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Last night's episode ofProject Runway brought the regular competition to a close with a final elimination challenge. Now three of the designers are on their way to Bryant Park. Thankfully, it's the three contestants that probably most deserved the honor.
The Challenge: For their final challenge, the remaining five designers were taken on a field trip to the Getty Center in Los Angeles by mentor Tim Gunn. The whole first quarter of the episode could have been used as a commercial for this amazing museum. Honestly, I've been to Los Angeles twice and never had a desire to go back, until I saw this place. The designers are tasked with creating an outfit inspired by The Getty. I have to say, anyone who couldn't find inspiration from this place needs a serious head-shrinking, it was bloody gorgeous!
The Sticky Part: Once again the competitors are given very few restrictions on their design. Not only are they gifted with amazing inspiration, they also get a sizeable sum of cash for materials and a decent amount of time to work. Unfortunately for the designers this season, being given almost free rein has so far seemed to actually have a negative effect on their creations, not a positive one.
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The Drama Quotient: The tension between Althea and Irina is near boiling point after the whole "she stole my design" debacle last week. I could feel the spiky energy flying between them through the TV set. Poor Carol Hannah seems on the verge of tears half the time and Gordana is so anxious to make it the finals she's almost vibrating with stress. As for Christopher, it's obvious the boy is going to break down into full gay drama meltdown any moment.
In every other season of Project Runway, I've always found at least one contestant in the final challenge I really, really wanted to make it to Bryant Park. But this lot is such a mixture of depression (Gordana), arrogance (Irina), cluelessness (Christopher), and vapidness (Athea and Carol Hannah), that I found it difficult to really care who made it through. Except for Christopher. While I do have a tendency to want to support 'family' in these competitions, I'm sick enough of his lack of taste and substandard design skills, I'm more than ready to see him go.
Judging Panel: When the judging panel for the final elimination challenge was announced, I was immediately pissed off again. Where the hell is Michael Kors? One of the main judges, one of the staples of Project Runway that makes it cool, isn't even there for the big challenge? Lame! Nina Garcia was in her chair, but she honestly looked like she'd rather be anywhere else. As for the guest judges, designer Cynthia Rowley and model Cindy Crawford, they were pointless and boring. Worst final judging panel in Project Runway history.
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The Losers: For her inspiration, Gordana chose a fabulous painting by Monet, "The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light." She was so moved by the painting and her resulting design, it was painful to watch. She obviously put her whole heart into it and everything else she had. The end design was actually quite gorgeous, but once again, a little too simplistic. If only she'd added just a bit more risk too it, just a bit more flash, she might have impressed the judges enough to make it through. Sadly, it just wasn't enough.
Gordana's designs throughout the season usually landed on the 'safe' side. Called 'wearable' more than once, her outfits never wowed the judges - or me. On the other hand, if someone is looking for a designer who can make absolutely gorgeous, well-made, sellable clothing for women, they should snap her up immediately. She may not be a Versace, but Gordana's designs would look killer in any upscale department store.
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Christopher ignored all of the gorgeous art and exhibits at the Getty and instead took his inspiration from a fountain outside of the museum. Normally one might think he was smart for finding an unusual source of inspiration (rocks and algae), but for him it seems almost like the obvious choice. Once again he made a dress that was entirely too bottom heavy and swamped his model like a bed sheet. The judges finally couldn't delay the inevitable anymore (thank god!) and sent him packing.
Although Christopher had his moments of brilliance during the season, overall he was glaringly one of the worst designers. His choice of fabrics was often way off, his designs were rough and sometimes ill-fitting and his overall aesthetic often showed a shocking lack of taste. I hope the judges were right in that he just needs more time to learn his craft. Personally though, I think talent is not a learned skill and I'm just not sure if he's got the "it" factor to ever make it big as a designer.
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The Winners: Carol Hanna fell in love with an ornate French bed at the Getty for her inspiration. It was gorgeous, but she was nearly orgasmic over the thing and it was almost a little creepy. Her design, however, was anything but. Carol Hanna's floor-length gown was sophisticated and fit like a glove. The construction was frankly near-perfect and the judges said as much. Although the panel didn't really see the inspiration of the bed in the dress, they admired the beauty of the dress anyway and gave Carol Hannah a ticket to Bryant Park.
Carol Hannah tends to annoy me, just because she so often seems kind of lacking in any actual personality traits. She's like a cardboard cutout of a person. But maybe that's just TV editing and being in a freakish situation like a reality television show. Overall, however, her designs have been consistently good, with occasional sparks of true genius. So I'm happy to see her get through to the finale, though I don't really expect her to end up as the winner. On the other hand, given plenty of time to design and away from the stress of the competition, she might just pull some amazing stuff out of her hat, we'll just have to wait and see.
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Althea decided to take the actual building of The Getty as her inspiration to create an architecture themed design. The dress was ambitious and risky, but unfortunately Althea didn't quite have the skills to pull it off. The end result, as Heidi Klum noted, was a bit of a "mess fest" and did not flatter her model at all. Her risk-taking, however, paid off anyway. The judges felt she had a bit more originality and innovative aesthetic than Gordana and she was passed through to the final round.
Most of Althea's designs have been wearable, but not all that shockingly fabulous. The girl definitely has talent, but she seems a bit scattered and often takes on more than she can chew. With a couple of months to put together a final collection, she hopefully might be able to get her act together and produce some truly amazing designs. On the other hand, she might just over think herself right into disaster. It's hard to make a call on Althea in the finals, but I'm going to guess she won't take the top spot.
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The last designer chosen for Bryant Park was, of course, meany Irina. Irina chose a John William Godward painting called "Mischief and Repose" as her inspiration. Luckily she managed to avoid a serious mistake in her design with the help of Tim Gunn by ditching the ugly fur wrap she initially included in her design. The final result was a knee-length Grecian garment that honestly looked like one of her worst designs of the season. The judges didn't seem to like it much, but gave Irina a ticket to Bryant Park anyway. Considering how strong Irina's body of work has been during the season, it was really only fair she make it to the finals.
Irina has been called a bitch on more than one occasion this season and seemingly deserves the title. She's certainly been portrayed as the "bad" guy of the show, though a lot of that could just be dramatic editing. Regardless of her attitude though, she has proven over and over again she has the goods to win the competition. Her major danger in the finale is letting her arrogance overwhelm her good taste. If she can just keep herself in check, she could sweep the runway at Bryant Park and take home that fat paycheck for the win. On the other hand, she could also trip herself up badly and land rock bottom. Although I hesitate to call it, because I think Irina is a possible self-imploding bomb, I'm going to place a small bet on her to take the win.
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