Too many predictions spoil the winning broth

IT'S the best thing since sliced bread, MasterChef. It's hotter than Gordon Ramsay's temper. And sex drive. So the psychic running Murdoch's Daily Telegraph website in Sydney should have known better than to declare at 8.57pm on Sunday that Poh beat Julie with the headline "Poh wins MasterChef Australia" (right). Two things: the final was still screening at 8.57pm and Julie was crowned closer to 9.30pm. In cooking-show tradition, the story by TV editor Erin McWhirter was based on interviews she "prepared earlier" with the help of Channel Ten. Poh Ling Yeow was "stunned" by the verdict (she wasn't the only one) and said: "This is really a surreal feeling." Surreal! Julie Goodwin got a word in, with the story saying: "Disappointed but humble, Goodwin praised her feisty opponent." Over to Julie: "Poh's a very deserving winner. I'm proud of her, she's a good friend and I wish her every success in the world." Then at 9.42pm, the tabloid declared: "Due to a technical error we incorrectly named Poh Ling Yeow for a brief time. The Daily Telegraph apologises for the error." In the period BMC - Before MasterChef - a famous "oops" headline was the Chicago Daily Tribune's screamer in 1948 that "Dewey defeats Truman" in the presidential race but Thomas Dewey did not defeat Harry S. Truman. Then came Rupert's Sunday Hun shouting "Hewson in photo finish" in 1993 but John Hewson lost the unlosable election to Paul Keating. Not that we want to rub salt into the Telegraph's wound, but this takes the cake. Now, tell us who wins the next Australian Idol.