Just throwing in a space saver. What did y'all think??? More comments to come, I'm sure.

Surprised me!

I already posted but got tagged for using a wrong word so it may show up later. Sorry.

In case it doesn't make it here: I haven't watched since Season 2 because of Vern but wanted to see what David does for the show. I really like him but having watched I don't know if my admiration for him balances my dislike of Vern and GG. Don't the Bosses read these Boards? GAG.

I haven't decided based on a few minutes who I like yet, but I think I know who I dislike!

I wasn't really surprised about who left.

Well, there certainly was a lot of color.

I did not understand the collage. I did not like the day bed with the black bottom and stars.

I liked the blue wall with the white design on it. I thought the moldings on the gray walls were very nice. The photos were nice, too.

I think everyone got along pretty well for not really knowing each other yet. Chris had me a little worried at the beginning, but I think he came around with Bex.

I taped this show and I will watch it again to see what I missed the first time.

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My first thought was there aren't enough beds! I only counted 7, maybe I missed some. I just wish we got a better, longer view of the finished product.

My least favorite tonight was Chris, I thought he might be going home because of that purple color. I think Suki was just overwhelmed, time mangagement is one of the biggest problems they deal with.

I liked David as host and mentor, better than what's her name from last year!

I can't believe how obsessed I am with this show. I'm just hoping for a better winner this year.

I think the colors were off, but I'm really sad to see Yuki go. Her design portfolio was one of my favorites, but her room tonight did not seem to match her other work. I have to agree that I think she was just overwhelmed.

Yes, time management is something that can be a huge problem in a real design situation and is so apparent in shows like DS.
It will take me awhile to learn everyone's name - the gal who placed that teensy t.v. in the room with all the moulding around it I thought was going home - or, perhaps Bex.
Next espisodes will show how the contestants develop and the personalities evolve. Should be interesting.

I think it would be nice to begin with an individual challenge to evaluate each one's work because on a team challenge, especially on a first meeting, they're being polite (or not) and you might have two leaders or two followers or one who just wants to keep the peace w/o realizing she/he is giving up all the advangage with the other taking it w/o seeming to.

I really liked the Chevron room and the Lattice room but I didn't understand how placing a white head on a black wall was THE WINNING IDEA. The room was great, but Bex's gear art was better.

JMHO

quote:

Originally posted by ACWinOH:
I think it would be nice to begin with an individual challenge to evaluate each one's work because on a team challenge, especially on a first meeting, they're being polite (or not) and you might have two leaders or two followers or one who just wants to keep the peace w/o realizing she/he is giving up all the advangage with the other taking it w/o seeming to.

I really liked the Chevron room and the Lattice room but I didn't understand how placing a white head on a black wall was THE WINNING IDEA. The room was great, but Bex's gear art was better.

JMHO

I so agree about the white head on the black wall, to me it was just an obvious choice. I liked the great room the best, thought they gave Luca a hard time for no good reason.

That's because GG is so inept at decorating, intrviewing, and obviously insecure so she belittles

Corvette Lady, Nice to see you back. I thought they gave Luca a hard time also. Didn't he work on enlarging and displaying the pictures?

Thanks mriley, glad Design Star is back! I think Luca worked on the framing of the pictures, it wasn't clear if he picked any of the other furnishings, I thought he was never going to say he choose the couches! There was a lot in that room we didn't see discussed, like the shelving unit, which I really liked. It looked like they had to paint that room too, or did they all have painters? This could have easily been a two hour show.

There are some pictures on the blog and I only counted 8 beds, there are 12 people, I'm confused! Don't know why that bothers me so much. Hope they post some more pictures.

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Yuki went home because of her partner Stanley, who was only concerned about showcasing his iron sculpture, remember, he had no interest in any anything but his own ideas and his art collages. Yuki should have stood up to the big bully.

quote:

Originally posted by I'mjustsayin!:
Yuki went home because of her partner Stanley, who was only concerned about showcasing his iron sculpture, remember, he had no interest in any anything but his own ideas and his art collages. Yuki should have stood up to the big bully.

It was up to her to figure out a way to incorporate her item that she'd sent in - which was, IIRC, the thing that inspired the collage that Vern hated. I didn't like his attitude, but she should have used her skills to better effect. I'm hoping that this near miss will bring him down a peg or two. I'd also like to see him do something besides this type of work. Yes, I liked the sculpture he did but there is so much more to interior design than being able to weld metal together. He reminds me of Antonio and I don't think we need another one of those.

I agree with the poster who suggested they do individual challenges first time around so we can see what they're capable of doing.

As for the beds - I'm sure there are adequate beds in that huge house. THey only showed a few of the rooms that the contestants were actually working on. I'm wondering if they will leave up that "windswept collage"?

So - who is the prima donna this season? I'm thinking maybe Chris. The way he cut Bex off when she tried to share ideas was crazy. I'd have been tempted to roll his little butt up in a ball and bounce him down the stairs.

I like the first episode. Not a lot of drama or unfinished, tacky work. I saw a lot of nicely designed rooms. It looks like the talent this year is much better. Of course, I love David as the Host/Mentor. He looked really comfortable inhis new role and really gave them some good suggestions that made the contestants push themselves. Love David as always.

I agree regarding Stanley and Chris. Bex was so happy that he used her "match" in his design. Her "Match" made his design.

I like Luca. He seems to be someone who will get along with everyone and help where he can. Michel seems to be a quiet agreeable one who goes about making his design and I liked his stool.

I liked all the ladies. They did good work. I liked Yuki but didn't care for her collage. Didn't Stanley put up some of the empty frames? Someone earlier said she should have stood up to Stanley and I think that is right. He picked the wall color that the judges did not like. I am going to watch my tape and pay particular attention to Stanley. I have a feeling he will bear watching.

I am also going to go to the Chat Line and let those people at HGTV know that I think they should wait until after the white room challenge to eliminate anyone from the competition. That would give them a truer picture of the talent of the contestants.

This is all just my opinion.

UPDATE: I want to revise my opinion on Luca. I just watched my tape and he said he was going to do the things that he thought Danielle could not do. Whoa, there buddy.

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Reply to ACWinOH, I think they start with the group challenge because they want to get the house decorated and it would be too much work for one person to do a whole room in 3 days. Also group challenges when there is an even # of contestants and individual challenges when there are an odd #'s makes sense to me.

Reply to INJSTSAYIN' if Suki was bullied, she would have gotten run over eventually. In my opinion her "collage" looked like Walt Disney threw up on the wall, so I was ready to see her go.

Luka strikes me as the kind of guy who needs a scapegoat when his team loses, let's see...

Chris is annoying, is he the new Nina/Cathy?

Does Bex need attention? Is that what the hat thing is all about?

Totally agree that elimination after the first episode is premature...not enough time to evaluate each one as an individual...if they're going to eliminate on a team effort, the whole team should go.

The great room color and sofas were good...the rest was a mess. I did not get a good feeling while looking at the entire space...it was too busy.

The workroom space was a total wreck. Hated the whole thing and Stanley needs an attitude adjustment.

The room with the lattice...that was good, but the other wall was seriously awful and, like the other room with two focal walls, a mistake. Speaking of focal walls...are they serious that painting a black square and hanging a moose head is genius?

Bex's art was very good but her daybed was awful...that critique was well deserved. The match was just plain lame and the wall color...yuck!

Can't remember the others.

David did a good job, Vern was his obnoxious self and Genevieve, well, she is pretty. As far as guest judges go, I think there's a certain desperation at Design Star this year.

Both should have been taken off the show due to that ugly room. The sculpture didn't do anything to the room and that collage? ICK? They both were responsible for that with the collage and the funky colored frames hanging around it!

But anyone notice that detail again about the animals/animal heads? Antonio had his magenta ducks. If you watch David's show, he used African animal heads in black and white. and suddenly someone shows up with a white moose head and someone else uses magenta African animal heads in their room?
What's original about that?

Won't next week be the earliest for the WRC? And possibly individual challenges? (although I haven't seen all the years/episodes)

I liked the first episode well enough. I felt sorry for Yuki. She seemed so sweet and lovable but that mural monstrosity is still giving me nightmares.

In my opinion, they should have the WRC or some other individual challenge first. That way, the designers get a chance to get their feet wet but also get a chance to definitely present their POV without having to compromise with a someone they've never met who is bent on flexing their muscles at the expense of the other designer. That way when they get feedback from the judges, they find out whether they are on the right track or if they need to elevate their game; every one is put on notice. From there, the team challenges can start and by that time, each contestant has built up enough confidence to negotiate the equal incorporation of their design aesthetics into a group effort and no one would be sent home thinking that the judges didn't really get a chance to see what they could do.

To me the group challenges are pointless. Sure, you can do one challenge like it to see if they play well with others, but it's not like the winner is getting a show where they have to work with a team of designers. Just have them work with carpenters or contractors and see how well they manage their time, budget and how well they listen to their clients and give them what they want while putting their own touch on the design of the rooms.

I like almost everyone so far, but Chris really turned me off in the way he was treating Bex. I'm never a fan of the designers who come in on their high horse from the get-go thinking they're better than the other contestants. They blind to fact that the other designers must be good as well because, um hello, they're your COMPETITION.

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Thank you all, after reading all of your posts, I don't think that I have to see the program, you all described the episode real well, please keep it up!

Just watched David's recap and it seems that Kris really gave Bex a much harder time. He said they argued a lot and Bex had to really fight to get her ideas into the room.

I understand the need to decorate the house first but they could have no elimination the frist night and two after the white room challenge. I think we learn a lot about the designers from how they interact with each other but in the end they have a solo show. The white room challenge is so revealing. Of course they can have a bad white room and still win, Meg's white room was not successful but lucky for her it wasn't judged the worst.

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" ......I didn't understand how placing a white head on a black wall was THE WINNING IDEA.

JMHO[/QUOTE]I so agree about the white head on the black wall, to me it was just an obvious choice."

Yeah, I just don't get why all these trite painted animal heads are all the rage -- for years and years now.

Not to mention the confused symbolism -- at least for me -- if you don't like killing animals then you're do this instead as an attempt at social comment?

Or if you do wish you had a real animal's head, why do this instead?

Since the reference is to hunting -- if you don't like it, why glorify it? Because that's just what these lame animal heads do.

Unlike Antonio's retro use of flocks of geese flying in his signature bright pink. He was jazzing up a kitschy (never attractive even when new) effort to show the power of birds in flight. Kitsch does have it's place when used carefully. But those kitschy animal heads were overused years ago.

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I really would like to see how the judging would turn out if they were not told who did what room until they all together at the end. To me that would be more interesting.

yloo, That sounds like a very good idea. I wonder if it would have made a difference if they had done that on last season's Design Star.

Have you seen Yuki's video made after she left? She said that Stanley was the one who added the paper to her collage and also all the painted frames. Sounds like she let him make a mess and he let her take the fall.

This is just my opinion.

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I do agree I'd like to see them judge the rooms without being told who did what. This may be way off base (and then again, maybe not) but it seems each season someone gets reamed out for doing something that either the judges themselves have done or have been done and praised by previous season contestants. And, the opposite is true - the little hissy fit that Antonio threw over the paint color in that one episode would have gotten anyone else kicked off but the judges thought he was wonderful for standing up and doing what HE wanted to do.

What is this Groundhog day? This could have been any episode of any other year. The contestants satisfy every stereotype and you can bet the judges will be inconsistant in their evaluations. Plenty of made for T.V. drama between the players will ensue. I'm giving it 2 thumbs down because thats all I have.

quote:

Originally posted by robeau:
What is this Groundhog day? This could have been any episode of any other year. The contestants satisfy every stereotype and you can bet the judges will be inconsistant in their evaluations. Plenty of made for T.V. drama between the players will ensue. I'm giving it 2 thumbs down because thats all I have.

Methinks we need a few squirrels and a Phantom. Maybe a Manhattan or two. C'mon, party time at the penthouse.

Thinking back on the designs, gray walls, button tufted upholstery, zebra skins, cocktail ottomans and geometric wall motifs have been the staples of design mags for the last 5 years. If these people are supposed to be design stars, why are we not seeing something new?

What I am liking so far:

1. David as mentor/host. It was such a natural role for him that I was kind of surprised when, in his v-log comments, he said he was so excited to be host. Then I realized that, um... yeah- there was another host last year! I guess that shows how much impact she had.

2. It looks like there were a lot more resources available to the contestants, including additional help (like a carpenter) and better sources to shop. Even the fabric sample books. This seemed more geared to a professional competition than the previous "get all your stuff at Sears" strategy of the past. I have to say, this did raise my expectations over what I'd see.

3. It appears that, even though there is some drama shown, much of it has been edited out. (David mentioned this on his v-log). I soooooo appreciate them leaving out the major part of the drama! I have always felt that a show called "Design" Star should be more about design and less about drama. (I know, picky me!)

4. It appears, for the most part, that all the contestants are capable designers. All of the rooms were well designed in the first challenge. (yes, I said all..... and I'll get to that on my next post)

Looking forward to a great new season!

OK- as for the first challenge, I really liked all the rooms. I think the great room was the best (not the little lounge room with the bad black molding).

I actually liked the workspace lounge that Stan and Yuki designed. (I didn't love it- but I don't think it was as bad as it was made out to be) It was meant to be a creative workspace- and although the colors were a bit much, I do see the creative energy vibe going on. I thought the orange couch was fun! Also- the way they addressed the floor was really well done.

Perhaps if the room had been painted with white walls with colorful accents?

As for the collage.... On the one hand, it reminded me a bit of the RATS Vegas thing- (a nod to the contestants) but I think that it was done in a better way by including the places that each of the contestants had come from. The colors and composition worked well as a nod to Yuki's personal item. In fact.... I agree with Yuki on her exit comments... it was better before Stanley took over.

I understand why Yuki went home instead of Stanley (his welded sculpture stood out in a good way) I don't disagree with the judges, but I do feel like the room wasn't nearly as bad as they made it out to be.

Also... although I tend to want less drama, I kind of wish the judges had made Stanley sweat a bit more for what he did to the collage. He made it worse, and if Yuki was to go home, she should have gone home on her own design decisions, and not because of what he did to make them look worse.

Seems like there were lots of good changes from seasons past which makes me think HGTV does check the boards here and take into account what we have to say.

I've seen a bit of a slow change according to our posts, i think.

I was pleasantly surprised with this first episode. I liked that they seemed to have the necessary help and it didn't feel like a 'reality show' with bad attitudes highlighted in front of everything.

Just watched episode 1 even after I said I would not watch Design Star because in my opinion last years winner was not the best choice. I guess I got over that. No one really blew me away in the new episode. It is hard to get a feel for someone when they are paired up with someone they don't know. Some people are just nicer than others. In the end you should be able to defend your choices - if you made any. Yuki definately knew she made a few wrong choices regardless of who she was working with. There was nothing really outstanding or different in this show. Weird color choices where some were trying to stand out but they didn't really work. Hopefully we will see more of the designers personalities/styles in the WRC. Guess I will be tuning in again

My first impression is that the design talent is stronger this season than in seasons past, and the first challenge resulted in rooms that were more "finished" than any I recall in earlier seasons (true, I don't recall any previous challenge in which they had 3 days to work, though).

My callouts: I'm fed up with arts-and-crafts projects as an element for rooms on HGTV and especially in Design Star challenges. Also, there was no mention of budget for the first challenge.

Best thing about Design Star was, is, and will ever be: David! He's once again excellent as mentor and I'm glad to see him as host!

I haven't been around this board lately - It's good to see you all back and of course I agree with much of what has already been said. I am enjoying David as mentor/host. He is a natural in the role and a positive unifying element. I am also enjoying the increased level of talent, which is obvious even in the first show.

I understand the tradition of making over the communal space first, so I can live with the white room challenge being on the second week. I agree that it's obvious that TPTB have listened to our suggestions and criticisms. It's a good feeling to know that the viewers can make a difference. A couple of seasons ago the show was completely ruined and now it looks like it's back on track. I'm looking forward to a good season.

I think Kris is this years Kathy - and Stanley is the one who says he will win because he is sexy in his tool belt.

Otherwise - Love what Miera and Jordan did! My favs at the start.

Here's hoping they might bring Karl (from last season) or Matt (from a few seasons back) as a guest judge. They are two talented designers; they deserved to win in their season, but alas, they didn't. Would be nice to hear from them again.