Game On!

Just found this fun widget on HGTV's Design Star Blog! Test your designer mettle against the clock, and try to avoid hearing Clive say the dreaded phrase: "Your Show Has Been Canceled"!

Design Star: REALITY Show? HAH!

A former Diva's Thoughts on HGTV's Design Star 'Reality' Show:

1. This is not reality, folks. It's entertainment. The challenges, schedules, budgets, and parameters of the 'design' work is not based on what a designer, decorator, or architect deals with on a day-to-day real-life basis. It's heightened with drama, infused with egos, and edited to within an inch of its life to portray each person/contestant as a character in a finely crafted story. It's allllllll about ratings. (Case in Point: Jon & Kate. 'Nuff said.) A soap opera with paint cans, basically. We talked about that here last year.

2. Therefore, don't expect to see the 'best of the best' that is promised in the TV ads. This is the 'best they can do with what they are given under the circumstances', if that. That being said, I personally and professionally am appalled at what I am seeing these supposed 'professional' designer/decorators turning out. All of the contestants either work in the design field or own their own design business. If their results in real life echo what they are showing us on TV, God help them. Dan's white room challenge design is an exception of this observation!!!

3. HGTV's web site has weekly Vlogs by first-ever (and best-ever, in my opinion) Design Star Winner David Bromstead, recapping each episode and adding his own comments. His OWN. It's just Dave and a camera, sharing his perspective on what's transpired. He's allowed to do that, they've asked him to do that, and he's very genuine and true to his own personality as he speaks. For those who are leaving nasty, snarky comments about his 'Tude, well, he's earned the right to say what he thinks. He proved himself already. Neither Dan, nor any of the other contestants, are competing against David, so lighten up already! David knows his stuff and he's uniquely qualified to share insights about this show with us. Rock ON, Bromstead!

4. I personally think team challenges should come later in the series. Start with the individual challenges, let us - and the judges - see the strengths and weaknesses of each person, see if they can bring their own sense of style to each challenge, and then go for the team projects. Why do I feel this way? Before any eliminations, I want to see WHY each of them were chosen to participate in thie show, above the thousands of other designers who auditioned. I want to see the color expert use color in a fearless and elegant way. Hmmmn. I want to see the set designer do something completely amazing that turns a white walled room into a mansion interior, just as he does for films. Hmmmn. SO not happening.

5. I am sick to death of the 'Designer vs. Decorator' wars and the attitude that if it's not 'designer label' or the hippest new trend on magazine pages, it isn't really design. UGH. Design is the act of creating something that has value. Period. Design takes creativity, imagination, thoughtfulness, awareness. All seriously lacking in the White Room Challenge. (Dan excepted).

I have to ask WHY on Earth no one went to the housewares aisle of that grocery store, to grab the sheets of cheesecloth on the canning supplies shelf to make soft, gauzy, billowy curtains or tablecloths or slipcovers with? WHY did not one single contestant use waxed paper, parchment paper, or foil to create a stunning wall treatment or faux window effect? WHY did we see a bunch of tiny little fruits and paper plates and freakin' plastic cups used as decorative elements????? BORING!!!!!!! And totally against visual principles for television - go for BIG impact, BIG effect, BIG elements, not a bunch of tiny things. And don't even get me started about the methods of 'construction' used. OI.

6. When I watch a show like this, I want something I can use, or that my clients can use. I want to see the competitors have to design a room for a woman who lives in a 600 square foot apartment in a senior living center, with over seventy years' worth of possessions that she has gathered on her life's journey. They would have to use everything that is already there - and she refuses to part with ANY of it. THAT is reality! Show me that, show me real-life dilemmas that require creative thinking, imagination, respect for the client, and with a budget of under a thousand bucks, and maybe I'll be able to watch an entire episode without reading a book or blogs at the same time. Sad that it's not even entertaining, just disappointing.

OK, I'm done. And yes, I'll keep tuning in. What about you?????

Tying a string on my finger....

....to remind me that I WILL remember to stop anything I am doing at precisely 10 PM tonight and finally actually get to watch Design Star on HGTV. I've unwittingly missed it for the last two weeks because I just get so wrapped up in something, and at about 11:30 PM I suddenly remember what night it is and let out a yelp! (Tho from reading the web site, watching clips, and perusing reviews of each episode on blogs, it seems I really haven't missed MUCH...)

Tonight, I'm settling in with some popcorn and vanilla Coke well before the show starts. And I only posted the link to the HGTV DS blog - I didn't read it. No spoilers!!!!

And Another Thing.....

OK, so Bacchus and I are having a convo about DesignStar contestants in the last posts' comments, and I thought I'd bring it up here into a new post...

He's bugged by the gays on the show acting straight by saying 'I don't have a wife at home' and ignoring their partners by not acknowledging them on camera. Kind of like when Hilary Swank forgot to thank her husband on Oscar night... OOOpsie. Excuse me, but your disrespect is showing.

I'm bugged by the gays on the show acting like cartoon stereotypes, whether by their own choice or network dictate. (A caveat: I do not include Sparkle Josh from last season in this category. Nope. He's the real deal! If it wasn't for his accent, I'd wonder.) I was incredibly bothered by one contestant on another show - Shear Genius - going ON and ON and ON about the beautiful wife he had at home. As if to say "I am the only male hairstylist here who is NOT GAY but I can't say that out loud so I'll drop 'my wife' into every line I utter..." I am just so frustrated by it even being an issue. Gay, not gay, whatever. These are competitions of skill and talent, are they not? Living arrangements, sexual preference, number of or absence of children, annual income, credit rating - non-issues!!!!

But I'd like to steer this in a parallel direction: Do you believe what you see?

Are those characters real - flaws and all, intensified by close quarters, timelines, no sleep because Matt snores like Mr. Deb, and stress? Or are they manipulated by carefully-edited footage to support a dramatic build in tension through the season? (One could ask this question of any reality show.) It's television. What do YOU think? Reality Schmeality.

I mean, Tracee just bugged me from day one. She's the kind of designer... ummmmmmmm.... decorator...... that people think of when the term 'DIVA' is used. (Yes, you hear me shuddering) But in all honesty, is she really like that? Is she really a hothead self-absorbed irresponsible troublemaker? I seriously doubt it. At least, she's not that way ALLLL of the time, which is what the show implied. Even though she wreaked havoc, she wasn't eliminated - why? Because there is no decorating without drama, people! They had to build her rep as the beeotch, and then keep her on to stir it up. How sad is that? I mean, this woman has a family, a business to return to...will this portrayal damage her reputation and affect her business? Will clients avoid her because they think she is a P.I.T.A. to work with? Will her kids be hanging their heads in shame at the way the world views mommy?

I've heard more than a few times from friends and clients that I should enter the DesignStar competition. Yes, I possess the ability to handle the design work. But it's the fallout that scares the bejesus outta' me. I may be more Jennifer than Tracee, but I am scared to death of which 'character' in the drama they'd cast me as: the beeotch, the ditz, the whiner, the perky one (not so bad, actually), the den mother, or the Diva - and I mean that in the worst way.