cake Boss' and about Buddy before all of this?

I was familiar with 'Cake Boss' and the work that they were doing. You know, I remember Buddy years ago -- he probably doesn't remember me -- I did a local cake competition before he ever was on any of the other networks. He was really working on his business and trying to get it out there.


I've been watching him, and he's really been moving, really been shaking.


Did he say anything to you?

Only that he introduced himself and that was about it, and then he did the judging. He commented on the sugar work I was doing, and said my cake was kind of cool.


What was your favorite cake?

I do a lot of cheesecakes, and I have one caramel sweet potato cheesecake that will blow your mind.


I have never had a sweet potato cake, and you're like the second person to bring this up to me.

It's funny -- I don't really like sweet potatoes, but I use them in the cheesecake and it's phenomenal.

How did you prepare for the more dramatic reality TV parts of this experience?

You got ten hungry people in a cage. Things are bound to happen. Everyone in there should be a fighter in their own way if you're going to walk into that arena. At some point, things are going to explode. It's just a matter of when.


So what was one of the toughest parts?

For the most part, I knew to keep my nerve -- you don't know who you're going to be paired up with. It's kind of the luck of the draw, but it was the best I could do. If you get stuck in a bad situation, you always do the best you can do in that situation.


So on that first day, did you start sizing up the competition right away?

It's kind of like [you want to do as much as you can], but you couldn't really look up most of their work since you didn't know who was competing. I think that as we were sitting there, the laptops started to come out. People were starting to figure out who's who and peruse different people's websites.

So you start to figure out what people's strengths are.


So what would you say is your biggest strength?

I would say I have some advanced arts skills that maybe some don't have, and I could come work with some mediums that some of them cannot. I'm [also] pretty good with structure.


So what did you think about Buddy?

I could tell from Buddy a long time ago that he was and is hungry. I can appreciate that because I see it in myself -- I do 100 hours regularly, so I can definitely empathize.


So what would you say about your time on the show as a whole?

Overall, it was one of the toughest competitions that I've been in. I've been in a couple of live TV ones, but this was definitely one of the toughest. It takes a lot of endurance to hold up this kind of show.


You learn so much, so fast, and you're picking up little tricks as you are working on your own cake. You're 'huh? That's a neat little trick,' and you file it in the mental rolodex.


... The whole time, you're constantly learning even though you're under pressure. And you're making good friends with the people you're competing with. You never know what's going to happen with one competition, and at least you know who has good skills.

Did anyone see Top Chef: Just Desserts? This was pretty much a SUPER cheap version of it for cakes. Two challenges, judge's table, the challenge set-ups and everything. Yup, a dumbed down, cheap version of Just Desserts.

I also have to say that I was surprised at the contestants as well. ANyone would HAD to have some experience to compete last night. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.

Also, I guess the commercials themselves just turned me off as well. Food fights didn't really convey the message of 'serious' bakers or competition to me. Same type of promos were done for Top Chef: All-Stars, but I think that is completely different. They were all already contestants looking for vindication. that's different on my books.

My 2 pennies worth.......

I wasnt aware that they were to take only amateur bakers, but I never did the research either. I am still disappointed when they advertised on FB for everyone to submit their cake photos and 3 lucky people would get Buddys' seal of approval. I posted numerous messages on their FB asking when the 3 would be announced, to only go back later and my post had been deleted. That is still a sore spot, but thusly I digress.

The only thing that really scorched me last night was his sisters comment; "buttercream is old school"! To each his own, but I am not a fan of fondant covered cakes. Hats off to the creators that create this art -I love looking at them and maybe one day will venture down this path. However, where is it written that my smooth buttercream procedure is out of date? I have not had one client yet to ask for a fondant covered cake. I realize Buddy came back and stated that her buttercream was better than most of the cakes covered in fondant - I agree! However, we have to remember that these folks are working under a time restraint (added stress), limited work space, limited equipment - etc. Hats off to them for even putting themselves in such a vulnerable position.

I will continue to watch and see what type of creations they come up with and also to find out what else I am doing that is "out of date". Each time I watch these shows I learn things that would help and hinder me.

I truly wish that the people on here that applied to be on the show were selected...because after last night I was convinced that not one person out of the 10 should be baking professionally.

I mean come on. A celebration cake, you should be able to whip out a 3 tiered celebration cake with your eyes closed. I couldn't believe the disasters that were presented.

And like previous posters said, who is going to leave their bakery to go work for Buddy and his crazy family?

Funny though I will keep watching because I like to think of what I would make for the challenges...and because I have no life. LOL