Category — Project Runway

Last week Christian Siriano won the fourth season of Project Runway but I was not there to see it. I tried to get into this year’s season but somehow this group while talented never really caught on with me as personalities as it with Jeffery and Laura from season three. I think I watch the first four episodes before drifting away.

So too it has been with American Idol this year. I think I caught one audition show this year. Perhaps last year’s disappointing group burn me out but then again after crowning Taylor Hicks, it could only go down.

But I think the bigger factor was that I have been intently focused on the political front with all of the elections, debates and endless analysis and punditry. I am truly a political junkie and for most of the week I have been tuning into the shows whether or not an election has been held that night.

As always, I have been settling in on MSNBC with the lineup of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann. Decent analysis and commentary on the latest going ons though sometimes you think that they are just trying to fill in the time especially if there was no scandal or major news to comment on. The faces are getting to be pretty familiar now. I must say Rachel Maddow looks pretty hot even if she is a lesbian. Chuck Todd is a pretty good hand in keeping things grounded in reality as sometimes the commentators get carried away with themselves on the most minor of items.

For balance, I check out CNN’s coverage for different perspectives. I think it is a bit amusing that they would have on an election night no less than three separate panels for commentary. Must be pretty crowded in that studio.

This week though, I think I give political television a break for awhile. It is difficult to sustain interest for six weeks until the next primary election. Fortunately, it is time for the tournament to start. This week it is ACC, next week it is the NCAA tournament. After that, hockey playoffs and finally, English soccer is starting to reach its climax as the teams vie for the Premiership and the FA Cup. Nothing like sports to get your mind off things.

So far it has been four episodes into this, the fourth season of Project Runway and I have yet to get the strong vibe as I did with last year’s show. It is not as compelling to clear my schedule and make time for the show. More like catch up with the repeats as when they broadcasted. This is not to say the show is bad. Just not as interesting.

Hard to say what the cause is. Very few of them are bad designers per se. Some like Victoria, do hold interesting design ideas but the really bad designs have few so far which is probably testament to the screening process which yielded very capable designers. But on the other hand, as personalities, this a very mild bunch. It seems that in the absence of strong personalities like Jeffery or Laura, the show is relying on the bitchy comments of the flamboyant gay men who seem to be all queeny without the wit of Kayne from last season.

Another factor could be the increased number of designers at the beginning of the season. With 15 faces to remember and what personality type or quirk to assign them may be too much given the amount of time the show has to spend on each one of them. But that the case somewhat last year too as it was not until about when the crowd had been to reduced to 8 or so that we really started to know those designers. I do not think it would not be any different this year. Of course , the reason we have 15 this year is to stretch out the season as the show is a proven money maker for Bravo.

Hard to say who is the favorite at this time . I will probably have more to work with with a few more shows.

Still, I will make time when I can for the show.

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After thirteen months since Jeffery Sebelia won the third season, Project Runway has returned to Bravo TV.I do not normally get worked up for television shows especially reality TV but somehow Project Runway is a bit different. Perhaps it has been the compelling personalities of the various designers, the biting commentary of the judges, the suave mentor in Tim Gunn but I think more so than any other reality show that stresses creativity, with fashion, it is nearly all visual which allows us as viewers to make instant judgments. With a show like Top Chef, while we can see the visual appeal of food, the deciding factor is taste which is not conveyable through the television no matter how much the judges and tasters can rave about it.

A few things have changed for this season. Tim Gunn is no longer at the Parsons School of Design having moved on to Liz Clairborne fashion house though the school is still the venue for the show’s taping. They have increased the number of designers to 15 perhaps to increase the number of episodes for the show. Fashion week now will be centered on the fall/autumn lines rather than spring/summer to coincide with the show’s big fashion week presentation in March/April. Heidi Klum is not pregant this season so that should not be a distraction.

There will many questions for this season: who is this year’s Santino/Jeffery personality? Who is the gayest designer? Who designs essentially for hookers? Who will have an emotional breakdown every episode? Finally, who is the top designer ?

Looks like a good five months of television ahead of us.

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