Masterchef Australia
Encyclopedia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award
winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia
and screens on Network Ten
. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan
, chef George Calombaris
and food critic Matt Preston
serve as the show's main judges. Journalist Sarah Wilson
hosted the first season, however her role was dropped at the end of the season.
The first episode aired on 27 April 2009, and the season one finale was broadcast on 19 July 2009. The first winner of MasterChef Australia was Julie Goodwin
, a 38 year old I.T. office manager. A celebrity spin-off, Celebrity MasterChef Australia
, began airing from 30 September 2009.
Season 2 of MasterChef Australia premiered on 19 April 2010. The second season aired through the week at 7.30 pm, half an hour later than the original timeslot of the first season. The winner of the 2010 series of MasterChef was Adam Liaw
, who won by a seven-point margin over his opponent Callum Hann. Another spin-off, Junior MasterChef Australia
, began airing on 12 September 2010.
The third season of MasterChef Australia went to air in 2011. The season was won by Kate Bracks
, who defeated Michael Weldon in the series final.
The semi-finalists then compete in several challenges which test their food knowledge and preparation skills. In Season 1, the top 50 competed until 20 were left, with the final 20 progressing to the main stage of the show. From Season 2, 24 contestants progress. The contestants will then be whittled down through a number of individual and team-based cooking challenges and weekly elimination rounds until a winning MasterChef is crowned. The winner plays for a prize that includes chef training from leading professional chefs, the chance to have their own cookbook
published, and A$100,000 in cash.
MasterChef Australia airs six nights a week from Sunday to Friday. Each night features a different episode format, however some episodes modify the format slightly. The typical episode formats are as follows:
Sunday is the Challenge night. From series 3, it can range from a variety of challenges, including a Mystery Box, where each contestant is given the same box of ingredients and are to create a dish using only those ingredients. These dishes are then tasted, and a winner chosen. There can also be an Invention Test, where contestants have to invent a dish relevant to a theme using a core ingredient. There can also be Off-Site Challenges and Team Challenges, which often involve cooking for large numbers of people. The top three contestants who made the best dishes are selected by the judges, from which a winner is chosen to compete in the Immunity Challenge. After this the bottom three are revealed, who will face off in an elimination challenge the next night. In the first two series, it would always consist of a Mystery Box, where the winner was able to choose the core ingredient for the Invention Test.
Monday episodes feature the Pressure Test. The bottom three from the previous night's challenge are given a recipe for a particular dish they are to emulate in an allocated time. Once completed they are taken in to the judges to be tasted, before all three contestants are seated in front of the judges for critiquing. The judges then eliminate the contestant out of the three that performed least adequately in the test.
Tuesday episodes feature the Immunity Challenge, where the winner of the Sunday challenge competes against a guest, which can vary from a chef, apprentice, or to a home cook in a cook off. A dish by the guest is chosen by the judges, or even by the guest himself, or can sometimes be a different dish chosen by the judges, which the contestant and their opponent are to emulate. The contestant sometimes gets a head start to complete the dish before their opponent starts cooking, and sometimes gets a recipe, which the guest does not, and after the allotted time for both is finished, the dishes are presented to the judges who are for tasting and scoring out of ten. The judges are not aware which dish was made by which person, however. If the contestant's dish's score is of equal or higher than that of the guest, they are crowned the winner of the challenge. In the first season they are given a free pass to the finals week of the competition and can go home. From season 2 onwards, they receive a pin that allows them save themselves from one future elimination.
Wednesday features a Team Challenge. The contestants are split into teams of equal numbers and are given a task, and a set amount of time to complete the challenge. Tasks have included presenting a three course meal to a celebrity guest, running a restaurant for an evening or catering an event such as a birthday party or wedding. Once completed and judged the teams are given the results, which can be determined by which team the judges think did the best, or receiving the most votes or making the most money by the people the teams had to cook for, with members of the losing team facing an elimination the next night. The winning team safe from elimination receives a reward (for example lunch at a top restaurant).
Thursday is another Elimination. The two worst performing contestants from the losing team in the team challenge compete against each other in a head to head challenge to determine who will be eliminated. The loser of the challenge is then eliminated. On some occasions, all members of the losing team will be selected to compete as individuals in the elimination challenge. In the first season, a different elimination process was used. The contestants from the losing team were to choose a contestant that they each feel did not perform to their best and may have cost them the challenge. After choosing their nomination the team is called in together to announce their nominations, with the contestant with the most nominations being eliminated from the competition. If the previous challenge was an individual challenge, the bottom two contestants competed in a head to head taste test where one contestant at a time named one ingredient of a particular dish or sauce, and the first person to name an incorrect ingredient is eliminated.
Friday is the MasterClass. Here, judges George and Gary run a masterclass for the remaining contestants, which usually call back to some of the challenges from the previous week. For example, they may revisit the Mystery Box challenge and demonstrate some other dishes that could have been made or redo one of the contestants' dishes to give tips on how it could have been improved.
The Top 50 portion of the series was filmed at the Australian Technology Park
in Sydney. From the Top 20 onwards, filming was moved to a studio on Doody Street in Alexandria, Sydney. The season one finale was filmed on 2 July 2009, two and a half weeks before its actual television broadcast.
The winner was I.T. office manager Julie Goodwin
.
Other changes to Season 2 include not showing the initial auditions, with the series beginning instead with the Top 50 which were filmed at a Redfern Train Works building in Sydney, and having a Top 24 instead of a Top 20. Also, unlike Season 1, the last 45 minutes of the finale were broadcast live.
The winner was 31 year old lawyer Adam Liaw
.
was trying to sign at least one of the judges, or possibly all three of them, Network Ten
revealed that all the judges (plus new judge Matt Moran
) signed-on for season 3.
The season premiere aired on 1 May 2011. It was watched by 1.511 million viewers, rating higher in its timeslot than the Australian television.
The 2011 series was won by Kate Bracks
, who defeated Michael Weldon in the grand final.
Presenter Sarah Wilson did not return to present the show. Ten states that she was dropped because "the appropriate role for Sarah was not achievable without dramatically changing the format"., but Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston returned as judges, Calombaris and Mehigan took Wilson's presenting role. It was won by Olympic swimmer Eamon Sullivan
, who took home $50,000 for charity Swim Survive Stay Alive.
In February 2010, executive producer Mark Fennessy stated that he doubted the spin-off will return for a second season.
.
The series final was won by 12-year-old Isabella Bliss from Queensland.
and Nine's Rugby League State of Origin
broadcast. Its success is despite initial belief from critics that the series would be a dud based on the performance of previous prime time cooking shows, as well as general cynicism against a new reality show format.
The first season finale of MasterChef Australia attracted an average of 3,745,000 viewers, and peaked at 4.11 million viewers. This figure was for the last half hour of the show, titled MasterChef Australia: The Winner Announced, while the first 90 minutes of the finale averaged 3,313,000 viewers. The figure also eclipsed the show's previous high, set on the last elimination episode, of 2.36 million viewers and also surpassed the previous high for a non-sporting event (Australian Idol
s 2004 finale, which averaged in 3.35 million) since OzTAM
ratings started in 2001. It is currently the 4th highest rating television program in Australia since 2001, behind the 2005 Australian Open final between Lleyton Hewitt
and Marat Safin
, and the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final
. Ten's share for the night was 41.3%, almost 20% ahead of its nearest rival. The first season finale was the most watched television program of 2009.
The highly anticipated second season premiere of the show attracted 1.69 million viewers, peaking at 2.11 million nationwide. In general, the second season rated higher on average compared to the first season, with weekday episodes seeing a 35% increase in viewers by the midpoint of the season. The last half hour of the second season final attracted 3,962,000 viewers and 3,542,000 during the rest of the final out rating the season 1 final to become the 3rd highest rating show of all time.
, The Biggest Loser
and Project Runway Australia
that focuses more on the elimination of contestants than the food and cooking itself. Ten's programming chief David Mott admitted that using the new format was "a huge risk", while FremantleMedia's Paul Franklin has asserted that "for a commercial audience we needed to pump it up and make it bigger, a little over the top, with more drama and storytelling and a sense of theatre".
In counterpoint, the show has been described as "an antidote for cynicism" and a reflection of multicultural Australia, while the show's success has been attributed to audiences "uncomfortable with the win-at-all-cost mould of reality shows of old" and a shift in values in the face of the recent financial crisis.
Cooking school
s have reported an increase in enrolments due to the success of the series, while kitchenware retailers and upmarket restaurants have also seen increased trade. Supermarkets and specialty food retailers have reported increased demand from the public for the more unusual ingredients, such as quail, custard apple and squab, after being featured on the program. The success of the show led Ten to explore possible spin-offs such as the celebrity and junior versions, as well as one featuring professional chefs as contestants. The success of the show has also led competing networks to commission their own competitive cooking programs, such as Seven's My Kitchen Rules
and Nine's The Great Aussie Cook-Off after the first series, with reports that both networks are planning more copycat shows to air in late 2010 and early 2011.
MasterChef Australia won the award for Most Popular Reality Program at the 2010 Logie Awards
. In addition, Matt Preston won the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent for his work on the program.
Judge Matt Preston has denied that eliminations were rigged or the result of a popularity contest, and asserted that Julie had won the title because she was the better cook on the night. Goodwin herself has also asserted that her victory was not the result of rigging, insisting that the professional integrity of the three judges would be damaged if it were.
, Manu Feildel
, Guy Grossi
, Alex Herbert, Matt Moran and Andrew Honeysett, Ben O'Donoghue, Adrian Richardson, Frank Shek, Emmanuel Stroobant and Adriano Zumbo. There are also behind-the-scenes stories and culinary tips and tricks.
won the chance to have her own cookbook published. Her first cookbook is called Our Family Table and is published by Random House Australia, April 2010.
won the chance to have his own cookbook published. The book is called Two Asian Kitchens (ISBN 9781864711356) and is published by Random House Australia, April 2011. Split into two main sections – the Old Kitchen and the New Kitchen – Liaw explores recipes that he has grown up with, along with new creations.
.
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia
FremantleMedia Australia
FremantleMedia Australia is the Australian arm of FremantleMedia and was formed in 2006 by the merger of two great names in Australian television industry - Crackerjack Productions and Grundy Television, who had been both acquired by FremantleMedia....
and screens on Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan
Gary Mehigan
Gary Mehigan is an English chef, restaurateur and a judge of the Network Ten series MasterChef Australia.Mehigan also co-hosts two shows on Australia's Lifestyle Food Channel, Good Chef, Bad Chef, and Boy's Weekend and will be appearing at the 2011 Good Food & Wine Show.Mehigan trained at The...
, chef George Calombaris
George Calombaris
George Calombaris is an Australian chef and a judge of the Network Ten series MasterChef Australia. Prior to his role on MasterChef, Calombaris regularly appeared on the daytime Ten cooking show Ready Steady Cook. He owns three restaurants in Melbourne and one in Mykonos, Greece...
and food critic Matt Preston
Matt Preston
Matt Preston is a British-Australian food journalist and restaurant critic. He is best known for his role as a judge on Network Ten's MasterChef Australia and his weekly food column in the Herald Sun 'Taste' supplement...
serve as the show's main judges. Journalist Sarah Wilson
Sarah Wilson (journalist)
Sarah Wilson is an Australian journalist and television presenter most notable for presenting the first season of the competitive cooking show MasterChef Australia....
hosted the first season, however her role was dropped at the end of the season.
The first episode aired on 27 April 2009, and the season one finale was broadcast on 19 July 2009. The first winner of MasterChef Australia was Julie Goodwin
Julie Goodwin
Julie Goodwin is an Australian cook and singer who came to public attention when she won the inaugural season of MasterChef Australia in 2009, defeating artist Poh Ling Yeow in the final.- MasterChef Australia :...
, a 38 year old I.T. office manager. A celebrity spin-off, Celebrity MasterChef Australia
Celebrity MasterChef Australia
Celebrity MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show. It is spin-off of MasterChef Australia, itself an adaptation of the British show MasterChef, and features celebrity contestants...
, began airing from 30 September 2009.
Season 2 of MasterChef Australia premiered on 19 April 2010. The second season aired through the week at 7.30 pm, half an hour later than the original timeslot of the first season. The winner of the 2010 series of MasterChef was Adam Liaw
Adam Liaw
Adam Liaw is an Australian lawyer and television chef. He was the winner of the second series of MasterChef Australia, defeating student Callum Hann in the final.-Early life:...
, who won by a seven-point margin over his opponent Callum Hann. Another spin-off, Junior MasterChef Australia
Junior MasterChef Australia
Junior MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show. It is a spin-off of MasterChef Australia, itself an adaptation of the British show MasterChef, and features contestants aged 8 to 12. The first season of the show began production in July 2010 and included 50 contestants...
, began airing on 12 September 2010.
The third season of MasterChef Australia went to air in 2011. The season was won by Kate Bracks
Kate Bracks
Kate Bracks is an Australian television chef. She was the winner of the third series of MasterChef Australia.Bracks, the mother of three children, was previously a school teacher. She lives in Orange, New South Wales and attends Orange Evangelical Church...
, who defeated Michael Weldon in the series final.
Format
MasterChef Australia features a different format to that of the original British MasterChef and MasterChef Goes Large formats. Initial rounds consist of a large number of hopeful contestants from across Australia individually "auditioning" by presenting a food dish before the three judges in order to gain one of 50 semi-final places. Entrants must be over 18 years old whose main source of income cannot come from preparing and cooking fresh food in a professional environment.The semi-finalists then compete in several challenges which test their food knowledge and preparation skills. In Season 1, the top 50 competed until 20 were left, with the final 20 progressing to the main stage of the show. From Season 2, 24 contestants progress. The contestants will then be whittled down through a number of individual and team-based cooking challenges and weekly elimination rounds until a winning MasterChef is crowned. The winner plays for a prize that includes chef training from leading professional chefs, the chance to have their own cookbook
Cookbook
A cookbook is a kitchen reference that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions...
published, and A$100,000 in cash.
Episodes
MasterChef Australia is widely watched worldwide, especially in Mexico and Australia.MasterChef Australia airs six nights a week from Sunday to Friday. Each night features a different episode format, however some episodes modify the format slightly. The typical episode formats are as follows:
Sunday is the Challenge night. From series 3, it can range from a variety of challenges, including a Mystery Box, where each contestant is given the same box of ingredients and are to create a dish using only those ingredients. These dishes are then tasted, and a winner chosen. There can also be an Invention Test, where contestants have to invent a dish relevant to a theme using a core ingredient. There can also be Off-Site Challenges and Team Challenges, which often involve cooking for large numbers of people. The top three contestants who made the best dishes are selected by the judges, from which a winner is chosen to compete in the Immunity Challenge. After this the bottom three are revealed, who will face off in an elimination challenge the next night. In the first two series, it would always consist of a Mystery Box, where the winner was able to choose the core ingredient for the Invention Test.
Monday episodes feature the Pressure Test. The bottom three from the previous night's challenge are given a recipe for a particular dish they are to emulate in an allocated time. Once completed they are taken in to the judges to be tasted, before all three contestants are seated in front of the judges for critiquing. The judges then eliminate the contestant out of the three that performed least adequately in the test.
Tuesday episodes feature the Immunity Challenge, where the winner of the Sunday challenge competes against a guest, which can vary from a chef, apprentice, or to a home cook in a cook off. A dish by the guest is chosen by the judges, or even by the guest himself, or can sometimes be a different dish chosen by the judges, which the contestant and their opponent are to emulate. The contestant sometimes gets a head start to complete the dish before their opponent starts cooking, and sometimes gets a recipe, which the guest does not, and after the allotted time for both is finished, the dishes are presented to the judges who are for tasting and scoring out of ten. The judges are not aware which dish was made by which person, however. If the contestant's dish's score is of equal or higher than that of the guest, they are crowned the winner of the challenge. In the first season they are given a free pass to the finals week of the competition and can go home. From season 2 onwards, they receive a pin that allows them save themselves from one future elimination.
Wednesday features a Team Challenge. The contestants are split into teams of equal numbers and are given a task, and a set amount of time to complete the challenge. Tasks have included presenting a three course meal to a celebrity guest, running a restaurant for an evening or catering an event such as a birthday party or wedding. Once completed and judged the teams are given the results, which can be determined by which team the judges think did the best, or receiving the most votes or making the most money by the people the teams had to cook for, with members of the losing team facing an elimination the next night. The winning team safe from elimination receives a reward (for example lunch at a top restaurant).
Thursday is another Elimination. The two worst performing contestants from the losing team in the team challenge compete against each other in a head to head challenge to determine who will be eliminated. The loser of the challenge is then eliminated. On some occasions, all members of the losing team will be selected to compete as individuals in the elimination challenge. In the first season, a different elimination process was used. The contestants from the losing team were to choose a contestant that they each feel did not perform to their best and may have cost them the challenge. After choosing their nomination the team is called in together to announce their nominations, with the contestant with the most nominations being eliminated from the competition. If the previous challenge was an individual challenge, the bottom two contestants competed in a head to head taste test where one contestant at a time named one ingredient of a particular dish or sauce, and the first person to name an incorrect ingredient is eliminated.
Friday is the MasterClass. Here, judges George and Gary run a masterclass for the remaining contestants, which usually call back to some of the challenges from the previous week. For example, they may revisit the Mystery Box challenge and demonstrate some other dishes that could have been made or redo one of the contestants' dishes to give tips on how it could have been improved.
MasterChef Australia 2009
The first season of MasterChef Australia was broadcast between 27 April 2009 and 19 July 2009. Applications for contestants closed on 8 January 2009, with subsequent auditions held in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. Over 7000 people auditioned for the show.The Top 50 portion of the series was filmed at the Australian Technology Park
Australian Technology Park
The Australian Technology Park is a business and technology centre in Eveleigh, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia...
in Sydney. From the Top 20 onwards, filming was moved to a studio on Doody Street in Alexandria, Sydney. The season one finale was filmed on 2 July 2009, two and a half weeks before its actual television broadcast.
The winner was I.T. office manager Julie Goodwin
Julie Goodwin
Julie Goodwin is an Australian cook and singer who came to public attention when she won the inaugural season of MasterChef Australia in 2009, defeating artist Poh Ling Yeow in the final.- MasterChef Australia :...
.
MasterChef Australia 2010
The second season of MasterChef Australia premiered on 19 April 2010, with the initial call for contestants held in mid-2009.Other changes to Season 2 include not showing the initial auditions, with the series beginning instead with the Top 50 which were filmed at a Redfern Train Works building in Sydney, and having a Top 24 instead of a Top 20. Also, unlike Season 1, the last 45 minutes of the finale were broadcast live.
The winner was 31 year old lawyer Adam Liaw
Adam Liaw
Adam Liaw is an Australian lawyer and television chef. He was the winner of the second series of MasterChef Australia, defeating student Callum Hann in the final.-Early life:...
.
MasterChef Australia 2011
In response to media reports that the Seven NetworkSeven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
was trying to sign at least one of the judges, or possibly all three of them, Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
revealed that all the judges (plus new judge Matt Moran
Matt Moran
Matthew Moran,commonly known as Matt Moran, is an Australian chef also known for being a guest on various TV cooking shows.- Early childhood and education :...
) signed-on for season 3.
The season premiere aired on 1 May 2011. It was watched by 1.511 million viewers, rating higher in its timeslot than the Australian television.
The 2011 series was won by Kate Bracks
Kate Bracks
Kate Bracks is an Australian television chef. She was the winner of the third series of MasterChef Australia.Bracks, the mother of three children, was previously a school teacher. She lives in Orange, New South Wales and attends Orange Evangelical Church...
, who defeated Michael Weldon in the grand final.
MasterChef Australia 2012
Contestant applications for the fourth season closed on 16 September 2011.Celebrity MasterChef Australia 2009
Celebrity MasterChef Australia, a spin-off featuring celebrities as contestants began production in early September 2009, and aired for ten weeks starting from 30 September 2009. The celebrity version, which features a heats and semi-finals format similar to MasterChef Goes Large, is based around weekly episodes.Presenter Sarah Wilson did not return to present the show. Ten states that she was dropped because "the appropriate role for Sarah was not achievable without dramatically changing the format"., but Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston returned as judges, Calombaris and Mehigan took Wilson's presenting role. It was won by Olympic swimmer Eamon Sullivan
Eamon Sullivan
Eamon Wade Sullivan is an Australian sprint swimmer.-Career :In April 2002 at the Australian Age Championships, Sullivan won the 50 m freestyle and came second in 100 m in his age group, and swam for Australia at Trans Tasman series with no dramatic result.In April 2003 at Brisbane in the Fisher &...
, who took home $50,000 for charity Swim Survive Stay Alive.
In February 2010, executive producer Mark Fennessy stated that he doubted the spin-off will return for a second season.
Junior MasterChef Australia 2010
Production of a junior version of the show was initially suggested in October 2009. The first series of the show, featuring 8 to 12 year old contestants, was filmed after the second series of MasterChef Australia. Junior MasterChef Australia is produced by Shine AustraliaShine Limited
Shine Limited is a British media production company with offices in London and Manchester....
.
The series final was won by 12-year-old Isabella Bliss from Queensland.
Junior MasterChef Australia 2011
Channel 10 confirmed the second season of the spin-off in their 2011 line-up.Ratings
The one hour series premiere of MasterChef Australia attracted an average of 1.42 million viewers, making it the most watched show in its timeslot. Ratings steadily grew throughout the first season, with the show dominating Australian ratings as it entered finals week, averaging around or above 2 million viewers an episode, and on daily rankings placing ahead of other high rating shows such as the Seven Network's Packed to the RaftersPacked to the Rafters
Packed to the Rafters is an Australian family-orientated television series which premiered on the Seven Network on Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 8:30 pm. The drama series features a mix of lighthearted comedy woven through the plot. It revolves around the Rafter family facing work pressures and...
and Nine's Rugby League State of Origin
Rugby League State of Origin
State of Origin is an annual best of three series of rugby league football matches contested by the Maroons and the Blues, who represent the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales respectively...
broadcast. Its success is despite initial belief from critics that the series would be a dud based on the performance of previous prime time cooking shows, as well as general cynicism against a new reality show format.
The first season finale of MasterChef Australia attracted an average of 3,745,000 viewers, and peaked at 4.11 million viewers. This figure was for the last half hour of the show, titled MasterChef Australia: The Winner Announced, while the first 90 minutes of the finale averaged 3,313,000 viewers. The figure also eclipsed the show's previous high, set on the last elimination episode, of 2.36 million viewers and also surpassed the previous high for a non-sporting event (Australian Idol
Australian Idol
Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...
s 2004 finale, which averaged in 3.35 million) since OzTAM
OzTAM
OzTAM is an Australian audience measurement research firm that collects and markets television ratings data. It is jointly owned by the Seven Network, the Nine Network and Network Ten, and is the official source of television ratings data for all metropolitan television in Sydney, Melbourne,...
ratings started in 2001. It is currently the 4th highest rating television program in Australia since 2001, behind the 2005 Australian Open final between Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
and Marat Safin
Marat Safin
Marat Mikhailovich Safin is a retired Russian tennis player of Tatar descent. Safin won two grand slams and reached the world number 1 ranking during his career. He was also famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper on court. Safin also holds the record for most broken...
, and the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final
2003 Rugby World Cup Final
The 2003 Rugby World Cup Final was won by England who defeated Australia 20 to 17. The match went into extra time, in which Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal to seal England's win.-Path to the final:...
. Ten's share for the night was 41.3%, almost 20% ahead of its nearest rival. The first season finale was the most watched television program of 2009.
The highly anticipated second season premiere of the show attracted 1.69 million viewers, peaking at 2.11 million nationwide. In general, the second season rated higher on average compared to the first season, with weekday episodes seeing a 35% increase in viewers by the midpoint of the season. The last half hour of the second season final attracted 3,962,000 viewers and 3,542,000 during the rest of the final out rating the season 1 final to become the 3rd highest rating show of all time.
Critical and popular reception
Despite success in the ratings, the series initially received mixed reviews from some viewers, with fans of the original British version describing the Australian show to be incomparable to that version in terms of quality, structure, judgement and skill of the contestants. Other commentators have also criticised the show for using a competition format similar to other reality shows such as Australian IdolAustralian Idol
Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...
, The Biggest Loser
The Biggest Loser
The Biggest Loser is an American reality game show that debuted on NBC October 19, 2004. The show features obese people competing to win a cash prize by losing the highest percentage of weight relative to their initial weight....
and Project Runway Australia
Project Runway Australia
Project Runway Australia is a reality television show based on Project Runway wherein fashion Designers compete by making specific garments for specific challenges. All contestants appearing on the show are designers residing in Australia. The show features Megan Gale as the host, and Kirrily...
that focuses more on the elimination of contestants than the food and cooking itself. Ten's programming chief David Mott admitted that using the new format was "a huge risk", while FremantleMedia's Paul Franklin has asserted that "for a commercial audience we needed to pump it up and make it bigger, a little over the top, with more drama and storytelling and a sense of theatre".
In counterpoint, the show has been described as "an antidote for cynicism" and a reflection of multicultural Australia, while the show's success has been attributed to audiences "uncomfortable with the win-at-all-cost mould of reality shows of old" and a shift in values in the face of the recent financial crisis.
Cooking school
Cooking school
A cooking school or culinary school is an institution devoted to education in the art and science of food preparation. It also awards degrees which indicate that a student has undergone a particular curriculum and therefore displays a certain level of competency...
s have reported an increase in enrolments due to the success of the series, while kitchenware retailers and upmarket restaurants have also seen increased trade. Supermarkets and specialty food retailers have reported increased demand from the public for the more unusual ingredients, such as quail, custard apple and squab, after being featured on the program. The success of the show led Ten to explore possible spin-offs such as the celebrity and junior versions, as well as one featuring professional chefs as contestants. The success of the show has also led competing networks to commission their own competitive cooking programs, such as Seven's My Kitchen Rules
My Kitchen Rules
My Kitchen Rules is an Australian competitive cooking game show broadcast on the Seven Network. The series is produced by the team who created the Seven reality show My Restaurant Rules, and was put into production based on the success of Network Ten's MasterChef Australia.-Format:The show sees...
and Nine's The Great Aussie Cook-Off after the first series, with reports that both networks are planning more copycat shows to air in late 2010 and early 2011.
MasterChef Australia won the award for Most Popular Reality Program at the 2010 Logie Awards
Logie Awards of 2010
The 52nd Annual TV WEEK Logie Awards were held on Sunday 2 May 2010 at the Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne, and was once again televised on the Nine Network...
. In addition, Matt Preston won the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent for his work on the program.
Allegations of vote rigging
Significant numbers of viewers have raised allegations that the voting on the season one finale of MasterChef was fraudulent after Julie Goodwin won the crown. After the airing of the finale talkback radio became inundated with calls, both for and against the verdict, and the finale also became a top trending topic on social networking site Twitter, where many users said they felt "deflated" and "ripped off" by the final episode of the hit show. Similar allegations were raised when contestants were eliminated throughout the season.Judge Matt Preston has denied that eliminations were rigged or the result of a popularity contest, and asserted that Julie had won the title because she was the better cook on the night. Goodwin herself has also asserted that her victory was not the result of rigging, insisting that the professional integrity of the three judges would be damaged if it were.
Welfare of former contestants
During their time playing Masterchef, the contestants are paid a retainer of $500 a week. This is slightly below the national Australian minimum wage of $589.30 and less than half the average wage of $1,291.34. This was revealed in 2011 along with the knowledge that most contestants quit their jobs before entering the competition and faced seeking re-employment once eliminated from the show.International syndications
| Country | Network | Dubbed or Subtitled? | Current Broadcaster? |
|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan |
STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
Subtitled in Dari | Yes |
 Arab League |
Fox Series Fox Series The Fox Series Channel or simply Fox was a Middle Eastern version of the American Fox Channel. It launched in 2008. The channel was relaunched as Fox on March 1, 2011.-Reception:The channel gained a positive following at the start... |
Dubbed | |
| STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
Subtitled in Arabic | ||
 Bangladesh |
Subtitled in Bengali | ||
 Belgium |
één EEN EEN may refer to:* Eastern Educational Television Network, the original name for American Public Television.* Elemental Energy, a Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game booster pack.* Emerald Energy, an oil company... |
Subtitled in Dutch | No |
| Vitaya Vitaya Vitaya is a Flemish television station. The station got its license for 9 years in 1999 and it started to broadcast on 25 August 2000.Vitaya can be seen on Flemish cable and satellite services... |
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 Bhutan |
STAR World India STAR World India STAR World India is an English language television channel, part of the STAR World network, owned by Star TV broadcast in India. It syndicates popular shows from U.S. and U.K. to appeal to the English-speaking population of India and other South Asian countries... |
Subtitled in English | Yes |
 Myanmar |
STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
Subtitled | |
 Canada |
Casa | Dubbed in French | |
 Independent State of Croatia |
Nova TV Nova TV Nova TV is a Croatian commercial television network launched in November 2000. It was the first commercial television network with national concession in this country and since 2004 it is fully owned by the Central European Media Enterprises.- Overview :... |
Subtitled | |
 Denmark |
TV3 Puls TV3 Puls TV3 Puls is television channel broadcasting to Denmark. It started broadcasting March 23, 2009.Among the programmes broadcast on the channel from its launch are series such as Mad Men and Pushing Daisies, lifestyle programmes and sports events such as Formula One.-Programming:Recurring elements in... |
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 Finland |
Nelonen Nelonen Nelonen is a Finnish commercial TV channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1989 on the HTV cable network, which name was changed first to PTV4 and then to Nelonen. It started on June 1, 1997. Nelonen, in Finnish, means the glyph of the number four. The channel is... |
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 Greece |
Mega Channel Mega Channel Mega Channel, also known as Mega TV or just Mega, is a major television network in Greece. Teletypos S.A. was founded in 1989 under the name Teletypos Television Programmes S.A... |
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 Hong Kong |
STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
Subtitled in Cantonese | |
 Iceland |
Stöð 2 Stöð 2 Stöð 2 is an Icelandic television channel, owned and operated by 365. Founded in 1986, It was the first privately owned television station in Iceland following the lifting of the state monopoly on television broadcasting... |
Subtitled | Future |
 India |
STAR World India STAR World India STAR World India is an English language television channel, part of the STAR World network, owned by Star TV broadcast in India. It syndicates popular shows from U.S. and U.K. to appeal to the English-speaking population of India and other South Asian countries... |
Subtitled in English | Yes |
 Indonesia |
STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
Subtitled | |
 Republic of Ireland |
Good Food | ||
| Really Really (TV channel) Really is a digital television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV family of channels. The channel launched on 19 May 2009 as the UKTV's channel for female lifestyle programming and is available on satellite through Sky, cable services primarily through Virgin Media and... |
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| RTE One RTÉ One RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ... |
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| Watch Watch (TV channel) Watch is a general entertainment channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as part of the UKTV network. The channel launched on 7 October 2008 on satellite through Sky and on cable primarily through Virgin Media.-History:... |
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 Israel |
Channel 2 Channel 2 (Israel) Channel 2 is an Israeli commercial television channel.- History :In 1990, after 13 years of deliberations, the Knesset passed a law that paved the way for the establishment of commercial television in Israel. The goal was to enhance pluralism and create competition. Channel 2 began broadcasting on... |
Subtitled in Hebrew | |
 Italy |
Gambero Rosso Gambero Rosso Gambero Rosso was a restaurant in San Vincenzo, Tuscany. The chef was Fulvio Pierangelini http://www.fulviopierangelini.com/The restaurant was voted 12th best in the world in Restaurant Top 50 2008. and was awarded 2 stars by the Michelin Guide.... |
Dubbed | |
 Macau |
STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
Subtitled in Cantonese | |
 Malaysia |
Subtitled | ||
 Nepal |
STAR World India STAR World India STAR World India is an English language television channel, part of the STAR World network, owned by Star TV broadcast in India. It syndicates popular shows from U.S. and U.K. to appeal to the English-speaking population of India and other South Asian countries... |
Subtitled in English | |
 New Zealand |
TV ONE | English Subtitles Available | |
 Norway |
TV3 TV3 (Norway) TV3 Norway is a commercial television channel targeting Norway owned by Viasat, which is a part of the Swedish media group Modern Times Group... |
Subtitled | |
 Pakistan |
STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
Subtitled in Urdu | |
 Philippines |
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 Poland |
TV6 TV6 (Poland) TV6 is a Polish television channel owned by Polskie Media . It was launched on 30 May 2011.. The sister channel is TV4, which exists since 2000.- Schedule :... |
Polish lector | |
 Portugal |
SIC Mulher Sic mulher SIC Mulher is a Portuguese cable television channel owned by Sociedade Independente de Comunicação and launched on March 8, 2003... |
Subtitled | |
 Singapore |
MediaCorp Channel 5 | Future | |
| STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
Subtitled in English | Yes | |
 South Africa |
M-Net M-Net M-Net is a subscription-funded television channel in South Africa, established in 1986 by Naspers.... |
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 Sri Lanka |
STAR World India STAR World India STAR World India is an English language television channel, part of the STAR World network, owned by Star TV broadcast in India. It syndicates popular shows from U.S. and U.K. to appeal to the English-speaking population of India and other South Asian countries... |
Subtitled in English | |
 Sweden |
TV3 TV3 (Sweden) TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded on 31 December 1987 by entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck as joint Scandinavian channel, but Denmark and Norway soon got their own versions of TV3... |
Subtitled | |
| TV8 | |||
 Republic of China |
STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
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 Thailand |
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 Netherlands |
NET 5 NET 5 NET 5 is a commercial TV channel in the Netherlands owned by Sanoma and Talpa Holding . Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are SBS6 and Veronica.- History :... |
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| RTL5 | |||
 United Kingdom |
Good Food | ||
| Really Really (TV channel) Really is a digital television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV family of channels. The channel launched on 19 May 2009 as the UKTV's channel for female lifestyle programming and is available on satellite through Sky, cable services primarily through Virgin Media and... |
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| Watch Watch (TV channel) Watch is a general entertainment channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as part of the UKTV network. The channel launched on 7 October 2008 on satellite through Sky and on cable primarily through Virgin Media.-History:... |
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 Vietnam |
STAR World STAR World STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
Subtitled | |
Official MasterChef Cookbook Volume 1
The Official MasterChef Cookbook Volume 1 was published by Random House Australia in December 2009. It contains recipes from the series 1 Top 20 contestants and top Australian and international chefs: Martin Boetz, Donovan Cooke, Pete EvansPete Evans
Peter Daryl "Pete" Evans is an Australian chef, author and television personality.-Restaurateur / chef:Evans opened his first restaurant, The Pantry, in 1993 with his brother Dave...
, Manu Feildel
Manu Feildel
Manu Feildel is a French celebrity chef most widely known for his participation in Australia's cookery competition programs Ready Steady Cook , MasterChef Australia and My Kitchen Rules although he also achieved a solid reputation as a head chef at the restaurant Bilson's before moving to open his...
, Guy Grossi
Guy Grossi
Guy Grossi is an Australian Chef and media personality. He is first generation Italian in Australia and draws his inspiration, for his cooking, from his Italian heritage...
, Alex Herbert, Matt Moran and Andrew Honeysett, Ben O'Donoghue, Adrian Richardson, Frank Shek, Emmanuel Stroobant and Adriano Zumbo. There are also behind-the-scenes stories and culinary tips and tricks.
Our Family Table
As the first winner of MasterChef Julie GoodwinJulie Goodwin
Julie Goodwin is an Australian cook and singer who came to public attention when she won the inaugural season of MasterChef Australia in 2009, defeating artist Poh Ling Yeow in the final.- MasterChef Australia :...
won the chance to have her own cookbook published. Her first cookbook is called Our Family Table and is published by Random House Australia, April 2010.
Official MasterChef Cookbook Volume 2
The Official MasterChef Cookbook Volume 2 was published by Random House Australia in December 2010. It contains recipes from the series 2 Top 24 contestants and top chefs.Official Junior MasterChef Cookbook Volume 1
The Official Junior MasterChef Cookbook Volume 1 was published by Random House Australia in 2010. It features recipes suitable for children and spreads it across various themes. Some MasterClass recipes are also included.Two Asian Kitchens
As the second winner of MasterChef Adam LiawAdam Liaw
Adam Liaw is an Australian lawyer and television chef. He was the winner of the second series of MasterChef Australia, defeating student Callum Hann in the final.-Early life:...
won the chance to have his own cookbook published. The book is called Two Asian Kitchens (ISBN 9781864711356) and is published by Random House Australia, April 2011. Split into two main sections – the Old Kitchen and the New Kitchen – Liaw explores recipes that he has grown up with, along with new creations.
MasterChef Magazine
MasterChef Magazine, a monthly spin-off publication adopting the series' brand, went on sale in May 2010. Following a high-profile launch, the magazine exceeded its initial sales target within a short space of time, selling 90,000 copies in three days. The magazine is published by News Magazines, a subsidiary of News LimitedNews Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
.
External links
- MasterChef Australia – Official MasterChef Australia Website
- Official Channel Ten Website – Official Network Ten Website (with free MasterChef episodes)