Kenny kicked off Top Chef? How real is reality TV...

I've been a fan of Top Chef from the beginning and am not naive enough to think that there isn't some calculation going on at judge's table. Of course, they want to keep the contestants who provide spice to the show. How else would you explain Steven the Sommelier surviving so long? How many of us tuned in each week just to see what annoying thing he would do? Remember Tiffany, the uber-obnoxious Vegas chef? Yes, she was one damn good chef but there's no doubt she hung around because she made for good TV. Reality TV wouldn't be worth watching without dramatic players. But last night Top Chef may well have jumped the proverbial shark from reality competition show to manipulated-Real World-style-staged TV. How else to explain the elimination of Kenny? Fine that the judges didn't want to eliminate Alex from the winning team. even though he probably should've been booted when he stole the pea puree. But keeping Amanda over Kenny? Especially when every judge said Amanda's steak dish was terrible. Kenny's dishes may not have fared well either, but over the course of the competition he has definitely demonstrated more skills in the kitchen. Amanda spent much of the beginning of the competition in the bottom and only made it this far by luck not skill. I think they got rid of Kenny because he was boring. Other than criticizing Angelo, he doesn't bring much drama and that made him expendable. I'm not writing the show off yet but if the pea-puree stealer Alex or the novice Amanda isn't voted off soon, I may just pack my knives and go.