Saturday, July 26, 2008

Who’s getting your vote?




I don’t have a lot of time to watch TV, but I make it a point to Tivo and watch my favorite show, which is—no surprise!—HGTV’s Design Star. Obviously it’s right up my alley, but the drama, the fun, the chaos, and even the cattiness all really make for an entertaining show!


If you haven’t yet caught it, it airs on Sunday evenings at 9:00 in Hawaii. I try to go to bed early on Sunday nights and I always Tivo it, planning to watch it later, but then end up staying up to watch because I can’t stand to wait!

I think the reason I enjoy it so much is because I can so relate to what these contestants are going through. They not only have to design and create spaces, they also have to be fun and show personality on camera. I remember my very first scene when we were filming our DVD series. I had to open a door and walk in, and when my producer/director said, “Action!” everything went out of my head and I just froze. It’s not an easy thing to do!


Now Design Star is down to the final two contestants who are vying for their own show on HGTV. Although I think Jennifer and Matt are great, they’re completely different designers and television personalities, so I’m going to find it very interesting to see who the viewing audience will vote for in the end.


Jennifer has a bubbly and infectious personality. She seems like a girl next door you’d love to go shopping with. She has a very ethereal quality about her design, she’s artistic and creative. In most of her work she does her own artwork and painting and stenciling. My personal opinion: I just don’t know how diverse she can be, or at least the show has not shown her to have a lot of different styles. The last room that she did was a personal room for her sister, and she did her signature paintings on the wall and her sister loved it. She painted beautiful leaves which added a nice touch without being overdone. Sometimes painting and artwork on the wall can look a little crafty and not so polished, but this had a nice finished look to it.


Matt, on the other hand, seems a lot more serious, and he tries really hard to have a personality on camera because I think he’s lacking in that department. Where he makes up for it, though, is with strong design, especially when it comes to architecture and construction. When he did his audition, he showed the most amazing design board—creative and with a really strong sense of style. But he was not nearly as creative under the gun. They were all given a little cubicle to decorate, and he even said, this is a true test of your design skill. You’ve got white walls and a blank canvas. And he just crumbled. He stacked these brown cubic ottomans to look like a Southeast Asian temple, but to me it looked almost like Stonehenge, just awful. He almost got voted out. His design concept was good in theory but just did not translate.


Both of them deserve to be in the finals. It’ll be interesting to see who wins out: Jennifer’s strong suit is her personality, but if Matt is able to showcase his architectural and design sensibilities, I think he will win. I think he by nature is more of a designer and Jennifer is more of a decorator. On this show, you really kind of have to have both.

But hey, who am I to say? Tomorrow night is the finale and afterward, you’ll be able to vote for your favorite design star. You can bet I’ll be tuned in!

2 comments:

I love that show too! I'm waiting till the finale to make my final decision.

ok, i watched the finale bc of ur blog--had never seen jennifer or matt. after last nite i want to vote for jennifer bc her design seemed more pulled-together and suited for casual family life, but i just can't! i haven't seen anything else either has done so cannot vote agnst matt. will just wait and see...