Posted by Dustin on 09.10.2008 at 12:54 pm

I’ve fallen behind on my thoughts on the Bravo reality shows. Just a quick blurb on the finale of “Shear Genius.” It came down to Nicole, Charlie and Dee. I knew Nicole didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell at winning. However I was glad to see the judges give her such praise for being so talented at such a young age (in comparison to her competitors on the show).

It came down to Charlie and Dee as the final two, and Dee was given the title of “Shear Genius.” As much as I didn’t like Charlie, I don’t know if I thought Dee deserved to win. I was just glad that Daniel at least got fan favorite.

Speaking of fan favorite, last season’s fan favorite Tabitha has her own show on Bravo now called “Tabitha’s Salon Takeover.” Every week she takes over a struggling salon and whips it and the staff into shape. The show is hilarious and tons of fun, mainly because Tabitha doesn’t take shnit from anyone!

Posted by Dustin on 08.24.2008 at 6:57 pm

On “Project Runway” this week, Chris March from last season returned to give the designers their new challenge, to design an outfit for a drag queen. I thought this was going to be the best challenge ever, but I think for the most part it fell flat. With no Austin Scarlett or Santino in the cast, there was no one to really go insanely over the top I don’t think. Some of them were good, others not so much.

In the end Joe won for his skin tight and very green superhero like outfit. I didn’t think he should have won though, I really thought the the girl who did the kimono like outfit should have won. Fortunately they did finally send poor little Daniel home. His outfit was ironically the best thing he’s made on the show to date, but it was not a drag costume. It was more of a costume for a woman going out dancing. Zzzzzzzz!

Over to “Shear Genius,” Nicole won the short cut challenge at the opening of the show, which got her immunity and a spot in the top three. Honestly without that, I don’t think she would have made it. This meant either Dee, Charlie or Daniel would go home.

The challenge this week was the magazine cover challenge. Each designer had to do an avant guarde haircut dealing with one of the four seasons. Nicole had winter, and had not expected her model to be laying down in fake snow, which pretty much wrecked her haircut. However she was safe. Daniel put too much of the focus in the back of the head, which wasn’t seen in the photo. Meanwhile Dee did her usual funky banged cut, which looked terrible when the model was jumping up and down as required for the shoot. Charlie did a good job, but was a little bit of a diva on the set.

Charlie won the challenge, Nicole was safe, so it came down to Daniel and Dee. Daniel was sent home, which got Jacklyn a little misty eyed. Honestly I really felt Dee should have gone home, basically because over the past few episodes someone on the panel always seems to note “she does the same hairdo every time.” That’s what got Paulo sent home, so why not Dee?

Finally, VH1 started “The Cho Show” this week, which is a reality show much like “Kathy Griffen’s Life On The D List,” but staring comedian Margaret Cho (who I love!). The first episode dealt with her getting the “Korean of the Year” award, which was something she was thrilled about but had mixed feelings over because of the reception she had gotten years ago from the Korean community. It was a good show, only a half hour. The best part of it is her parents. If you’ve ever seen her stand-up routines, then this is a treat because you get to actually see how they compare to what she makes fun of. However I doubt I’ll do much commenting on the show. It’s one of those shows that doesn’t lend itself to comments easily.

Also for “New York” fans, she should have her new show starting up soon (if it already hasn’t). Then on Oxygen is “The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency” which is always good for some drama (usually made by Janice).

Posted by Dustin on 08.14.2008 at 7:32 pm

On “Project Runway,” the designers paired in team competitions in order to design an outfit for Brooke Shield’s character on “Lipstick Jungle.” The winning outfit will be seen next season on the show.

I really hate the team competitions, because I never think it’s a fair way to judge who should go home from the team. This time was no exception either. In the bottom was Keli, who had Daniel on her team. When asked who should go home, Keli point blank threw Daniel under the bus. She said while the design was hers, that she has been in the top many times, where Daniel was always in the bottom. Daniel felt it was her design and she should go home, and that he has very elegant taste. This made a fellow designer burst out laughing, as she kept saying throughout the show that Daniel keeps saying this but has never shown it in competition.

Now usually I feel the designer who designed the outfit should go home, unless the partner was a complete slacker or problem. This time if one of them had to go, I agreed with Keli, it should have been Daniel. I have not liked any of his work at all, even Heidi in her comments felt he was bringing nothing to the table in this competion. Keli however was sent packing, which is a loss. Daniel will be going in the next two weeks I’m sure. Also in the bottom was Blane, with his beach inspired outfit. Honestly I felt he should have been sent home over anyone, but he wasn’t.

Winning this competition was Keith, who made an outfit that was nice, but again I didn’t think should have won. They had to create an outfit that could go from the board room to the club, his was more of a night outfit. I felt Latrelle should have won this challenge.

Next week Chris from last season returns in a “Runway” first, a drag queen challenge! Yes they must design an outfit for a drag queen. This should be really good.

On “Shear Genius” the stylists had to cut the hair of their relatives, but not THEIR relative. Instead each stylist had to do the hair of a different stylist’s relative. Charlie once again won the challenge, which I don’t think he should have in this case. I’m also biased, as I really don’t like him. I thought Daniel did a better job this time around.

The shocker was who went home. It came down to Nicole and Paulo, and Paulo was sent packing. I don’t like him that much, but I felt Nicole’s cut was a little worse. She gave Dee’s mom this really short stiff looking hair-do. I like Nicole though, so I was happy to see her stay at least another week. Though I don’t expect her to win, I think she’ll go next week. This competition is probably going to come down to Charlie and Daniel, maybe Dee.

Posted by Dustin on 08.09.2008 at 2:37 pm

I had forgotten to go and update on this week’s “Project Runway” and “Shear Genius.” Oops! Of course at this point, I’m having a hard time remembering what happened.

On “Runway” the designers had to design a uniform for the US Olympic Team, with Apollo Ono as a guest judge. Kata one, and I really liked her outfit. It was smart and sleek. Joe made a nice outfit, but a little too much USA flair on it in my opinion. He was expecting to win and I think he was annoyed he didn’t. Sent home was Katherine (I think that’s her name), who made the matronly dress last week. I wasn’t sad to see her go as I thought she should have gone last week. However this week I didn’t think her dress was as bad as that guys purple cocktail dress or whatever that purple and pink Joan Collins mess the other guy made.

Over to “Shear Genius,” it was the dog challenge from last season. They had to cut the hair of a dog and it’s owner and try and give them matching cuts. Dee won her first cut ever. Not surprising, Nykesha went home this week. What was shocking was that Paolo and Charlie ended up in the bottom with her, which shocked them. I’m still waiting to see Charlie go down!

Posted by Dustin on 07.31.2008 at 3:34 pm

So last night was “Project Runway” and “Shear Genius” on Bravo. BTW, for fans of these kinds of shows, in September they are bringing back “Top Design” with a new host.

On “Project Runway” they had the photo challenge. This is were they take photos of interesting things in the city, choose the one they like the best, and create a dress based on it.

I have to say, I didn’t agree with their winner or their loser this week honestly. The woman who won made this oddly shaped Shirley Temple dress with some power suit shoulders from the 80s. They even called it a Joan Collins suit, but did like it. I felt the woman who made the graffiti outfit (Jackie? I can’t remember their names as there are still too many of them) should have won.

The woman sent home was Emily (I think). She made this black dress with some Carmen Miranda flower arrangement on the front. While I did think it was bad, it was so not as bad as this other woman’s dress who got to stay. I’m speaking of that hideous turquoise and brown thing that had no shape and Heidi called “matronly.” That should have gone!

Over to “Shear Genius,” wow was this ever a full of drama episode. The show started off with the short cut challenge, which actually was a color challenge. They had to dye hair into outrageous colors. Charlie won the challenge, which infuriated Dee as she thought she should have won (and actually so do I).

Charlie became full of himself, as usual, and started picking on Nikeesa, who he hates. She told him off. Frankly I’ve not liked Charlie for a long time and would love to see him go home! However he was not only safe in this episode, he didn’t have to compete!

The remaining six stylists were put into teams of two by Charlie. This was his reward for winning the short cut. They then had to compete in the “Charlie’s Angels” challenge. Each team had to style three women, re-inventing the old Angels’ hairstyles in a modern way. Kate Jackson was the guest judge.

The result were a giant disaster. So much so that NOBODY won! All the Kate Jackson hairdos were this terrible black bob. All the Farahs looked like Paris Hilton to me. The Jaclyns were just all over.

Nikeesa and Glenn found themselves in the bottom two, and in a shocking elimination Glenn went home. The looks on everyone’s faces were shear shock! I think they all expected Nikeesa to finally get sent packing. Glenn was booted basically because her styling of the Jaclyn character’s hair was so off, and it couldn’t be forgiven considering she looks at the actual thing all the time.

Posted by Dustin on 07.17.2008 at 11:27 pm

So this week “Project Runway” began their new season, possibly the last season on Bravo. Sixteen hot up and coming designers began the competition for the chance of a lifetime, a spread in Allure Magazine, a 2009 car and 100,000 dollars to start their own clothing line . . . . Whoa I just channeled Heidi Klum!

Okay but for real, the new season premiere . . . . if you missed it don’t worry, something tells me it will be re-run every hour this weekend. Honestly with 16 designers there were just too many names to remember. As always I can’t remember anyone till they get down to at least 10, or someone makes a huge impression on me. Nobody really seemed to stand out, at least not yet.

Speaking of huge impressions, season one’s own Austin Scarlett was back as the guest judge. Their first competition was to shop at Whole Foods and make an outfit from what they bought on a minimal budget. Yes we’ve done this before, as it’s the challenge Austin won with his corn husk dress. The best part of this episode was seeing Austin again and his completely over the top . . . well everything. Seriously, I’d love for them to do a reunion show bringing the best of the best to compete against each other!

Ironically enough the guy who went home (Jerry I think his name was) kept talking about how he was a very successful designer and had his own business for years. Then why are you here? His outfit was horrendous and he had to go. “Your out!”

Over to “Shear Genius,” which I need to actually re-watch (it’s been a theme with me this week). You know it’s a bad thing when the person who gets eliminated is one you don’t really remember, especially when we are about 5 episodes in! I think she was always safe in past challenges, so she was never in the top or bottom three, and never made an impact on me. In this challenge they had to cut and style their client’s hair, but also teach them how to style it on their own for the runway show.

Posted by Dustin on 07.11.2008 at 9:00 pm

So this week on “Shear Genius” the quick cut challenge was an interesting one. They had to style a group of women’s hair, but not cut a strand. The catch was the women hadn’t cut their hair in years, and one woman’s hair was 68 inches! I honestly at this point don’t remember too many of the hair styles, except for Nicole’s insane braiding maddness that did indeed look terrible, but Matt won this challenge. This irked his competitors because they all seem to dislike Matt. Matt apparently doesn’t associate with any of them, he stays to himself, and he never shuts up about his red hot wife.

The elimination cut challenge was to cut the hair of their models and style it for the red carpet. The fun part of this challenge was that Allison Sweeny, Sami from “Days of Our Lives,” was a guest judge! The winner of this challenge was the guy who one last week (Greg?). I admit I’m having trouble still remembering names at this point as there are still so many of the contestants. They should be narrowed down within a few weeks with some team elimination challenges. I have to say I liked the work his competitor did more (I think her name was Gwen), but he did not only a cut and style but also color in 2 hours and that impressed everyone.

In the bottom two were Paolo (again) and oddly Matt, who won the quick challenge. Matt didn’t listen to his client, who said her hair couldn’t hold curls, so he attempted them and failed. Paolo, well he did this Princess Leia hairdo gone horribly wrong. Honestly I felt Paolo should have gone home, but Matt was sent packing. I wasn’t actually sad because throughout this entire episode all Matt talked about was his beautiful, hot and sexy wife. It became annoying, reallying annoying. I know at least half of it was probably the shows editing, but it was bad. I’m pretty sure last season there was a similar contestant who constantly had to point out how he straight he was, so America didn’t think he was gay because he was a hair dresser.

Bye Bye Matt! Hopefully Paolo is next!

Posted by Dustin on 07.03.2008 at 11:31 am

On the most recent episode of “Shear Genius,” the fan favorite from Season 1 Tabitha returned as a guest judge, and she was as bitchy as ever! The new contestants even joked about it, some feared her while others tried to give as good as they got.

The main challenge this time around was to cut the hair of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” . . . and their daughters (since obviously they needed enough for each contestant). They had to appease their client as well as make a style that reflected their own style of hairdressing. I felt sorry for a few of the contestants, as some of the bi. . . I mean housewives wouldn’t let them cut a strand of their hair off! One of them really needed her hair cut too, as it just looked terrible the way it was. These contestants had no choice but to simply dye and style.

In the end it was Daniel, Gail and Paulo in the bottom. Daniel gave his client way to dark of a dye job and a not so flattering cut. The other two ended up with ones they just had to dye and style, and as one of the judges said . . . it’s the exact same hairdo. Daniel was sent home, and I had some beef with that I guess. I felt at least he did something, even though it wasn’t flattering, whereas the other two made almost no changes at all to their clients.

For this season I’m seeing Dee and Nicole as the two forces to be reckoned with, though I thought Tabitha was a shoe-in last season and she got unfairly sent packing on a team challenge. So who knows really! Paulo, who was in the bottom this week, is destined to go home and soon I think.

Posted by Dustin on 06.28.2008 at 9:12 pm

“Shear Genius” premiered this week on Bravo in its second season. To be honest, I was surprised when it got one. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the first season, I just wasn’t expecting it at all. I didn’t think it did that well, as I thought I was the only one who watched it.

This week saw the introduction of the new contestants and their first challenge, to give clients a “cartoon” hairstyle based on a character they picked. Kudos to the people smart enough to pick “Jem!” Other contestants picked Marge Simpson (are you kidding me?), Betty Boop, Judy Jetson, Wilma Flintstone and Lucy (from Peanuts).

The guy who won did an incredible job with re-inventing Wilma’s hairdo on a girl. The loser picked (well ended up with) Lucy, and his hairdo was in fact awful. He also lost the quick cut challenge as well in the begining (which I thought was unfair, it was to cut hair blindfolded). He thought he was all that because he had Emmy nominations (for “Passions!”). Whatever, he was terrible, so he had to go.

I don’t really have a favorite yet so far, or know how the season will go. I have to say I’m excited because next week Tabitha returns as a guest judge. She was robbed of the win last season as far as I’m concerned.