Friday's Unscientific Poll: Bake Off 2019 Final + Day 5 of 30: Juvenile Scarlet Ibis

[nanila]

Close-up of a juvenile scarlet ibis in the rainforest exhibit in the Universaeum, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Aaaaaand since we're now at the final, I would like your predictions for this year's Bake Off winner. Not that I'm terribly invested given that ALL MY FAVOURITES ARE GONE and only boring people are left.

Poll #22803 Bake Off 2019: The Final

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 16

Who do you think will win Bake Off 2019?

David
0 (0.0%)

Steph
10 (62.5%)

Alice
0 (0.0%)

I don't really care any more
6 (37.5%)

Is it clear that performance in the technical is meaningless after both Helena and Rosie were eliminated in a week they won it?

Yes
15 (100.0%)

Yes, I am bitter.

Comments

[redsixwing]

What a pretty bird! Look at those fluffy cheeks and the dappled feathers.

I know nothing about Bake Off except it's like Cake Wars with nice people. Sounds fun.

[nanila]

Those ibises were very attractive and friendly birds. :)

I have not been as invested in this year's crop of Bake Off competitors (especially finalists) as in previous years but I still enjoy the show.

[calissa]

What a stunning photo!

[nanila]

Thank you! I was very pleased with the way it turned out as I was standing on a slippery walkway trying to lean out of the way of hordes of other visitors and calling to Keiki to be careful when I took it.

[antisoppist]

I am just satisfied that I predicted the final three in your last poll.

[nanila]

So you did! Almost everyone picked Steph and David but the third one should have been Rosie was a varied selection.

[sfred]

That is a beautiful picture.

[nanila]

Thank you. I was really pleased with it, especially since I was using my telephoto and not my macro lens.

[liseuse]

Of the remaining bakers, I think David is my favourite but it's not a choice I make with any great enthusiasm. Alice annoys me for no real reason, and Steph is fine. I warmed to Rosie, so was sad to see her go, but not Henry and Michael levels of sad.

[nanila]

I loved Rosie. Her commentary and reactions to things were deeply endearing to me.

I suspect Alice of being secretly very bitchy but I have no televisual evidence for this. I just...don't trust the persona I see there. It is likely that this is totally unfair.

[liseuse]

Rosie annoyed me slightly in the first few episodes and then I started to get really fond of her and her delightful commentary and repartee with Noel.

I am with you on your Alice reaction. There's just something about her on-screen persona that I find slightly suspect.

[emelbe]

Both David and Alice remind me of people with whom I have tenuous relationships so that's been an adventure all season. (Nevermind that I want to mug Alice and steal her hair. And her teeth.)

I loved Rosie too and was so sad (and angry) when she was eliminated. She was the only one who I even knew what she did for a living. But I'm also irritated that I knew because Noel used it to troll her all season.

I'm getting the impression that the producers have told Noel to turn up his messing with the contestants and I'm (1) really not enjoying it and (2) not enjoying the form it's taking.

To sum up: Ugh.

[nanila]

It's not been the best series. It's probably not the contestants' fault either for seeming boring, as we know so little about them. We used to get all these fun little vignettes woven in as the series went along, but this time, almost nothing, and that sucks out a lot of the joy from watching them. At least for me, but I don't think I'm alone. The lack of attention to building an emotional connection between the bakers and the audience also heightened the effect of Noel being deliberately irritating and provocative with the bakers.

[major_clanger]

The discussion of GBBO over on Metafilter has featured increasing levels of misgivings about this season, both in terms of the odd decisions about who goes and the approach of the presenters. In particular Noel - having initially overcome a lot of people's reservations when he joined the show - seems to be less and less supportive of, and more and more annoying to, many of the bakers. That may be editing, it may be direction he's getting, but it really is a contrast with the days of Mel and Sue. (One of the reasons I was so sad to see Helena go this year, apart from her amazingly mad bakes, was that she clearly brought out the best aspects of Noel's approach to presenting.)

[nanila]

Well, thanks (I think?!) for making me fall down the rabbit hole of those metafilter posts. I do miss seeing more of Sandi being lovely with the bakers, and part of the reason I feel so detached from this year's crop of bakers is that we know so little about them compared to other years.