Food Network Star

Twelve hopefuls come to LA to compete for their own Food Network show. Their celebrity mentors help them prepare to audition, and each finalist makes a tape and a dish to present to Bob Tuschman, Susie Fogelson and a focus group.

Finalists must create the best burger of their lives and present it to 100 burger enthusiasts. The fans decide whose burger they want to try, based on the live-demo presentations.

A Food Network Star must take any combination of ingredients to new culinary heights. Each finalist identifies an exotic ingredient and the top two join Alex Guarnaschelli as judges while the rest battle it out Chopped style.

The movie theater experience is being transformed with luxury cinemas popping up all over. Divided into teams of three, the finalists must create a menu and a movie trailer for a focus group of movie fans.

Special guest Terrence Jenkins, from E! News, will host the finalists as they do live cooking demos -- with some curve balls. Then the finalists participate in 4th of July Live, a one-take interactive show.

Finalist come up with products representing their unique brands and styles. Then they must create, package and pitch them to a panel of successful food executives from Target, Kellogg's and Kraft, who will decide the winners.

The finalists must be adventurous onscreen and in the kitchen. Each must use an unusual ingredient in a dish to auction off. The better the presentations, the higher the bids; the chef whose dish fetches the highest price is safe.

In teams, the finalists film a three-minute "food story show" about a pizza joint and a doughnut shop. Guest judges from The Hollywood Reporter screen and critique the shows; the least successful team lands in the bottom three.

A Food Network Star must be able to offer solutions for any culinary situation. Robert Irvine leads an "impossible" challenge: to rehabilitate a restaurant's failing or outdated dishes. The least successful finalist is sent home.

The final four get to pitch a show to Food Network. Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson are back to choose the final three, based on the finalists' presentations, which will be made into pilots directed by past winner Guy Fieri.

America has voted for the next Food Network Star. Before the winner is revealed, the finalists are back in the studio, and Bobby, Alton and Giada share favorite memories. Then it's time to reveal the new Food Network Star.