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Hell's Kitchen S21 Power Rankings (Pre-Game: Top 16)

Sep 29, 2022 by PowerRankings101

A new season of Hell’s Kitchen is amongst us, and since I wasn’t able to much (if any) research ahead of time, here are my thoughts on the chefs AFTER the signature dish challenge. I paused it directly after signature dishes, so these rankings will be based off first impressions from that.

18. Nicole Gomez- Nicole has first boot written all over her. The playboy mansion stuff doesn’t necessarily work against her, but the edit clearly made it out to be a joke, and her using pre-made pasta and canned tomatoes was the nail in the coffin. An awful dish that signifies that she is clearly the blue team’s weak link.

17. Ileana D’Silva- Her risotto was bad, but still scored a 2 not a 1, so I don’t know if that’s enough for me to feel the least bit confident in her. Unfortunately, I’m not that confident regardless because she was clearly a mess throughout the challenge and even came across as one of the most inexperienced in the small comments she made before they even started cooking. If there’s gonna be a first boot for the young squad, it’ll likely be her.

16. Sommer Sellers- Sommer had the weakest dish of the day next to Nicole, but still had a good enough winning presence to put her above someone like Ileana who just seems out of her element. I still have little faith in Sommer though. She talks about Atlantic City being close to home, but that is no indication of anything other than convenience.

15. Alyssa Osinga- Alyssa and Vlad are already butting heads from the opening challenge. Not a good sign, especially when she was clearly the weaker chef of the two.

14. Abe Sanchez- Abe’s dish wasn’t awful, but not great either. He was also shown in the preview arguing with someone on the OTHER team, which can’t bode well for his leadership chances. I just don’t feel too confident with Abe. He may survive a few weeks, but after that, I’m not so sure.

13. Billy Trudsoe- Billy has been shown in a lot of the preview, probably because of his personality. But I don’t know how much to read into that. This could mean he’s here for a while. Or, he’s a huge character for the small amount he IS there. I’m leaning toward the latter.

12. Alejandro Najar- Like Billy, Alejandro was on the preview a lot. But I don’t necessarily get any sort of strong vibes from him either way as a contender in this competition.

11. Brett Binniger-Schwartz- Brett didn’t blow me away, but he also didn’t disappoint. Of all his team members, he seems to stand out the least. All I remember about him is that he has pink hair. That doesn’t necessarily fare great on these rankings because I’m sure if he was the winner, he’d have a more impactful start.

10. Cheyenne Nichols- Cheyenne seemed to be an early contender until her dish was actually presented and seemed a bit lackluster. But in terms of teamwork and communication, I have a lot more faith in Cheyenne than a lot of other people on her team, so that’s the reason why I think she’ll make it a good portion of the way through the competition.

9. O’Shay Lolley- I didn’t know if the orange soda collard greens would be a hit or a miss. Clearly, it ended up scoring him lower. But his dish itself was good enough to still inspire enough confidence in me to put him higher up than some of his other team members.

8. Tara Ciannella- Tara has a great story and clearly knows how to cook. My only worry for her is how she’ll be when put into the high pressure kitchen environment. If she can ace that, she’ll be much higher on the list next week.

7. Charlene Sherman- We didn’t see nearly enough of Charlene, but from what I saw, I liked her energy. Her dish got a big ol’ 4, which is a good sign. One of the strongest blue team members.

6. Mindy Livengood- Mindy, like Charlene, wasn’t a huge focus, but put up a good dish. So she remains right about in the same spot.

5. Vlad Brianstev- Vlad is a team player, but may just be a tad TOO eager to the point where he’s already getting on people’s nerves. But the kid can cook, and that’s why I think he’ll be here pretty deep into the season, even if he ends up being a villain figure.

4. Alex Belew- Alex started with a strong 5 for his salmon dish. Alex seems like a super humble guy, and very likable. My heart broke when he talked about losing his restaurant due to covid, and I do see that being a big storyline for him this season. I’m confident right now that he’ll be an early frontrunner, and may be there for black jackets (though it’s a tad too early to fully tell if he’s got that killer instinct)

3. Sakari Smithwick- Sakari clearly stood out as the favorite after this first challenge, since his dish got his team the win. That being said, the frontrunner sometimes loses steam as the season goes on, which is why I keep him just short of the final two. He’s still super promising, though.

2. Dafne Mejia- Dafne is a sleeper to win. She was a huge focus on the cooking side of things, impressing Chef Christina with her Italian roots, and getting a bunch of confessionals speaking to the camera. But when it came to tasting her dish, her signature dish segment was brushed through a bit quickly, making me a little less confident in her WINNING chances. But for all the red team members, she definitely screamed “front runner” for me. She’d be my winner pick had she had more of a focus when actually presenting her dish to Chef Ramsay.

1. Zeus Gordiany- Zeus is immediately a favorite of mine. He came out the gate strong with a great comment about being “young at heart.” As an executive chef, he’s clearly got more experience than mostly anyone, and his dish proved to be strong. Serving Chef Ramsay Bangers & Mash is a risk, and he pulled it off. I have no idea if old or young will prevail, but the guy who claims he’s an old guy with a young soul may just have the balance to win it all.

It’s WAY too early to get a full grasp on any of this. But I do think, judging by these signature dishes, I am super confident in my top 5 to do well. As for a winner pick, I’m going with the person who has the spark AND the experience.

PREDICTIONS:

Going Home- Nicole Gomez

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Hell's Kitchen S21 Power Rankings (Pre-Game: Top 16)

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