PART 2 - BOILING POINT
After a restless night, I got up bright and early on Saturday July 18th and made my way to the Intercontinental hotel on Front street for 6:45am. I arrived to find a huge line going around the block full of people with coolers and signs and lawn chairs. Thinking I might have some kind of special access granted to me with a wave of my VIP pass, I asked a girl with a Masterchef T-shirt on, what I should do if I had said pass; "back of the line, we'll come see you. "
Slightly deflated, I made my way all the way to the back of the line which put me in the parking lot behind the hotel (Classy!), more people joined behind me and soon the Masterchef crew were going through the line up giving out green wristbands to "supporters". As they came up to me, who had no supporters (because I advised people NOT to come), they asked if I was "all by myself" - wow, now I feel sad and lonely and should have asked Scott or Chloe or my parents to come after all - "no, it's just me" I replied, and immediately the crew AND the family members on both sides of me chirped up that they would be my support team - wow, Canadians really are just the nicest people eh?
Next a different crew team started going through the line with blue and yellow bracelets to give to the home chefs - when they got to me, I gave my name and after checking her sheet, the crew member said to the gal with the goods, "she gets a blue one". A blue bracelet was strapped to my wrist with #41 written on it. At this point I discerned that VIPs got blue bracelets and so far, there were only 41 of us...interesting...
After chatting with my new foster support teams, who were all very nice and complimented my cake and asked for a slice if there were left overs, the line was abolished and we were herded into a large mob outside the entrance of the hotel.
A flurry of "sitcom worthy" hilarity ensued...
A crew member walked up and down the crowd yelling "WHO'S FROM MANITOBA?! ANYONE HERE FROM SASKATCHEWAN?! QUEBEC?! MONTREAL?! DO WE HAVE A MONTREAL-ER? HOW ABOUT SOMEONE WITH FAMILY IN MONTREAL?!" I weakly replied as she passed me - "Yes, I have family in Montreal". One glance at me and my fleur-de-lis tattoo and I was handed a big sign with "MMM...MONTREAL" across it. I have shamed myself, and my family.
We were instructed by crew members to lift up our signs and chant "MASTER CHEF! MASTER CHEF!" and "SEASON THREE! SEASON THREE!" a few billion times as the cameras moved in all different angles and such. The sun started to rise over the tall buildings, and I got increasingly nervous about how my BUTTER CREAM frosting might hold up once the 30+ degrees expected that day, hit the pavement.
As I juggled my purse, my cake box and now this silly sign with a tropical lei on it (cause nothing says Montreal, like a tropical flower lei) two of the judges; Micheal Bonacini and Claudio Aprile showed up for some more of the "crowd shots" and were mobbed by fans desperate for selfies - I remained planted over my cake box like a protective emperor penguin. If anyone tried to mess with me or this cake, they were going to unleash the ferocious lion underneath this pretty pink exterior.
As the celebrity judges finished their segments and disappeared inside the hotel, one of the producers with a cameraman on her heals came yelling into the crowd "WHO'S GOT A COOL JOB?! WHO'S GOT A WHAAAAACKY JOB?1" (I'm a dog groomer!) "CAMERA OVER HERE! OK, NOW SAY IT IN THE CAMERA! (I'M A DOG GROOMER!) Got it? Great! OK - WHO'S GOT A KID HERE WITH THEM?! DO WE HAVE ANY CHILDREN HERE?! BRING ME A CHILD!"
Completely mortified by this scene, I picked up my cake and started moving closer to the entrance of the hotel.
I finally saw some people heading into the hotel and as I got closer, I heard a crew member shouting "BLUE 41! BLUE 41!" I ran over and exclaimed "That's me! I'm Blue 41" I showed my bracelet and the crew member opened the door and said "We've been waiting for you! Get in there!" "OK!" And I was in!
The next half hour/hour went by pretty fast. I was herded into a new line to sign my photography/filming release, then into another line to take a quick pic with a sign with my name on it and then another one without, then herded into a room with the rest of the first group of contestants.
SIDE NOTE: As I was lost in the shuffle outside, I was bumped to #48 (last of the first group of Blues, or "Group A" as we were referred to for the rest of the day)
Finally, I had a seat after 3 hours of madness. (It was about 9:45-10am at this point) I sat at the first table I could find room at in the hall with the rest of group A. We were greeted by the producers of the show who laid down the law on what was coming next.
We would be herded into the "tasting room" next door and given 3 minutes to plate our dish and only 2 ft x 2 ft of surface space to do it, any large items would be left in this current "holding room". We all had a judging sheet with our number on the back that we were instructed to NOT look at once judging had begun - or we would be disqualified. We were also advised not to look at anyone else s either, or also be faced with disqualification; "That information is for us to know, not you - please don't look at it, we HAVE disqualified people in the past for that behaviour". Well shit.
Full of anxiety and ready to meet our fates, we were surprised by a visit of past Masterchef contestants who gave much needed words of encouragement. I recognized all of them of course, as I'm a fan of the show, and it was fun to hear some of their experiences with what we were all going through now. They left us with a final "Good Luck! Have Fun!" and then finally, it was time.
We entered the tasting room...