Project Runway is coming to a close!  Last night’s episode whittled the competition down to the top 3 contestants who would be showing at Bryant Park.

The final challenge was to find inspiration at the Getty museum in Los Angeles - then take two days and $300 to come up with a design.  Our contestants examined the art, architecture, and natural surroundings to find a basis for their designs. Althea went with the museum’s architecture, Christopher with the outdoor rock fountain, Irina with Godward’s Mischief and Repose, Gordana with Monet’s Rouen Cathedral, and Carol Hannah with a French bed from the late 1700s.

Let’s take a look at what they came up with:

ALTHEA HARPER

CHRISTOPHER STRAUB

IRINA SHABAYEVA

GORDANA GEHLHAUSEN

CAROL HANNAH WHITFIELD

This week’s line-up of judges included Heidi Klum (Heidi Samuel?), Nina Garcia, designer Cynthia Rowley, and supermodel Cindy Crawford.

Overall, the judges weren’t pleased.  It’s clear that Althea ran out of time with her overly-ambitious design, the bottom of Christopher’s dress was too dowdy, Irina’s dress is a bit too “old lady” for Nina Garcia, Gordana’s matched the inspiration best but didn’t have enough “wow” to it, and Carol Hannah’s design was nice but safe.

So who’s auf’d?  We’ll be saying goodbye to Gordana (who was sort of hit or miss all season) and Christopher ( who was too inexperienced, technically).

Our winners are thus Althea, Irina, and Carol Hannah… which means we’ve got an all-lady Fashion Week!  I was quite happy with our final three, as the trio consisted of exactly who I was rooting for.  But to pare it down, my vote is going towards Carol Hannah, whose dresses are simple, innovative, and tasteful at the same time, and perhaps most closely match my personal taste.  As for the other two, I think Irina’s designs are nice and wearable but boring, and Althea’s are good, but usually fail to catch my eye.  We’ll have to see what goes down at Bryant Park!

Ah, but guess what!  All three shows got terrible reviews.  There, I spoiled it for you.  Could this be the worst Project Runway season of all time?  Sound off in the comments section.

Was anyone expecting Lauren Conrad to fade away in the celeb background after quitting The Hills?  Yeah, me too.

Turns out her bestselling young adult novel, L.A. Candy will be made into a full-length feature film!  The book follows 19-year-old protagonist Jane Roberts as she moves to Los Angeles and finds fame as a reality TV star.  Here’s what producer Marty Bowen had to say about the whole shebang:

“Lauren, who became an icon in that reality show world, came to us with a structure of how to tell the story in an interesting fashion that was separate and apart from the book.  We loved her take. Her book is an honest portrayal of what it must be like to set out to be normal, then sign on to become famous and eventually realize, wow, this isn’t at all what I’d planned for myself.

So interesting that Lauren would be able to create an honest portrayal of what it must be like to be a reality star.  She’s super creative.

Lauren plans to write more books involving the same character.  Should I read these?  Is the first one out in paperback yet?

Wake me when the movie’s out.

[Source: Variety]

Welcome… to So You Think You Can Dance! Season 6 is alive and well just one teeny month after Season 5’s finale. Oh you don’t scare me, Nigel Lythgoe. I’ll take on your excessive love of dance, I’ll take it like a champ.

We open with auditions in LA and Adam Shankman is the third judge, joining Nigel and Mary Murphy. Videos of just the impressive folks (thanks to MJ) and recap-o-rama ahead:

Ick. Crazy Cole Clemens, a guy with two hairstyles on his head (crew cut on the left, sideways mohawk on the right), is our first audition. He just does some, er, a capella performance art: twitchy, overly dramatic movements (but not dancing) more suited for a drama class audition. He even does a monologue but all I remember is, “Shatter. Shatter. Shatter-shatter! SHATTER.” What a joke. Lame.

Next! Remember Mollee Gray from Utah? They showed her audition last season as a teaser and here’s what I said then, “Some girl named Mollee from Utah moved her whole family to Cali just so she could have more dance opportunities. Her audition is scrambled and flawed, imo. But she’s bubbly like Kellie Pickler so I assume they let her through to Vegas.” Well, I was right. We also learn that she was a principal dancer in High School Musical 1, 2 and 3. Through her very long backstory footage, the producers implore us, “How can you not love this girl? She’s blonde and smiley and cute! She says things like, ‘Alls we have is each other’ and has a mom who’s a MILF named Thursday (no lie)! Love her, America. LOVE MOLLEE GRAY.”

Sorry, but my original impression didn’t change. Mollee made great leaps, but to me it was a generic contemporary audition and lacked polish and hard-hitting moves. But the judges love her looks, bubbliness and think she can grow. She gets a ticket to Vegas. VIDEO

Then we see a trio of contemporary dancers who make it through: David Hovhannisyan who, despite wearing yellow, junk-highlighting short shorts, has sinewy moves that win over the judges. Amanda Kerby, who’s back after getting cut during last season’s Vegas week. (Remember? Her dad has MS…). And Brandon Dumlao, who is a contemporary dancer from the Bay Area, so holla at that! VIDEO

Next it’s the return of the tappa, tappa, tap dancers: Ryan Kasprzak (a.k.a. big bro to last season’s Broadway and “why are you still here?” guy Evan) and Bianca Revels. We open with Ryan’s audition: it’s like poetry reading+tap dancing love child. He taps as he narrates, saying things like, “I hear music *tippity tappity tippity*” He manages to sell it - the judges adore him and think it was a brilliant audition. They’re really talking him up even though they totally should’ve picked him last season over his brother. Vegas, naturally. VIDEO.

Bianca Revels - The touted female tap dancer is back AGAIN. We see clips of her getting cut last season, “I’m not coming back! This was my last time!” and this season, “I’m not a quitter. I’m gonna keep coming back!” Hm. She’s got spunk though. Bianca doesn’t get a proper solo audition because she takes on Nigel’s challenge to have a “tap battle” (known in their world as a “tap trade”) with Ryan. But thank god she did because, I admit - whether I think they’re Top 20 material is beside the point - their tap trading is totally lighthearted and fun to watch. It’s really impressive to watch the two of them improv together and mesh. The audience and judges are rolling in ecstasy over the dance geekiness of it all. Vegas, for Bianca also. Good luck, B! I hope they don’t crush your dreams again. VIDEO.

Another time-wasting bad dancer, Christopher Aguilar. He’s actually an articulate guy and has passion, but the heavy-handed editing makes him look like a damned fool. There’ve definitely be odder folks, was he really necessary to pick on? He dances to “All That Jazz” and it’s not very good, but does have Nigel, Mary and Adam singing and dancing along which is fun to watch.

Amber Williams - Like Mollee, they give her a long backstory treatment. She helps care for her paralyzed mom. Producers: “Get it, America? Cry now. CRY FOR AMBER WILLIAMS! Did you hear her wheelchair-bound mother say she feels so free when she sees her daughter dance? Weep, b!tches!” No really, Amber and her sweet mother are truly genuine and wonderful to see. But you know I hate being beaten over the head with manipulating editing/favoritism. And to be fair, like Mollee, Amber is not the most fluid of dancers and has difficulty emoting as she performs. Nigel agrees while also trying to bring up her sob story. C’est la vie. Side note: I dunno if the judges choreograph their reactions but these three have a great rapport - I thought their synchronized whisper that she made it to “Vegasssss” was hilar. VIDEO.

Alexie Agdeppa and Paula Van Oppen, both contemporary lady dancers, make it. I think we saw Paula last season. The short pixie haircut… she looks familiar, right? VIDEO

Christina Santana - This latin lady is performing a routine of salsa-hip hop-pop lock. Hip-Salslock-Hop? Christina and her partner have the fire, although I started laughing when they stopped to do the pop locking (a.k.a. the Robot) in the middle of their ballroom. C’monnnnnnn. But there was a really cool move where she drops and he catches her by the neck. And pot stirs a-go-go. Hey, her partner (Pepe) is really hot, can he audition too (Nigel agrees he’s “Bloody good”)? Nigel’s thrilled, Mary loves her sharpness and fellas, Christina belly dances too! Vegas for her. VIDEO.

We end with Phillip Attmore - ANOTHER tap dancer! I’m guessing we’ll definitely have one of tonight’s three tappers in the Top 20. Phillip was Ryan’s roommate in a production of Fosse. He’s a really natural, confident tap dancer. His personality also shines on stage, like Ryan. Tough call but I get the vibe that Phillip may be too old/mature to be in the Top 20. I just don’t know if he’d get the teeny boppers interested. Still, Shankman calls his dancing “effortless” - exactly. Vegas! VIDEO

Next week, So You Think You Can Dance auditions hit Phoenix, AZ and Mia Michaels is the third judge. I hope it’s more interesting than tonight, which was kinda lackluster. And where were all the hip hop and breakdancers?? Maybe it’s just me being a touch critic - were you impressed by the LA auditions?

Last night on: So You Think You Can Dance. The show took us to the West Coast where LA impressed and Seattle depressed. I’ll just focus on the good dancers - videos below thanks to MJS Big Blog:

Bianca Revels - Tap (VIDEO): Bianca is a stellar tap dancer who nearly tippity tapped her way to the Top 20 last season, but fell short. Man, these kids just don’t quit do they? She’s back with fancy footwork and a cheeky smile - all enough to earn her a ticket straight to Vegas.

Calico Sequeira - Lindy Hop (VIDEO): Ok, so Calico is not a very good dancer, but she had a really spunky attitude and this video is only worth watching because guest judge Adam Shankman goes up to dance with her and pokes fun at the whole audition process.  PLUS, we get to see last season’s stars: Joshua Allen, Katee Shean and Comfort Fedoke make an appearance and tease him! Cuh-yootness.

Asuka Kondoh and Ricky Sun - Latin Ballroom (VIDEO): The judges were totally enamored by this couple, and by Miss Asuka in particular. I’m not sure if I’m 100% sold on them, but they were solid enough to skip choreography and head straight to Vegas. So there’s that.

Nathan Trasoras - Contemporary (VIDEO): Oh my gosh, I looooooved this kid! He is such an incredible dancer - very graceful and strong. The judges note that he has a very good “center” meaning he can spin and spin and spin like the dickens without losing balance. He’s too pretty - crazy long limbs that go on for days and excellent movement.  Unfortunately, Nathan won’t be 18 before the show starts, so he was ineligible! Blue balls. Like me, Nigel hearts him so much that he wrote an “IOU” pass to Vegas for Season 6 of SYTYCD (coming this fall)! Now I definitely have to tune in to next season in hopes that Nathan continues to amaze.

Sammy Ramirez - Pop Locker (VIDEO): Sammy has the CUTEST face, with twinkly eyes and a grin from ear to ear. He’s a really entertaining pop locker and also proves that he can handle learning choreography so he makes it to the next round.

Amanda Kerby - Contemporary (VIDEO): I’m not sure what to think of Amanda. I thought she was an alright dancer (also has a “good center”), but not perfect - even shaky in some parts. My parents were outraged that she made it through at all, and blame it on the fact that’s she’s just pretty. I think they’re haters - what do you think about Amanda?

Phillip Chbeeb and Arielle Coker - Pop Lock and Contemporary (VIDEO): I’m new to SYTYCD, so I have no idea who this Chbeeb character is, but people seem to adore him. He’s a pop-locker whose missed a few chances to get to the finals, so this year he got a ticket to Vegas, no questions asked. As it turns out, he’s also a partner for contemporary dancer, Arielle. The judges were impressed with their choreography but seem way more excited about Phllip than Arielle. We’ll see if they both make the cut. 

Kelsea Taylor - Contemporary (VIDEO): Kelsea came to the judges after a day of horrendous Seattle auditions. She’s very quirky and creative, although her hair style screamed, “Amy Winehouse” to me. I’ll forgive her because I found myself really locked in to her performance.

Kuponohi’ipoi Aweau - Contemporary (VIDEO): A dancer from Hawaii who reminded me just a tad of Mark Kanemura from last season. Mary was “eh” because some parts of his performance were too lady-like, but I loved watching him. Very emotional and all accented by the delightful swishiness of his hair. He passes the choreography test, however, and gets that golden ticket to Vegas.

Woohoo! So the 6-hours of auditions for So You Think You Can Dance are over! Fun as they can be, the last couple of episodes were spending way too much time on really horrible dancers. But now we’re down to 169 dancers who will duke it out in Vegas during next week’s episodes. They’ve got to suffer and toil through multiple routines by this season’s choreographers. It’s gonna be ROUGH. I’m there.

‘Sup, Upper East Siders?  Were you as bored to tears with last night’s Gossip Girl episode as I was?  I found myself saying “Oh. Weird.” after each scene.

Yep, last night was the Valley Girls spin-off segue episode that might actually end up being totally pointless on account of the spin-off is rumored to be cancelled.  Young 1980s Lily van der Woodsen Los Angeles scenes were interspersed with present-day scenes in a crappy melange of oh-I-see-how-the-writers-think-this-might-be-interesting way that had me eye rollin’.  Do I make any sense today?  Let’s find out…

So basically, grown-up Lily van der Woodsen spends the entire episode gazing out the window and thinking about how she used to be Brittany Snow in the 1980s.  Brittany Snow gets kicked out of boarding school and wants to live with her rich music industry dad - and who can blame her?  Her dad is Andrew McCarthy!  He was totally adorbs in the ’80s!

But turns out her dad kinda sucks and sells her out to her bitchy mom CeCe, who she hates, so she runs off to find her wacky sister who left home.

Flash forward!  Now we’re in jail, where grown-up Lily shows up to bail Serena out.  But no!  Turns out Serena has called her grandma to get her out of there - the SAME woman we hated in the ’80s!  But then blah blah everyone gets pissed and Serena decides to be a huge brat and stay in jail.

Meanwhile - prom!  Blair’s got this scrapbook that has all the intimate details of her imagined dream prom.  She’s already got her dream date lined up (Nate!), and somehow her dream dress shows up from Paris, which is actually this Marchesa gown that Blair apparently designed when she was eight.

Meanwhile, Nate’s all butthurt cuz all his prom preparations keep going awry.  He blames Chuck for this, obv.  BFFs!  Whatevs.

Flashback!  So Brittany Snow’s all van der Woodsing around town, she finds the restaurant where her sister works, gets some working class hottie to get her dolled up in 1980s gear (”1980s” gear) and take her to a No Doubt concert (Gwen Stefani is approx 13 years old in this ep), where her sister Carol (from Veronica Mars!) is partying down.

Flash forward!  Back in now time, the girls from the stairs are stuffing the ballot box with Nelly Yuki votes so Blair doesn’t win prom queen.  What could be more embarassing?

Um, for some reason Dan decides to get Serena out of jail and take her to prom in some willowy dress of Li’l J’s.  Dunno!

Oy, I’m so tired of this episode.  So flash BACK, Brittany Snow and co. break into some video director’s house on account of he filmed their band’s music video and is charging way more than he promised.  He’s having a party and everyone’s doing coke and his name is Keith VAN DER WOODSEN!  MEANINGFUL!  Basically, he’s gonna end up marrying Brittany Snow and begetting Serena and Eric, but we’ll never find out how on account of the spin-off is cancelled.  I can’t say I’m too upset.

Okay! So everyone starts brawling and Brittany Snow and co. go to jail.

Back at the prom!  Blair and Nate win prom king and queen on account of Chuck’s been finagling everything so that everything turns out exactly like Blair’s dream prom scrapbook.  Turns out he’s being a sweetheart even though everyone thinks he’s a dick.  He sent the dress, fixed the ballot box, etc.  He’s legitimately beaming as Blair takes the stage, which kinda weirded me out.

Then Blair dumps Nate while they’re dancing to a Fountains of Wayne song!  OVER IT!

Then Blair and Serena have an h2h on the front steps but it doesn’t occur to Serena that she should tell Blair that Chuck has been helluv sweet in the last two episodes!

Then, back in the past, Brittany Snow decides to live with her rebel sister Carol and her mom is pissed!

Then all is right in the world!  Back in the present, grown-up Lily van der Woodsen and her mama fight for the entire episode, but then make up at the end.  Rufus tells Lily she’s too emotionally immature to date him, a man with floppy hair who lives in a loft and wears chokers.  Who cares?

Yes, indeed, who cares?  I really had no patience for this episode and hope to never sit through any more Lily-in-the-1980s scenes ever again. Bad idea, Josh Schwartz!  Bad!

Next week?  Graduation!  Can’t wait!  LYLAS!  See you next summer!

xoxo!

OMFG!

What’s this I hear about the Gossip Girl spin-off, Valley Girls, being canceled?

Once again, the blogs are buzzin’!

Originally intended to be the kicking-off point to Valley Girls, rumor has it next week’s flashback episode of Gossip Girl will be all we get to see of Brittany Snow as young Lily van der Woodsen in La-La Land.

Insiders say the show hasn’t been picked up, while The CW says, “No comment.”

Quite frankly, I’m a bit relieved - I really have too much V to watch already, and I’d definitely feel obligated to watch this one, regarldess of whether I wanted to or not. I hate being on the outside of an inside joke, and you KNOW Gossip Girl would be ripe with Valley Girls refs only a spin-off viewer would understand.  I don’t need that kind of pressure!

And besides… do I really want Brittany Snow’s lemur eyes staring at me from my TV screen each week?  NO THANK YOU!

Cancel away, CW!

Sheesh, what’s taking them so long?!

AMC announced today that the third season of Mad Men won’t be premiering until August TBD.  Production started yesterday in Los Angeles, as noted on Rich Sommer’s Twitter page.  He plays Harry Crane.  You know, the head of the agency’s brand new television department (WELCOME TO THE ’90s, STERLING COOPER!).

I’m growing a beard here, Mad Men! August is too long to wait - the two previous seasons hit the boob tube by July. We’re in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis here, I gotta know how it ends!

In the meantime, definitely considering dying my hair bright red and wearing falsies to look more like Joan Holloway.  There are worse ways to kill time, if you ask me.

OMFG!  Check it out, y’all:

It’s the first promo poster for the Gossip Girl spin-off/prequel about a young Lily van der Woodsen (née: Lily Rhodes), Valley Girls, starring Brittany Snow!  As you’ll recall, the series will follow Serena’s mom in 1980’s Los Angeles.

Rumor has it that the show might have some crossover characters from Josh Schwartz’s opus, The O.C.  Come back to me, Julie Cooper!

Bleh, am I right?  Whoever wrote the copy for this poster has clearly given up on life.  And the outfit seems pretty inauthentic to me, unless everyone in the ’80s dressed exactly like Rihanna.

Also, is it just me, or are Snow’s fingers freakishly long?  The real Lily van der Woodsen would NEVER feel comfortable handling watercress sandos and petit fours with paws that big.

Good morning, everybodyyy!  It’s my birthday today, which only means one thing - good news abounds!

Today’s good news: the return of Project Runway!  After a few months of legal drama regarding the show’s already-filmed sixth season, the show will officially be returning to television this summer, set to air on Lifetime.

All legal issues have been amicably resolved.  The Weinstein Company has agreed to pay NBC Universal for the right to move Project Runway from Bravo to Lifetime.  Everybody happy!

Season six will be set in Los Angeles rather than New York, which means Uggs and Juicy Couture sweat suits will be incorporated into all designs (TOTALLY KIDDING, you know I love you, LA!).  Judges will remain the same (Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia), Tim Gunn will be kickin’ around, and Christina Aquilera, Eva Longoria Parker, and Rebecca Romijn are among the celebs set to appear.

A companion series called Models of the Runway will be airing on Lifetime alongside the show.  Eh.  I can take or leave that one.

Dunno ’bout you guys, but I’m v. excited for season six!  The bar keeps being set higher and higher with each season!  Next thing you know, Yves Saint Laurent will be competing against Ralph Lauren and Coco Chanel!

YSL FTW!

Hmph.  If you’ve been patient enough to regularly watch and at least mildly enjoy episodes of 90210 this season, you’re in for a rude awakening come season two.

Actually, no clue if it’ll be rude.  Judge for yourself.  Here’s the scoop: new boss Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair (mouthful!) has been brought on board to rejigger the series “significantly” for the next season.

Here’s what RRKS has to say about changes to come.  This about sums it up, methinks:

“There are opportunities to embrace California culture visually in terms of fashion and style; I want it to be more contemporary. … If Gossip Girl is about youth in New York, I want to [make 90210 more] about youth in L.A. and Beverly Hills… The show tried to be a lot of things to a lot of people in its first season. I think the center lies with the generation of kids that are in high school now. I’m not interested in casting people for stunt value (Beverly Hills, 90210 alums Jennie Garth, Shannen Doherty and Tori Spelling).”

First change?  Dustin Milligan, who plays resident hunk Ethan Ward, won’t be returning to the show.  Supposedly the character has “run its course.”  Weird, right?  I thought that was a misprint when I first saw it.

Now, I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but my first reaction to all this news was one of horror and dismay.  Not casting people for stunt value?!  BORING!!!  I love me some original-flavored storylines, even if they do come with a Shannen Doherty horseface.

My next reaction to all this news?  Awesome!  I think new lady boss sounds smart, and I’m glad she’s trying to get the show to stand on its own two feet.  I’m particularly interested in seeing these new aesthetic changes, especially if “embracing” California culture visually doesn’t mean slapping some Pacific Sunwear on the cast.  I love being visually stunned!  It’s 50% the reason I watch Gossip Girl in the first place.

No, make that 70%.  The other 30% is cuz it’s ’bout the Internet.