Ready for more ‘Runway’?

‘Project Runway,’ entering its fifth season, offers something few other reality competition shows do: creativity.

By Robert Lloyd 

‘THIS is Project Runway,” says Heidi Klum, and without further ado we are into Season 5 of the gold standard of reality competitions—winner of a Peabody Award!—and the possibly soon-to-be-extracted jewel in the Bravo diadem: Subsequent to a day in court, it is slated to move next year to Lifetime, into whose gynocentric Weltanschauung it will less compatibly fit. (Side note: only one female winner in four seasons.) But I would guess that the fans will find it, wherever it is.

It is always the same and always different. Here again is the ruling troika of “top American designer” Michael Kors; Nina Garcia, now an Elle “editor at large” rather than its fashion director (she is headed to Marie Claire); and Klum, your average German supermodel mother of three. They will be joined by a procession of celebrity guest judges, including Diane Von Furstenberg, Brooke Shields and RuPaul, and over the coming weeks will winnow 16 bright-eyed contestants to three glassy-eyed finalists. And then there will be one, rewarded with a package of money, stuff and opportunity.

And here again is the redoubtable Tim Gunn, peering over his glasses like some urbane Charley Weaver, a teacher among judges. He comes with a “Talk to me” and goes with a “Make it work.” Although he has been mocked (almost traditionally at this point) by those he is there to mentor, Gunn is the one they are allowed to love and the person they are most likely to listen to, if they listen to anyone.

The difference this time comes with the competitors. They skew younger than past casts—10 out of 16 are in their 20s (last season, there were three), which also means that more of them are identified as “freelance designers.” Some seem to resemble players we’ve seen before—the cocky one (i.e., the Christian Siriano), the quiet one, the tattooed blond, and so on—but they will individuate with time. If the show has a dramatic arc, it’s not in the way that the characters develop but in the way that we come to see them better—as, with every passing week, there are fewer of them to see and more clothes to judge them by. It is by their works that you shall know them.

The first of their labors, after the designers check into their dorm suites, sniff the competition and share some rooftop Champagne with Tim and Heidi, is a repeat of the very first “Top Runway” challenge: to make a dress from materials found at a grocery store. They come away with plastic cups, dodge balls, oven mitts, fly swatters, coffee filters, vacuum cleaner bags, mop heads, candy, produce and far too many tablecloths. The solutions range from the inspired and unpredictable to the “And how did you get here exactly?”

Still, the correlation between doing well as a Project Runway contestant and being a good or successful designer is a loose one, and even those who flourish in the game can be knocked out by a single bad day. By the same token, second-season player Santino Rice made the finals, even though he was judged among the “worst” in seven out of 11 episodes. You can see the obvious talent here, but the only prediction I am ready to make is that people will be talking about contestant Wesley’s taste in shorts.

Many watch for the drama—the fits and the snits, the alliances and antipathies, the nervous breakdowns and explosions of ego—and rate each season by how much trashy drama it generates (or is generated by the editors). That’s one way to read the show, and while I regard that as a kind of fabulous accessory, what makes the show worthwhile is this: Excellence is exciting, and in a world in which the dross so often rises to the top, it is useful to be reminded that there are people with the gift of making a little into a lot, instead of the other way around.

HEATH LEDGER (1979-2008)

A Crowning Last Act for a Character Actor

Heath Ledger died at an age when many gifted actors first reach lift-off. At 28, he had achieved acclaim, popularity and riches. But he was just beginning to define himself as an actor and a star. In Todd Haines’s I’m Not There, he played a tortured big-screen idol, ill at ease with conventional accomplishment and fame, in the manner of Bob Dylan—or James Dean. When Ledger succumbed to an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in January, Dean provided an inevitable point of comparison. They both died young (Dean was even younger, 24), and each had big movies in the can—Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, and Ledger, The Dark Knight, which opens Friday. (It opened in Philippine theaters on Thursday, July 17—Ed.)

Gab Fab: To be young and...

Ex-Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) teen housemates Nicole Usiuseng, Robi Domingo and Josef Elizalde join the cast of My Girl, which airs weeknights on ABS-CBN. The three gained fame when they joined the second Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition, with Nicole and Robi making it to the top four. Inside the house, Robi and Josef were first introduced as best friends even if they came from rival schools as part of a challenge. Meanwhile, Josef became close to Nicole.

Ready for more ‘Runway’?

‘Project Runway,’ entering its fifth season, offers something few other reality competition shows do: creativity.

‘THIS is Project Runway,” says Heidi Klum, and without further ado we are into Season 5 of the gold standard of reality competitions—winner of a Peabody Award!—and the possibly soon-to-be-extracted jewel in the Bravo diadem: Subsequent to a day in court, it is slated to move next year to Lifetime, into whose gynocentric Weltanschauung it will less compatibly fit. (Side note: only one female winner in four seasons.) But I would guess that the fans will find it, wherever it is.

Fermentations: A Matter of Balance

IT was four years ago when I brought home the two empty bottles of Seña—souvenirs of an enjoyable lunch and the great wine that had made it memorable. That was the time I met Nicolás Saelzer, regional director of Caliterra, producer of the celebrated Seña, Chile’s first iconic wine. Many developments have taken place since then, said Mr. Saelzer, over the impromptu luncheon Tita Trillo hosted, as I had missed the recent welcome dinner for him—and his presentation of the latest from Viña Caliterra.

‘Mojito Bonito Guapito’

Many moons ago in ‘Cook Magazine,’ we did a feature on the mojito. It was a fairly new drink in town (by that, I mean not everyone knew what the drink was all about), so we were testing some recipes. A little white rum here, some lime there, a little more rum, some soda, more lime, crushed mint leaves, a lacey stream of syrup...a little more soda...oops, too much soda...more rummmm....

A generous serving of American-Italian

IT seems that the number of restaurants located in shopping malls has increased exponentially over the last decade. Think of a particular cuisine or dining motif and you’ll surely find it in any of the shopping establishments in Metro Manila. Take al-fresco dining, for instance. There are now a lot of them. Unfortunately, only a few are worth patronizing—and one of them is Italianni’s, where people find delectable American-Italian fare and an incomparable level of service.

Too-Busy Teens Feel Health Toll

FOR Jessica Huey, the circumstances preceding the episodes she calls her “nervous breakdowns” were always the same: She was exhausted, it was 1 a.m. and she still faced a mountain of homework due when school started at 7:20 the next morning. “I would look around and think, ‘I can’t possibly get this all done,’ and then burst into tears,” said Huey, 17, who is scheduled to start her senior year at a Maryland high school next month. Even while she was weeping, Huey recalled, she felt she was wasting valuable time.