So last night the best reality show on television came to an end for this season. It was down to the final two -- perhaps there was a little controversy, perhaps one of the other contestants should have been there in some viewers' minds -- but on this program, the final two gave it their all in a stunning performance to see who would go home with the prize.

? Not hardly. Top Chef, my friends. Harold versus Tiffani. Even keel versus firebrand.

And in this finale, there were no gimmicks -- it was just, as was said on the show, two chefs going knife to knife, trying to cook a five-course dinner that would impress regular judges Chef Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, hostess Katie Lee Joel, primary guest judge Dr. Melfi (whose "Bracco"-label wines had to be paired with every course), Top Chef semi-regular Hubert Keller (of San Francisco's Fleur de lis), Drew Nieporent (apparently some restaurant magnate), Chef Michael Mina, and Dana Cowin, the editor-in-chief of Food & Wine Magazine (gee, you think Gail resented having to eat with the boss?). So, each contestant had to prepare five courses for nine people (eight judges plus Katie Lee Joel's puppeteer).

If this sounds a little "by the numbers" to you, we should mention that the delightfully bitchy undercurrent that the whole series has had was present -- the four runners up (Miguel, STEPHEN!!!!!, Lee Anne, and just-eliminated Dave) had to be divided up to work as sous chefs for the finalists. But how to divide them? Chef Tom asks for preferences. Lee Anne wants to work for Harold. Stephen claims he wants to work for Tiff, but we think he's lying. Miguel wants to work for Harold. Dave wants to work for Harold.

Why did Stephen lie? Well, let's face facts: he's a bit of an attention hog, so he probably figured he'll have more input with Tiff than Harold. He's a bit of a contrarian, and he knew that he'd stand out by being the only one to volunteer for Tiff's team. Finally, to his credit, our boy Stephen loves a good challenge and loves to complicate/overcomplicate.

So, Harold is allowed to take two of the three that have asked to be on his team. He picks Lee Anne straight up and has Dave (who called Tiff a "bitch") and Miggy (who referred to her as a "snake" and then make hissing noises) pick knives to see who will round out his team. Whoever got knife #1 was on H's team. It was Miguel.

Tiffani, through gritted teeth, gave a half-assed "happy to have you." Shoot, at least she was trying.

American Idol