The Next Food Network Star Shines Bright Beginning Sunday, June 1st at 10 PM ET/PT

NEW YORK, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Next Food Network Star is back this summer with a star-studded fourth season on Food Network. This season Bobby Flay takes a seat with the selection committee full-time and the finalists are put through the ringer to prove that they can take the cake (and the pizza, and the lobster, and the potato salad) to be the last chef standing and winner of his-or-her own Food Network show. The series kicks off with a few friendly Food Network faces on Sunday, June 1st at 10pm ET/PT.

"What's unique about The Next Food Network Star is that having top culinary chops is only half the battle," said Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production. "If you can't find the winning formula to deliver first rate creative food, a unique culinary point of view, and star charisma week after week, you're going home. This year's finalists are absolutely the most talented and fiercely competitive we've ever had on the show."

The 10 finalists include: Nipa Bhatt (Victoria, MN), Jennifer Cochrane (Woonsocket, RI), Lisa Garza (Dallas, TX), Adam Gertler (Philadelphia, PA), Cory Kahaney (New York, NY), Shane Lyons (Colorado Springs, CO), Aaron McCargo Jr. (Camden, NJ), Kelsey Nixon (North Ogden, UT), Kevin Roberts (San Diego, CA), and Jeffrey Vaden (White Plains, NY).

This season's finalists are put to the test with complex challenges that determine their culinary competence and on-screen star potential. Challenges include a late night race through the streets of Manhattan, creating easy versions of complicated dishes for the staff of Bon Appetit magazine, teaming up with girl scouts to create healthy meals and cooking under the bright lights on the Las Vegas strip.

Throughout June and July, the selection committee, aided by a rotating cast of remarkable guest stars including Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown, Cat Cora, Sandra Lee, Gina and Pat Neely, Masaharu Moriomto, Tyler Florence, Michael Symon and Season Two winner Guy Fieri, will narrow the field down until the finale. This season, the selection committee will select the winner and he-or-she will be revealed during the series' finale on Sunday, July 27th at 10pm ET/PT and will receive a six-episode show that will premiere in August 2008. The Next Food Network Star is produced by CBS EYE too Productions.

Fans of The Next Food Network Star can make their voices heard, by logging on to http://www.foodnetwork.com/Star and participating in the network's first-ever "fan favorite" vote! Starting Monday, June 2nd, viewers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite contestants throughout the season. The finalist with the most votes will be crowned the "fan favorite" and will win assorted prizes.

FOOD NETWORK (http://www.foodnetwork.com/) is a unique lifestyle network and Web site that strives to be way more than cooking. The network is committed to exploring new and different ways to approach food -- through pop culture, competition, adventure, and travel -- while also expanding its repertoire of technique-based information. Food Network is distributed to more than 96 million U.S. households and averages more than seven million Web site users monthly. With headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Knoxville, Food Network can be seen internationally in Canada, Australia, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Monaco, Andorra, Africa, France, and the French-speaking territories in the Caribbean and Polynesia. The E.W. Scripps Company , which also owns and operates HGTV (http://www.hgtv.com/), DIY Network (http://www.diynetwork.com/), Great American Country (http://www.gactv.com/) and FINE LIVING (http://www.fineliving.com/), is the manager and general partner.