The most distasteful moments in Masterchef Australia are always when the judges ask a contestant, "What does staying in this competition mean to you?" and "How much do you want to win this competition?" You just KNOW that this is a cheap, group dynamics ploy to make the contestants get emotional and elicit tears from them if only to make the show more interesting.

I have often caught contestants respond by putting on an act and giving the judges what they want. The camera captures everything, especially dishonesty--and so do viewers with keen powers of observation.

I have also been thrown off my seat whenever a contestant gushes tears and pours out a life story of hardship, pain, and broken dreams, and then the judges eliminate him or her ANYWAY because they claim that "it's all about the flavor". So what, then, was the point of that stupid melodrama?

Finally, there is always a fuss over sentimental spicing with the keywords "family", "memories", and "childhood", which never fail to make me cringe. Cooking is an art, but so are writing, painting, and music, and all those are really and primarily intellectual and cerebral--which is why there is a need for critics. Very intelligent critics.