Bravo's TOP CHEF Delivers Highest-Rated Episode of Season

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Bravo Media's "Top Chef" kicked off the two-part finale with the highest-rated episode of the season-to-date among all key demos on Wednesday with over 1.7 million total viewers, up 14 percent compared to the prior week (2/13/13), according to Nielsen. The episode earned over 1.1 million adults 25-54 and 970,000 adults 18-49, up 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

Kristen's comeback from winning Bravotv.com's transmedia competition series Last Chance Kitchen landed her a spot in the final two as her ultimate redemption. In part two of the finale next Wednesday, February 27 at 10pm ET/PT, each finalist will cook the best five dishes in their culinary arsenal live in front of a studio audience that includes their friends, families and all previous nine Top Chef winners. For the first time in franchise history, it'll be the battle of the females to determine who will be crowned Top Chef... Will it be Kristen or Brooke? Hugh Acheson, Emeril Lagasse and Gail Simmons join head judge Tom Colicchio and host Padma Lakshmi.

"Top Chef" is produced by the Emmy Award-winning Magical Elves for Bravo. Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz serve as executive producers.

Bravo is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Bravo has been an NBCUniversal cable network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980. For more information, visit www.BravoTV.com.