MasterChef USA
Encyclopedia
MasterChef is a 2010 America
n competitive cooking reality show, open to amateur and home chefs. It is co-hosted and co-produced by Gordon Ramsay
. Produced by Reveille Productions
, it first debuted on July 27, 2010 at 9 pm ET/PT on the Fox
Television Network, following one of Ramsay's other series, Hell's Kitchen
. The first series was initially seen Tuesday nights at 9 pm ET/PT; it moved to Wednesday nights at 8 pm ET/PT on August 18.
On September 7, 2010, MasterChef was renewed for a second season. The second season started with a two night premiere on June 6 & 7, 2011.
During the August 1st & 2nd, 2011 episodes a casting call was issued for season 3.
The winner of season 1 was Whitney Miller. The second season, aired in 2011, was won by Jennifer Behm
.
of the Australian format
, produced by FremantleMedia Australia, which in turn was based on the BBC series MasterChef. Chef, television personality and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay together with restaurateur and vineyard owner Joe Bastianich and chef Graham Elliot are the judges in this new version of MasterChef. The US version, however, has some deviations from the Australian version. The challenges also vary from season to season.
claimed the contestants' back stories were "blown up," referring to their dramatization. A Reuters
reviewer explained the show "manages to be hugely entertaining and involving thanks mainly to the judges’ personalities and the ability of the producers to spot emotionally charged stories." The Globe and Mail
said "scenes of blubbering and tears as his family gets involved. The contrived sentimentality of it is, frankly, vomitous" referring to the emotion in contestants reactions.
The program also attracted negative attention in the second season when Agence France-Presse
journalist Alex Ogle discovered that the producers doctored a crowd scene said to be of "thousands upon thousands lined up" to audition for the program. In post-production, portions of the scene were replicated so as to make the crowd look larger than it actually was, as evidenced by multiple appearances by particularly noticeable individuals in the scene.
. The second episode held up from the previous installment with 5.90 million and continued to have the highest time-slot share, also placing third against the major commercial networks.
The third episode on August 10, 2010 earned the highest viewing figures of the series to date with 6.12 million, which was third amongst the five major networks; that night's episode followed the season finale of Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen.
. That version, which lasted only fourteen episodes, was hosted by British chef Gary Rhodes
and was based directly from the BBC series.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n competitive cooking reality show, open to amateur and home chefs. It is co-hosted and co-produced by Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....
. Produced by Reveille Productions
Reveille Productions
Reveille Productions is an independently-owned television and motion picture studio and production company based in Los Angeles. The studio was founded by Ben Silverman in March 2002....
, it first debuted on July 27, 2010 at 9 pm ET/PT on the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
Television Network, following one of Ramsay's other series, Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen (U.S.)
Hell's Kitchen is an American reality-television cooking competition broadcast on Fox...
. The first series was initially seen Tuesday nights at 9 pm ET/PT; it moved to Wednesday nights at 8 pm ET/PT on August 18.
On September 7, 2010, MasterChef was renewed for a second season. The second season started with a two night premiere on June 6 & 7, 2011.
During the August 1st & 2nd, 2011 episodes a casting call was issued for season 3.
The winner of season 1 was Whitney Miller. The second season, aired in 2011, was won by Jennifer Behm
Jennifer Behm
Jennifer Behm is a reality television contestant from Wilmington, Delaware, known for competing in the Miss USA pageant in 2000 and winning the second season of MasterChef in 2011.-Profile:...
.
Format
MasterChef is based on the first seasonMasterChef Australia (season 1)
The first season of the Australian reality television series MasterChef Australia began on 27 April 2009 and aired on Network Ten, concluding on 19 July 2009 when Julie Goodwin was crowned the winner...
of the Australian format
Masterchef Australia
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...
, produced by FremantleMedia Australia, which in turn was based on the BBC series MasterChef. Chef, television personality and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay together with restaurateur and vineyard owner Joe Bastianich and chef Graham Elliot are the judges in this new version of MasterChef. The US version, however, has some deviations from the Australian version. The challenges also vary from season to season.
Preliminaries
Of all the amateur chefs who audition nationwide, one hundred are chosen to cook their signature dish for the three judges. Each judge takes a taste of the dish and gives his opinion before voting a "yes" or a "no". At least two "yes" votes are required to earn a white MasterChef apron, allowing the competitor to advance.Challenge night
The contestants who advanced out of the preliminary round next compete in two challenges. In the first, contestants complete a certain task, to the specification of the chefs, such as cutting and dicing onions or slicing apples. The chefs who are not eliminated while performing the task immediately proceed to an "invention test". A theme is given to the remaining contestants, who have thirty minutes to create and cook a dish relevant to this theme. The contestants can cook with any ingredient they want, as long as the theme is prevalent in the dish. Once the dishes are cooked, they are all presented to the judges for tasting —presentation, taste and the prevalence of the theme ingredient is considered.Mystery Box challenge
In the Mystery Box challenge, contestants receive a number of ingredients of which they are to make a dish of their choice. The contestants are allowed to use any number of the ingredients they wish, and are free to leave any ingredients out. Once the dishes are finished, the judges choose three of the dishes to taste. The winner receives an advantage in the following elimination challenge.Off-site team challenge
The off-site team challenge involves the contestants being split into two teams, blue and red which consist of equal numbers and are given a task, for example, running a restaurant or catering for a party or wedding. After the task has been completed, the teams are given the results, which can be determined by third party votes. Members of the losing team compete in an elimination challenge.Pressure test
A "pressure test" challenge involves competitors who failed in a previous challenge (i.e. the three worst performers in an individual challenge or the losing team in a group challenge). The competitors are given a dish that they then must create in a particular time frame. Once the contestants have finished cooking, the dishes are taken to the judges to be tasted, who then criticize, vote and eliminate one or more contestants.Celebrity chef
A celebrity chef challenge involves a contestant who won a particular challenge. The contestant competes against a celebrity chef in a cook off. The celebrity chef gives the contestant the recipe to reproduce, and the contestant receives a head start to cook the dish before the celebrity chef starts cooking and after a certain time the dishes are presented to the judges who taste and score out of ten. The dishes are tasted by the judges in a blind-tasting fashion, meaning that they are never aware which dish was made by whom. If the contestant scores higher than the celebrity chef, they receive an immunity pin which they can use during an elimination to pass the elimination challenge.Contestants
| Contestant | Age | Occupation | Hometown | Episode of Elimination | Place Finished |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitney Miller | 22 | College Student | Poplarville, Mississippi Poplarville, Mississippi Poplarville is a city in Pearl River County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 2,601. It is the county seat of Pearl River County. It hosts an annual Blueberry Jubilee, which includes rides, craft vendors, and rodeos.... |
Winner | 1st |
| David Miller | 29 | Software Engineer | Boston, Massachusetts | Episode 13 | 2nd |
| Lee Knaz | 27 | Bartender | Venice, California | Episode 12 | 3rd/4th |
| Sheetal Bhagat | 37 | Teacher | Chicago, Illinois | ||
| Sharone Hakman | 28 | Financial Advisor | Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, California Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California... |
Episode 11 | 5th |
| Mike Kim | 34 | Server | Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach is one of the three Beach Cities located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 66,748 at the 2010 census, up from 63,261 at the 2000 census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the greater Los Angeles area.Redondo Beach was originally part of... |
Episode 10 | 6th |
| Jake Gandolfo | 38 | Construction Worker | Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946... |
Episode 9 | 7th |
| Tracy Nailor | 42 | Doctor | Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in... |
8th | |
| Slim Huynh | 22 | College Student | Harvey, Louisiana Harvey, Louisiana Harvey is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. Harvey is on the West Bank of the Mississippi River, within the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area... |
Episode 8 | 9th |
| Tony Carbone | 31 | Server | Boston, Massachusetts | Episode 7 | 10th |
| Faruq Jenkins | 30 | Bartender | Glendale, California Glendale, California Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California... |
Episode 6 | 11th |
| Jenna Hamiter | 23 | Homemaker | Euless, Texas Euless, Texas Euless, known as "Tree City USA," is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Fort Worth. Euless is part of the Mid-Cities between Dallas and Fort Worth... |
Episode 5 | 12th |
| Sheena Zadeh | 26 | Marketing Executive | Anaheim, California Anaheim, California Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States... |
Episode 4 | 13th |
| Avis White | 47 | Elderly Caregiver | Vacherie, Louisiana Vacherie, Louisiana Vacherie is a small unincorporated community in St. James Parish, Louisiana, United States. Near the community is the WCKW/KSTE-Tower, a guyed mast noted as one of the tallest constructions on Earth.-Census-designated places:... |
14th |
Elimination table
| Place | Contestant | Episode | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | ||||||
| 1 | Whitney | WIN | IN | PT | HIGH | IN | PT | IN | LOW | WIN | HIGH | WIN | PT | WIN | WINNER | |
| 2 | David | Top 14 | IN | IN | PT | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | HIGH | WIN | WIN | |
| 3/4 | Lee | Top 14 | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | PT | WIN | WIN | PT | IN | LOW | HIGH | ELIM | |
| Sheetal | Top 14 | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | HIGH | LOW | WIN | WIN | LOW | IN | ELIM | ||
| 5 | Sharone | Top 14 | IN | IN | PT | WIN | CC | WIN | HIGH | IN | WIN | HIGH | HIGH | ELIM | ||
| 6 | Mike | Top 14 | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | LOW | WIN | IN | IN | PT | IN | ELIM | |||
| 7 | Jake | Top 14 | HIGH | IN | WIN | HIGH | WIN | PT | IN | IN | ELIM | |||||
| 8 | Tracy | Top 14 | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | PT | IN | LOW | ELIM | |||||
| 9 | Slim | Top 14 | IN | IN | PT | IN | LOW | WIN | IN | ELIM | ||||||
| 10 | Tony | Top 14 | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | ELIM | ||||||||
| 11 | Faruq | Top 14 | IN | LOW | PT | IN | ELIM | |||||||||
| 12 | Jenna | Top 14 | IN | IN | ELIM | |||||||||||
| 13 | Sheena | Top 14 | HIGH | ELIM | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Avis | Top 14 | IN | ELIM | ||||||||||||
- (WINNER) This chef won the competition.
- (RUNNER-UP) This chef received second place in the competition.
- (Top 14) The chef won a place in the Top 14.
- (WIN) The chef won the individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge or Invention Test) and received an advantage in the next challenge.
- (WIN) The chef was on the winning team in the Team Challenge and was safe from the Pressure Test.
- (CC) The chef received the advantage of competing against a celebrity chef in this challenge. If they won, they advanced farther on in the competition, skipping a number of challenges. The chef could not be eliminated after this challenge.
- (HIGH) The chef was one of the top entries in the individual challenge, but did not win.
- (IN) The chef was not selected as a top entry or bottom entry in the challenge.
- (PT) The chef was on the losing team in the Team Challenge (except episode 11 — an Individual Challenge) , competed in the pressure test, and advanced.
- (LOW) The chef was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, but was not the last person to advance.
- (LOW) The chef was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, and was the last person to advance.
- (ELIM) The chef was eliminated from MasterChef.
Follow up
First season winner Whitney Miller has published the Masterchef cookbook "Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm" due for sale in July, 2011.Trivia
David and Whitney have same long names, despite, Whitney and David might be the part of family members, but it is still unknown.Season 2: 2011
Season 2 of MasterChef had a two-night premiere on Fox on June 6 and 7, 2011. At the end of the third episode, which aired on June 13, 2011, the judges had tasted all 100 dishes and given white MasterChef aprons to 38 contestants. In the fourth episode that aired on June 14, 2011, the judges cut that number down to 18 contestants.Contestants
Source:| Contestant Contestant A contestant is someone who takes part in a competition, usually a professional competition or a game show on television. The participants competing against each other have to go through rounds... |
Age Age Age may refer to:* Age , an aspect of mathematical model theory* Age , an international peer-reviewed journal operated by Springer.* The Age, a daily newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia* Agé, a god* Åge, a given name... |
Occupation Occupation Occupation may refer to:*Job , a regular activity performed for payment, that occupies one's time**Employment, a person under service of another by hire**Career, a course through life**Profession, a vocation founded upon specialized training... |
Hometown | Episode of Elimination | Place Finished |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jennifer Behm Jennifer Behm Jennifer Behm is a reality television contestant from Wilmington, Delaware, known for competing in the Miss USA pageant in 2000 and winning the second season of MasterChef in 2011.-Profile:... |
34 | Realtor | Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley... |
Winner | 1st |
| Adrien Nieto | 28 | Server | Ventura, California Ventura, California Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S... |
Episode 20 | 2nd |
| Christian Collins | 31 | Stay at Home Father | Episode 19 | 3rd | |
| Suzy Singh | 27 | Neural Engineer Neural engineering Neural engineering is a discipline within biomedical engineering that uses engineering techniques to understand, repair, replace, enhance, or otherwise exploit the properties of neural systems... |
Chicago, Illinois | Episode 18 | 4th |
| Ben Starr | 33 | Travel Writer | Dallas, Texas Dallas, Texas Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States... |
Episode 17 | 5th |
| Tracy Kontos | 32 | Sales Consultant Sales A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity.... |
Coral Springs, Florida Coral Springs, Florida Coral Springs, officially chartered July 10, 1963, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, approximately northwest of Fort Lauderdale. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 121,096... |
Episode 16 | 6th |
| Derrick Prince | 33 | West Babylon, New York West Babylon, New York West Babylon is a census-designated place in the town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 43,452 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Babylon is located at .... |
Episode 15 | 7th | |
| Christine Corley | 27 | Single Mom | Sopchoppy, Florida Sopchoppy, Florida Sopchoppy is a city in Wakulla County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Tallahassee, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 426 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S... |
8th | |
| 37 | Architect/Urban Planner | Playa del Rey, California | Episode 13 | 9th | |
| Giuseppe Morisco | 38 | Granite Salesman | Chicago, Illinois | Episode 12 | 10th |
| Erryn Cobb | 26 | Public Relations | Chicago, Illinois | Episode 11 | 11th |
| Esther Kang | 28 | Lawyer | Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, California Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California... |
Episode 10 | 12th |
| Jennie Kelley | 37 | Musician | Dallas, Texas Dallas, Texas Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States... |
Episode 9 | 13th |
| Max Kramer | 18 | Student | Episode 8 | 14th | |
| Alvin Schultz | 28 | Retail Manager Store manager A store manager is the person ultimately responsible for the day-to-day operations of a retail store. All employees working in the store report to the store manager... |
Houston, Texas Houston, Texas Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ... |
Episode 7 | 15th |
| Tony Scruggs | 52 | Truck Driver Truck driver A truck driver , is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, usually a semi truck, box truck, or dump truck.Truck drivers provide an essential service to... |
Grant Park, Illinois Grant Park, Illinois Grant Park is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Grant Park was incorporated in 1883.. In 2000, Grant Park, IL had a population of 1,358, and in 2009, a population of 1,701. It is part of the Kankakee–Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area and the... |
Episode 6 | 16th |
| Mark Raffaeli | 35 | Realtor | Chicago, Illinois | Episode 5 | 17th |
| 37 | Property Manager | Columbus, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city... |
18th |
Elimination table
| Place | Contestant | Episode | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Jennifer | Top 18 | IN | IN | LOW | LOW | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | PT | WIN | LOW | WIN | IN | LOW | PT | WIN | IN | PT | HIGH | LOW | WIN | LOW | IN | WINNER | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Adrien | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | NPT | HIGH | LOW | WIN | IN | LOW | WIN | WIN | IN | PT | HIGH | IN | LOW | HIGH | LOW | WIN | WIN | IN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Christian | WIN | IMM | PT | IN | IN | WIN | LOW | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | HIGH | WIN | LOW | IN | IN | WIN | IN | LOW | PT | IN | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Suzy | Top 18 | HIGH | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | LOW | IN | IN | PT | IN | LOW | WIN | HIGH | WIN | WIN | IN | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Ben | Top 18 | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | IN | NPT | IN | WIN | PT | IN | IN | PT | HIGH | IN | WIN | IN | LOW | WIN | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Tracy | Top 18 | IN | IN | PT | HIGH | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | PT | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Derrick | Top 18 | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | NPT | IN | IN | WIN | HIGH | IN | LOW | IN | IN | PT | IN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Christine | Top 18 | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | PT | IN | IN | PT | IN | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Alejandra | Top 18 | IN | IN | PT | HIGH | IN | WIN | HIGH | LOW | WIN | HIGH | IN | PT | IN | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Giuseppe | Top 18 | IN | IN | PT | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Erryn | Top 18 | IN | LOW | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | LOW | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Esther | Top 18 | IN | IN | PT | IN | WIN | NPT | IN | IN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Jennie | Top 18 | HIGH | IN | WIN | IN | LOW | NPT | IN | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Max | Top 18 | IN | WIN | PT | IN | LOW | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Alvin | Top 18 | IN | IN | WIN | IN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Tony | Top 18 | IN | IN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Mark | Top 18 | IN | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Angel | Top 18 | IN | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- (WINNER) This chef won the competition.
- (RUNNER-UP) This chef received second place.
- (Top 18) The chef won a place in the Top 18.
- (WIN) The chef won the individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge or Invention Test) and received an advantage in the next challenge.
- (WIN) The chef was on the winning team in the Team Challenge and was safe from the Pressure Test.
- (HIGH) The chef was one of the top entries in the individual challenge, but did not win.
- (IN) The chef was not selected as a top entry or bottom entry in the challenge.
- (IMM) The chef won the Mystery Box Challenge and did not have to compete in the Invention Test.
- (PT) The chef was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, competed in the pressure test, and advanced.
- (NPT) The chef was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, but did not compete in the pressure test, and advanced.
- (LOW) The chef was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, but was not the last person to advance.
- (LOW) The chef was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, and was the last person to advance.
- (ELIM) The chef was eliminated from MasterChef.
Episodes
| Original airdate | 1 | Monday June 6, 2011 | Audition 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Tuesday June 7, 2011 | Audition 2 | |
| 3 | Monday June 13, 2011 | Audition 3 | |
| 4 | Tuesday June 14, 2011 | Top 38 Basic Skills Challenge - The thirty eight contestants had to demonstrate their knife work by creating perfectly even slices of green apple. They had to continue slicing until stopped by one of the judges, when they would find out if they were going through or going home. Twenty four contestants remained after this round. For the second round the contestants had to cook a chicken dish. Six more were eliminated, leaving the top eighteen. |
|
| 5 | Monday June 20, 2011 | Mystery Box Challenge 1 - The contestants had to prepare a dish using only the Mystery Box ingredients. Ben's strawberry balsamic and undercooked salmon was deemed as "hideous" earning him last place. The top three were Suzy, Christian and Jennie. Christian won the challenge with his Pistachio-crusted salmon. His prize was to choose the style of food that everyone would cook for the elimination challenge. Elimination Challenge 1 - The theme for this challenge was the cuisine of Europe. Christian chose French cuisine and also received safety from elimination, while the others had one hour to make their French dish. Derrick's French Cheese Puff Stuffed with Poached Egg and Max's Poached Cod in Cream Sauce earned them the top two spots and the job of team captain in the next challenge. The bottom three were Angel, Erryn and Mark. Angel was the first to be eliminated after a "horrendously executed" fruit tart, and Mark was eliminated for putting uncooked flour in his potatoes. |
|
| 6 | Tuesday June 21, 2011 | Team Challenge 1 - The contestants were split into two teams chosen by Derrick and Max. The teams had to create a five-course meal for 350 busy office workers in the building. The service had to consist of soup, a salad, pizza, a special entree and dessert. At the end of service, each diner would vote for their favorite dish. The Blue Team ran out of meat and had to switch to chicken sandwiches, securing enough points for the Red Team to win and sending the Blue Team into the Pressure Test. Pressure Test Elimination 1 - The Blue Team members had to an hour to cook a simple ravioli with spinach and ricotta filling from scratch, finished with a simple butter sauce preventing them from disguising a bad pasta. The bottom three were Esther (whose filling had an aftertaste that she could not identify the source of), Jennifer (who ruined the flavor of her pasta by adding nutmeg), and Tony (whose ravioli was very poor on all counts). In the end, Tony was eliminated. |
|
| 7 | Monday June 27, 2011 | Mystery Box Challenge 2 - The contestants had to prepare a dish using only the Mystery Box ingredients, including New Zealand lamb. Jennifer's dish stood out as the worst as her lamb was completely raw. Alejandra, Adrien and Tracy landed in the top 3. Adrien won with his Farmer's Market Lamb with Cauliflower Puree. He won the opportunity to choose the theme for himself, and then everyone else in the elimination challenge. Elimination Challenge 2 - The theme for the challenge was dessert. Adrien was given the option of coffee, pineapple, and nuts. He chose nuts for himself and coffee for everyone else to use. The contestants had 90 minutes to prepare a dessert. Tracy's Espresso Chocolate Flourless Cake and Esther's Coffee Cheesecake were chosen as the two best and they became the captains for the next team challenge. Jennie, Max and Alvin landed in the bottom. While Max's Torte de Crepes was called horrible by Chef Ramsay, Alvin was eliminated for his Coffee-filled Beignets w/ Coffee Chicory Pudding which Chef Elliot simply referred to as "offensive". Chefs Ramsay and Bastianich also felt that Alvin's molecular gastronomy Molecular gastronomy Molecular gastronomy is a subdiscipline of food science that seeks to investigate, explain and make practical use of the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that occur while cooking, as well as the social, artistic and technical components of culinary and gastronomic phenomena in... approach simply did not work for the competition, and advised him to "go back to basics" in the future. |
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| 8 | Tuesday June 28, 2011 | Team Challenge 2 - The contestants were split into two teams chosen by Tracy and Esther and were given 90 minutes to prepare sausage sandwiches for 100 bikers who would vote on which one was the best. Tracy's team made a Spicy Italian Pork Sausage w/ Caramelized Onions and Molasses while Esther's team made a Beer Soaked Sausage Patty w/ Drunken Onion and Pepper Relish. Despite an early setback when Christine and Max couldn't case the sausages, which was salvaged when Ben suggested turning them into patties, Esther's team had an early lead. Tracy's team decided to add banana peppers to their sandwich to give it a spicier flavor, which led to the blue team receiving 51 votes first for the win. Pressure Test Elimination 2 - Chef Ramsay announced that only two chefs would compete in the pressure test. He asked Esther to choose the two chefs most responsible for the loss and she chose Max and Christine due to their failure to case the sausages properly. Chef Ramsay offered Esther the opportunity to swap places with one of them, but she chose to join the rest of her team in safety. In the Pressure Test, Max and Christine were given three filets of steak to cook rare, medium, and well done. Despite Christine's well done steak being severely undercooked, her rare and medium steaks were perfect while all three of Max's steaks were slightly out, resulting in Max's elimination. |
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| 9 | Tuesday July 5, 2011 | Mystery Box Challenge 3 - The Mystery Box contained several vegetables and spices which the chefs used to create a vegetarian entree. Before tasting, the judges deemed Christian's dish as the worst, which Christian openly disagreed with to the judges. Jennifer, Adrien and Alejandra landed in the top 3, and Jennifer won the challenge with her Vegetable Terrine w/ Eggplant Wrap and Tomato Sauce. Elimination Challenge 3 - Jennifer was given three dishes cooked by last year's Masterchef winner, Whitney Miller, to choose from for everybody to cook. She chose her Crispy Catfish w/ Homemade Slaw and Sweet Potato Fries. The contestants had to recreate the dish with no recipe while Jennifer was given a basket of all the ingredients needed to cook the dish. Christian redeemed himself from the previous challenge, as did Ben who both became captains in the next team challenge. Alejandra (who inexplicably decided to flavor her tartar sauce with raw garlic), Adrien (for his sloppy plating), and Jennie were in the bottom 3, and Jennie was eliminated. |
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| 10 | Monday July 11, 2011 | Team Challenge 3 - The contestants arrived at Gordon Ramsay Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars.... 's restaurant at the London West Hollywood hotel in downtown L.A., where they were split up into teams by captains Christian and Ben, winners of the previous challenge. They catered for a Hollywood party and prepared hors d'oeuvres for all the guests, with a brief of vegetable, beef and a dessert. The winners would be decided per course, by guests' votes. The Red Team took the starter with 64% of the votes for Adrien's Duo of Gazpacho, which beat out Suzy's more tradition Gazpacho. The Blue Team had a crushing comeback on the entrée with a clean sweep of 100% of the votes for Christine's Mini Beef Wellington Beef Wellington Beef Wellington is a preparation of fillet steak coated with pâté and duxelles, which is then wrapped in puff pastry and baked... , after not a single guest had anything positive to say about Derrick's Steak Tartare. The dessert course proved problematic for both teams, as they both wanted to make a profiterole dish, but failed to put it up in time. Giuseppe (Red Team) decided to switch over to a Puff Pastry Fruit Tart after botching his first batch of profiteroles, whereas Esther (Blue Team) made 3 batches of dough and managed to finish her profiteroles, but a split chocolate mousse filling caused them to have to change their dessert to a simple Fruit Cup with Whipped Cream. Giuseppe's quick thinking paid off as the Red Team took the dessert course and the challenge with a close 53% of the vote, with the Blue Team up for elimination. Pressure Test Elimination 3 - Everyone on the Blue Team was given 2 hours to make a cake with a minimum of 6 layers of sponge Sponge cake Sponge cake is a cake based on flour , sugar, and eggs, sometimes leavened with baking powder which has a firm, yet well aerated structure, similar to a sea sponge. A sponge cake may be produced by either the batter method, or the foam method. Typicially the batter method in the U.S. is known as a... . Judges raved over Ben and Jennifer's cakes and Tracy's was also good enough to be deemed safe from elimination. Next deemed safe was Christine, despite her "one-dimensional" cake with blackberries and double cream. It came down to Suzy's overcomplicated Chocolate Ganache Cake with Pecans and Esther's unbalanced and overly sweet and acidic Lemon Raspberry Cake. Esther's was deemed the weakest because of Suzy's delicious ganache, and she was eliminated. |
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| 11 | Monday July 18, 2011 | Mystery Box Challenge 4 - With a lobster in their Mystery Box, the contestants fired up their creativity. Derrick, Alejandra and Jennifer were the top 3. Christian, considered a seafood expert, showed disrespect towards the other contestants by eating his own dish during the tasting of Jennifer's dish, for which he got told off by Joe. Jennifer won the Mystery Box with her dish of Baked Lobster. Elimination Challenge 4 - In this challenge with an aphrodisiac Aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire. The name comes from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sexuality and love. Throughout history, many foods, drinks, and behaviors have had a reputation for making sex more attainable and/or pleasurable... theme, Jennifer got to pick from core ingredients of oysters, artichokes and truffles for everyone to cook with. She picked the very expensive truffle and was given the option to watch everyone cook from the balcony with a glass of champagne, but decided to stay and cook with everyone else. Tracy and Guiseppe were the top two and named captains for the next team challenge. Erryn, Adrien and Jennifer landed in the bottom 3. Jennifer, despite her advantage, failed to impress with her undercooked Cottled Eggs, Adrien's "categorical disaster" dish suffered from horrible plating and overpowering chilli and Erryn's dish was let down by burnt steak and crunchy vegetables. With Jennifer just barely deemed safe, Adrien and Erryn were left with two bad dishes, one of them deemed "the worst we've ever seen" by the judges. Chef Ramsay offered its implied creator the chance to step back from the competition, which Erryn graciously accepted as he resigned to let Adrien continue because "[at least] he cooked his steak perfectly". |
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| 12 | Tuesday July 19, 2011 | Team Challenge 4 - The red and blue teams each cooked a three-course menu under the scrutiny of the judges' moms, including Joe's mother, world famous chef Lydia Bastianich. The Blue Team won the challenge, despite a risky decision to cook a fish entrée, knowing Gordon's mother doesn't like fish. Pressure Test Elimination 4 - Giuseppe nearly got kicked out before the pressure test even started, after he enraged the judges by indirectly questioning the palates of the three mothers. The Red Team were given 30 minutes to create the perfect Eggs Benedict Eggs Benedict Eggs Benedict is a dish that consists of two halves of an English muffin, topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce.-Origin:There are conflicting accounts as to the origin of Eggs Benedict, including:... . Ben and Suzy were the only two to cook competent dishes, with only minor flaws. After they were declared safe, Giuseppe, Derrick and Alejandra were left. Alejandra failed to impress with her overcooked eggs "like golfballs" and botched hollandaise sauce Hollandaise sauce Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of egg yolk and butter, usually seasoned with lemon juice. In appearance it is light yellow and opaque, smooth and creamy. The flavor is rich and buttery, with a mild tang added by the lemon juice, yet not so strong as to overpower mildly-flavored foods.Hollandaise... , but was the third to be declared safe. The decision was between Giuseppe's messy dish with undercooked eggs and Derrick's with a lack of sauce. Ultimately, the judges decided that serving them raw eggs was the biggest mistake and Giuseppe was eliminated. |
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| 13 | Tuesday July 26, 2011 | Mystery Box Challenge 5 - The contestants, among other ingredients, found some hand-dived scallops in their Mystery Boxes. The top three consisted of Christian, Adrien and Ben. Adrien's Trio of Scallops won over Ben's risky combination of scallops and bananas. Elimination Challenge 5 - Adrien, as winner of the Mystery Box, got to choose between nine different cuts of pork, ranging from easy to hard. He got to pick his own cut (pork chops) and assign the other cuts to the other contestants, including the difficult pork cheeks (Christian) and pork belly (Suzy). The contestants only got 1 hour to cook their pork dish with pantry ingredients, making the tougher cuts very challenging to cook in time. Christian, who cooked the most difficult cut of pork cheek to perfection, and Christine, whose humble dish of baby-back ribs delighted the judges, were named team captains for the next challenge. Derrick and Ben (who narrowly averted disaster by removing over a dozen undercooked beans from his chilli) were also praised for doing wonders with difficult cuts of pork. Suzy and Jennifer each cooked a dish that was bad enough to make the judges spit it out, and the judges even told Suzy that her dish was the worst-tasting thing that they had ever seen on the show. Ultimately though, it was Alejandra that made the biggest mistake by serving up raw pork loin, considered the easiest cut. Alejandra was eliminated, but the judges told Suzy that she would have been the one who was sent home, were it not for Alejandra's error. |
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| 14 | Monday August 1, 2011 | Team Challenge 5 - With Christine and Christian as captains, the blue and red teams headed into a catering service for a children's party. Their menus had to contain a slider Slider (sandwich) A slider is a small sandwich, typically around across, served in a bun. The term primarily refers to small hamburgers, but can also cover any small sandwich served on a slider roll... and a side dish. Despite their unorthodox menu choice according to the judges, the Red Team received the most votes in the end, avoiding what Chef Ramsay called "the toughest Pressure Test so far". Pressure Test Elimination 5 - Christian, Jennifer, Derrick and Adrien faced a soufflé Soufflé A soufflé is a light baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert... challenge, in which they were given 90 minutes to cook their best savory soufflé. Due to the difficult timing and extremely delicate nature of the dish, they could put up their most successful soufflé at any time during the challenge and make as many for back-up as they wanted. Despite some minor technical errors or unbalanced flavors, the judges thought every contestant's soufflé was delicious, therefore no one was eliminated. |
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| 15 | Tuesday August 2, 2011 | Mystery Box Challenge 6 - In a Mystery Box with a surf and turf Surf and turf Surf and turf or surf 'n' turf is a main course in American cuisine which combines seafood and meat. It is particularly common in British or Irish pubs in North America and North American steakhouses, and typically includes lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, or shrimp, which may be grilled or breaded and... theme, contestants were to cook a dish with core ingredients of beef and seafood. Adrien, Jennifer and Suzy landed in the top 3 and it was Jennifer's well-conceived risotto Risotto Risotto is a class of Italian dishes of rice cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. The broth may be meat-, fish-, or vegetable-based; many kinds include Parmesan cheese, butter, and onion... that sealed the win and the advantage of getting to pick the dish for the next challenge. Elimination Challenge 6 - Winner Jennifer got to pick from the three judges' childhood favorite dishes, being Joe's Pizza, Graham's Mac 'n' Cheese and Gordon's Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese. She picked Gordon's dish and the contestants were to turn it into a gourmet dish. Christine's acidic soup and oily cheese toast and Derrick's cheese-laden unbalanced dish were enough to eliminate both contestants, as no one was eliminated in the previous episode. Just before Derrick left, Chef Bastianich implied that he would be willing to employ Derrick at his restaurant. |
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| 16 | Monday August 8, 2011 | Team Challenge 6 - The top 6 were taken to Michelin-starred Patina restaurant in Los Angeles, where they had to run a dinner service. Tracy selected Adrien and Jennifer as part of her Blue Team, whereas Christian and Ben cooked with Suzy in the Red Team. There was chaos in the kitchen, but both teams managed to correct themselves in the end. The Red Team was declared the winner based on kitchen performance and feedback from the customers and the chefs at Patina. Pressure Test Elimination 6 - Tracy, Jennifer and Adrien faced off in a Pressure Test with a salmon theme. They were to correctly fillet Fillet Fillet may refer to:*Fillet , a headband*Fillet , a piece of meat*Fillet , the filling of an interior corner*Annulet , part of a column capital... a whole salmon and cut it into at least 10 portions. They then had to cook one portion and serve it to the judges. Jennifer performed best overall despite undercooking her salmon and it came down to poor performances from Adrien and Tracy. In the end, leaving the tail on her fish, uneven portioning and her undercooked salmon sealed Tracy's elimination. As a parting gift, the judges gave her a year of culinary lessons, and offered to let her work in any of their restaurants. |
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| 17 | Tuesday August 9. 2011 | Mystery Box Challenge 7 - The contestants were given three kinds of ground meat as a core ingredient for a dish of their choosing with other ingredients from the box, which they had to cook within 60 minutes. The top 3 consisted of Jennifer, Adrien and Ben, with the latter's Shepherd's Pie Shepherd's pie Cottage pie or shepherd's pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato.The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791, when the potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor Cottage pie or shepherd's pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato.The term... (made with ground veal instead of the traditional ground mutton) emerging triumphant. Elimination Challenge 7 - Ben, having won his first Mystery Box, got to pick one of Gordon Ramsay Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars.... 's signature dishes for everyone to cook with a spot in the top 4 at stake. He also got to ask Gordon three questions about the recipe, with no recipe given to the other contestants. Suzy's dish was deemed the overall best and almost a perfect copy of the original, except for being slightly too rich with butter. All the other contestants produced dishes that were "below par". Ultimately, it was Ben who was eliminated for overcooking his venison Venison Venison is the meat of a game animal, especially a deer but also other animals such as antelope, wild boar, etc.-Etymology:The word derives from the Latin vēnor... and overreducing his red wine sauce, despite his advantages. |
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| 18 | Monday August 15, 2011 | Team Challenge 7 - The top 4 were divided in two teams and cooked a dish for the judges, who were joined by 3 judges from international versions of MasterChef: Kunal Kapoor (India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... ), Sébastien Demorand (France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... ) and Michal Ansky (Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea... ). As the winner of the last elimination challenge, Suzy was allowed to pick which of the other three chefs she wanted to work with, and chose Christian. Suzy and Christian received some criticism on their Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the... Dinner with Raspberry Coulis Coulis A coulis is a form of thick sauce made from puréed and strained vegetables or fruits. A vegetable coulis is commonly used on meat and vegetable dishes, and it can also be used as a base for soups or other sauces. Fruit coulis are most often used on desserts... . Ansky thought the sauce was floury and although everyone agreed the elements were well-executed overall, Joe thought of the dish as "disrespectful" towards the international guests and exuding "a lot of animosity" between Christian and Suzy. Jennifer and Adrien's dish of Prawns with Lobster, Corn and Avocado was panned by critics for having uncleaned prawns, "watery" sauce, lack of seasoning, texture and presentation. Their team work was, however, a lot better, which ended up earning them the win for this challenge. Pressure Test Elimination 7 - With the Blue Team of Adrien and Jennifer safely in the top 3 of the competition, Suzy and Christian went head-to-head in a Pressure Test. They were given 90 minutes to recreate a Lemon Meringue Meringue Meringue is a type of dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar, occasionally some recipes may call for adding an acid such as cream of tartar or a small amount of vinegar and a binding agent such as cornstarch found in icing sugar which may be added in addition to the corn starch which... Pie. Suzy's pie didn't look very attractive, had raw meringue and was too weak in texture, but the judges liked her lemon curd. Christian's dish looked better overall and had good flavor and structure, but suffered from a bad meringue as the sugar wasn't incorporated properly. Overall, the judges described the situation as "Christian's looks better than it tastes and Suzy's tastes better than it looks". Despite her reputation as this series' dessert queen, Suzy's pie fell short of the mark as her performance in the kitchen led to a teary elimination. |
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| 19 | Tuesday August 16, 2011 | Mystery Box Challenge 8 - The final 3 chefs were asked to cook a dish using chicken once again in 1 hour with an open pantry. Jennifer received some criticism on her dish, which suffered from both overcooked and undercooked elements. All three judges were very impressed with Adrien's dish, but only had minor compliments for Christian's. Jennifer was announced as being the least favorite dish, coming in third place. Adrien won the challenge. Elimination Challenge 8 - Adrien, Jennifer and Christian were lead once again to be shown what their challenge would consist of. In this case, it would be ingredients that were three of Joe's favorite. Due to winning the Mystery Box, Adrien got to choose his ingredient, from octopus, veal, or mushrooms. He strategically chose the octopus. Christian then got the chance to choose both his, and Jennifer's ingredient for their entrees. Christian chose veal to try and give Jennifer the worst, but Jennifer then explained she was thrilled to work with mushrooms. Adrien was commended for nearly every element on his dish, especially his core ingredient of octopus, with only his rice not proving very successful. Christian's dish again suffered in presentation, and despite a perfectly cooked veal chop and good mash, other elements such as the vegetables were lacking as Ramsay called it "not his best dish". Jennifer's risky dish of Egg Yolk Ravioli was raved over by the judges, except lacking in terms of seasoning and slightly undercooked pasta. Adrien was the first person to take a place in the final, leaving it down to old competition rivals Christian and Jennifer. Jennifer was declared the second finalist, as Christian was eliminated. |
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| 20 | Tuesday August 16, 2011 | Series Final - Adrien and Jennifer faced off in a single challenge to determine who wins the title of MasterChef and $250,000. They were given 2 hours to create a three-course menu of their choosing.
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Season 3: 2012
No official announcement has been made regarding season three. However, during episodes throughout season two, a casting call was issued for another season.Critical
The premiere episode received mixed reviews from major newspapers and online review websites, with reviews commenting that it was entertaining, but criticized the emotional aspect. The Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
claimed the contestants' back stories were "blown up," referring to their dramatization. A Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
reviewer explained the show "manages to be hugely entertaining and involving thanks mainly to the judges’ personalities and the ability of the producers to spot emotionally charged stories." The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
said "scenes of blubbering and tears as his family gets involved. The contrived sentimentality of it is, frankly, vomitous" referring to the emotion in contestants reactions.
The program also attracted negative attention in the second season when Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
journalist Alex Ogle discovered that the producers doctored a crowd scene said to be of "thousands upon thousands lined up" to audition for the program. In post-production, portions of the scene were replicated so as to make the crowd look larger than it actually was, as evidenced by multiple appearances by particularly noticeable individuals in the scene.
Television ratings
Although the series' premiere episode was the highest-rated debut for Summer 2010, with 5.75 million and the highest shares in that time-slot, the episode did not surpass its time-slot competitors' figures with the exception of The CW's repeat of Life UnexpectedLife Unexpected
Life Unexpected is an American television series that ran for two seasons, from 2010 to 2011.The show premiered on The CW on Monday, January 18, 2010. The 13-episode first season run ended on April 12, 2010...
. The second episode held up from the previous installment with 5.90 million and continued to have the highest time-slot share, also placing third against the major commercial networks.
The third episode on August 10, 2010 earned the highest viewing figures of the series to date with 6.12 million, which was third amongst the five major networks; that night's episode followed the season finale of Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen.
Earlier American adaptation
An earlier American adaptation, MasterChef USA, was produced from 2000 to 2001 by West 175 Productions and was broadcast on PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
. That version, which lasted only fourteen episodes, was hosted by British chef Gary Rhodes
Gary Rhodes
Gary Rhodes OBE is an English restaurateur, cookery writer, and chef, known for his love of British cuisine and distinctive spiked hair style ....
and was based directly from the BBC series.