Posts from — April 2010

Fox 8 announced yesterday that Kris Smith, Danni Minogues partner, and former professional rugby league player, will be the new host of reality show Football Superstar. Lee Furlong will continue to co-host it with him.

Kris takes over from another UK expat, Brian McFadden who has now moved over to Australia’s Got Talent.

Now I like Kris Smith, he is good looking, seems nice, and has some sporting credentials, but are there no Australian male TV presenters who could do the job?

I believe in free trade but it seems that a lot of the roles on our reality TV shows are going to expats.

Currently on TV we have Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston on Masterchef Australia, Brian McFadden on Australia’s Got Talent, Jay-Dee Springbett and Dicko on Australian Idol, and Bonnie Lythgoe on SYTYCDA.

Thankfully antipodean John Torode is Masterchef in the UK, and our Kylie on The X Factor, but I still feel there must be disgruntled presenters and entertainers looking for work in this industry. I hope it is not because of some sort of cultural cringe that these guys are getting the gigs but on pure talent.

It would be the gay guy who would recognise Miss Teen Carolina, and he did a great imitation of her YouTube catastrophe.

Here is the real thing.

Let’s face it the first episode of most series of The Amazing Race are pretty boring, they spend a quarter of the episode introducing the contestants, another quarter getting to the airport, and their is rarely a detour. Also you only get snippets of the contestants personalities.

Tonight the first leg of The Amazing Race was from LA to Chile. But first they had to get to the airport by public transport, a bit of a challenge in LA, but it probably means there won’t be the usual near misses on the freeway as they all race to get on the first flight.

However not that it mattered for this group, as the first plane had mechanical failure and they all ended up on the same flight.

The cowboys Jet and Cord are being portrayed as the dumbasses, but really your at LA Airport and they don’t have Chiliean money, so they get Brazilian. They were a bit surprised once they were not able to use it there.

Brandy one of the lesbian couple is being portrayed as the scrag particularly when she said she was praying for a mechanical dysfunction.

The roadblock was walking across cables, most people were unfazed by it except for Brandy and Adrian.

Caite (teen queen) and Brent were the first out of the roadblock. This pair look a tad thick particularly Brent.

Adrian who is part of the childhood sweethearts who had a fear of heights, fell and could not get back up so he had to start again from the beginning.

The next challenge was painting a part of a house. Jordan and Jeff who were on US Big Brother Season 11 were first to the pit stop. Jordan looks like she could be a liability to the team, but then they did win a leg something a lot of teams don’t achieve.

I was surprised Brent and Caite came in second but they incurred a 30 minute penalty because they did not get the vernicular up the hill.

Hilarious that father and daughter team, Steve and Allie  went inside a house and started painting much to the bemusement of the other painters, and they pointed the wall and then said have you got a clue? Uh oh.

But they were not the only team painting the wrong house Michael and Louie started painting the wrong place as well.

Jordan and Dan also incurred a penalty of 15 minutes because they lost a paint brush.

And back at the cables Adrian fell off again. Phil went and met them at the roadblock and Adrian and Dan were eliminated.

The big surprise was Jet and Cord coming in third, once they get the currency issues sorted could they be a force to be reckoned with?

How ripped off must Devon be feeling? He has been eliminated from the top 24 of Masterchef Australia without even cooking. He lands in the elimination challenge because he seats people an hour before opening time, and then the elimination is about naming eggs, and whisking them.

Maybe he needs to go on The Apprentice, and he may get an opportunity to actually cook. And thanks Masterchef Australia in knocking the best looking guy out of the house in the second week of the competition.

By the way is the Egg Corporation  sponsoring the show? Two weeks in and two egg challenges.

The elimination challenge had three rounds of basic skills tests – one point for each round, first contestant to two points wins. The positive the judges were unable to manipulate who won, but the negative was it was a bit dull.

The first test was identifying six eggs. “I can’t even think of six birds who lays eggs?” cried Johnathan the hysteria already starting to enter his voice. Um newsflash Johnathan they ALL do.

After Devon incorrectly identifies an emu as an ostrich egg,  Johnathan dramatically starts sobbing after he wins round one. “I led my team to defeat and now I have to knock one of my guys out,” he cries.

During round one Fiona added some riveting insight “I can see the boys writing down different answers, and that is a concern because in your mind I am thinking one is right and one is wrong,”.

Round two involved whisking 300gms of egg whites until you can hold the bowl upside down for ten seconds. The producers unsuccessfully tried to create some suspense here, but Johnathan was like a machine and won. So we never found out what round three was. I can only think it was to make an omlette. Anyone else got any other ideas of what it could have been?

The hilarious thing was Johnathan won and he went and sobbed on Devon’s shoulder. I have to confess I started giggling at that point. He is so dramatic, and it continued when he got back to the house.

At the house the red team applauded the members of the blue team that were not up for elimination as they walked in, I am not sure what that is all about, and then they all kind of looked stunned when Johnathan walked in. If he was feeling sensitive this was not going to help, and then he started sobbing again.

“To see Johnathan, a man, cry like that just is heart wrenching,” said Adele.

And to end the blog post I leave you with this quote from Sharnee on Devon’s elimination:

“I realise it is not just about living in a fun house and learning how to cook,” Que? I thought you needed to know how to cook to get into the house.

On the suggestion of regular commenter CG that a post be put up where we could “punt” on who we think will win Masterchef Australia Season 2 at this stage of the competition. Who at the equivalent time of the show last year would have thought Julie Goodwin will win it?

The blog post will be open to comments until next Friday for people to say who they think will win. So obviously if your first pick is eliminated by then, please have another guess.

There will be prizes for those who manage to pick the winner. Unfortunately the prize won’t be a lap dance from the Masterchef judge of choice, but it will either reality TV or food related. Ok ok I have no idea what it will be but I have three months to come up with something, and it will depend on how many people actually pick the winner.

Here is my form guide to assist or misguide you and also give a bit more general information on them. Anyone who reads this regularly will know that sometimes I get it horribly wrong.

Adam Liaw – the 31 year old lawyer who lives in Japan, will be a contender if he can cook outside his signature cooking style of Asian. Unfortunately we could not get a real handle on how good a cook he is in the childhood meal challenge, as he forgot the rice, but the other flavours in the dish looked great. He was a bit of a child prodigy, entering university at 16, so will have the smarts to play the reality TV game, and excel in the team challenges, when skills other then cooking come in handy.

Expect to see him in final’s week. BTW if you think he is cute, bad luck he lives with his girlfriend in Japan.

You can get to know a bit more about him through his blog (Adam Liaw) or follow him on twitter at @adamliaw.

Aaron Harvie – a 37 year old band manager who likes to wear beanies has a cool vibe about him, but will this mean he can keep his head when it heats up in the kitchen. He postponed his wedding  to former Young Talent Time star Natalie Miller to come on the show so he is focused. Won’t be an early casualty but I think he will falter at some stage.

He would like to open a pasta place which sells high end pasta sauces. You can follow him on twitter @aaronharvie.

Adele Fragnitio – 49 year old hairdresser  is one of the higher profile contestant’s who always looks pensive. But put her in the kitchen and she can cook. She was the lynchpin for the Italian restaurant challenge, and was assertive and organised in the kitchen. If she can overcome her nerves she will be a force to be reckon with. However I suspect an asian food challenge may be her undoing.

Alvin Quah – The 35 year old Scientific Manager is one of my favourites. He was a big fan of Poh’s and even named one of his pot plants after her. He has a high likeability factor, but as I have queried before will the producers allow a gay asian guy win? The other thing against him is that he did not star in his role as team captain last night,  he did not show enough control or give enough direction. I thought he was certainty for finals week, but have now changed my mind.

Carrie Johnston – the 34 year old human resources manager was made redundant just before she came on the show. She is originally from America, and would like to become a dessert chef. She claims she is a perfectionist, which will be interesting in the team challenges, but she did turn out good pizzas last night. We have not seen much of her cooking but she looks like she is very focused. One to watch.

Callum Hann – the 20 year old is the youngest in the competition, he is starting to think he would like to be a chef. He may be young but I like his attitude. He was rejected by My Kitchen Rules so instead of hanging with Manu is he with Gary and George. He would have been teamed up with his long-term girlfriend Chloe. Masterchef Australia is a much better forum for him to showcase his skills, and he looks like a good technician. He won’t win but he will get a good apprenticeship from it, if he wants it.

Claire Winton-Burns – the 31 year old lawyer is already one of the most talked about contestants, due to her being extremely enigmatic. Her cooking skills are definitely some of the best in the competition, but she is starting to look a little nervy with a lot of tears in the last few episodes. She has said she is shy, but wants to change her career to involve food, a cafe attached to a winery. She is certain to be in the mix in the final week.

Courtney Roulston – a 29 year old bar manager from Sydney would like to get into catering. She is definitely stunning and some commenters think she looks a bit like Debbie Harry (which is a positive thing). I don’t think she will be in the mix, however will gain a lot of fans.

And boys sorry to break the bad news but she is currently seeing a woman. It will be interesting to see if Gary and George give her the favouratism they give the other good looking girls.

Daniel Auslebrook – applied for Masterchef after being made redundant. I wonder if applying for a reality TV show means you meet the Newstart requirements – it is kind of like looking for work. Anyway I have not seen anything of this guys food, so who knows what he can do. Since we saw nothing of him in the top 50 week, I am guessing he will be an early casualty.

Devon Headland – the 30 year old builder’s head is currently on the chopping block as he is up for elimination with Johnathan. I expect he will be early collateral damage, which is a pity as not only is he good looking but nice as well. He would like to open a restaurant. He has an understanding girlfriend, they postponed their wedding in February for the show.

Dominic Corrigan - the 46 year old started cooking when he was made redundant from an investment bank, he is currently a CEO of a Charity. He has had his ups and down with a stint in rehab for alcohol addiction. I really liked his style in last night’s challenge, however being picked near last for the teams would indicate he is not the strongest cook in the house. Won’t go the distance.

Fiona Inglis – the 24 year old teacher will get a lot of loving from George as she is stunning, however being picked last in the teams even after Kate, would be a sign that she is not going to win the competition, but she may get a gig presenting cartoons or on V Channel.

Jake Bujayer – I know the 29 year old cement renderer is not going to win, but there is something I really like about this guy. He looked like he was keeping his cool in the kitchen for the blue team last night. He may need to learn how to cook a bit faster and multi-task, unfortunately don’t expect to see him in the final week. If you do think he is cute he has a girlfriend.

Jimmy Seervai – the engaging 31 year old has had a love of food which meant he had to lose 65 kilos. He will be fantastic with asian flavours, and I thought he was going to be a contender, however after last night I changed my mine. I did not think he was assertive enough in his role as front of house manager. I think a tricky challenge will see him gone. Again I think the Asian style cooks will find it difficult in the more traditional cooking styles.

Johnathan (no last name) - the 33 year old IT consultant is shaping up to be portrayed as the tool of the series.  Alvin appointed him as the other team captain to avoid him being on his team. Johnathan has done work experience in Gordan Ramsay’s restaurant Petrus in London. If he can get through tonight he should hang around for awhile.

Joanne Zalm – the 37 year old mother is like Sandra of this year’s Masterchef. Attractive with two kids, and her aim is to get children to eat healthier. I am taking my time warming to her. I don’t think she will win as it would be a mum winning two years in a row. I know I know I am a cynic and the best cook should win. However, her cooking has looked solid so far, so will stick around for awhile.

Kate Nugara – the 30 year old teacher has copped a fair bit of flack due to her dreadful chicken potato pie. Apparently her cooking specialty is Sri Lankan. But I am still not convinced. She does appear to have a nice personality, but if she wins I won’t have to worry about prizes as no one will pick her.

Marion Grasby – the 27 year old former ABC journalist is reality TV gold. Good looking, knows how to speak to camera, AND she can cook. Acquitted herself under pressure last night, and has not put a foot wrong. Has to make the final week, and ticks the boxes as a possible winner ie Gen Y, female, no kids, and articulate. Also good at Thai, and but technically strong in the more traditional cuisines.

Matthew Caldicott – the 21 year old accountant wants to swap careers much to his parent’s disapproval. He was the first picked by Johnathan so this could indicate some solid skills. He would like to train in France before opening a restaurant. Too young to win, but could make top five. For my younger readers he is single.

Peter Kritkides – the married 29 year old lawyer does not expect the show to give him a new career. He leans to cooking Greek, which will make it difficult to stand out with George Calombaris judging him. I don’t expect him to there at the end.

Philip Vakos – another greek guy, this 27 year old auditor now wants to become a chef. I am not convinced about his cooking skills, and really would have been eliminated if Andrea had not had a nervous breakdown and left the competition in the farm to kitchen challenge. His risotto was ordinary and will find it difficult to stand out from the pack.

Sarah Carmichael - Scratched.

Sharnee Dawson – the 21 year old law student that does not want to do law seems to be having a charmed run. She is getting a lot of camera time, plus got into the top 24 without completing an essential component of a dish. I doubt this favouritism will continue and she will be eliminated way before the top ten. She needs to realise that just because you have a law degree it does not mean you have to practice it.

Skye Craig – the 35 year old describes herself as a bit of a hippie and a yuppie. She is into organic raw food which could mean she is weak in cooking challenges. But she did get through the BBQ challenge which had the potential to trip her up. She is definitely attractive so could get a future career with her raw food cooking. But I don’t expect her to be on that plane to London.

Ok so take you pick in the comment section below, and you can only pick one contestant, it is not like the Melbourne Cup where punters pick half the field.

My selection is Marion to win.

What is it with Brian McFadden, and his bad temper? We had the tweets with his ex-Kerry Katona, which really did not make us want to get on Team Brian, and now this –  telling a 50 year old contestant on Australia Got Talent to fuck off.

An article on Nine MSN says that Brian may have put his employment at risk because of his comments.

The article says:

Irish singer Brian McFadden may be kicked off Australia’s Got Talent after he allegedly told a comedian appearing on the show to “f*** off back to England”.

In an exchange cut from the Channel 7 show, McFadden swore at 50-year-old comic Anne Ferguson-Howe after she criticised fellow judge Kyle Sandilands about a radio lie-detector stunt gone wrong, the Herald Sun reported.

Sandilands reportedly began the war of words when he mocked Mrs Ferguson-Howe’s weight after her routine had bombed on the talent show.

British-born Mrs Ferguson-Howe then struck back by asking Sandilands “when was the last time you had a chat about rape?” — a reference to the judge’s controversial radio stunt last year.

McFadden then reportedly told Mrs Ferguson-Howe to get off the stage before she replied “Listen pal, if you’re going to dish it out, you’ve got to learn to take it back.”

McFadden then reportedly removed his microphone, climbed onto the stage and said to the woman “Why don’t you f*** off back to England?”

“I’m a thick-skinned woman of 50 who loves a laugh but if it had been a 20-year-old girl the size I am with low self-esteem, I think I would have gone home and shot myself,” Mrs Fergson-Howe said afterwards.

She made up with Sandilands after the show but received no apology from McFadden.

“I’ve got no problem with Kyle — we shook hands,” she said.

“Brian, I tell you, I’d spit on him.”

Channel Seven told the Herald Sun the exchange was edited out of Tuesday’s show.

I mean seriously why does Kyle always attack women on their weight, but he seems to think it is ok for overweight guys to be on TV. And really Kyle Sandilands can defend himself.

Maybe Seven leaked the story to get some media in the Masterchef Australia glut, but I don’t think so. I know I normally say all publicity is good publicity, however Australia’s Got Talent is very much pitched at the family market.

Ok before we get into a lather over Matt Preston’s comment “If you delay it long enough they will love anything” lets talk about the selection of the teams for tonight’s challenge.

It was extremely interesting to see who was being picked first, and who was left until last.

Alvin was automatically made a captain of the red team because he won the challenge this week, and he was told to pick the blue teams captain. He picked Johnathan, and when asked for the reason for that, he was not diplomatic and said “I don’t want him on my team”. And then revealed to camera he was not Mr Popularity in the house.

I was surprised that Alvin picked Adele first, but he said because it was an italian challenge. Johnathan confirmed my theory that young Callum can cook by picking him first.

Also interesting that Jimmy was not picked early and was left until at least half had been selected. However the humiliation of being left until last had to occur to some of them. Clearly neither captains rate Dominic, Kate or Fiona as cooks. Now we know about Kate’s culinary taste, but I had thought Dominic and Fiona were ok.

Twenty-Four year old Fiona was a bit teary when she was the last person standing, and she had expected to get picked earlier as she was mates with Johnathan in the house. I doubt they are anymore.

The challenge was each team was to take over a restaurant for a night in Leichhardt (Sydney’s Little Italy) and the team that made the most money in the 2 1/2 hour of service won lunch at Luke Mangan’s restaurant Glass.

The red team decided to go for a simple pizza and pasta menu, Adele was appointed as head chef, and Jimmy was appointed front of house.  The Blue team went for a much more upmarket menu which was more technically difficult, hence slower to prep. Johnathan was head chef, and Dominic was head of front of house. The rationale that Dominic was a bit of a sales person.

The challenge had some positives and negatives,here are some thoughts on the red teams performance:

• Adele who has appeared flakey and emotional in previous episodes was excellent in taking the lead in the kitchen, and produced some really good food;
• Alvin needed to be a bit more of a control freak in the kitchen and front of house;
• Jimmy was very flakey as front of house, major stuff up with a mis-print of the menu, with the sides dishes being printed in the pizza section, hence a rocket and parmasen pizza was born, this ended up being a positive thing.
• The other issue were prawns not listed as being an ingredient in the fettucini dish which was serious but the judges WERE beating it up a bit. The prawns were pretty easy to spot if you were allergic to them.
• Kate was very good front of house, maybe that is where her talents lie.

The blue team was also having their ups and downs:

• Sarah the police officer was not writing the dockets properly. After being told about it, and she cracked up and left the floor. “And I feel like I let the team down,”  she said. So she walked off the floor.  I am not sure she got the irony of that.
• I thought Dominic rocked at front of house he was assertive and was in control even when things were getting hairy;
• Johnathan was having trouble with the dockets, as they were pouring through all at once. Also why weren’t the zuchhini flowers already stuffed.

To be fair on both teams few restaurants are full as soon as the doors are open. And my things are so different from last year, as the teams in season one in the sushi train challenge had to go out and market to get people to come in. Here a blackboard on street and word of mouth and it was full house.

Skye appeared to perform well also.

I think the people in the blue kitchen need to watch Hell’s Kitchen to be shown how to cook more then one dish at a time. However the food coming out of both kitchens looked great, even though it appeared to take a long time.

The judges liked the pasta dish with prawns of Adele’s  ”the pasta is king – an ideal dish” said Matt Preston. They also liked the pizza as well.

They thought the pasta of the blue team was good, but Matt Preston thought the zucchini flower was better.

Back at the Masterchef studio where they were waiting to find out the results, Claire started bawling saying she let them down, to think we thought she was a bit cool.

Sharnee dissed Dominic’s effort of running front of house, and Sarah left to go back home to her young family.

This is the third person to have left the show of their own volition since it started. Meaning people who really wanted to be on the show are missing out. Also I think the women with families did not realise what a time commitment it is away.

The show is not filmed in real time. The first episode of the top 50 took three days to shoot. They obviously still need to eliminate someone otherwise they would not have had an episode for tomorrow night.

The Blue team made $1253 and the red team over $1400.

The judges by putting Johnathan up for the elimination challenge are indicating that if it is a team challenge and you lose some responsibility must fall on the captain, and Devon is also up for elimination for letting people in early. A bit unfair but really there was no one else to take the fall, Sarah had already gone.

Anyway back to Matt’s “If you delay it long enough they will love anything” comment, it would have sound hotter coming from Gary Mehigan’s mouth.

“There has been a reason why I have been doing Rupert’s strategic play thus far, as he needs to be told how to vote by someone he really trusts and let that be done,” boasts JT after Rupert was telling his fellow hero tribemates about what Sandra had told him about Russell, and how in fact it was him was leading the villains tribe and not an all girl alliance.

Personally I don’t think the two words strategy and JT really go together, he was concocting all this crap about how Russell and Parvati both played the immunity idols and then that is why Courtney went home. I also don’t get why JT so firmly believed Russell was on their side. Maybe because he was in complete denial about how dumb it was to give Russell (someone not even in your own camp) your immunity idol.

I agree with Rupert anyone that swears on their kids lives is a douche and should not be trusted.

Oh by the way if you did not watch the episode the merging of the tribes occurred tonight, so it is seriously game on.

Also how dumb is Amanda? Pavarti told Amanda she had an immunity idol, and she doesn’t twig that would mean that Parvati had not actually played the Idol at the previous tribal council as they had been told.

And I agree with Parvati, Amanda was obviously lying to her.

I would liked to have known why Russell wanted to vote JT out, was because he thought once he realised he had been taken for a fool he would become a target.

Tribal Council was a cracker. Parvati played to immunity idols, one Russell gave her and the one she found. Jerri will be forever grateful to her I am sure. Sandra probably won’t be as she is really starting to play the game and I am really starting to admire her strategy.

Next week it appears she makes a big move it will be interesting to see if it pays off.

Russell looked put out when Parvati played the idols and dolled them out to Sandra and Jerri, hopefully off camera to him she said “I am nobody’s bitch” just to let him no she was not “riding on his coattails”.

It was a gutsy move by Parvati.

Anyway JT was voted out as Jerri was now safe. So he was eliminated because of his own stupidity I had no sympathy whatsoever.

I cannot wait to see next week’s episode. Will Russell and his ego turn on Parvati? Will Amanda and Parvati have a scrag fight? Will Rupert be saying I told you so? And who will Sandra be aligning with?

Here is an exit interview with JT from UGO.

“He’s [Alvin] is a real contender?” says Masterchef judge George Calombaris. Would the producers of the show let a gay Asian guy win? I suppose we will just have to wait and see. If I was a betting woman I would say no. But Alvin definitely has a likeability factor.

Anyway tonight was the first Celebrity Chef Challenge with Red Lantern‘s chef Luke Nguyen behind the burners. He had challenged Alvin to produce a Vietnamese banquet. It consisted of Hanoi rolls, pork and prawn pancake, and barramundi wrapped in lotus leaves.

Alvin had 90 minutes, and Luke had 75 minutes to produce it, it looked like it took Luke about 40 minutes for him to complete.

What I loved about Luke was his Jackie Chan style chopping with a knife in both hands. It must his for TV technique because it seemed to create a lot of mess and food wastage.

Tonight the prize was no longer the fast track to the final week, but an immunity pin which they can use at anytime throughout the competition. I am presuming you have to put it up prior to the judging, not once you were actually told you are eliminated. But let’s worry about those semantics once someone actually wins one.

Basically Alvin acquitted himself very well, with no disasters, and not too many dramas, apart from having to redo the pancake after pouring way too much oil into the pan.

I think for the judges it was fairly obvious whose dishes were whom. And Luke ended up winning easily.

Alvin was given a total of 22, and Luke 24 points.

I found it interesting tonight that George seemed to be the lead judge role, something Gary Mehigan did last year. He was the one leading the judging conversation and talking to the Alvin. I wonder if the judges fight over who gets what lines and screen time.

There was comment in the Sunday Telegraph gossip column, indicating the Masterchef Australia judges ego’s were out of control. Personally I think they are allowed a bit of hubris considering they were on one of the most highly rated TV show of last year. However I think they should be careful they don’t become parodies of themselves. Yes I am talking to you Matt Preston.

BTW Regular commenter CG suggested a ‘book’ on who we think will take out the Season 2 crown. I will put up the form guide tomorrow, for you to pick who you think will win. There will be prizes for those for those who get it correct (I have no idea what yet).  Great idea CG thanks.

OK hands up who has rushed to the Masterchef Australia website to see if Kate’s Chicken and Potato Pie recipe has been up loaded on there yet? I wonder if they will give both the microwave cooking time, as well as the convection oven time.

I really am not sure why they rate her as one of the top 24 amateur chefs in Australia. If someone can enlighten me please do.

Tonight the top 24 contestants moved into the Masterchef house in what looks to be the suburb of Double Bay, which looked fabulous, as did the Masterchef kitchen.

There is a restaurant and a cafe as well, I hope this year they have to use them, last year the judges were the only one that used it.

The first challenge was to cry when talking about a childhood memory or family. Callum, Claire, Adele all were choking up. Though this was not a negative thing for Claire as she has been so cool during the previous episodes that it was good to see some emotion.

Oh Masterchef Australia you got me tonight. Confession – I teared up when Callum Haan  was talking about his father dying. By the way I really think Callum can cook, and won’t be surprised if he is on the show for quite some time.

But seriously they need to tone down the contestants crying it was becoming irritating and tedious.

And then they got to the cooking challenge which was to create a dish which reflected their childhood. The winner would go into a beat the chef challenge with the possibility of gaining an immunity card that they can play anytime during the show. I presume it cannot be used in final’s week.

This is one of the changes from last year. Previously the person who beat the chef was fast forwarded straight to the finals week. The immunity card makes much more sense. As even though going to the finals seemed like a great prize it really wasn’t as you were taken out of the high pressure competition, and also missed out on a lot of fun. As Julia Jenkins would know.

The first top 24 challenge and some were feeling the pressure.  Adam Liew did not get the rice for his rice dish, which was a pity as it would have been sensational.

George was horrified that Kate was not going to make her own mayonnaisse for her chicken and potato pie. She seemed to imply she wanted to keep the integrity of the original dish. But she says she did change it by NOT microwaving it. Just as well because they would have had to revive George.

Did she put the mayo in the dish and then it was cooked? If so that is the first time I have seen that occur. I bet one of her favourite cookbooks is the 4 ingredient ones. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Jake also wanted to keep the integrity of his dish by using jar oysters in his Oyster soup canapes. But his dish appeared to work out ok.

They contestant’s obviously are told of the challenges before hand, as something like oysters in a jar would not just be stocked in the pantry. Nor would all the asian ingredients required. I actually don’t have a problem with that.

Alvin cooked drunken and bruised it is chicken in chinese wine and mirin (I think), and snake beans. It looked devine. Go Alvin.

Jimmy whose mother is not going to be happy with his impersonation of her again looked like he was going to be sticking around for awhile. His prawn pathia looked divine. I will definitely be checking that out on the official website.

Adele’s crostini looked great – as I have said in previous posts she can cook. However I wonder what she will be like when she has to diversify out of the comfort zone of italian food.

The lovely Alvin won the challenge, and he teared up with pride. There must be nearly some peer pressure to start crying on set, otherwise you look like an unfeeling bastard.

Alvin will be challenging Luke Nyguen who is a great vietnamese chef, so should be an interesting challenge.

I knew something was up all week, with Sharnee, the Qld law student, getting a lot of Masterchef Australia camera time in the top 50 episodes, but I was shocked when she was put through to the top 24. She did not complete a part of the dish.

Matt Preston said to her when she presented the Neil Perry snapper curry “We will be judging you on what you have done so far and this dish.” Why bother having the pressure test if it carries little or no weight.? Her other dishes this week did not appear to be particularly outstanding.

If they wanted a young girl in I thought Bel Erarslan was a better cook, her signature dish was in the top four. Ok so she had a bone left in her fish, however so did Aaron in his quail and he was put through.

The other top 24 contestant that raised my eyebrows was Kate Nugara, a 30 year old teacher from Victoria. She saw it as an achievement that she had completed the dish, but her noodles looked like worms.

Also her chocolate mousse in the mystery box challenge, was judged to be nice, but just chocolate mousse. Did she even put a glug of Grand Marnier in her mousse for flavour? George admitted she got through because of her “grit and determination”.

Also there must be some fear and loathing from some of the contestants who even in this episode I thought who the hell are you? Henry the asian guy in the blue striped t-shirt did not get one to camera chat.

Anyway more thoughts on some of the contestants later in the post.

First it was the Mystery Box challenge, and the top four were going to the top 24, and the bottom four eliminated.

It was dessert ingredients. In it was chocolate, mint, fruit, grand marnier, cinnamon sticks, hundreds and thousands. They had 45 minutes to complete it.

Tony, the grain trader,  was making a german cheesecake – where was the cheese in the mystery box? For the pedants could they reveal somewhere what ingredients they have access to in the pantry when the mystery box challenges are on. Cheese is not a staple.

Also he had a disaster and it did not set, which meant he was eliminated.

Fiona used a very good strategy of sycophantically deciding to use something George had made in Masterclass. She made a strawberry jelly, which did not set so she changed it to strawberry champagne. The flavours must have been there as she got through.

Joanne Zalm’s tactic was smart just keeping it simple with crepes orange and cream. She now has a place in the top 24. Joanne will split viewers, half are going to love her, and the other half not so much.

Poor Jason had to walk the plank as his granita did not set, the judges were sympathetic.

I was a bit dubious about Matthew Caldicott’s strawberry soup, but apparently with his layered chocolate mousse it was delicious. And he was in.

Callum who is only 20 cooked a sensational looking chocolate jaffa tart.

Jo O’Brien, Tony, Claude and Jason were the four eliminated in the challenge.

Then in a shock announcement Kate decieded to leave to be with her family back in Brisbane. She said her children needed her. It must have been heart breaking for her.

This now meant there were nine spots left.

The next challenge was a pressure test, and it was Neil “the produce is the hero” Perry. I like Neil’s cooking, but I hate his ponytail. He really needs to cut it off.

His dish was a snapper curry with semolina noodles. It looked delicious.

Jake the cement renderer was the most excited he was ever going to be on the show (not that he showed it) as he said one of he reasons he came on the show was to learn from the master himself, Neil Perry. And he meant it. I thought his dish was fantastic, and I was thrilled that he got through to the top 24. I don’t think he will win.

Alvin got through,even though his dish got mixed reviews, great noodles and sauce, and bad fish.

Not surprisingly Dominic was in, but only after saying for the millionth time that he wanted to change his life.

Carrie, Kate, Devon, Sarah and Sharnee all got into the top 24.

I have mixed views I think it is a solid top 24, but there are some surprising inclusions namely, Sharnee and Kate. I also think Phil is a bit lightweight. Let us hope they prove me wrong.