MasterChef New Zealand

MasterChef New Zealand
Genre	Reality television Cooking show
Judges	Ross Burden (series 1) Ray McVinnie (series 1–5) Simon Gault (series 1–5) Josh Emett (series 2–5) Al Brown (series 6-present)
Country of origin	New Zealand
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	6
No. of episodes	97
Production
Running time	30–90 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	TV One (series 1–5) TV3 (series 6)
Picture format	576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	3 February 2010 (2010-February-03) – present
External links
Website
Production website

MasterChef New Zealand is a New Zealand competitive reality television cooking show based on the original British version of Masterchef.

The first episode aired on 3 February 2010 at 7:30pm on TV One. Throughout its history, the show has featured judges Ross Burden, Ray McVinnie,^[1] Simon Gault,^[2] and Josh Emett.^[3]

The series is similar to the format of MasterChef Australia, whereby contestants compete in weekly elimination challenges, both individually and in teams. The major difference is the number of episodes per week: the New Zealand series only had two episodes, in contrast to Australia's six.

The first series was won by Brett McGregor, over runner-up Kelly Young, in the grand finale which was screened on 28 April 2010.^[4] Nadia Lim won the second series, beating runner-up Jax Hamilton in the finale. The third series was won by Chelsea Winter, who beat runner-up Ana Schwarz in the finale. Series four was won by Aaron Brunet, and series five by sister duo Karena and Kasey Bird.

In October 2014, TVNZ officially announced it had axed the show, after 5 seasons.^[5] Later that month, TV3 announced that it would take up the format in 2015.^[6]

Format

At the beginning of the series, a large number of hopeful contestants from across New Zealand individually audition by presenting a dish of their choosing to the judges in order to gain one of the 24 places. Entrants must be aged 18 or over, and must be a New Zealand or Australian citizen or permanent resident, or holder of a New Zealand residence class visa. They cannot hold a formal catering qualification gained in the last ten years, cannot have worked in a professional or semi-professional kitchen (if the work was only part-time or for education, then only in the past 15 years), and cannot have been convicted of a serious crime (subject to the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004).^[7]

Series summary

Five series were broadcast between 2010 and 2014.

Series 1

Series 2

The second series of MasterChef New Zealand was filmed in September 2010 and started airing on 20 February 2011.^[8] Series 2 saw the induction of Josh Emett to the judging panel, replacing series one judge Ross Burden. Jax Hamilton and Nadia Lim competed in the grand finale, which was screened on 15 May 2011. Nadia became New Zealand's second MasterChef, by beating Jax 88 points to 75.^[9]

Series 3

MasterChef New Zealand was renewed for a third series. Filming started November 2011. The series is due to start 21 February 2012. This series the number of Contestants have changed from 12 in the first two series to 16. Also increasing the number of episode from 12-13 to 16-17. The winner was Chelsea Winter who beat runner-up Ana Schwarz 77 points to 72.

Series 4

The fourth series of MasterChef New Zealand returned on 21 February 2013, with chefs Simon Gault, Ray McVinnie, Josh Emett again acting as the series judges.

Series 5

The fifth series of MasterChef New Zealand returned on 2 February 2014, with chefs Simon Gault, Ray McVinnie, Josh Emett again acting as the series judges. Unlike previous series, competitors competed in duos.

Series 6

The sixth series will air on TV3 in 2015.

References

http://www.tvnz.co.nz/masterchef

External links

• Masterchef New Zealand