I watched the new Design Star. Twice. Once with the family, and then once yesterday, when the house was serene and quiet and everyone had gone off to work and school. After serious review I have learned a few things: 1. Umbrellas = Good, Feathers = Bad. 2. Vern secretly wants to be Simon Cowell and 3. Unfortunately, I have come to the following sad conclusion - that Design Star is not a show that's really about talented designers, but rather another reality show that creates its own drama for the sake of ratings. The designers that were featured as the top six were not given enough air time. We got to see a brief whisk through the room and hear a few comments from the judges. The lion's share of the time was spent on "the bottom six" and the drama that was obviously fabricated and exaggerated between Courtland and Nina. I liked the top six rooms. There were things that we didn't get to see enough of.... I thought Tera did a great job at creating a room that looked relaxing and inviting. Casey looks like she hit the mark in creating a good space to meditate and unwind. Michael's room looked fun and imaginative. I think he wins points for creativity in placing Emily's photo inside the green vase on the nightstand instead of just hanging it on the wall. (It took me a while to figure out where her photo was because I didn't see it out in the open and that was one of the requirements, right? to have their photo prominently displayed ) Also, I think the unmade bed thing was a sign of brilliance!
We really did not get to see Tera or Casey or Dan even Stacey speak much. We needed to hear more about ALL of the designers' background information. Tell me about Tera and her three children or about what Trent does for a living or where Tom gets his inspirations from. What is their work history? What's the craziest thing they ever designed?
Why do we have to focus on the negative/bottom six/created drama? I would have really liked it if we got to see more of the top six rooms and have the judges talk more about them - what THEY liked about it, what wasn't really working for them, what could they have done differently. We want to see the designers and what they DESIGN. We can figure out what's not working on our own. And while we're on that subject... I think Emily should have gone home for her LACK of design. Julie's room, albeit a little quirky, at least had a concept to it and was a fully finished room that she put a lot of hard work, time and thought into. She didn't sit around "staring" half the time - she was BUSY putting this room together!
I know everyone is on fire about Nina, but HELLLOOOOOOOO!!!!! COMPETITION ANYONE??? In defense of Nina.....She NEVER SAID that she didn't like the room. When the judges ask her what she thinks, she says that Courtland missed the mark at reading her personality. If Courtland didn't ask the right questions to gather enough information about his "client" in this situation, who's fault is that? Not Nina's!! Okay, so he never heard the word "Bohemian" used, and maybe Nina never said that exact word in her description, but he should have communicated a little better with her to figure out what she likes. Courtland says to the judges that he LIKES the room Nina designed for him when he really does not. Isn't that considered lying? He then complains that she threw him under the bus and calls Nina a word they bleep out....at least she didn't resort to name-calling and was honest with her opinions!! She remarked that he didn't get the Bohemian chic thing right and at that point, as Vern told him, COURTLAND SHOULD HAVE OPENED HIS MOUTH AND SAID SOMETHING THEN!! Instead they show his cute puppy-dog faces, and have him complain AFTER THE FACT to make him look like the victim, and Nina the villain. Unnecessary. Who wants to see that? I would have enjoyed hearing what made Nina decide to put those parasols on the wall? Why did Courtland choose the color scheme that he chose? Don't pit them against each other for the sake of drama!
We have enough negativity going on in our world with oil spills and wars. When we sit down to watch tv at night, we just want to be ENTERTAINED - See something positive. We look to HGTV for creative design ideas....things that we might want to try doing in our own homes...but we need to actually see THAT instead of some soap-opera-ish fight-fest. I'm sticking with the show because I am intrigued to see what happens for the rest of the season, but that's just my two cents worth.....
We really did not get to see Tera or Casey or Dan even Stacey speak much. We needed to hear more about ALL of the designers' background information. Tell me about Tera and her three children or about what Trent does for a living or where Tom gets his inspirations from. What is their work history? What's the craziest thing they ever designed?
Why do we have to focus on the negative/bottom six/created drama? I would have really liked it if we got to see more of the top six rooms and have the judges talk more about them - what THEY liked about it, what wasn't really working for them, what could they have done differently. We want to see the designers and what they DESIGN. We can figure out what's not working on our own. And while we're on that subject... I think Emily should have gone home for her LACK of design. Julie's room, albeit a little quirky, at least had a concept to it and was a fully finished room that she put a lot of hard work, time and thought into. She didn't sit around "staring" half the time - she was BUSY putting this room together!
I know everyone is on fire about Nina, but HELLLOOOOOOOO!!!!! COMPETITION ANYONE??? In defense of Nina.....She NEVER SAID that she didn't like the room. When the judges ask her what she thinks, she says that Courtland missed the mark at reading her personality. If Courtland didn't ask the right questions to gather enough information about his "client" in this situation, who's fault is that? Not Nina's!! Okay, so he never heard the word "Bohemian" used, and maybe Nina never said that exact word in her description, but he should have communicated a little better with her to figure out what she likes. Courtland says to the judges that he LIKES the room Nina designed for him when he really does not. Isn't that considered lying? He then complains that she threw him under the bus and calls Nina a word they bleep out....at least she didn't resort to name-calling and was honest with her opinions!! She remarked that he didn't get the Bohemian chic thing right and at that point, as Vern told him, COURTLAND SHOULD HAVE OPENED HIS MOUTH AND SAID SOMETHING THEN!! Instead they show his cute puppy-dog faces, and have him complain AFTER THE FACT to make him look like the victim, and Nina the villain. Unnecessary. Who wants to see that? I would have enjoyed hearing what made Nina decide to put those parasols on the wall? Why did Courtland choose the color scheme that he chose? Don't pit them against each other for the sake of drama!
We have enough negativity going on in our world with oil spills and wars. When we sit down to watch tv at night, we just want to be ENTERTAINED - See something positive. We look to HGTV for creative design ideas....things that we might want to try doing in our own homes...but we need to actually see THAT instead of some soap-opera-ish fight-fest. I'm sticking with the show because I am intrigued to see what happens for the rest of the season, but that's just my two cents worth.....
Bravo! (or should I say HGTV) I agree with you. We seem to know all about the bottom 6 but hardly saw the top 6. It would make more sense to showcase the top designers and give them their face time. For instance, I loved
ReplyDeleteMichael's work and would have liked to know more about him. The little bit we saw intrigued me; I'm hoping he'll do well... and if he does, that Design Star ever give him air time! Love your blog, can't wait it see what you have to say next week.