MasterChef Australia (season 2)
| MasterChef Australia (series 2) | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Australia |
| No. of episodes | 84 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Network Ten |
| Original release | 19 April – 25 July 2010 |
| Season chronology | |
Series 2 of the Australian cookery game show MasterChef Australia premiered on 19 April 2010 on Network Ten, concluding on 25 July 2010 when Adam Liaw was named the winner.
The series finale was predicted to be such a ratings success that it forced a national election debate between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to a different time slot due to a fear of low ratings.
The "Winner Announced" was watched by an average national audience of 5.29 million, peaking at 5.74 million. The consolidated 5 city metropolitan audience was 4.03 million (the second highest rating program since the current ratings system began in 2001) and the consolidated regional audience was 1.26 million.
The second series of MasterChef Australia brought some changes to the format of the show. Most notably, Sarah Wilson, host of Series 1, is not present in the second series, with producers opting instead to use the show's three judges as hosts.
Furthermore, Series 2 began with the 'Top 50' component of the show, as opposed to the auditions phase. This allows for the audience to begin to identify and connect with contestants, and also allows for more time to be spent in the actual competition phase of the show.
Another change to the show is the reward for winning a Celebrity Chef Challenge. In Series 1, the winner would receive a free pass through to the final week of the competition. This was problematic in that it removed the contestant from the show altogether, meaning they didn't keep themselves in the pressured situations that the others had. Instead, in Series 2, a successful contestant will now receive an 'Immunity Pin', which they can use at any time during the competition to save themselves from elimination. Out all the Celebrity Chef Challenges, only Marion managed to win the immunity pin by defeating a Celebrity Chef (Adam also won the immunity pin, but not by defeating a Celebrity Chef).
Also different in Series 2 is the elimination after a team challenge. In Series 1, all the contestants from the losing team had to vote off someone from the competition. This was problematic in that contestants might vote off the best contestants in hopes of improving their chances of winning the show. Instead, in Series 2, the elimination process has changed. A variety of different challenges have been used to determine which member of the losing team is eliminated:
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