It was quite sad really, the final crescendo of Aussie Masterchef last night…we’ve been fans of the UK original since we got a home where we could get to from work by 5-30…at first we hated the Aussie version but it really grows on you. UK Masterchef is very traditional and (Fulda) Gapist – all about the food – we could never keep track let alone identify with the people, although the food was our initial attraction – and a direct linear progression to the finals.

The Aussie version, on the other hand, is all about ‘the people’, although at first it did kinda come across like Julia Childs (well, it did have its own Julia and Julie!)meets Big Brother…the finale only screened here last night – onya Julie for taking out the First Aussie Masterchef!! I think she deserved every bit of it last night and managed to delivered a cliffhanger that hung onto the the last dish in the competition…I missed the previous couple of eliminations in the final week and was amazed to find Julie in the finals – nothing about her skills but I thought that the pressure would have been too much for her over Chris and Poh.

The Aussies took a simple linear concept and turned it upside down, shook it all about, introduced uncertainty and complexity, mixed with a  good measure of apparent chaos – sound familiar? And all about the ‘the people’ too – not just those in the MasterChef house, but also all those out there supporting it – and they were: apparently the finale episode was the third most watched TV event in Australia this decade. That the focus was on the people was all too clear when Justine was eliminated and tough guy judge Greg Mehigan had to turn away and wipe his eyes – and who didn’t have a little lump in their throat when top chef, Matt Moran, turned up on Justine’s doorstep the night she was eliminated and offered her a mentorship…

Well done, Aussies – now we’ll have to see how the Kiwi version plates up…