Frank Mirando Advances to Top Five

This week, Holtsville native and competing chef, Frank Mirando decided to imitate the television show he's featured on. Master Chef took itself off the air these last two weeks to avoid competition with the Olympics, and Mirando took himself off the chopping block to avoid competition in the elimination challenge.

Last night Mirando captained the Blue Team, which consisted of men: David Martinez and Joshua Marks, to go head-to-head with Becky Reams' Red Team of Monti Carlo and Christine Ha. Both teams were challenged with essentially running "Hatfield's" an upscale, Michelin Star-rated restaurant in Los Angeles.

Mirando's team fell apart at the beginning and despite eventually plating excellent food, were never able to recover from long wait-times and a disorganized kitchen. The judges awarded the Red Team as the winner and sent them up to the balcony while the boys were left to face an elimination Pressure Test.

But in a huge twist, Mirando was given the opportunity to choose one member of his team (including himself) to be safe from elimination. After first theoretically offering that he'd give Joshua the free pass, he went back on his admission and took the parachute himself. The move ignited Joshua's motivation to knock Frank out of the competition.

He will get that chance next week, as he went head-to-head against David Martinez and beat him in the Pressure Test, a challenge to cook three filet mignon at three perfectly different temperatures. David was sent home to Chicago, but not before judge Graham Elliot told him a job was waiting at one of Elliot's two restaurants in Chicago. In tears, Martinez left the kitchen, predicting that Mirando would win the contest outright.

Mirando is now one of five contestants left competing for the title. Master Chef airs on Fox on Mondays and Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST.