What a ridiculous article. The Regional Flavours was being held in Matt’s home town, so it’s no wonder he attended. Has nothing to do with the final result.
Since when is a brownie and ice cream finals week worthy? Harry was told his dish was “third week” standard but Elise gets away with merely making a brownie and a bad one at that? [quote=“JohnsonTV, post:683, topic:366”]
There is speculation that he might have won.
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I wouldn’t be reading too much into that. It was no secret he was at the event, he appeared on Ten News Brisbane with the judges. Georgia attended a similar event last year before the final with the three judges which generated similar speculation. We all know how that turned out.
Tonight’s MasterClass was one of the best episodes of the year. The top four contestants enjoyed “critiquing” the dishes, even using the phrases said by the judges during the season. Make me wonder if they really like the food created in the mystery box?
I like the idea of yellow/red card for mystery box, perhaps it could be considered for the early stages of the competition proper next season?
The relay invention test between the judges and the top 4 contestants (minus Matt) was very competitive too. Both teams produced great dishes with mandarin as main ingredient, but the judges lost because George and Shannon forgot to cut the wishbone from the quail. At the end of Santa Monica food truck challenge, Matt Preston mentioned the three things that brought people undone in the MasterChef kitchen: bones in fish, undercooked chicken and leaving poop chutes in prawns. Perhaps leaving wishbone in quail can be added to the list?
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Then obviously I haven’t stored Ten’s false and misleading promotional material away in my brain - I always thought the final was on Sunday.
I thought it was extremely cheesy and way over the top. I know it’s meant to be a bit of fun, but the over acting from the judges (particularly George) really put me off to the point that it felt like it was a bit of a mockery of the whole thing. It also feels like the wish bone was purposely left in to give it to the contestants, as the judges were having a bit if a piss take of the challenge.
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I have posted previously that India is further behind Australia in terms of episodes broadcast, now it’s a three-week gap. The reason is the extended length of Sunday episode and the occasional MasterClass on Thursdays on Ten. Given Star World only allocates one hour each weeknight (9pm-10pm Indian time) for first-run shows, it means the Sunday episode has to be split in two episodes, and MasterClass aired the night after elimination. Take the end of Heston week and the start of “Toughest Week” for example, here is the synopsis from the Times of India website:
Episode 55 (today)
The seven contestants who created the least impressive dishes during the pop-ups now face off to stay in the competition in the final Heston-inspired challenge.
Episode 56 (Monday, July 25)
The contestants get a special masterclass with Heston Blumenthal where he reveals his culinary tricks.
Both were shown as single episode (episode 45) in Australia on June 30.
Episode 57 (Tuesday, July 26)
The contestants have to use all the ingredients of their mystery box in their dish, and not just one.
Episode 58 (Wednesday, July 27)
In the invention test, contestants must choose between three of the hardest invention test dishes ever from previous seasons.
Both were shown as single episode (episode 46) in Australia on July 3.
Given the final three episodes of the season next week are extended length, I won’t be surprised if each of them is split into two, meaning they will be shown in India over six nights, which is inconvenient for fans there.
It’s a shame I didn’t go ,would have liked to see the 3 judges and past contestants of MC in the flesh.Maybe Matt did win,we won’t find out until next week
There was a case for keeping Mimi. Okay, the cheese didn’t go with the dish, but it was just a few bits she chucked on at the end. Put it to the side and just eat the rest of it if you don’t like it. OTOH, the lobster bisque was integral to Harry’s dish and it wasn’t right.
Matt is annoying and Harry is annoying, but they seem to be the two front runners.
Quarter final was great, some twists & shocks in-between.
In the end, I think it was inevitable that Elise would be sent packing.
Especially with her persistance with making PARFAITS! (Judges finally commented on it).
Harry was emotional, did pretty well though.
Elena… Just keeps on firing. Amazing talent.
Matt also fantastic 
Bring on the Grand Final Part 1 (Semi Final) & Grand Final now!
Astounding to think it took until finals week for the judges to comment on Elise making another parfait. For the past seven series contestants have been criticised for lacking creativity as the series has progressed but this season playing it safe has constantly been rewarded. Matt has commented numerous times that he has chosen to do simple dishes to ensure he nails them. It has made for a ho hum season. Hopefully the final three get inventive tomorrow.
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Well good to know the judges think it’s as silly as I’ve been saying it is.
What a ridiculous decision tonight. The judges threw gelatin into the mix tonight as an option, knowing that Elise would choose it - and knowing what they’d say in response, no matter what she cooked.
What they didn’t count on was Harry moping about all episode (like he has done on a number of occasions) and presenting a pile of wet slop with no textural element.
So it made their pre-determined decision look pathetic.
What does it matter if Elise cooked a parfait? What did the judges expect to be cooked when offering gelatin as one of the options? A roast chicken? It was ONLY going to be a jelly/parfait/pannacotta. So it was only going to lead her to failure in their minds.
If her parfait was good last week…it’s good tonight. Each cook should be judged on its merit. It doesn’t matter whether she cooked it last episode. They were bullying her all episode and she knew it - that’s why she was emotional the whole time.
Why not bother Harry about presenting dumplings for the 100th time or Matt for presenting a broth, full of flavours I’m so stoked with the flavours man, for the 100th time?
My prediction - Elena will win this. She talks the perfect amount of bullshit they like - beautiful ingredients, fresh seasonal produce, beautiful applause blah blah, seems naive, has ‘developed’/progressed during the season. And therefore there was no room for another ‘bubbly’ female in the final like Elise.
I 100% agree. She was set for failure from the get go. Gelatin was the clear dessert method in the mix for her to pick from and by picking it could only really stick with similar elements to what she had already done in the previous cook. Harry and Matt were doing similar things as well as there’s only so much you can use a setting agent for. Just because Elise had used gelatin previously should not have so negatively gone against her.
The judging should have been how all 3 cooking methods worked on the dish. It was the criteria. The blended, gelatin and aerated elements in Elise’s dish worked. They did not for Harry. His dish was just slop on the plate and the foam was a failure which is 1/3 cooking elements failed IMO. It showed that his technique was completely lacking even to the point there was no crunchy element (despite the judges telling him he needed one). Elise’s dish most certainly had faults and had everyone else cooked well she would have deserved to go… but Harry did a terrible dish and did not deserve to survive that cook at all.
Maybe they are pushing for an all male finale to contrast last years all female. Although somehow I’m also thinking that Elena will win it. If she does I just don’t understand why they left her so invisible for the first half of the season. They should have shown her a bit more given she’s made the top 3, unless she’s getting a middle of the pack underdog who then triumphs sort of edit. Personally I find Elena and her style of cooking pretty basic and boring.
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Note that Ten has marked last Thursday’s MasterClass as episode 59A and last night’s elimination as episode 60. I don’t know why, but I think the MasterClass should be a stand alone episode.
The first thing I saw was only 17 of the 20 eliminated contestants were up at the gantry when the final four contestants went into the MC kitchen. The other 3 must be at work at the time that they could not take leave to attend.
Elise could blame her fiance for choosing the wrong type of gelatine (I didn’t know there was gold strength and platinum strength gelatine before last night 
) for losing the mystery box, but could only blame herself for not doing well in the invention test. There are only so many parfaits she can do during the competition. With a place in the top 3 at stake, she had to get out of her comfort zone and challenged herself. Had she chose another ingredient other than gelatine, the result could have been very different.
Harry struggled during both mystery box and invention test and only scraped through to the final 3. The foam and no crunchy element really let him down. I think he would be the next to go.
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Intense semi finak tonight! I was having a heart attack at the end there…
Big congrats to Elena & Matt (as many were hoping for), which is also Sydney vs QLD
Fantastic but tough as service challenge with Shannon Bennett leading/mentoring.
Elena’s core component was ‘bang on’.
Very close though. Poor Harry, so young & did so well.
BRING ON THE GRAND FINAL!!!
It’s Qld vs Qld. Elena lives in Sydney but is a Qlder and boy aren’t Ten Brisbane slamming that fact home.
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Add to that, Matt moved with his parents from NSW to Noosa a few years ago. The whole Sunshine Coast will be tuning in for sure. For the second year in a row, Heston Blumenthal has designed the dessert for the pressure test, this time with his head chef at Dinner by Heston, Ashley Palmer-Watts. The News Corp article has the format for the grand final, don’t click on the link if you don’t want to know.
It was a very intense semi-final and I am quite happy with the result. For the second night in a row, only 18 eliminated contestants (including Elise) were on the gantry cheering the top three.
Elena put too much pressure on herself by including 16 ingredients in her main and dessert, and misjudged the time she had to prepare each ingredient, meaning she was last to plate the dishes for the diners and the judges.
I notice George went to the kitchen and asked for more of Harry’s lobster sauce. Why didn’t he ask for more of Elena’s bush tomato sauce for tasting as well? Both of Harry and Elena’s mains were panned as too dry due to not enough sauce. Harry just lost out because the kingfish overpowered the lobster. Matt’s confit duck leg and brioche donut dessert were spot on and he deserved a grand final spot.
Since the filming of the grand final in early May, Harry has found a new job as guest services manager at Pumphouse Point, a luxury wilderness retreat in the central highlands of Tasmania. Interestingly, he told AAP today that he thought he probably went out at the right time and would never cook Italian again.
It’s hard to tell whether Elena or Matt will win the title.
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I don’t think you should watch this show if it is causing such serious medical problems.
Anything to get some viewers back in Brisbane…
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Proportionate, reasonable response.
God, I’ve really hated the contestants this season.
I was hoping that Harry would pull through over Elena. For me Harry has been stronger across the whole season. The judges though seem to love Elena’s home style cooking with a modern twist.
I’m still surprised that the editors gave Elena so little airtime in the first half of this season when she made the final. She must have genuinely been a middle of the pack contestant until the last few weeks. Although even in team challenges and things she was barely shown until around the top 10.
Hopefully Matt wins. He has been consistent all season and definitely the overall best cook there. Producers must be wrapped to get such a dream contestant. Likeable, a great narrator and consistently outstanding cook.
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As we get to the final, it strikes me that Masterchef has now had the same number of seasons as what the original Big Brother series had. Considering some of the initial reaction (check out the comments in the 2008 TV Tonight news article) at the time to replacing BB with Masterchef, it’s amazing to think that it’s still going so strong whereas BB limped along to its end in its final couple of seasons on Ten.