Design Star 2007

Cafe Society
1

Meet the Fuckers

God, what an insipid cast. And what a bunch of pussies who picked them. “There IS no wrong,” Martha McCully declared when one of the auditioners quit in the middle of her presentation, and then came back after being begged by Clive Pearse. No wrong? Then why are you having a frigging contest? Just pick up some slob wondering by the studio and put 'em under the lights. Jeesh.

There is not a thimble full of talent among all the contestants. And talk about a “token black”. Could they have been more shameless about it? They put up 10 screens with 10 faces. Um, what’s missing in this picture? Oh, I know! A *black * face! “This year, instead of ten, we’re going to have *eleven * contestants!” Sure enough, the eleventh screen lights up with the face of Will Smith (no, not that one) from Charlotte. Yes, he’s African-American, but the only thing he has designed is a room in his own house, and it looks like shit. Shag carpet and velvet pillows.

At least three were shamelessly selected because of their personalities rather than any alleged talent. Neeraja Lockart practically announced that she was going to be a bitch. Josh Johnson has a name that sounds made up, and he looks like he just stepped off the cover of a paperback romance novel. And Lisa Millard couldn’t have a weirder sense of style if she blindfolded herself and threw random objects around the room.

This season is going to be all about sizzle and no steak. Personality conflicts and ugly rooms. Lots of crying and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And peer abuse. Can’t wait till things get rolling! :stuck_out_tongue:

2

Dang, I totally forgot to watch it last night, Lib! Do you happen to know when/if it’s being re-run before next week’s episode? I went on their website, but don’t see it on their schedule!

3

Tonight. 11:00 Eastern. :slight_smile:

4

I like what they did with last year’s winner. He has his design show and within his design show they talk about how the team was put together, the conflicts and pressures of putting on the show and if the show was connecting to viewers-- so the end result of the contest was pretty good.

Originally David Brom---- whatever, annoyed the heck out of me. But then he toned down the ‘personality’ and acted more like himself. He grew on me.

I fell asleep during the trucker/designer’s presentation. That’s one of the problems of having to wake up at 5 in the morning. I just cannot make it past 10:30 or so. Still. . . isn’t one of the women contestants black?

Of the contestants I remember seeing-- perky girl was too dang perky and trucker guy was to dang abrasive. Two-toned girl was weird just for the sake of being weird.

I’ll have to watch this space for updates since this show comes on far too late for me.

5

Kim Miles might be, now that you mention it. Whatever she is, she’s probably the best of the bunch. She’s an actual artist with actual talent, and has very good taste.

6

Excellent, thanks. I didn’t watch the first season, but I really want to this time. I’m a big Vern Yip fan!

7

Is anybody still watching?

We were big fans of season 1 and are hanging in for this one. So far, I’m happy with who’s gone. I’m going to wait until next week’s episode (design a blank room - apparently the “twist” is that they can only shop at a $1 store!) to decide who I really like. It was after that challenge that I was really impressed by David Bromstad (the eventual winner) of season 1.

8

I’m watching. I like the show, but there’s so many contestants that I can’t keep them straight! The non-glam Josh went last night, right? Last week’s boot was a great choice, too. Does anyone remember making Christmas trees from phone books, by folding them like she did (accordion style) and painting them green? That’s what her “sculpture” reminded me of.

I liked David last year, but his show is kinda meh. I usually just record it and watch the befores and afters.

9

His assistant Danielle Hirsch is pretty frackin’ neat. Cute, smart, artistic, uses power tools…the perfect woman (and no doubt married).

10

I love DesignStar.

Neeraja was a horrible manager of time. I can’t believe why people, when given something ridiculous like 30 hours to re-do a kitchen, can spend hours and hours picking out tile. And when faced with the reality that glass was significantly more expensive than ceramic tile, they decide to do a mixture, which means having to go to two different stores. And then she says, “We might have to go back tomorrow and get more tile.” Huh. a) Measure; b) Measure again; c) Buy your material, even if it’s not perfect; and then d) Get to work! And that should be completed in Day One, not 3/4 of the way through Day Two.

Neeraja needed to go. Besides her horrible leadership skills and time management skills, she’s kind of a bitch. She complained that Rob is unlikeable? I wonder where she would have been in the pecking order if she were a pickee and not a team leader. (Besides, wasn’t she living with Jack Nicholson at one time?)

If the tape is any indication of how obnoxious Robb is, then he has to go, too. He is so divisive. “Josh didn’t lead us, let’s be clear about this. He doesn’t know anything about Tuscany.”

I thought that **Organic Josh ** got screwed. His project might not have been “Tuscany” but it was a big improvement, everything got done, they pleased the homeowner, and stayed within budget. I liked their kitchen so much more than Naraja’s kitchen.

Adriana rocks. Why didn’t Naraja pick HER first instead of last, knowing they needed a carpenter?

**Sparkle Josh ** rocks, too, though I have a hard time forgiving him for wearing a woman’s shirt.

I’m amazed at how productive Todd is. He is really a gifted carpenter, but I wish he wasn’t so damn pleased with himself.

Scott is a basket case.

I disagree that **Will ** is a token black. He has design sense, plus he’s one of the few people who actually piped up with the notion that a kitchen needs to be stylish and practical. (“You can’t take away a pantry for a family with kids.”)

I like Kim. She owns up to her mistakes and offers up some ways to improve and what they learned from their mistakes.

Christina is so forgettable I couldn’t remember who I forgot. She has zero leadership skills and is a stereotypical southern woman – pretty and seems sweet on the surface, but underneath is a real bitch.

11

I finally got around to watching the most recent episode.

What kind of idiots fail to measure an area to be tiled? Not only did they screw it up once, but they sent someone to pick up more tiles and they STILL got it wrong and were unable to finish the counter top because they didn’t have enough tiles.

The “Tuscan” kitchen looked like a horrible Italian restaurant designed by someone who thinks Olive Garden is fancy.

At this point, they should all be voted off the show and just let Vern design some stuff for the next few episodes.

12

My husband said “that guy doesn’t know if he wants to be an 80s hair band heavy metal guy, or a transvestite.” And that’s exactly what I had been thinking, too!

I am enjoying this season, so far…it’s a whole new side of Vern Yip I haven’t seen before! Starting to understand the tension between him & Ty Pennington.

I’m looking forward to the individual challenges…sometimes these team things get SO bogged down in personal issues that they just aren’t fun from a design standpoint.

13

I watched this last night with my husband and commented that they really don’t seem to have any designers that have the combination of practical skills and design experience. Most of them just like to shop for pretty things. I couldn’t believe how impractical most of them are about actually implementing their ideas. Who doesn’t measure when buying tile? Who thinks you can lay out a kitchen full of tile in half a day? You have to have skills about how to actually implement your designs, people! Anyone can go out to a home store and buy some pretty furniture and a rug and make a room look better. The one guy with carpentry experience is way too smug for my taste, and I have yet to see him actually design a real room. His schtick seems to be building off-beat stuff like skateboard ramps and fountains.

I made the same comment about the Tuscan kitchen looking like an Olive Garden!

I had to laugh when one of the designers whined to Vern about having limited time and budget to make it work. I doubt he is the person who is going to be sympathetic about that. I was glad when he blasted them for leaving someone’s kitchen in that state.

14

I thought that was funny, too. I actually remember a Trading Spaces where he said that it was simply wrong to leave a room unfinished, no matter what. I think he is all about doing the right thing by his clients…even on a reality TV show.

15

From next weeks preview, I got the impression that not only are two going home, but at least one of them is supposed to be a shocking choice. :eek:

16

While we’re speaking of leaving the room unfinished, let me say that I’m really glad that they allowed the owners to see the room in the state that the designers left it. Last year they sent in contractors to finish the work before the homeowners saw the room which mitigated any dismay they might have expressed for having an unfinished room. This way is much fairer and holds the team more accountable, IMO. The homeowner still gets the job done (afterward) but the designer isn’t shielded from his/her own mistakes.

Last year, they had a contest where each designer had to present a plan for remodeling a couple’s kitchen on a budget of $10k. One designer, Temple, created a plan that was completely unrealistic, both in terms of budget ("…and you’ll get all new cabinets, new hardwood floor, and stainless steel appliances.") and in time needed (e.g. she wanted to rip out all the cabinets, install a new floor, install a tile backsplash, paint, AND install a new counter all in 30 hours.) Anyone with a half of lick of sense could see that there was no way that could all get done on time. But, of course, knowing they had nothing to lose, the couple picked her overly ambitious plan.

The end result was a mess. Because she had no money left, she ended up putting down substandard material on the floor, with huge gaps, which caused Alice to wince, “What will happen when something spills on that floor? That’s bad.” They also had several things unfinished. Had one of the guys not talked her out of ripping out the cabinets, it would have been even worse. However, since they sent contractors in to finish the project before the homeowners could see it, the homeowners gushed about how great it was.

My point is that I’m glad to see that Neeraja got the boot for basically making the same mistakes as Temple. She wasn’t realistic about cost, she had no time management skills and in the end she couldn’t deliver. (It still bugs me that Temple wasn’t booted for that $10,000 kitchen disaster.)

17

8/12 spoilers below:

I wasn’t surprised about Scott. His design had such potential but in the end just looked completely overdone and odd. I agree with the judge who asked, “Did you have to use everything you bought?” Ouch. Besides, he’s far too emotional to be in such a high stress job. He seems like a really nice chap and I wish him well, but he’s no DesignStar.

I was surprised about Adriana. **Sparkle Josh ** is also very likeable but he hasn’t shown much originality, which is odd considering that he has such a unique personality. My only guess as to why he didn’t go is that they didn’t want to get rid of the two effete designers on one show or it would look suspicious. Adriana’s room was one of the weakest, but she has a humble personality that I like, plus she is a hands-on person.

I really liked Will’s Design. I also think that Kym and Christina both managed to finish in the middle of the pack. Neither stand out as designers, nor does either have a shot at winning.

**Todd’s ** room was awesome, but the guy is so pleased with himself already that it’s hard to muster up any sort of enthusiasm over winning this round.

I was also surprised by** Robb’s ** room (in a good way), but there’s just no way he’d ever win a competition that absolutely requires the host to be able to get along with lots of different personalities. He’s just too abrasive.

18

Plus, he’s a snake-bellied backstabber. Hiding things so the other designers won’t find them? Buying all the stock of touchlights, even though he didn’t need all of them, so no one else could have any?

Feh. And his design sucked, too.

19

I hope I have the name right, but Todd’s room (the surfer dude) was hideous…it wasn’t a room, it was performance art piece. They kicked out the first girl because her space was wasted…yet, what in the hell could you do in Todd’s room other than pass by it and swear you were going to send that kid to military school after he gets out of rehab. Is there one person who would want this guy to do anything in their house, other than leave?

Scott’s room was also a disaster and he deserved to be booted…it really did look like a souvenir shop in Puerto Rico.

20

Well, Clive did impress upon the designers that the goal was style over function. Scott’s “carpet” made of chilis, etc. was incredible, but in no way functional.