Are people still talking about Project Runway? It was the hot show when it was on Bravo, but it seems like more of a niche hit now that it's on Lifetime. Tonight is the season finale. Who do you think will win, Irina, Althea, or Carol Hannah? Not should win, but who do you think will win?
So the new season of Project Runway premieres on August 20, on Lifetime after a legal battle with Bravo and a long wait (filming ended nine months ago). But there isn't just one Project Runway this season, there's two, if you include the spinoff Models of the Runway, which will show the models they use on the show talking about what went on behind the scenes.
Coming next season: Gaffers of the Runway, where the crew that works on the electricity/lighting on the set will talk about the models, and then Project Craft Services, where the people who supply the food to the cast and crew will talk about what the models eat (or don't eat) and which of the designers eats the most.
I figure that since Bravo was nice enough to air a new episode of The Fashion Show on last night ticked off Top Chef Masters fans by airing a new episode of The Fashion Show instead that we should talk about the show a bit. Who is watching this? Is it the poor man's Project Runway (coming soon to Lifetime), or does it have its own good points?
So, was The Fashion Show a worthy successor and/or replacement for Project Runway, or did it just scream "copycat" (or maybe "copycatwalk")? The first episode (video below or here) aired last night, with Isaac Mizrahi as host. Let us know what you thought about it.
So you lose a really popular show (Project Runway - moving to Lifetime). What's a network to do? Well, you just start a similar show! Bravo's The Fashion Show starts tonight at 10PM. This one is hosted by Isaac Mizrahi and Kelly Rowland. Each week the winner will have their dress sold in an online store, and the season winner will get their own clothing line. Now I just wonder if people will actually watch this or just consider it a pretender and go over to Lifetime when the next Project Runway premieres. Here's a preview.
Kelly told you recently about NBC's legal attempt to block Project Runway from going to their Bravo channel over to Lifetime (Lifetime paid $150 million to air the show for the next five years). Now it looks like NBC is looking for contestants for a show that sounds very similar to Project Runway...and they're using Craigslist to find people to be on the show.
The new Bravo show is going to be called Fashion House. The ad says that the winner will win "a large cash prize" and that the winner can use the show to "serve as the launching pad to catapult your fashion career into high gear."
Catapult your fashion career into high gear? What a horrible sentence.
So, hot on the heels of Entertainment Weekly suggesting that Bravo wasn't giving Project Runway -- the new, and last before Lifetime takes over -- season its due, Bravo rolled out a press release today with the names of all 16 designer/contestants, as well as the celebrity judges for Project Runway Season Five.
On the celeb front, the show's landed Diane Von Furstenberg, Sandra Bernhard, Apolo Ohno, Brooke Shields, LL Cool J, RuPaul, Rachel Zoe, Cynthia Rowley and Francisco Costa. I can see potential fireworks from Sandra B and RuPaul. The rest -- eh. I mean, really, is Brooke going to be critical? And have you seen how Apolo dresses?
Project Runway is gearing up for a four city casting tour beginning March 30th in Los Angeles and continuing to Chicago, Miami and New York City. If you want to make the season four cut, you'll need to bring three garments of your own design, a picture portfolio and your completed application - soon to be available via BravoTV.com. And, don't worry, Tim Gunn will be back despite his many extracurricular activities.
In the interest of helping further your design career, I've put together a brief primer for success on Project Runway - from the auditions to the final catwalk.
I said I'd give Top Design three weeks, and I did. I watched - hoping the show would overcome its lackluster start, its disenchanted host, its odd judges and its warmed-over design challenges. It hasn't. Whether it's because the airwaves are saturated with home design shows or the constituent parts just don't make a very compelling whole, Top Design has turned out to be a labored, self-serious bore, which makes it all the more surprising that the show's accompanying blogs are candid, funny and, well, everything Top Design isn't.
Apparently, back in the day, Tim Gunn expressed disappointment that season one Project Runway winner Jay McCarroll hadn't debuted a collection by the age of 29. Well, Jay would like you to know that he's "not bitter" about that comment, but it was "hurtful." In the February 4th issue of New York Magazine, McCarroll goes on at length about Tim Gunn, and it's not pretty, Runway fans. (If you're offended by profanity, you may want to close your eyes for this next part.)
"I just hate that because middle America looks at him like, 'He's so nice, he's like a father to them.' On [Project Runway] he was, sure ... At one point he said I was an embarrassment because I didn't show yet. And it's like, f**kin'-A, man ... I don't think [Gunn is] an authority on any designer's life. He went to school for sculpture or something. I don't think he's ever, to my knowledge, started a fashion line and therefore should not be the adviser or the f**kin' creative director." Oops ... too late. Liz Claiborne just made him their creative director. They hadn't gotten the memo from Jay yet, I guess.
I'm very pleased to share the news that Tim Gunn has signed a deal with Bravo to bring his fashion expertise to his very own makeover show. The program will be based around his upcoming book, Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style (set for May release). Gunn has promised to use the program to re-define "makeovers", which sounds like a pretty bold statement to make. But, then again, this is the all-mighty Tim Gunn. I have no reason to doubt the man. All hail Tim Gunn.
While this is all lovely, I can't help but feel a wee bit bad that this announcement was made just as Bravo canceled their hit makeover programQueer Eye for the Straight Guy (which was fantastic, but eventually exhausted). Looks like Gunn has to fill five very flamboyant shoes as Bravo's new makeover guy.
Gunn's presence in the next season of Project Runway still has yet to be confirmed, but at least we know that the worst case scenario will be that he'll only be on one program, not two.
NPR asked a few designers from various seasons of Project Runway to complete one more challenge and sketch some ideas for cool Halloween costumes. Diana Eng, Daniel Vosovic, Nick Verreros, Wendy Pepper, Nora Caliguri, Katherine Gerdes, and Starr Ilzhoefer pitched some sketches and, well, I thought they were okay (yes, I'm going to pretend it was an actual episode and critique a few things because, now that the season's over, I. Am. In. Withdrawal). I liked Diana's lightning bug idea, and Katherine's iPod costume would be fantastic for a parent and child... but what was up with Nick's Pirates of the Caribbean costumes? Generic pirate and princess. Not Captain Jack and Elizabeth. Tsk tsk, Nick.
I choose to Auf... Wendy Pepper. Not because her witch costume was crappy, but because I'm still pissed that she robbed Austin Scarlett of the final Bryant Park spot (ooh, I'm so bitter). Anyway, check out the costumes for yourself.
(S03E14) After minimal drama (drama that totally didn't live up to the previews), Jeffrey's outsourcing scandal was over and he was let off the hook. However, he was slightly over-budget, so he had to cut the blonde wigs out of his collection. I honestly thought the wigs would have negatively impacted his presentation, so it was probably lucky for him that he had to take away a couple hundred from his budget.
I haven't watched any of the Bravo reality show Project Runway this season. I watched the first season, but then I just lost interest in the show (getting rid of as many reality shows that I watch has become very important to me). The Onion's AV Club says that the judges on the show are "on crack," because three of the remaining seven designers should have been off the show many weeks ago.
The designers they name are Angela, Vincent, and Jeffrey.
(S03E05) This episode switched things up a bit. Instead of the other way around, the models chose the designers they wanted. Of course, some of the designers were uncomfortable with the feeling of not being in control in this situation. Their anxiety was made even worse when the designers were challenged to re-create a look for a fashion icon... a fashion icon that they'd have no say in choosing. Their models picked from a selection of icons, ranging from Madonna to Katharine Hepburn to Twiggy. Some designers were ecstatic with their assignments, others were totally clueless (cough cough, his name starts with a "B" and ends with "Radley").