Kyle Sandilands has signed on to be a judge on Australia’s Got Talent  this season. The article in the news.com.au.

It is not known which of the judges he will be replacing. Currently Red Symons, Danni Minogue, and Tom Burlinson are the current panel.

Danni is pregnant but filming should be finished by the time she gives birth.

In other not surprising reality TV news Celebrity Masterchef  will not make it to a second series, but the Junior Masterchef will go ahead. (Source news.com.au)

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I know at times watching Celebrity Masterchef I had thought the last ten seconds took a long time to finish, and also how the contestants could sometimes plate up a pretty plate in the last minute – well contestant Peter Rowsthorn may  have shed some light on the matter.

In the latest edition of TV WEEK  Peter said he blamed the “magic of TV” for his downfall, claiming that a mysterious extra five minutes were added to the clock.

The article said:

“I was really happy with myself in the pressure test; I fair dinkum thought I was going to win,” he told TV Week. “There was 15 seconds left and I looked down and fiddled with my plate, then looked back up at the clock and the clock went back by five minutes!  Because of those five minutes, I was umming and ahhing about wheter I could redo my tuile, and when we were judged, I lost on my tuile – it wasn’t crispy enough.”

Peter says he never manged to get to the bottom of the “extra time” mystery. “I think they were trying to help Fuzzy Agolley out, just quietly. I felt ripped off! But then again, I don’t think I was good enough to actually [win the season].”

So is Peter right, or did the pressure of the challenge confuse the celebrity cook? Masterchef judge George Calombaris laughs off the suggestion that time was added to the clock. “No, no – Peter’s lost the plot!” he says. “but he wouldn’t have won regardless – his [signature] dish was rubbish.”

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First of all a big thank you to Injera for doing the last night’s recap – it was  a big call considering a called her at 7.29pm. Also a big apology to regular readers I meant to put up a blog post on the Monday or Tuesday morning to say the show was on Tuesday night, but a hectic couple of days, suddenly careened out of control.

Tonight was the two hour finale, and it started out with a drawn out taste test. Sean Connelly from Astral had cooked a paella for the first round.

Twenty-five ingredients in the dish with the possibility of getting a maximum ten points. But not for  Eamon Sullivan who had a brain explosion and on his third pick said there was thyme in there when it was actually rosemary, he realised his mistake straight away. However this meant he only had two points and gave Rachael Finch and Kirk Pengilly a huge opportunity to accumulate a big lead.

Rachael was eliminated on eight points when she suggested  water was used, no it was stock. I did think Kirk should have been made to say what type of stock was in the the dish, but he was able to get the maximum ten points.

The second round was the invention test, and it was a dessert. How many more desserts can their be on this show? Did the producers want Rachael to win? Come on guys I need to run at least one conspiracy theory a week on this blog.

The a choice of the key ingredient was between strawberries or chocolate.

The boys picked chocolate, whereas Rachael picked the strawberries. They had two hours to create it.

Eamon is cooking a chocolate delice,  which was a complex dish with a biscuit base, chocolate mousse, and a brulee. Rachael was making a strawberry bavarois, and Kirk was doing his usual trick of fancying up something a bit simple a flourless chocolate cake.

Rachael was having a disaster with her strawberry bavarois, however the conspiracy theory that they wanted Rachael to win was given credence with the amount of time Gary took to help her out. He told her to change her recipe into a semi freddo. One was too frozen, then one was too mushy. In the end a semi-freddo was what she plated up.

Kirk’s chocolate cake with the chocolate covered raspberries was given thumbs up for flavour but thumbs down for presentation.

“Presentation very home economics year 11,” said George Calombaris.

The judges did like Rachael’s semi freddo and said it would be a great paddle pop.

Eamon’s chocolate delice was the most complex dessert. It looked sophisticated and delicious.Gary licked his plate and said ” It was one of the best three desserts I have eaten this year.” 

Rachael scored 14 out of 30, Kirk scored 22 out of 30 and Eamon got a perfect score as it was crowned the best ever dessert cooked in the Masterchef kitchen. He was now equal first with Kirk Pengilly.

Cutler and Co’s chef Andrew McConnell prepared the final pressure test for the contestants and it was roast chicken, with broadbeans, artichokes and burnt butter. The twist was that the chicken was roasted with hay under a salt pastry. I noted this as trick to make a cheap Woolworths chicken taste like a Kangaroo Valley grass fed chook.

The salt pastry was a hurdle for Kirk and Eamon, and there were a few misread recipes. The judges came to the rescue a few times. Again thre was the slowest ten seconds ever for Kirk to get his vegetables on a plate.

But then again Kirk probably deserved it for giving the quote of the series “Thirty minutes to go and I am in multi- tasking hell”.

Kirk’s chicken was praised, but I could not work out if George’s comment about the crunchy vegetables was a positive or negative thing.

Eamon’s dished was praised for having summer day flavours. Rachael pulled the Masterchef Australia winner, Julie Goodwin trick of crying in front of the judges. As usual her presentation was praised. She can definitely cooked, and to think I thought she was going to be a lightweight contestant.

Eamon took out the title, and deservedly so, he has been impressive throughout, with also the willingness to take a risk to secure  the inaugural title.

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This is my first ever episode of Celebrity Masterchef (thanks to Food +2 – I’ll be able to decompress with a session of Masterchef: The Professionals!) and… is that really Eamon Sullivan or has little Sam from the regular season made a comeback? It’s deja vu all ’round, as tonight’s pressure test is introduced: it’s the croquembouche challenge! Kirk Pengilly, Rachel Finch, Eamon Sullivan and Alex Lloyd will face Adriano Zumbo’s tower of pastry. One of them will be leaving.

We start with the traditional “how much do you want this” interview. Kirk still wants to win. Apparently winning Celebrity Masterchef would be up there with getting a Gold Record. Alex’s little boy Jake will be proud if he wins. (There’s more than one child in the scenes from the Lloyd household, but for some reason it’s only Jake who counts.) Rachel can’t believe she’s there, but she wants to continue. Eamon? “Eamon, you’ve done well so far. Can you smell the win?” “I can smell something.”

Matt’s building the tension for the pressure test. “Harder than anything that’s been attempted in this kitchen before!” Except, I guess, for the last time they did the croquembouche challenge. In this very kitchen.

George translates the French for us: “Literally means crunch in the mouth“, which is literally the first time he’s ever used the word “literally” properly.

Gary encourages Adriano to talk up the dangers of the dessert. You can get burnt! You can… I can’t be bothered typing this – I think the warnings are from the same script as the last time this was attempted. Except, of course, for the more difficult parts. Because this is so much more difficult!

“We are in a dungeon! They’re torturing us!” Oh, Rachel.

George has remembered that there is, in fact, a precedent for this challenge, so asks Adriano how difficult this iteration is compared to the previous version. His verdict? It’s twice as hard. It has a chocolate swirl, after all, and chocolate creme pat with chocolate profiteroles. Oh, and butterflies. My verdict? It’s twice as ugly.

Our celebs have three and a half hours to defeat this monster, with Adriano on the sidelines for advice and Gary and George no doubt distracting them at key moments.

They’re under starter’s orders. Alex starts on the creme patissiere and notes that others are starting with the pastry. Who’s right? Ad break!

Rachel explains that she decides to do the pastry first so she doesn’t run out of time. Can somebody explain this to me? Is there a break in the space-time continuum that is activated if you do pastry first? Kirk’s “flying blind” (except for having a recipe, and having Adriano on hand). Gary and George head over to harass Rachel, who seems to be following instructions and letting her pastry mix cool prior to adding eggs. Eamon hasn’t been so attentive to the fine print of the recipe and is worried about the consistency of his pastry. Zumbo comes over to give him some tips about rescuing his mixture (pop it in the fridge), but doesn’t offer any guarantees.

Gary asks Alex about his decision to kick off with the custard, given that the others are all on the pastry, which leaves Alex even more confused over the structure of the recipe. His creme pat does, however, get the nod from George. In the rest of the halftime judge discussion, Rachel’s doing well with the pastry, Eamon’s mixture could be too runny and Kirk’s made a beautiful choux pastry.

Judge confab is over, so the Gs and Adriano retire to the balcony so they can scream exhortations from there. I miss having real, invested onlookers. Surely they could have rounded up some of the ousted celebs to do the barracking.  Or maybe some of the regular season competitors might have come along – Linda’s clearly hard up if she’s Ebaying her aprons…

Kirk starts piping out his chocolate profiteroles and his first attempts show that he doesn’t carry cash; he’s told it should be 20c pieces but he’s piping out huge discs. Eamon’s pastry’s too runny but he decides to go with it. Alex’s just comes flowing out of the piping bag, so he cracks the shits and decides to abandon piping for spooning.

Two hours are down, 90 minutes are left. George reminds the contestants that they’ll need at least half an hour “to assemble the most sexiest croquembouche EVER!”.

Kirk’s not happy with the consistency of his first puffs, but at least they don’t look like Eamon’s pikelets.

Eamon’s back from the ad break saying “it’s not important for me to win, it’s important to plate something up to stay in the competition”. Surely he doesn’t take this approach to competitive swimming: “It’s not important for me to win, it’s important for the rest of the field to drown.” Rachel’s taking her profiteroles out of the oven and says that half are burnt. Alex’s have no bottoms, but at least Gary thinks they could be made to work. Eamon pulls out his second batch and declares “Sullivan magic!”, which seems at odds with how they look.

“Things are just getting worse and worse” says Alex, on the verge of quitting. And crying. George tries to buck him up by reminding him how proud his boys’ll be. At least George has remembered that there’s more than one child.

Fortunately Gary’s there to break the tension with his improbably throaty bellowing.

Rachel’s toffee is too thick so Gary steps in to the rescue. “It’s like I’m on a rollercoaster. One minute I’m happy and the next minute I just want to give up.” Except what she means is “and the next minute Gary comes to help”.

George is giving Alex a helping hand with his bottomless pastries, suggesting – logically – that he can sandwich them together. Two halves make a whole! I hope he’s got enough halves.

Kirk’s soldiering on. Base? Done. Profiteroles? Filled. It’s now time for the toffee dipping. Rachel’s reached the same point: “I coat my buns with the caramel”. I’m imagining a Ralph spread where this is the caption for one of the photos.

Alex burns himself on the toffee and the high-vis vests come in with balms. They salve the burns, but can’t heal the ego. He walks out. Eamon musters up Gene-Wilder-as-Willy-Wonka levels of enthusiasm when he monotones that “I’m hoping he’s ok. It’d be a shame to see him throw in the towel”.

George, practiced in the art of talking contestants down, tells him that the others might turn out desserts that don’t taste good. As he returns Alex to the fray, Gary’s also in the process of lowering expectations: “it doesn’t have to be ten feet tall. Just do something you’re proud of”.

“What does not kill you? Makes you stronger!” Gary’s modelling his delivery on Russell Crowe in Gladiator. It’s annoying, but it will be worth it when he tells them to “UNLEASH HELL!“. Unfortunately, George steps in: “Unleash the croquembouche within!”. Eeeew.

Eamon’s crock is out! Rachel’s is too – hers looks pretty good compared to Eamon’s. Alex’s plops out and he somehow manages to burn himself again, which distracts attention from his hideous mound of profiteroles. What about Kirk’s? Ad break!

Kirk turns out a leaning tower of crock. Fortunately, he’s got some leftover profiteroles and toffee, so he props it up and it looks pretty good. Alex is using the caramel swirl in an attempt to polish his crock. He and Eamon both have butterflies on, as does Rachel, but for some reason Kirk hasn’t got one.

“I’ve finished! My masterpiece!” Alex’s attempt at levity is edited with a shot of his short tower falling apart. Snigger.

Rachel’s first in front of the judges. Matt tells her it looks perfect, in fact “astounding and amazing”. “Wrap a sash around it and it would win Miss Universe” is George’s take. The judges even enjoy eating it!

Eamon thinks it’s all about taste, which is just as well, since the judges have nothing to say about its appearance. “I think it takes a lot to be a great swimmer… and hence you’ve replicated this with this croquembouche.” I have no idea what George means, either. Matt ticks off Eamon’s accomplishments and notes that he forgot the swirl.

Kirk pre-empts the appearance issue, telling the judges that his butterfly flew away. They laugh and Matt goes on to compliment the tower. “It’s definitely edible” doesn’t seem like a glowing endorsement from George. Matt likes the creme pat and the construction but is not a huge fan of the profiteroles. Overall, Kirk’s happy with the balance of compliment and condemnation.

Kirk’s strategy of opening with a joke seemed sound. Alex’s dish has the judges creasing up. “We have a saying here: it could look amazing, but if it doesn’t taste good it’s not going to get you through.” The judges are making positive faces. I call shenanigans on this if he gets through. “You don’t judge a man by how he handles success… you judge him on how he handles the other days.” What is this? He’s a celebrity – why are they treating him as though he needs their approval?

Who’s going home? Well, I’d say it’s obvious. Unless something simply AMAZING happens, it’s gotta be Alex, no? No?

First person safe: Rachel.
Second finalist: Eamon.
Last minute fakeout has me worried… but Kirk is through.

Matt says it’s been a privilege to watch Alex cook. I’m off to look up “privilege” since it clearly doesn’t mean what I think it means.

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It is a bit of a “let down” when your two minutes into the episode and you know you have just seen the highlight of this week’s show. Thank you Fremantle and Channel Ten for the gratuitous shot of Eamon Sullivan shirtless. I note you did not give us the same shots of Kirk Pengilly or God forbid Alex Lloyd. But really the contestants would have to put out some well plated dishes to compete with that.

The celebrities were staying at the Shangri-La Hotel, and the challenge was to work in the kitchen of Altitude restaurant. Each contestant had to take control of one dish from the menu, and they would be cooking it for the lunch crowd. I am presuming they were all “invited” guests, not real customers. If you want to know what Altitude is like see this blog post on Not Quite Nigella

Rachael Finch quickly grabbed the dessert, which was very smart, as some of the dishes looked pretty complex.

Kirk Pengilly had to make Scallop and Crab Tortellini with Butternut Pumpkin Puree and Spanakota mousse. He only had two hours make it all including the pasta. He was in his own little one on one pressure test.

Michelle Bridges was a bit easier. It was a chilli and basil Hiramiasa kingfish with olive oil sorbet. The difficulty was having to debone the fish.

They did appear to have a sous chef helping them.

Eamon had a main dish to prepare, it was a butter poached angus beef with madeira braised beef and cepe velout. By the way does anyone else think that angus beef is now not so posh since MacDonald’s has started serving up Angus burgers?

Alex’s dish was a Macleay Valley suckling pig with Fondant Potato, garden peas. Alex was a bit shocked when he realised the pork was actually a full pig to be carved up.

Rachael was cooking warm chocolate fondant with full milk ice cream.

Kirk was slow on the tortellini and he said he was responsible for the service being half an hour behind.  Lucky for him the head chef, Steve, plates up his dish, but he has to put the components together. He butchered the first lot of scallops but the head chef let them through.

He burnt a few more scallops which had the carry on effect of stuffing up Michelle’s dish as it meant her sorbet on her entree was melting.

A table sent back some entrees the reason being the tortellini was cold, and Michelle’s entree was a “little bit wilted”. I wondered if that was a set up for a bit of drama.

Poor Eamon had a tough one with the beef as he had to cook the beef to order ie rare etc. 

The head chef Steve looked over the show, by the time burnt fondants were sent back.

After going through the stress of service they then had to present their dishes to the judges.

Gary thought Michelle’s dish that she had cut the fish too thick. George found a lemon pip on the plate. At this point she welled up saying “I am so pumped I wanted it to be perfect,”.

Kirk was up next with his tortellini. Gary gave it a positive review. George acknowledged that Kirk was under the most pressure in the kitchen with the difficulty of his dish.

Alex’s pork dish was told that it was a great flavour, but criticised the pork belly for not being crispy enough. Matt Preston concurred with George on this issue.

Eamon’s beef was criticised by Matt Preston as he thought the sauce had been reduced too far. However George liked it, apart from the meet being over cooked.

Rachael’s chocolate fondant looked a  tad overcooked for the judges, as there did not seem to be that much ooze, but George Calombaris loved it.

I am glad the judging did not just include the dish that was presented to the them. They also took into account what the customers thought, as well as what Steve thought in the kitchen.

Kirk’s pain and suffering with the scallops and the homemade tortellini was worth it in the end for him as it was voted best dish by the diners. Rachael’s smart to move to do desserts got her through to the next round.

Alex’s got the chef’s highest accolade of being the person who Steve would invite back to do dinner service.

The bottom two were Eamon, and Michelle. Michelle was eliminated, which was the right decision considering she had the easiest dish of the day.

By the way if you are wondering how long filming a reality TV show takes, please note by the time the judges delivered their verdict it was getting dark outside. Considering lunch service apparently finished before three the judging must have taken nearly four hours if you take day light saving into account.

Next week the Zumbo croquembouche challenge – this should be compulsory viewing for all Masterchef fans.

If you are reading this post through a feed at TV.com come and join the discussion and check out my reality TV blog at www.realityravings.com

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Celebrity Masterchef finally found some adrenalin this week, with some of the challenges seen in the original series returning. Tonight we had a mystery box and a Christmas challenge.

But first a few thoughts on the episode:

• I love the way that Kirk Pengilly says he is a rock star – once your a rock star are you always a rock star? Is it a bit like being given a peerage?  
• Also I had to laugh when Rachael Finch said that being Miss Universe Australia was hard work.
• You know everything is right in the world when George Calombaris continues to mangle the english language – “Never has Gary and I see such ambitious dishes cooked in the masterchef kitchen.”
• Did anyone else think that Gary copped a perve at Rachael in the pantry?
• I had a WTF moment when Gary Mehigan was reminiscing about his Christmas’s and how his mum would be in the smokey kitchen and then he said “Dad forgot to get the gas for the BBQ”. Huh? He is from England the chances of them having BBQ on a cold winters day are slim. In fact I lived in the UK and I don’t think I ever saw a BBQ; and
• Eamon Sullivan is an extremely impressive young man, and also a bit of a perfectionist.

Round 1 is a mystery box challenge which had lamb backstrap, beetroot, chocolate, coffee, spinach, orange and potato.

I am still a bit suspect about the timing Why is the last minute always so long. The contestants seem to do an awful lot in that time.

Kirk’s dish was Pepper Lamb with a beetroot and citrus salad. Personally I thought it was a bit simple, however Gary Mehigan loved the salad. Also George Calombaris thought it was tasty.

Matt Preston pronounced it as the dish to beat.

Michelle Bridges had a crepe wrapped around a souffle, which was original. But I found it interesting that in the last 10 seconds she took the dish out of the oven and put it on the plate, and then when she presented it to the judges it had a few decorative marks, and a sprinkle of icing sugar on it.

Matt Preston said that it could have been the winning dish if it had been cooked properly.

Alex’s minted lamb got the thumbs up for being cooked well.

Simon Katich had lamb with skordalia. George thought the garlic was raw “you can’t pash anyone for two weeks” but he thought it was ok. The lamb was undercooked.

Rachael Finch’s chocolate fondant also had some editing issues. I thought it was a bit unfair that she was able to plate it at the judges table. George thought it more pudding than fondant, but he did think it was good.

Eamon Sullivan did chocolate and orange mousse, coffee creme brulee, with a orange and mint salad. George thought it was classy that he pulled it all off.  It did look restaurant quality. It was no surprise he won.

It was then onto the  invention test with a christmas theme. Eamon, as winner of round one, got to pick his cooking partner and he selected Kirk Pengilly, and then paired the girls together, and Simon and Alex were to cook together.

The choice of ingredients was turkey and dry fruit, ham and white chocolate, and seafood and summer fruits. Eamon picked the seafood and summer fruit something that pleased the other teams.

Michelle Bridges snapper stuffing looked delicious.

Simon had a pannacotta disaster when it collapsed after he put the coulis on them. It did look disgusting. Alex made baked snapper and it was cooked well, but Gary said he would have liked more flavour in the fish. Matt was critical about their vegetables.

George said the flavour of the pannacotta was good, but it did not look very “sexy”.

Snapper fillets with mango and avocado salad, and pavlova with summer fruits was cooked by Eamon and Kirk. George loved the salad. Matt liked the pavlova, but queried whether it was christmasy enough. I thought both dishes represented Christmas.

Michelle’s stuffed snapper was not cooked enough and it was inedible. She looked like she was going to cry. Rachael’s puddings were delicious. And Matt said it was better than Eamon’s dessert from the mystery box challenge. Gary called it the dish of the day. And that saved Michelle Bridges.

Very controversial as you could eat Alex’s and Simon’s but Michelle’s was inedible. Simon’s sloppy pannacotta sent him home, though in my mind Alex leaving in the prawns entrails was the greater sin.

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Tonight on Channel Ten the  Celebrity Masterchef  semi-finals start and it will be a different format from the heats. This will be a good thing. They will be more like the challenges we saw in the original show this year.

All six of the semi-finalists will be competing tonight with one eliminated each week until the finale where the final three will compete.

The First semi will see the return of the Mystery Box challenge. The box will have lamb backstrap, potato, coffee, orange, spinach and chocolate. The winner will get to choose the core ingredient for the Christmas themed invention test, and a cooking partner.

The second semi will see the contestants taken out to work at lunch service at Altitude at Sydney’s Shangri-La Hotel. They’ll each be in charge of one dish on the set menu, and will not only face the judges but also the customer as well.

The third semi will see the return of Zumbo, Adriano Zumbo, to create a croquembouche challenge that’s said to be harder than the one we saw in the original series. If you only watch one episode of this celebrity series this is the one to watch.

The finale will see the final three fight it out for the prize of $50,000 for the charity of their choice. They will be put through their paces with a taste test, invention test, and a pressure test.

The semi finalists are Rachael Finch, Michelle Bridges, Kirk Pengillly, Eamon Sullivan, Alex Lloyd and Simon Katich.

The semis start on Channel Ten at 7.30pm tonight.

If you are reading this article through a feed at TV.com come and check out the blog at www.realityravings.com

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With MasterChef Australian style now going to be made in the US and hosted by Gordon Ramsay (Source The Guardian) I really think it is a good thing that the Celebrity version of this show won’t be getting a second outing next year.

Sure it is non-offensive but it is nowhere near as good as the real thing. By the way I reckon if a TV channel fast tracked the US version it would rate very well here.

Last night’s episode I only saw half of the show, but really that was enough.  Even the contestants were uninspiring Fuzzy, Peter Rowsthorn, and Alex Lloyd. There is just no chemistry between them or on camera.

However I suppose I was going for Alex to win, I am pretty sure I used to work with his father who periodically would come around flogging Mother Hubbard CD’s (Alex’s first band) to us. Yes I bought them, I have to confess I don’t think I listened to them.

Anyway I missed the signature dish section of the show so it would be great if someone could fill me in.

The guest judge was Katrina Kanetani the dessert chef from Pier Restaurant and both the dishes she bought in looked sublime. The choice was between a chocolate brulee, and a sophisticated take on strawberries and cream.

Fuzzy picked the strawberry dish.

Alex’s problems arose from his dyslexia and he first started making custard with egg whites. Fuzzy just consistently went for it working very fast, and Peter was methodical and there were concerns he would not have left himself time to plate up.

I actually thought all three had plated up a very nice dish, but Alex took the prize as more of his elements work, and his tuile (which in my mind was a small part of the dish) was the snappiest.

Out of all of them in the semi’s I think I am going for either Eamon Sullivan or Alex to win.

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Reality TV and beauty pageants have always been a quick way for people to heighten their profile when their other skills and accomplishments will not raise them above the milieu. Rachael Finch, Miss Universe Australia, has now tackled both genres. The 21 year old auditioned for MasterChef this year with a stir-fry which looked like it was laden with sauce, and was panned by judge George Calombaris.  Hence she did not get through to the top fifty then, but  by acquiring a tiara and her sash and she got a start on the celebrity version.

Rachael tottered in on white stilettos, which I did not think went with the cutoff ripped denim shorts, and she doubled her hotness once she got the blundstones on.

Ryan O’Keefe the Sydney Swans player, who I have never heard of, clearly my sports knowledge is very poor, made up for his lack of charisma with a high cuteness factor.

Ryan O’Keefe was cooking a fettuccine bolognaise sauce, which sounded a bit simple but he was making his own pasta.

Rachael is doing two courses a salmon, and crepes with creme patisserie, and strawberry and basil. The judges were impressed with Rachael ambitious menu and thought she showed some chefy skills.

George was cooking risotto bonza – I was a bit disappointed that they did not do a flashback to Andre’s strawberry and champagne risotto. Ok all you Masterchef Australia season two contestants who are still auditioning or in the top 50 – do not cook risotto, you will have better chance with a souffle.

George’s oyster was also pretty wacky pesto, parmesan, and then put in the oven. Also lamb with risotto is not something I particularly like.

Ryan’s fettuccine was beautifully cooked, but the judges felt the sauce should have had a longer to develop more flavour.

George’s risotto was a big fail, too chalky, however his oysters were given a positive response, though I am not sure why he wanted to shuck the oyster when he was going to cook them.

Both of Rachael’s dishes attracted praise, and she won the round.

Tony Bilson was the guest chef  the choice of dish was between  scallop and truffle tart with a beurre blanc and sweetbreads or a bouillabaisse.

Rachael picked the tart as she thought both the guys would prefer to cook the bouillabaisse. And it was a smart tactic.

The tart did look very complex. But even though they get one lifeline which means Tony Bilson will come and give them advice for 90 seconds, George and Gary also wander the room handing out advice. They told Ryan his pastry was undercooked, and George told Rachael she was cooking the sweetbreads wrong.

George Negus was in more trouble then the early settlers when he forgot to put the spinach puree on his tart. He had to take off the delicately placed scallops truffles and his pastry broke. Chances of him winning – very slim.

Matt Preston thought George had given them an Italian version of a french dish. They did pull him up for not taking the membrane off the scallop. But they were positive about the flavour.

Ryan’s dish looked ok, “Really precise,” said Gary “Pastry base a bit undercooked.”

“Needs a bit more time in the oven,” said Matt Preston.

Rachael’s dish looked beautiful. “You have just the right amount of  spinach on the tart,” they were all very positive except for Matt nitpicking about the presentation.

However unsurprisingly it was Rachael that got through, something I thought would happen due to all the Eamon Sullivan romance rumours that have been circulating. Where would they have met? The semis.

I have to confess that the celebrity version is not as engaging as the “real life” version. There is not the emotional engagement with the contestants that we had with the original. Some of the celebs are entertaining but some are pretty dull. Bring back Alex Perry I say.

If you are reading this article on TV.com please come across and join the discussion and check out my blog on www.realityravings.com

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I find Alex Perry a bit of an enigma. I am always surprised when I hear Alex Perry is married, and that in fact he is a suburban dad not an Eastern Suburbs bachelor, and he is very much a family man. Also the sunglasses are is very own affectation, but I would like to know how he gets them not even to move a millimetre, even when running around the kitchen.

Oneof the times I have received a scathing comment (not that I mind receiving them) on this blog was when I confessed to never having heard of Simon Katich the cricketer. I am sorry I haven’t.   He also said said the best country to tour for food was India so no Warne’s baked beans for him. He is at a disadvantage because he has no sense of smell, an issue he has had since childhood.

Children’s author Wendy Harmer’s kitchen was fantastic who confessed to being a prolific entertainer. She said they had twenty people over every weekend.

The first round was their chance to make their signature dishes.

The last 30 seconds when they were cooking their signature dish went on for about 1 minute. How cold are the dishes they must taste, as their cooking stations are cleaned before the dishes are presented to the judges.

Simon Katich cooked herb crusted salmon fillet on a bed of mash potatoe with a lemon and dill vinagerette.

Gary thought the salmon was over cooked, George thought it tasted fresh with some good flavours.

Wendy made rabbit in mustard sauce, and a spinach and pear puree.

Gary liked Wendy’s dish because it is honest, he did raise the issue of whether the two elements went together.

Alex’s own dish was spanokopita, with greek salad, and tsatsiki. A dish he had only cooked two time before – to practise for the show perhaps?

Alex ’s dish was given the thumbs by George and Matt. I have to confess I don’t think the degree of difficulty was very high except for the pastry. However he won the first round. Also I was a bit suss of how much Alex actually cooks.

Stephanie Alexander was the special guest judge. The choice was between Coulibiac of Salmon with a dill butter sauce or Lemon curd layer cake. Alex chose the cake. It was difficult but it was no Zumbo.

It had a lot of elements in it. Wendy used her life line to get a crepe making tutorial but lost out on some precious time as she had the wrong pan. But Alex also had that issue. They also both did not use the right amount of gelatin.

Alex’s cake looked a bit lopsided but once he cut it though it looked ok, however apparently it was not sweet enough.

Wendy’s passionfruit jelly topping was more a juice though George liked it. Matt thought that in terms of flavours it was all there.

Simon Katich’s looked pretty good, and Matt concurred and thought it was the one that looked closest to Stephanie’s. Unsurprisingly Simon won. However I would have liked either Alex or Wendy to have won, as they were much more entertaining.

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