Gordon Ramsay will be hosting and co-producing the US version of the Masterchef series. We know that the shows started filming in February 2010 and lasted about five weeks (as suggested from the application form asking if contestants would be free for this period). In Australia, contestants individually "auditioned" by presenting a food dish before the three judges in order to gain one of 50 semi-final places, after filling out an application form. For people who couldn't make it, applications were accepted via DVD.
The show is expected to air in late 2010 and while the format isn't verified, it should be based largely on the Australian version. In that series the semi-finalists competed in several challenges that tested their food knowledge and preparation skills, cutting the number to 20 finalists. These 20 were then reduced every week, through a number of individual and team-based cooking challenges and weekly elimination rounds until a winning MasterChef was crowned, winning professional training, a cookbook deal and $100,000 in cash Australian.
In Australia, the show played six days per week and followed this format;
Sunday is the Challenge night. This features two challenges. The first is the Mystery Box challenge, where each contestant is given the same mystery box of ingredients and are to create a dish using as many, or as few of the ingredients as they like. The judges move around observing and questioning during the challenge, and when it's completed, choose the three that interest them the most. These three are then tasted, and a winner chosen.
Immediately after the Mystery Box challenge is the Invention Test. A theme is given to the contestants, and they are to create a dish relevant to this theme. The winner of the Mystery Box challenge is taken into the pantry and given a choice of three feature ingredients. Whichever ingredient is chosen is the main ingredient all contestants will cook with. This contestant is then given extra time in the pantry to choose his or her ingredients, before the other contestants "shop" with less time. Once the dishes are cooked, they are all presented to the judges for tasting. The top three are selected, from which a winner is chosen. After this the bottom three are chosen, who will face off in an elimination challenge the next night.
Monday is the Pressure Test Elimination. The bottom three from the previous night's challenge are given a recipe for a particular dish they are to emulate in an allocated time. Once completed they are taken in to the judges to be tasted, before all three contestants are seated in front of the judges for critiquing. The judges then eliminate the contestant that didn't adequately complete the task.
Tuesday is the Celebrity Chef Challenge, where the winner of the Invention Test on Sunday night competes against a celebrity chef. The invited chef gives the recipe for his or her signature dish to the contestant, which the contestant is to emulate. The contestant gets additional time to complete the dish before the celebrity chef starts cooking, and after the allotted time for both is finished the dishes (unidentified as to whose dish is whose) are presented to the judges for tasting and scoring out of ten. If the contestant's score is higher than the celebrity chef's, they are crowned the winner and get a free pass to the finals week of the competition and can go home.
Wednesday is Team Elimination Challenge. The contestants are split into teams of two (Red and Blue) and are given a task, a shopping budget and a set amount of time to complete the challenge. This task is often a complete three-course meal, and has so far included presenting this meal to a celebrity guest or to three of the top food critics in the country. Once completed and judged the teams are given the results, with the losing team going to elimination the next night. Sometimes, this is replaced with an individual challenge where contestants have to avoid being voted the least favourite dish to avoid a possibility of getting eliminated on Elimination night. Also, all contestants that are safe from elimination experience a reward instead.
Thursday is the Elimination night from the team challenge. The contestants from the losing team are to choose a contestant that they each feel did not perform to their best and may have cost them the challenge. After choosing their nomination the team are called in together to announce their nominations, with the contestant with the most nomination being eliminated from the competition. If the previous challenge was an individual challenge, the bottom two contestants must do a head to head taste test where one contestant at a time, they must name one ingredient correctly. If the contestant names an incorrect ingredient, they are eliminated from the competition.
Friday is the Masterclass. Here, judges run a masterclass for the remaining contestants, which usually features some of the challenges from the previous week. For example, they may revisit the Mystery Box challenge and demonstrate some other dishes that could have been made or redo one of the contestants' dishes to give tips on how it could have been improved.
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