Ten years after Survivor first aired, the craze of reality-competition still hasn't plateaued in terms of sheer ingenuity or fervor. What's just begun, however, is formal appreciation of the reality-competition host. The Emmys began awarding reality emcees only in 2008, meaning an entire televised profession is unaware of its greatest practitioners. That's why Movieline is stepping in to rank the 10 greatest reality-competition hosts working today, from chef skewerers to tribal council tribunals. Our No. 1 gives an unforgettable performance.
10. Padma Lakshmi
When Lakshmi took over Katie Lee Joel's role as Top Chef empress in season two, the world sighed satisfactorily into its truffle mac-'n-cheese. Padma's a smooth-talking critic and game manipulator of whimpering sous-chef fates.
9. Cat Deeley
The So You Think You Can Dance hostess never wavers in her slick enunciation and competitor sympathies. In fact, the one label Deeley always warrants is "dependable." Now that she's added hosting gigs on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and GSN's 20Q to her canon, she's primed to vault further into America's need for solid masters of ceremonies.
8. Tyra Banks
"You're still in the running towards becoming America's Next Top Model" is Ginsbergian doggerel compared to other reality trademarks, but Tyra consistently makes long-winded catchphrases and judgments work. Now in it's 344th cycle (approx.), America's Next Top Model needs Tyra if its going to maintain the patina of believability that coats this sheer, hollering insanity.
7. Phil Keoghan
Keoghan's man's-manliness punctuates The Amazing Race with an aloof touch. Phil's not greeting you with unicorn whinnies and ice cream trucks when you find him at Angkor Wat -- he nods like a lieutenant colonel and grants a terse acknowledgment of a job well done. He reminds you that you're a fighter -- not just a camera-ready blubberer with spinoff potential.
6. Gordon Ramsay
Hosts like Gordon Ramsay who hate most contestants are divine -- and that's just the amuse bouche. Gordon Ramsay's towel-slamming totalitarianism makes Hell's Kitchen an endorphin blitz for the home viewer, as well as a hefty slice of the underworld for the competing chefs. Delectable always.
5. Ryan Seacrest
Season nine of American Idol marks the year Seacrest went dada in his vaudevillian ringmaster duties. He only gets stranger. One of these days he'll arrive onstage with newspaper clippings tacked to his face and a urinal worn as a sash. But the breaches of Simon Cowell's personal space, odd personal questions to contestants, and slow-dances in the aisle don't take away from his appealing, anachronistic approach.
4. Heidi Klum
No one looses a catchphrase like the Project Runway doyenne: "Let's start the show," "You're out," "We question your taste level," and "Auf wiedersehen" would sound cloying and clunky coming out of any other host's mouth. With Heidi, they're tart darts. And she's got critical skills to boot. This season's highlight: Her dismissive harangue at designer Amy Sarabi's "hair bowl" look: "It looks like a cat in a baby sling."
3. Tom Bergeron
The former Hollywood Squares hosts adds Mentadent whites and Sajak-ian cynicism to Dancing with the Stars's runtime. After years of parrying Caroline Rhea, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bruce Vilanch, perhaps Bergeron is the only man suited to rein in the whippoorwill carnality of Bruno Tonioli.
2. Jeff Probst
The Survivor's hosts blogs alone earn the man a high ranking, aside from this two consecutive Emmy wins for Best Reality-Competition Host. But Jeff Probst loves the game for all its petty mechanics with just the right levels of commitment and detachment.
1. RuPaul
Why, I'll be. This list comes just before tonight's two-and-a
-half-hour conclusion of RuPaul's Drag Race. Fancy, Movieline! Not only does Ru exhibit age-old emcee confidence, but he's is a tremendous performer, mentor, truth-teller, and fearless authoritarian. After years of reality-competition hosts who simply move the plot along, RuPaul imbues each challenge and judging with affection and brass. Everything about his presence and panache works -- enough to make you realize you better too. Hey Emmys, to reverse RuPaul's closing bon mot: If you can't love an impeccable television figure like Rupaul, how the hell are you gonna love yourself?