Thursday, July 31, 2008

Reality competition show update

Well, let's see...

I very much enjoyed this season's The Next Food Network TV Star.
Only one problem--the winner. There's just no way Aaron McCargo, Jr. was either the best cook or best host among the contestants. And it was significant to me that, on the final episode, while we got to see the judges waxing poetic about how well each competitor had done in the final challenge, we DIDN'T see them discussing why they chose Aaron. Interesting. Lisa Garza should have won.

Meanwhile, last night's Shear Genius episode featured the judges ripping just about every contestant once the challenge--a difficult task to make selected models' hair styles look just like the three styles worn by "Charlie's Angels" stars back in the late 1970s AND at the same time to "modernize" those styles--was over. Seemed to me the judges had, in their minds, something they wanted from each contestant--something they neglected to even hint at to the contestants. Ease up, judges.

Meanwhile, this week the public has been voting for which of the two remaining HGTV Design Star contestants had the best design in their final challenge. Both Matt and Jennifer are nice, capable designers; but they have a long way to go to top last year's winner, Kim Myles.

And Project Runway is now well into its latest season, serving up wild, unpredictable clothing designers and witty (though sometimes cruel) one-liners from the judges. Overheard last night, as one judge panned a wild-looking dress: "It looked like a bunch of toilet paper in a windstorm."