Britt's On

All-Star Seasons can generally go one of two ways. One, it's thrilling to see people who aren't super naive come back and play the 'game' right - see: every time a past Survivor player jumps in for another round. Or two, it's awkward and against the entire concept of a show for rewarding a past loser, often with a bigger prize.

The main deciding factor between which type of show you're going to get is based on the nature of the show. If it's something where the game is entirely self-contained, like Survivor, The Amazing Race, or even The Bachelor, it makes sense and actually works to bring people back. But on a show like American Idol or America's Next Top Model…it's weird. Because those shows are meant to be proving grounds / launch points for success *beyond* the show. If you haven't hacked it in the meantime, it's not really 'right' for the show to be the thing that gives you a second shot.

So Project Runway All Stars should technically fall into that second category. And in a lot of ways, it does. But both ANTM & ProjRun haven't produced a calvacade of 'stars', with a few notable exceptions (Christian Siriano anyone?). Arguably the talent level on ProjRun is also much higher, and in many cases the 'right' person doesn't always win on that show (see: the last two seasons).

But still…when I compare the results of last fall's ANTM All Stars to this season's Project Runway, it's like night & day. The photoshoots on ANTM were some of the worst ever, and the outcome was completely jacked up: the fact they actually chose Angelea (as best as the public can tell) is bad enough, that they had to reshoot a false ending weeks before it aired is even worse.

That's not to say Project Runway All Stars doesn't have its issues. It does. Namely, we already understand each designer's point-of-view, so it's hard for them to surprise us (and the judges), but it's also not the contestants' advantage to break out of their box too much. In fact that's been the big trend this season: should I stay or should I go? For the most part it's been the former. And it's kind of refreshing to see each designer's dress walk down the runway and immediately recognize whose it is. But I've also seen so many familiar silhouettes and techniques, it can get a little tiresome.

Compound that with the fact they appear to be setting up Mondo (or possibly, maybe Austin) for the win, as if this whole season was designed to appease the long-outraged fans that Gretchen was handed Mondo's win two seasons ago. I was ambiguous about Mondo until the finale on his original season, truthfully. I didn't like a lot of his designs or his sniping, or his well-timed dramatic reveals re: his HIV+ and such. The whole thing felt a little calculated, and this season he's just coming off super arrogant, and I *still* don't really like this aesthetic all that much. Too busy / cartoony for me, but I suspect the prize package here will be a launching point that could put him into the Christian-like stratosphere.

Who does that leave us with? Well Michael Costello, who conveniently has tagged along this whole time as a confidant for Mondo, and otherwise still hasn't shown much by way of fashion chops (although he's made some pretty clothes). Kenley, who I have a soft spot for and am actually pretty irritated by the judges decision to never give her a first place finish - there were a handful of times I easily thought she should have won or at least been in the Top 3. And Austin, the second-most-likely to steal the throne from Mondo, given the 'foreclosure' set-up in this week's episode and his relatively consistent performance / fan favourite status. He's such a good demonstration of how you can be good TV and not be an arrogant prick (Mondo). Plus the fact they kept him around after one or two hideous offerings shows that someone up there (as in, the Executive Producer table) likes him.

Truthfully I think Mondo and Austin are a lock for the finale…whatever that is…they've never established that the designers will be showing collections or in what context, I assume a private runway show somewhere. It's a toss-up between Michael and Kenley. On the one hand, Michael has won two challenges, and we've never officially seen him do a collection (although his decoy Fashion Week collection was pretty tragic). On the other, the show would hurt a bit to not have any females in the finale, and Kenley has performed on more of a steady-footed plateau versus Michael's zig zag performance.

Anyway altogether I've enjoyed this season. The lack of drama / personal story shiftiness has been eliminated in the shortened episode length, and the weekly challenges have been mostly interesting - although a few were questionably campy. Having a fresh judging panel in place has worked well, although Erin (the host) has been kind of awkwardly cheery. I don't know if it's because of who was on the panel, or if it's because these are All Stars, but I've found the judging to be really refreshing because there are pros and cons to almost every outfit, and they discuss them openly, making it harder to discern who's going home. On the regular show, they've fallen into this pattern of just drilling home the flaws of an outfit, and I appreciate the more balanced critiques. I also love Joanna Coles as the new Tim. She's got this amazingly dry sense of humour and super blunt critiques, so much so that even her encouragement sounds like proclamations. She's got that perfect mix of droll humour and house mother guidance that Tim has taken ownership of…I like her so much more in this capacity than as a judge, although I've enjoyed the one or two times Tim has earned a spot on the judging panel. I actually think that should happen every season (ditto with Jay on ANTM).

Even though the remaining episodes feel like a forgone conclusion, and there isn't the excitement of a fashion week presence, I'm still digging that ProjRun went down this route. I'm not saying doing it often. And I do think the cast was a little lopsided (i.e. I can think of a half-dozen girls I'd have rather seen come back in the place of the ones that were cast / available). But altogether this >>>>ANTM.

Whoops. I've definitely been absentee for some time. That's not to say I haven't been a media fiend over the last few months. Quite the opposite. And therefore busy. Anyway here are my top 10 thoughts on media happenings since I last wrote in...gulp...October.

10) Homeland and American Horror Story provided two of the most enjoyable viewing experiences I've had on television in recent memory. If only every year brought such gems to my screen. Oh and I'm still digging Revenge. SO glad I picked that one up.

9) I feel like I've lost a lot of steam for this year's Oscars race. It's probably because I saw all of the movies (except War Horse...I just can't...) as of a few weeks ago, so its been a little anti-climactic since then. I don't feel passionately about any particular film. Midnight in Paris was definitely my favourite, but I know it doesn't have a shot for much beyond best screenplay.

8) Survivor was dissatisfying. The conclusion anyway. I have this weird issue where I secretly root for people like Natalie (Samoa) and Sophie (this last season) but not really expect them to win and then when they're in a position to I regret cheering for them. Coach deserved the win in my opinion. I loved this season altogether, it definitely had some good characters and 'moments', although I'm still not a fan of Redemption and a little tired of back-to-back 'bring 'em back' seasons. I'm glad they're going in a fresh direction this season.

7) I watched both the Golden Globes and the Grammys. Not much to say on either. I thought Emma Stone was best dressed at the GG's and I'm excited she'll (likely) be at the Oscars this year. Adele is a precious flower and like the rest of the world, I'm so happy for her success.

6) New Girl continues to be my new favourite comedy. I still love Modern Family and guffaw on occasion at The Office, but I'm so intrigued by where this show is going...and can go. It just feels like a really fresh take on the 90s 'Friends'-type comedy, although I know other people are toting 'Happy Endings' in that respect.

5) I've read a sh*t ton of books in the last few months, that should come as no surprise. I meant to do some dreamcasting on here. Let's see if I can remember...I found 'The Night Circus' incredibly difficult to cast but I know it's going to be a sensational movie. I think I had someone like Olivia Wilde in there for Celia. I just read 'Before I Go To Sleep' and I thought of Kate Winslet for Christine and Jude Law for Ben.

4) On Whitney Houston: serious tragedy. She clearly needed help for a long time and it's a shame no one was able to give it to her. Between her and Amy Winehouse I hope someone somewhere finds a way to connect with these people. I can only imagine Lindsay Lohan's name showing up next...

3) The Walking Dead. Disappointing season so far, not much improved by this week's mid-season premiere. They need to GTFO the GD farm. Also the scriptwriting still feels awkwardly clunky and expositional.

2) I watched both the Swedish and American versions of 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' in the last few months. The BF was not interested in the American version at all because he felt like he'd seen it all with the serviceable Swedish adaptation. But I have to say, I thought the American version kicked ass. Rooney Mara was superlative, and in my humble opinion, deserving of an Oscar. Perhaps if they make - and sustain the quality level - of all three she'll get rewarded down the road.

1) I'm feeling Project Runway All Stars for the most part. I'll admit there is something problematic with the fact we are seeing style point-of-views that we're already well familiar with, as opposed to seeing what a new crop of designers would have brought to the table. But at the same time it's refreshing to see such ambition, talent, and commitment to said points of view.

0) Oh yes, a bonus post. I'm quite enjoying the new Canadian show The LA Complex. It's from the creators of Degrassi so this should come as no surprise, but I'm finding it surprisingly well-plotted, acted, and paced. I'm so psyched for the actors (particularly Cassie Steele) that its received a US pickup for the summer.

I PROMISE to write back after the Oscars. That is all.

- Britt's On

Sometimes I wonder - pointlessly - how much my opinions are shaped by reading other users' content regarding some of the pop culture stuff I consume. Granted, I realize I may be doing the same in writing this blog, but whatever. Specifically I'm thinking about the blogs I read regarding some of my favourite reality TV shows - Survivor, The Amazing Race, and Project Runway.

On the latter, I am addicted to Tom And Lorenzo (formerly Project Rungay), which is probably the pre-eminent voice for all things PR. And while I love and appreciate their thoughtful commentary on everything - far beyond Project Runway - I also wonder how different my viewing experience of PR, or The Walking Dead, or Boardwalk Empire, or Mad Men would be if I weren't reading their blog.

This comes on the heels of last week's disappointing (in my mind) finale of Project Runway, where beauty queen / sex scandal Caribbean girl Anya took the grand prize. TLo (as they're known) aren't her biggest fans, and I've been wondering how much of that rubbed off on me. Going into the season I latched onto Anthony Ryan, Laura, and Anya as my three favourites - and indeed, all three made it pretty far into the competition (obviously in Anya's case).



As the season carried on, I fell for Viktor, recognizing that it was unlikely AR or Laura would make it to the end. I saw everyone's finale collections via TLo before the finale, and I liked Viktor's, even moreso once I learned where the prints he was using came from. What blew my mind was that he wasn't even in contention for the top two. It was between Anya and Josh.

I'll concede this. When the judges broke out Viktor's collections into two side-by-side images (which was super cool btw!), I did see the break in his collection. None of his black pieces (save for the mirrored top) really stood out to me before the show, or during it, and based on editing it looks like he actually eliminated some prints in favour of more black shadowy pieces...it could have been that decision that cost him the win quite honestly, because his printed looks were amazing. That dress up above...I'm in love. That would've won me over.

When I saw Josh's collection I was kind of horrified. The outfit with the day-glo lace-up shorts felt like a gay man that bought into every gay man stereotype ever was dressing women in gay pride clothing. I'm not even being a bigot there, I'm just saying...his clothes felt very bizarre, and not in touch with what women would want to wear. I hated the colours, and while I understand the judges' desire to encourage an interesting use of materials, I wasn't attracted to any of them. That being said...he did have very well-made pieces. Which is more than I can say for Anya or Kimberly.

I don't have a ton to say about Kimberly's final collection. There were many pieces I liked that I would probably buy if they were hanging on the rack at H&M, and seeing the collection on television did wonders compared to the photos since she did so many interesting back details. Some of it felt a little poorly made. Some of it was pretty boring. The overall effect was not a show that gave me any sense of progression. Kimberly is very fashionable, but I don't know that she's fashion-forward enough to really hack it. At least not for what this competition is hoping for.

I feel like someone in the editing room was staging a minor protest at Anya's (somewhat) shocking win. They had her confess this wasn't her best work. They had her say a weird little goodbye to Tim that didn't go unnoticed by the other competitors. While some may look at Anya's triumph as an example of self-doubt, any sage fan would look at Anya's clothes, shake their head, and go WTF???? I will say I loved that dress up above though, but that was more a print love than a dress love. In fact when I saw Anya's collection I was reminded a lot of Uli's beautiful Season 3, similarly beachy collection that ultimately lost out to Jeffrey's Japanese ghost story line.

Here's the worst of it all. By casting Josh as the villain all season and having him be the most vocal about Anya's lack of skills in the final episode, AND by having Josh and Anya in the final two, it should have felt like a triumphant moment for good reigning over evil. But it didn't. Who had the better collection? I'm hard-pressed to answer that question. I tend to agree with TLo that were Laura in the finals, she should / would have won. Between the final four I'd still have gone with Viktor, between Anya and Josh, I'd hesitantly tip my hat to Josh. I just don't think Anya's clothes showed any real ideas or growth outside of what she did in the competition and I'm genuinely baffled by the judges decision.

This inspired me to do one last PR exercise. Look at the finals of each season, remember who I wanted to win, who I thought deserved to win, and who actually won. I present to you my findings:

SEASON 1
Who I Wanted To Win: Kara Saun - I was her fan the whole season through. She totally deserved to make it to the end.
Who Deserved To Win: Jay McCarroll - despite liking Kara's collection, I was blown away by Jay, who up until that point hadn't really impressed me.
Who Won: Jay - I was pretty happy with this outcome. I remember feeling a tad letdown that my fave hadn't won, but ultimately happy because Jay's collection was kick ass.

SEASON 2
Who I Wanted To Win: I generally liked Chloe and Daniel V. in equal parts. I had high hopes for Daniel V.
Who Deserved To Win: *Pulls face* Hard question to answer. I didn't like Chloe's final collection, and Daniel's was very low-key (although that jacket above is adorbs). Santino's collection surprised me for being so pretty.
Who Won: Chloe - one of the few seasons where I really didn't care. I wasn't blown away by anyone's finale collection here. I like Chloe though, so that's fine. Her fabrics were just meh.


SEASON 3
Who I Wanted To Win: I genuinely liked all four designers that made it to the finals, but I was rooting for Mycheal Knight and Jeffrey Sebelia.
Who Deserved To Win: Mycheal choked. While I loved many of Laura's pieces, I thought it was a tad one-note and mature overall. Uli's collection was beautiful but she was probably my least fave of the remaining designers (on a season-long basis). Jeffrey FTW!
Who Won: Jeffrey! One of the few times this happened.

SEASON 4
Who I Wanted To Win: Poor Jillian. In any other season she would have sweeped it, but alas, this season was branded the Christian show from day one. I was cheering for her though.
Who Deserved To Win: I guess Christian. His looks were not to my taste or realistic whatsoever, but the dramaaaaaa! There was so much work that went into his looks. He was in it to win it, and he gave a RUNWAY show.
Who Won: Christian. Not surprising, ditto on the fact that he's been as successful as he has been. I loved Jillian's finale collection, but I knew going into this finale it was all but locked up so it was hard to be too disappointed that the wunderkid won.

SEASON 5
Who I Wanted To Win: I was part of the small faction of people rooting for Kenley Collins.
Who Deserved To Win: Really hard for me to say. I think I'd lean towards Korto because I just liked her clothing better, but much like with Jillian / Christian, I saw why they chose Leanne. Although it was a tad one-note in colours and application of her 'petals', it was a stunning show.
Who Won: Leanne - Kenley's collection was definitely the weakest of the three finalists. While I was sad to see her (somewhat) choke, I was pleased to see three solid entries up for the win at the end.

SEASON 6
Who I Wanted To Win: I call this the 'lost season' because I always forget about their unfortunate foray into shooting PR in LA. Anyway. I liked Carol Hannah but knew she had no chance - she was like a poor man's Laura (S3). I was mostly cheering for Althea as the bridesmaid to Irina's bride.
Who Deserved To Win: Meh. Another season where I didn't care much for any of the finalists collections. I felt like Irina's was the poor man's Christian Siriano show. I liked Althea's street chic clothing and what she did with knits (like the green dress above), but it didn't feel like a SHOW, much like Kimberly suffered with this season. Carol Hannah's collection was no good.
Who Won: Irina. Did the judges have a choice? Althea's didn't blow your mind and Carol Hannah's was poorly made and just so...satiny. Irina was smart and did the SHOW.

SEASON 7
Who I Wanted To Win: Seth Aaron Henderson. Did I think he had a shot at winning? Not for a second. He'd been quite under the radar all season, producing consistently good pieces but never being a judges' pet like Mila or Emilio, his fellow finale competitors.
Who Deserved To Win: Seth Aaron. Emilio's collection had a blah colour scheme and his ego just made me dislike him. I was never a fan of Mila's aesthetic, although I did enjoy her sequin gown for the finale.
Who Won: Seth Aaron! The second time my fave person actually won - and deserved it. I suppose the two should go hand in hand. I'm willing to admit not all of my fave designers have wowed me at the end.

SEASON 8
Who I Wanted To Win: Admittedly I got a little tired of Mondo by season's end. His constant praise was a little annoying. But Andy underwhelmed me, and while I loved Gretchen the character, I never liked her designs much. So I was on Team Mondo, fully ready to embrace his inevitable win a la Christian Siriano.
Who Deserved To Win: Mondo Mondo Mondo. His inspiration has been used by MANY a designer since then, and I literally loved almost every single piece he created.
Who Won: Gretchen Jones. I mean. WHAT? Probably the most shocking and hateful win ever. I hated her finale collection. Genuinely hated it. The fabrics, the clothes, the styling - everything was not to my taste. I don't know that I've ever disliked someone's finale collection as much (except for, sadly, Mychael Knight's). A total runway robbery.

So there you have it. The final tally is -

Two Seasons I Was Totally Happy With: 3 & 7 (Jeffrey and Seth Aaron - similar esthetics, so not surprising I gravitated towards them)

Three Seasons I Understood The Outcomes Of: 1 (Jay), 4 (Christian), 5 (Leanne)

Two Seasons I Didn't Care About: 2 (Chloe - I liked her, I just didn't like her collection), 6 (Irina)

Two Seasons The Outcome Royally Pissed Me Off: 8 (Gretchen), 9 (Anya). Yikes...not a good pattern!

Obviously I'm still watching the show. It inspires me, despite the fact many people are ringing the alarm that it isn't the same show it once was when originally conceived. I don't disagree - although T LO has a lot to do with my perception of things - but I still enjoy the show above most other reality competitions.

- Britt's On

So we're more than halfway through Degrassi's summer season, and while I'm enjoying it and clamouring for the next episode the second the one I'm watching is done...something feels off about it and I can't put my finger on what. I actually like what they're doing with the season, and I've thought all of the storylines have been good apt choices, and I appreciate that they're not neatly (or ambiguously) wrapped up in 22 minutes...but what is it? Maybe that there is a certain level of inevitability to most of the storylines? Or all the previews online kinda spoil a lot of the drama? Or that there isn't this insane level of buzz that surrounded the show the first time they did the 24 episode summer? I'm debating.

Either way, thinking about Degrassi and Project Runway - my two fave summer TV fixes, along with Pretty Little Liars - inspired me to look back at two posts I wrote about last year in regards to stuff these shows had (surprisingly) not tackled yet.

The Degrassi post touched on issues I was surprised weren't that prevalent in this incarnation of the Degrassi-verse. Here's a quick rundown of what I said, and what Degrassi has or hasn't done about it:
- Adoption: Came up in a big way this season with Holly J's increasing health worries. I appreciated that they put a very tricky, sticky human life element into the story...but I also feel like Holly J's health issues have overshadowed the turmoil of emotions she should be experiencing right now. Consider Wheels' downward spiral in the original Degrassi compared to Holly J's laissez-faire "Well I'm still reeling, but I need a kidney so whatever." There's no family drama to be seen - it's all health-based.

- Suicide: I listened to a Stephen Stohn interview while making dinner one night and he explained the discrepancy here. First, he didn't think the way they handled Claude in the original series was the best storyline, and I agree - the show wrapped up shortly after that episode if I recall so there was a lack of reverb (particularly for Kaitlin). Second, they were worried about copycat situations in real life. Third, and this was skirted around, they don't want to kill off a character the fans are invested in. Obviously Eli would make the most sense at this point, but can you imagine the Eclare hysteria??? HOWEVER. I suspect that if Eli is scooped up by a US network at some point, he'll be the one to carry the suicide storyline.

- He Said, She Said: I'd say to a degree this has happened with Clare and Eli, although Adam seems to be doing fine straddling their collective friendships. There has been a big focus on "I heard you..." between the two of them, Jake, Katie, Imogen, etc.

- Duelling Exes: Underway with Eli and Jake. Weird - I'm feeling like the Degrassi people read this blog lol.

- Interracial Dating Tension: This is sort of happening with Alli and Dave right now, however it's more about Dave as a person versus Dave's 'race'. But the Bandari household is a copout for this plotline - we've seen seasons worth of material regarding Sav not being able to date who he wants to date.

- Aboriginal: Still no aboriginal characters, which is a shame. Like I said before though, I see why the show is probably super hesitant to dip their toe in this - from a political and a story-relevance-based point.

- School Cheating: Still nothing major here, which is so weird to me. Oldest trick in the book I say, and I can't think of a single major example of this being pulled off effectively. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Season 4 of One Tree Hill had a cheating storyline as a major plot point, and they did it well.

- Depression: Eli was on anti-anxiety (codename for depression?) drugs this season. I'll give the writers credit there.

- Stalking: Imogen seems to be a borderline stalker / psychopath so far, which I appreciate. I like that she's in the school versus an outsider, like Darcy's temporary stalker.

- Uppers & Downers: Ummm hm. Anya's cocaine addiction is similar, but not directly tied to this plot point.

Now I also wrote a post about Project Runway challenges I was surprised they'd never done.

The only piece of advice they heeded from me was...oddly...fitness wear. Except it was 'active wear' for Heidi's Amazon.com line, and it was really moreso loungewear. Not stuff you'd actually work out in, but might run around town in, or wear post-gym while grabbing a carton of milk on your way home.

I still think my other ideas were awesome. And the season is still young, but I doubt I'll see any of them come to fruition. I also thought the other day about designing tennis dresses! It harkens back to the practical-meets-fashion requirements of designing a skating costume of one of the earlier seasons, but tennis wear is KNOWN to be super innovative and interesting and downright trendsetting. Having Anna K or Maria Sharapova or one of the Williams sisters in the house would make for an interesting judging panel.

Now to brainstorm a dozen other ideas for Degrassi to steal...use...in Season 11!

- Britt's On

Wowie! I have to say, this year's reality television has, for the most part, been a bit more compelling than usual. To get my other programs out of the way:

Amazing Race - I have a strong hunch *this* will be the season for the all female team to finally clinch it. Thus, watching the two remaining female teams will prove to be interesting. I'm still heartbroken the glee guys are gone, and not in love with the remaining ladies (Dustin & Kandice for reals!) but I'm crossing my fingers this pans out.

Survivor - I have a feeling this season will start to stretch its legs at the merge. There are plenty of interesting characters this season but the way they've been arranged, and split up, has proven to be a little problematic for the producers. I suspect this week's forthcoming merge will really bring some interesting personalities and conflicts to the forefront. Will Marty be able to create a counter alliance and save his ass? Are Sash and Brenda the next Todd and Amanda (circa China)? Will Alina prevail over her former tribe's haters? When the hell are they going to boot Naonka? How will Holly and Jane fare in the new 'blended' tribe? And please, please tell me Fabio will stick around as he is hilarious / awesome / kind of dreamy in a himbo sort of way?

ANTM - I have to say, I am digging this season of America's Next Top Model. It's still gimmicky and faux fashion as all hell, but I am impressed at the roster of guests Tyra has brought in, and I appreciate that they are more involved with the girls and at panel, versus bringing in the latest celeb flavour of the week. My gut is saying Kayla will take it based on her edit, but I'm also rooting for friggin gorgeous Jane, and curious to see how Ann's storyline plays out. This has been my most must-watch show of the season...

After Project Runway that is. This season was a resounding success, and not just with me apparently - ratings were up, fans were pleased, and naysayers returned to the season with fresh promise. The main reason? The show's casting directors did an excellent job, proving that a good talent competition doesn't necessarily lie in the talent, but the personalities at hand. The last few seasons had pretty boring designers and a lack of the bitchery that made the first few seasons rock. They also, in my humble opinion, were a little lacklustre in the design department. Maybe it's just because the show has been on for 8 seasons, but I feel the last three in particular have felt tired in terms of being WOWed on the runway. The last time I remember feeling like the final showdown was indeed a showdown (or might be a showdown) was the Kenley/Korto/Leanne finale, and indeed it was one of the better finales we saw.

This season? Well, the first three or four episodes proved promising. Gretchen's heinous bitchery was a riot (and regardless of her crocodile tears at the reunion, it was bitchery, same as all the other nasty comments made by other designers...hers was just more notable because it was tinged with self-righteousness, as if her commentary was somehow constructive), the designers ganging up on Michael Costello was an interesting storyline, and evolution of Mondo from weirdo to whiz kid was a joy. That being said, I felt this was quite possibly the worst final 3 collections in the show's history. In fact, after viewing all of the decoy collections, I was sorely disappointed by them all.


Let me explain. Andy and Gretchen's final collections were, to me, equally blah. I thought Mondo should have won, however I have major issues with his show as well. Andy, eliminated first and without much conversation, was screwed because of his devotion to Laotian fabrics, and therefore had to complete 10 looks in 10 days - instead of the 45 days the designers were supposed to get. I thought he did the most interesting things with his clothes, but it often looked like he was being different for the sake of being different construction-wise, versus finding ways to make existing silhouettes feel fresh and interesting. I liked his two colours - green and grey - but I felt like he fell into the trap the judges discussed on the show last week, wherein a collection is NOT just about colour, but about a story. Andy's work could have used some more diversity in colour (or even sticking to the same colour scheme with different fabrics) and it ultimately made his work fall a little flat. I just felt like there wasn't a story behind it other than the fabric's origin and the distracting headpieces. I think back to collections I didn't even like that much - like Mila's 'shadows' last season or Irina's winning 'New York warrior woman', and at the very least I can point to the fact there was a definitive vibe and feeling with both of those shows that rightfully knocked out Andy South from taking the crown.


In that sense, Gretchen's created 'woman' did earn her some points in my book, and apparently the judges. The fact that the woman Gretchen designs for her is herself also probably did her some favours, because it's easier to buy into a design concept when it reflects a designer's incredibly strong point of view, as Gretchen demonstrated week after week both on the show and on the runway (sidenote - WT EFFFFFF was up her with ridiculous sheer dress for the win? Parading around in panties when you take home the crown is not my cup of tea). For that matter, I hated the crocheted panties that popped up throughout her show. No one but Beyonce or Lady Gaga (while on holidays in Bali) would wear those things. I also hated her pattern and fabric choices for the most part, although - forgive me if this sounds weird - I sort of enjoyed her worldly, muted colour palette. It had a very now feel when you just absorbed the colours and not the gross patterns / materials she chose. I loved the two longer dresses she created (including the final one pictured above) and I could see her stuff selling where I always thought it would - the likes of Urban Outfitters or ModCloth, although most ProjRun designers aim a little higher than that. That being said, I literally wouldn't wear 99% of this collection, including the pieces I 'liked'. I could see Nina's point that they would work in a fashion spread, but I would flip right through it because her clothes are just NOT appealing to me, at least not in this collection.

That brings us to Mondo, the clear winner of the show from a finale collection perspective, a fan's perspective, and a producer's perspective (seriously, I'm stunned the big wigs didn't step in here). First of all, let me say, I was not really a fan of Mondo's design work on the show. I felt like it was all pattern and little innovation in terms of construction or pairing together items in new ways. If you look at the T Lo post on his work throughout the season, it was consistently standard in terms of what he made, and it often felt like he won the challenges because everyone else was so damn lacklustre in what they brought to the table.


But his finale collection won me over in terms of who should have won the season. Let me get the stuff I didn't like out of the way first of all:
- I agreed with Nina's commentary that his styling was very young and it definitely hurt him and made things costumey. There is a lack of sophistication for the woman that is supposed to buy Project Runway winners' collections, and the 'wow' factor that makes his clothes so appealing will surely be filtered down in the actual design realm, thus making him a dicey choice for the win in a very marginal way - can he dial it down?
- I hated the polka dot dress. Hated. I didn't like it with the short bubble skirt either, and I thought that short bubble skirt was horrendously constructed.
- I didn't mind the headbands but the pom poms on the shoes combined with the headbands and the slightly draggy-doll makeup was a little OTT.
- Once again, I'm going to point out his silhouettes were incredibly basic. His most interesting pieces were the ones he bedazzled in my opinion, and that tunic dress everyone was fawning over was a CARBON COPY of the 'square-inspired' leisure wear outfit he created for Heidi's challenge. The high-waisted jumbo plaid pants? Ditto to his 'print-making' challenge outfit. I felt like there was a serious lack of innovation, as there was on the show, at showing me something different, and if the judges wanted to talk us out of the win, that's what they should have honed in on.

Now let's talk about what I did like:
- I am a big fan of sparkles, colours, and rainbows, and Mondo's collection had all of the above in spades. That being said, my sense of style is intimidating for some people - I tend to embrace really dramatic looks and as Heidi explained, while I wouldn't wear one of his looks H2T, I could certainly incorporate almost every single piece of his collection into my existing wardrobe, and that is something I absolutely can't say about the other two collections.
- I LOVED his prints. I've been feeling Mexican-inspired tapestry prints lately and seeing them in Mondo's collection reaffirmed my desire to snap some up for myself. MIA's sense of style let a glimmer of 'Neon Indian' seep into the fashion world a couple of years ago, and based on what I saw for the Spring 2011 runways I anticipate Mondo's collection will still seem very now (and a very bad decision by the judges) by next summer.
- The leggings with the funky prints are something I would fully want to own. They remind me a lot of Douglas Coupland's stunning circuit board / test pattern collection for Canadian retailer Roots, that I am in...love...with. It's hard for me to put into words how I would own his entire collection, and the fact that Mondo's collection reminded me of it made me go squee!
- As I said before, Mondo's best looks were the ones he customized with his own doodads. The pailette-embellished tank, and the skull top and bag were among my faves, but I understand how a big chunk of the shoppers out there might be a little...gah.
- I thought Jessica Simpson felt a little out of her element among the judges, but I do credit her one comment that if you walked into a store and saw Gretchen's collection on a rack, it'd be a little...blah. If you saw Mondo's however, you would naturally gravitate towards it.

Le sigh. At the end of the day none of the finale collections really wowed me or took my breath away or confirmed in my mind that a specific person should win. No matter what, I'm a little choked Gretchen won, mostly because I feel it was a product of the show not wanting to repeat itself with a designer that has a similar avant garde LOOK AT ME aesthetic to last season's winner, Seth Aaron Henderson. ProjRun has never been a show that cares much about (unlike ANTM) having the first "fill in the blank" designer, so I don't know why it would have been a big deal to have Mondo win when he's a designer with a similar, but more whimsical aesthetic to a past designer. After all, Irina's collection was a goddam doppelganger to Christian Siriano's (hats and all) and she still won.

I'm not disappointed in the series as a whole though, and I won't be walking away from it. The story-building process this season was really strong (although surprising they didn't give Gretchen a better edit if they handed her the win...) and I feel like the show's creators are learning as they go for what resonates with audiences and what doesn't. They've had two blah seasons and one weak design season since moving to Lifetime, and I imagine they'll be brainstorming ways to keep fans coming back. At the very least we got to see one of the BEST judging sequences ever, one I like to call 'the lesser of two evils' when deciding a winner. Till next time!

- Britt's On

The other week I posted about how this season of Project Runway was going down as one of the best in recent memory. A good chunk of that in my mind has come from the expanded format of the show that has allowed for getting to know the designers - and their catty mentalities - a little better, much like the earlier seasons allowed for based on the way they were editing. Let's face it, the characters on the show are half the fun - the designs themselves are the other half.

Unfortunately, the last two episodes have been - to borrow a phrase from another fashion-related reality show - dreckitude. Sadly, I don't feel it's the designers to blame here, but the producers of the show that have done TWO Back to Back episodes of 'surprise! design another piece at the 11th hour! cheers!'. As a result we had two of the worst runway shows PR has EVER seen, with the top 3 barely scraping by and liberal critiques being heaped on the top 3 almost as much as the bottom 3 (and god only knows what the middle 'safeties' would hear from the judges were they on stage).

As a result, my favourite designer this season - Valerie - has been in jeopardy. Both times she has had pretty nifty sounding plans / sketches, only to be thwarted by the producers of the show that think it's so shocking and cool to cram as much design as possible into one episode - perhaps the negative side of 90-minute shows where they need to stretch the design room time. I mean, for this week's challenge we had eight designers left...why not bring the eight eliminated designers back to assist them with the second look?


The thing is, I'm not asking for the show to revert to its early season slower pace, where designers frequently had two days to design showstopping garments, I'm simply asking them to be upfront with the designers - at least once - about how much time they have instead of continually springing additional pieces and challenges on them. I'm thinking back to the couture challenge of Season 4, featuring Chris March and Christian Siriano's STUNNING gown (and ready to wear companion piece). The judges were clearly looking for something of that calibre this week and they didn't get it - and it's partially because of the crazy twists and turns the show keeps on piling on. I just want to see the designers have the time to complete something for once, and get a proper sense as to whether or not they are good designers, plain and simple, or if they really do bite off more than they can chew.

Moving on, we have SEVEN designers left and only 'THREE' spots at Fashion Week. Can I point out that in past seasons, PR has been a very unique show in that it airs (primarily) during the ten-week span the winning designers have to go home and work on their collections. This year however, there were so many designers 'left' on the show, that TEN, count em, TEN of them had shows at Fashion Week. That's more than half of the contestants - and although only three (or four) of them are up for the grand prix, it still kind of diminishes the specialness of "only three of you will make it to fashion week". I'm sure the decoys are given much smaller budgets to work with, but they still have the prestige of going to fashion week, and the big PR prize ain't that special, sorry (I mean, Mondo won nearly the equivalent of the model's prize this week!).

Moving on to the final 7 and my predictions:

April - The show can be a bit maddening in its criticisms, sometimes telling designers they seem stuck in one style, other times criticizing designers who try to shake up their aesthetic (as per Ivy getting the axe with her foray into BRIGHT colours this week). However with April, I lean towards the 'one trick pony' designation, as I've found nearly all of her pieces are black, tattered, and snoozy. I'm not interested in seeing a final collection of April's, and I have a hunch she'll be shown the door before fashion week.

Valerie - It feels to me like Valerie (up until recently anyway) was given a bit of a winner's edit - she has easily become the fan favourite with a very likable, witty, endearing edit and her 'always the bridesmaid' designation has won her many fans that think she is the rightful winner on same challenges. I wanted to think that with her breakdowns over the last few weeks - why don't the judges get my work? why am I second guessing myself? why did I create a vest over a jacket (stupid twist)? - they were giving her a 'Phoenix rises from the ashes' storyline, but now I'm not so sure. I think the producers were definitely wise to keep her in over Michael & Ivy the last two weeks, and I think she could pull it out with adequate time a la fashion week, but I'm not sure her confidence is up to it at this point.

Mondo - I'm on the fence about Mondoman. On one hand I feel like he just throws together a bunch of crazy shit, sews it decently well, and the designers credit him for it not being totally fugtastic. On the other hand, I have flashes of S3's Uli and her innate ability to mix patterns - while Uli's was a much more subtle bohemian look, Mondo's is a lot more like a box of crayons got bulimia on his work table, yet I at least find his work *interesting*. I think seeing a final collection from him that requires some cohesion and thought would be interesting, but I don't know that I'm rooting for him to win at this point. I'd be okay with him making it to the final 3, and I wouldn't be surprised if I did.

Gretchen - I feel like Gretchen still has a pretty negative edit, and that her clothes still aren't that imaginative. What they are is modern, well-made, and designed for women who very much share her aesthetic, which is a trendy one. I've noticed the designers this season have really projected their design style into their personal style - Mondo's wacky combos, Valerie's cutesy reconstructed outfits, Ivy's chic little dresses and skirts, April's goth bombshell look, and Gretchen's boho model gear. I think it's a wise choice to represent your point of view as a designer by looking like your work, and Gretchen does that in spades. She does have the strongest track record - falling into the bottom only once on the team challenge - and the show seems to have indicated it's a forgone conclusion we'll see her at fashion week, I'm just skeptical she can pull it out to walk away with the win. I'm smelling Daniel Vosovic of S2.

Andy - I feel like Andy is sort of the forgotten child of this season (along with Chris). He's supposed to be the avant garde one, and has a style similar to last season's fellow lost boy Jay, but Mondo is totally eclipsing him and I think it might lead to his late-season ouster. I credit Andy for being uber bold, but I don't particularly like his clothes - just elements within them. He might be a surprise contender for that third spot though...I just feel like he hasn't received enough praise or airtime to take that winner's spot, but perhaps the producers are blinding me with the drama and the central characters in that mess!

Michael C - The other designers hate him, and although the show has edited Michael C's storyline to have a sympathetic nod in his favour, I suspect the show will throw them a bone by eventually delivering his comeuppance. Here's my conclusive thoughts on MC: he makes quite beautiful clothing that in general, always fits well (this week's mini dress was moulded to that girl's body), looks nice, and seems on par with today's contemporary evening looks. However, I agree with Gretchen that he doesn't have a deeply engrained POV. In fact, I could probably describe each designer in one phrase, and not really come up with something for Michael. April (Shredded Goth), Valerie (Bright & Basic), Mondo (Colour & Pattern Barf), Gretchen (Boho For Hipsters), Andy (Futuristic Industrial), Chris (Classy Dream Gal)...Michael just makes nice clothes, period. That being said, the concept of him putting together a collection kind of tickles my fancy. What would he send out? A Carol Hannah line of evening gowns? Probably, which the judges don't want to see, and won't earn him the win. I guess he's auf'd in the next week or two.

Christopher - I always forget Christopher Collins is on the show, until he butchers something and ends up in the bottom, flailing. He's a cutie, but a bit of a wet blanket when it comes to joining in on the dishiness, or even having a particularly interesting design point of view or specialty. I think he makes *nice* clothes like Michael C and veers towards a ladylike aesthetic, but I couldn't tell you much about Chris beyond that. I feel like he's a throwaway pick to get rid of before the final episode.

So my picks for the final three? I think Gretchen, Mondo, and either Valerie or Andy will be 'officially' at fashion week. Chris Collins is next on the chopping block, and then it's a free for all.

Do me proud PR!

- Britt's On

Oh Project Runway, just when I think you're lagging in entertainment value, you come back and surprise me with one of the best seasons in recent memory. After the disaster that was Season 6's sojourn to LA and the relatively snoozy final 4 from last year, Season 8 is back with a vengeance!

I've been busy moving the last few weeks, plus in Canada the show runs on a two or three week delay anyway, so I had no choice but to download the episodes to catch up. So far I've made it through the first five (and I'm *trying so hard* to resist moving forward as I'm enjoying this daily dose of PR) and I believe another one will pop up tomorrow, and I have to say, I'm enjoying myself.

General thoughts:

Eliminations: one thing PR does well is eliminating people more or less at the right time. The people who have gone so far are people I wasn't too keen on seeing more from, although to Sarah's credit, I thought she had a *fantastic* attitude and it saddened me that her party store dress was so blase.

Gretchen vs. Valerie: PR hasn't had an epic battle like this in forever, it harkens back to Kenley vs. Leanne or the Season 3 fantastic final four. Personally I'm on team Valerie (as per the show's edit) - she resembles Shiri Appleby which automatically makes me like her, her deconstructed personal wardrobe is very fun, and I've loved everything she's sent down the runway - girl hasn't missed the top to date! Gretchen on the other hand, I've *liked* her clothes but I feel like she's reminiscent of Season 2's fallen wunderkid, Daniel Vosovic, he of many early wins and praise that had too big of a head and produced a snoozy final show. Her holier-than-thou condescending attitude, especially in the confessionals, is just so off-putting, it reminds me of my most hated winner, S6's Irina. Gretchen's wardrobe of 'check out my boobs with no bra but a cami under a sheer and or / cropped shirt' seems more suitable for one of the models than the designers, although to her credit she's very pretty and has a rockin model-esque bod, but still. I think I'd hate her in real life.

Two Team Challenge: This is the last episode I watched and it was pretty unique, which is saying something this far into a series. The symmetry of the winners and losers each being the top 6 and bottom 6 was cool, and having them produce collections close to the size of the finale collections was interesting. I definitely agreed with the winners - the oversized proportions of the 'Luxe' team were fugly, almost as much as their in-fighting. I agree that Gretchen should have taken the fall, however I see the producers / judges point of view - AJ was not going to win the show with his gimmicky OTT looks, while Gretchen had two wins and a frenemy rivalry with Valerie (the other team's de facto leader!) to play out.

The Innovation Challenge: This is my favourite innovation challenge in a l-o-n-g time. I was literally flabbergasted at how far from 'party stuff' each outfit looked, and I loved the top three designs and beyond. After last season's disastrous hardware store innovation challenge, it was refreshing to see the designers get actual sewable materials to make it work - and they did, in spades.

Bitching & Michael C: I felt terrible for Michael C in the last two episodes. I actually loved his dress from last week and thought it complimented his hat/mask fabulously as well. Obviously I'm not there and I don't know the level of his technical skills but the team throwing him under the bus when he had immunity was just ridiculous. The hat challenge was the weakest one of the show to date, so I suppose it makes sense he won it. Regardless, Michael see and bald guy with glasses have been the best commentators this season, so I don't want either of them to go.

Extended Play - The new 90 minute format is a welcome addition to the show for me. I'd rather watch more reactions and gossip (and see more in-depth challenges like the double collection episode I just watched) than have to tune into another 5 minutes of 'Models of the Runway' (which is about all I watched as I fast forwarded the rest).

Predictions - I wasn't spoiled per se, but simply reminded by Entertainment Weekly recently to start watching the show when they mentioned something about Casanova, this season's lah-tin lurv-er, he of the frustrating misunderstanding but hilarious pull quotes from Kors. I had no idea how Casanova would make it past the first few episodes, but his quasi-deserved immunity win in the team challenge (personally I loved bald guy with glasses' shredded top) explains how he makes it to at least Episode 7. I don't see a long future for Casanova, Peach, or April - they've failed to impress me throughout, and I suspect the bashing Michael C got this episode will come to fruition eventually. Valerie, Bald Guy with Glasses (hm, other Michael?), and Gretchen stand the best chance of pushing through, especially after Gretchen was taken down twenty pegs or so this last episode. I don't love Hawaiian wunderkid, Christopher Cowie's or Mondo's stuff - although the winning party dress look was insane! - so I'm on the fence about how far they'll make it. I *do* like Ivy. She's the best of the females for commentary with her pseudo-valley girl chirping, and I think she's produced some really beautiful stuff that's been overlooked by the judges - hello chiffon-backed jacket from the hat challenge! She could prove to be a worthy adversary to the two amazons running the show right now.

Finally I leave you with my suggestions for 10 New Project Runway Challenges, in the order I've thought of them in. Project Runway producers, credit me if you steal one!

10. Halloween - Have the designers shop in a Halloween / costume shop to create a party look. Taking actual costumes made of cheap materials (and / or a palette of strictly orange, purple, and black) and making them non-costumey? That's what I call a make it work moment!

9. Laboutins - We've had a hat challenge, why not a shoe one? Take a major shoe designer - Laboutin, Blahnik, Choo - and give each designer a pair to draw inspiration from. Obviously everyone will be doing cocktail dresses so they don't cover up the goods.

8. Icons - Assign each designer an iconic OTT dress from a major awards show and have them use it as inspiration for a new red carpet dress - think: Liz Hurley's safety pin dress, Jennifer Lopez's green Versace stunner, Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's movie-opener, Halle Berry's sheer topped Oscar winning gown, Geri Halliwell's Union Jack micromini, Bjork's swan dress, Julia Robert's vintage Versace, Marilyn Monroe's Seven Year Itch gown, Madonna's Material Girl dress.

7. Stewardesses - Runway loves to do 'uniform' challenges, including the Olympic Games and Postal Workers. Since they love to call tacky clothes Stewardess-inspired, why not have them design a fashion-forward look for an airline stewardess?

6. Umbrellas - This is not a new challenge to be fair, but I thought it was a cool innovative one on Project Runway Canada. The designers were told to grab umbrellas as their only fabric for a challenge. However what they didn't know is they had to use *all* of the fabric they'd collected, meaning the designers that greedy and the designers that went all grabby for anything were sort of effed, but it worked out.

5. Haus of Gaga - Get the designers to whip up an outfit inspired by a Lady Gaga song / video, and obviously have the Lady herself in to judge - and okay the music rights. It'd be like the Christian Siriano / Chris March couture duo but amplified!

4. Office Supplies - We've seen gardening, party, grocery, and hardware stores be ransacked by the designers - why not office supplies? I'm again drawing on Project Runway Canada and the post-it challenge which was so-so, a little too neon to be fashion, but I think Office Supplies is up there as a viable choice for an innovation challenge.

3. Musical Instruments - The show is a game of musical chairs, so why not design clothes inspired by different instruments? Let the designers peruse an orchestra's worth and each select one to be inspired by - picture: silver column dresses with 'fluted' sleeves, golden evening gowns with 'trumpet' flares, grecian-inspired dresses with bias-cut harp-string fringe...pianos, timpani drums, smooth walnut bass curves, oh my!

2. Literati - Dresses based on famous books. I mean FAMOUS books - at least give the designers a synopses and pull sections out that reference the fashion of the book. Ideally books that don't have films with specific iconic fashion tied to them (a la Breakfast at Tiffany's) but more generic fashion eras - Little Women, 1984, Peyton Place, Harry Potter, the Bible (!), The Great Gatsby, Wuthering Heights etc. Bring Penguin Books on as a sponsor of the classics!

1. Fitness Wear - Another thing the show likes to do is make the designers create relatively exceptional pieces of clothing for the likes of female wrestlers, drag queens, and figure skaters. Fitness Wear is an area they haven't touched on too closely - yet designers like Stella McCartney have made a bundle on their athletic lines, while tennis and golf hotties like Sharapova, Wie, and the Williams sisters have made a splash with their fitness wear. Having the designers create a look for someone like Jillian Michaels would make for an interesting episode yes? Although it might be interesting to assign each designer a fitness area to draw inspiration from - golf, tennis, swimming, skating, running, yoga, aerobics, hiking, dance.

0. Ballroom! - Actually athletic wear is a legitimate challenge. Ballroom dancing costumes however, are more in tune with the wackadoodle challenges I just mentioned. Apparently on Dancing With The Stars they have a full-time team of seamstresses that whip up those costumes week to week, so surely our designers could create something sequinned, feathered, and bedazzled in a day or two to wow the judges with? This seems like such a surefire match for some OTT style!

- Britt's On

Awhile ago a friend of mine (actually several) were horrified when I suggested one of the defining trends of the first decade of the 2000’s – much as mod represents the 60s and bad hair the 80s – would be reality television. But really, in a decade that was all about technological advancement and the wide-reaching fingers of the internet, the emergence of reality TV – despite a return to more basic television production – was a natural evolution of entertainment. We are the generation of ‘instant’, with word of mouth and online news rapidly, virally spreading messages in a matter of mere minutes. We don’t expect, we demand to know the ins and outs of our celebrities’ lives.

But yet…as we begin a new decade, it seems the honeymoon is over with reality TV. The market has become increasingly saturated, and a huge number of reality shows are starting to become stale, and in some cases, are leaving the air (sianora ‘The Hills’).


Consider the increasing absurdness of America’s Next Top Model, a show that once promised lucrative rewards in high end magazines and advertising campaigns, which now continually ‘breaks the rules’ of the modelling industry, and ultimately produces models that are hardly at the top of their game (save for Cycle 6’s Danielle and Cycle 1’s Elyse).


Or the lack of pulse-pounding intensity that once dominated The Amazing Race. Although the show still gets props for pushing the envelope in where they send their contestants, what challenges they have to do, and is still an incredible feat to pull off season after season, it’s ultimately become a little lacklustre over the last few years. Part of it is casting – some generally unlikable and improbable teams have continually made it to the end over the last few years, while fan favourites (if there are any) have continually been eliminated a few legs shy of the finish.

In fact TAR suffers from same-ism that ANTM tries extremely hard to fight – if you look at the history of the series, five of the fourteen winning teams are young, fit males (six if you count the mostly male Linz family on the family edition), two of the teams were brother/sister couplings that generally breezed through the race, and the rest were couples that generally won quite handily. In fact, the last time I remember being really excited during a TAR finale was the adorable hippies TK & Rachel in Season 12. There have been no successful parent/child, or of course, all female teams, and it’s frustrating!


Project Runway has also suffered from two relatively ho hum seasons. Last year’s ill-advised trip to Los Angeles resulted in the worst season to date, with three blasé designers in the finale. Don’t get me wrong, I actually liked all three designers, but I felt like they were better suited to be picked up to design new lines for Club Monaco than Barney’s. This past season wasn’t quite as boring, but it felt like you could pick the final line-up from the earliest weeks, and none of the final three collections were quite as awe-inspiring as past years. It almost felt predestined - as per, how could Emilio ever get past the hardware challenge with the atrocious pink string (literally) bikini he sent down the runway is beyond me...other than the judges wanted to see him in the finals (to be fair, he did do really well before and after this challenge but still).


I liked Seth Aaron Henderson’s stuff, and I quite liked him, but I still wasn’t mesmerized by it. A credit to the Canadian edition of the show – despite the fact it was pretty obvious Sunny would win the last season, I literally had no clue who would go home, or even who would be in jeopardy each episode. That’s good editing.


There are exceptions to the rule. After a couple of lacklustre seasons following the incredible Fans vs. Favourites, Survivor bounced back in Samoa thanks to the devilish casting of Russell Hantz, and followed it up with another great all stars instalment, Heroes vs. Villains. I feel like H vs V has let me down only slightly in that it’s almost sped by too fast, and maybe came on the heels of another all star edition a little too soon (as per the endless complaints about how many third-timers were on the show this time), but in general it’s been a great, surprising season, although many of my favourites are gone.


Also Dancing with the Stars continues to dominate, thanks in large part to the boomers that keep it going. I tuned in as a regular viewer for the first time this season thanks to the actually quite recognizable cast compared to other seasons, and I’ve enjoyed it. I fast forward through about 25% of each episode’s fluff, and about 80% of the results shows, but I’ve liked watching the stories unfold, the relationships, and the progression of the dancing. Great, great casting this year that gives this show a new breath of life. I don’t imagine it will last forever – as this post proves, these shows are running their course, but as a late follower, I’m thinking it’s a big pile of cheesy fun. Plus Nicole Scherzinger has finally made herself a relatable, interesting character rather than a vapid pop tart!

Anyway one can only guess what the next decade will bring us beyond these granddaddies of the industry. I’m a big fan of reality television – not so much on the afterboom of minor celebrity – and I hope it doesn’t disappear altogether. It will be a sad day when Jeff Probst isn’t gracing my screen on a weekly basis.

Till next time,

- Britt’s On

Well folks, up in Canada, for god knows why, we have Project Runway on delay. Meaning, if you want to watch it on the TV and not your computer, you must wait for about 2-3 weeks after the show has aired in the US of A. As a loyal Entertainment Weekly subscriber and general entertainment world explorer, this presents plenty of challenges. How does one avoid the news? Anytime I saw the words Project Runway I basically shut my eyes.

The good news is, maybe people have been bored with the last two seasons as I’ve managed to avoid finding out the winner and have been all tense and surprised with the finale. In fact I’ve heard a lot of negative things about season 6 that just wrapped up – to be fair, the show was mired by the whole network shenanigans going on and the tension of ‘this is happening now’ was lost. But also…I agree that Season 6 left something to be desired.

The challenges felt a bit flat (hi, thanks for stealing Project Runway Canada’s bride dress challenge), there was a lack of drama or personality for that matter in the work room, and the final collections failed to really wow me.

I mean last season, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Leanne but I appreciated the architecture of her clothing – it was clearly innovative, stylish, and new, and I was okay with her winning (despite the two-tone colour palette).

Before that we had PR wunderkind Christian Siriano. Although I was underwhelmed by the sparseness of his final collection, I got the buzz and the hype the show managed to create around him and he’s certainly done decently for himself since then. I was actually a fan of S3’s Jeffrey Sebelia, although his career hasn’t really gone anywhere (costume designer for Bratz?) notable since then. Ditto to S2’s Chloe Dao – Daniel Vosovic probably should have won that and paved the way for future boy wonders like Christian. And S1’s Jay McCarroll was a bit of a dark horse for the win in my opinion.

Regardless, there was nothing that made me particularly stand for any three of our top three in this year’s show. None of them had a particularly awe-inspiring outfit (I’m thinking of S3 Jeff’s stunning couture dress for example) throughout the competition, and while all 3 were consistently good and it was nice to see the blonde pretty girl actually do well for once, it still failed to excite my fashion senses when all was said and done.

Carol Hannah’s final collection was a little OTT in the satin department – I get that her clothing was supposed to represent fantasy but I felt like she was designing prom dresses more than fashion. Althea’s was definitely the most wearable and I see a great future for her designing for a hip commercial house like Club Monaco, but it was mostly nice, slightly special stylized versions of stuff I could go out and buy any day of the week. As for Irina’s, the all black thing was unappealing to me, and reminiscent of Christian Siriano’s S4 collection. Lame.

Here’s the big clue that most designers seem to pick up on though. The collections that win are typically the collections that use a cohesive element to tie them together. In particular, thinking of Irina’s helmets and Jay’s S1 headphones – the hat is the key! Even S3 Jeffrey was planning to use blonde wigs until he had to scrap them from his budget at the 11th hour. Leanne’s two-tone colour palette and Christian’s nearly all-black looks also cinched them the win. Chloe basically used four or five fabrics in every single piece, but I was a tad surprised she walked away with the win when you stack her collection up against the very tied together elements of the other winners. So future PR designers, take heed – be interesting, be daring, and find a gimmick to tie your collection together! Note: this is not always 100% successful. Korto’s paper fans from last season and Uli’s shark tooth closures failed to net the two ladies the win, but put them both in top contention for it at least. It’s the easiest way to claim cohesion should the judges get uppity!

Till next time,

Britt's On