Anna and Patryk – Anna and Patryk have been dancing since they were five and six years old respectively, but they both got their beginnings separately. Over the last four years, they have enjoyed great success in dancing competitions and have won Nationals for three consecutive years. They also represented the United States twice at the World Championships in Blackpool, England.

Taylor Matthews – Taylor Mathews is a singer/songwriter born in Alexandria, Louisiana. Taylor has pursued this dream religiously for the past several years along with singing, which landed him on America’s Got Talent, on which he dreams of sharing his musical ambition and his very own heart with everyone.

Prince Poppycock – John Quale has been singing from the time he could speak. As a teenager he developed a love for writing music. Enamored with David Bowie, Depeche Mode, opera, madrigals, Gilbert and Sullivan, the Smiths and Gregorian chant, he started to write and record his own music. In 2006, Prince Poppycock was born. While he was studying opera, he completed learning the Figaro aria, “Largo al factotum.” He was asked to perform the aria at a nightclub where he was required to wear a wig to perform. He decided to perform as a powdered-wigged baroque dandy, to highlight how the song was about being a fabulous hairdresser. He was an instant hit.

Michael Grimm- Michael Grimm grew up in South Mississippi where his grandparents raised him. His grandmother took him to church on Sundays, where she played the piano at the service. This was where Michael fell in love with music. His grandmother inspired him and encouraged him to pursue his newfound love.

Christina and Ali – Christina and Ali are sisters from Idaho Falls, Idaho, who, since childhood, have continually astonished audiences with their singing and songwriting talents. Even bigger than their voices is their spirit. Along with their other two siblings, Christina and Ali were diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when they were small. Christina and Ali dream of inspiring people who face challenges, or who have lost hope.

Tune into NBC Tuesday, August 31st to see who will make the last 5 spots of the top 10!

Have you been watching the newest season of Project Runway? What do you think of the designers and their designs?

Here is a quick list of the rest of the designers.

McKell Maddox

McKell Maddox is a 29-year-old fashion designer from Brigham City, Utah. Her favorite designers are Coco Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier and the very first clothing she ever made was a patchwork jacket. She attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and has worked as a Jeremy Scott design assistant.

Michael Costello

Michael Costello, 27, is a fashion designer living in Palm Desert, California. He has been designing and sketching since he was 4 but has never had any formal training. He won the 2009 Project ASID Award, with Dorothy Willets, for a dress made from upholstery and wallpaper.

Michael Drummond

Michael Drummond, 31, is a knitwear designer and freelance stylist from St. Louis, Missouri. Michael won an internship award in 2006 at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and an award from St. Louis Fashion Week 2009. His favorite designers include Issey Miyake, the late Alexander McQueen and Viktor & Rolf.

Mondo Guerra

Mondo Guerra, 32, is a freelance designer from Denver, Colorado. Mondo has won the FGI Young Designer Award in 2002, the Project Tamarac Grand Prize in 2007 and Style Wars, Denver Art Museum in 2009. His training has been “on-the-job” experience in millinery, fashion and theater.

Nicholas D’Aurizio

Nicholas D’Aurizio, 32, is a handbag designer from New York, New York.

Peach Carr

Peach Carr, 50, is a freelance designer from Lake Forest, Illinois. Her first ever garment made was an A-line shift in the fourth grade. Peach is self-taught and her favorite designers include Valentino, the late Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga.

Sarah Trost

Sarah Trost, 27, is a costume designer from Toluca Lake, California. Sarah has a fashion degree from FIDM in Los Angeles, California and the first garment she made were doll clothes.

Valerie Mayen

Valeria Mayen, 28, is a full-time fashion designer, education and freelance illustrator currently living in Cleveland, Ohio. The first garment she ever made was a navy polka-dot sleeveless dress with pink buttons. She received her BFA in Illustration from The Cleveland Institute of Art in 2005 and has won the Creative Workforce Fellowship in 2009 and the COSE Arts Business and Innovation Award in 2010.

Who are you rooting for to win this season’s Project Runway?

Bravo TV has had major success with showcasing the lives of prominent women in some of America’s cities. Orange County, New York City, Atlanta, and New Jersey have been taken over by the Housewives. Last Thursday, Bravo added a new city to their ‘Real Housewives’ franchise with the series premiere of The Real Housewives of Washington D.C. I was personally interested in how these women would be since I live about 45 minutes away from the capitol. The women are very interesting characters, but I wont be able to give my overall impression of them until the end of the season. I’m still processing the premiere, so I decided to just introduce you all to the lovely ladies on Capitol Hill.

Stacie- originally from Alexandria, VA and the only housewife that actually lives in DC, Stacie has a Harvard MBA, successful real estate practice, and vigorous civic and philanthropic agenda. She and her husband Jason easily move amongWashington’s unique brew of local, federal, and international players.

Michaele- a northern Virginia native and model is a big part of the inner workings of the D.C. life. She and husband Tareq founded America’s Polo Cup, for which he is the U.S. team captain. Through her involvement in the Polo Cup, which has become one of the largest and most high profile polo events in the U.S., Michaele has met numerous political leaders across the globe. Additionally, the two are involved in running the Salahi family vineyard, Oasis Winery. She and her husband also crashed the White House Gate Dinner back in 2009.

Cat- This feisty Brit certainly knows how to shake things up in D.C. Cat lived the fast-paced, glamorous life in London, but after reuniting with and marrying her high school sweetheart, she decided to move to U.S. soil with her two daughters, Jade and Ruby. She quickly began socializing with Washington’s elite crowd, and counts many high-profile political figures among her friends. Her no-nonsense attitude and tell-it-like-it-is demeanor have helped her achieve success as a mother, interior designer, and a writer – she penned a book about her “racy” escapades as a charismatic, single woman living in London called “Inbox Full.”

Lynda-This southern housewife moved to D.C and never looked back. She’s created an empire as the owner and founder of T.H.E Artist Agency, one of the top modeling agencies in D.C. This cougar couldn’t be bothered to get married again, but has found love with her much younger boyfriend, Ebong. When she’s not working or running with her kids – Aaron, Jessica, Mihran, and Sam – she’s a staple on the Washington social scene, and is very involved in numerous charitable organizations.

Mary- As a second generation Washingtonian, Mary spent summers at the Kennedy residences as a child, and is the granddaughter of legendary radio and TV personality Arthur Godfrey. Married to her husband Rich for over 20 years, Mary is matriarch of her five children – Lolly, Ryan, Alexandra, Meghan and Matt – it’s never a dull day and she calls her life “controlled chaos.”

Tune into Bravo TV Thursdays at 10pm to get to know the women yourself!

The newest season of Project Runway premiered last week on Lifetime. Meet the newest designers!

A.J. Thouvenot

A.J. Thouvenot, 26, is from St. Louis, Missouri. With a BFA in fashion design from Lindenwood University, A.J.’s first ever design was a tunic made of rubber exercise bands. It never survived its first fitting. He currently works as a fashion designer for fashion label TrashBiscuit and does part-time retail sales at Sole and Blues STL. A.J. is avant-garde and forward thinking and is more comfortable making event-based clothes than typical every day clothes.

Andy South

Andy South, 23, is a freelance designer from Waipahu, Hawaii. He has an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science, Fashion Design from Honolulu Community College. His design influences include culture, people and Asian lifestyles, as well as punk, Goth and club-kid aesthetics. The first garments he ever made were Halloween costumes.

April Johnston

April Johnston, 21, is from Savannah, Georgia. The first garment she ever made was her prom dress and realized she had the potential to become a fashion designer. She has a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and was one of the designers featured at the 2010 SCAD Fashion Show. Her favorite designers include Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.

Casanova

Casanova, 33, is from Astoria, New York.

Christopher Collins

Christopher Collins, 30, is from San Francisco, California. Christopher learned to sew from his mother and pattern and construction training in college. He won the Most Creative Award at a student fashion show and selected for Gen Art in San Francisco in 2008.

Gretchen Jones

Gretchen Jones, 28, lives in Portland, Oregon, and is the designer and director of her own label, MothLove. Unlike the other contestants, Gretchen got her design training solely from real world experience. She has worked as a buyer, wholesale vendor, trade show rep, production and design assistant and a model. Her design influences are rooted with minimal and conceptual art principles.

Ivy Higa

Ivy Higa, 30, is a fashion designer from New York, New York. She taught herself to sew and later studied at Parsons, The New School For Design. Ivy was also one of nine finalists for the Oscars Designers Challenge.

Jason Troisi

Jason Troisi, 33, is a landscape designer from Greenwich, Connecticut. With a fashion design degree from Parsons, he won the Gene Meyer Golden Thimble Award for menswear and 3rd place in a Birkenstock shoe design contest. For Jason, a great suit is a fashion must.

Kristin Haskins Simms

Kristin Haskins Simms, 38, is an apparel designer and freelance graphic designer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first garment she ever made was a T-shirt jacket. She has no formal training in fashion design but says she realized she had potential after she showed a collection at Philadelphia Fashion Week.

Who is your favorite designer so far?

Meet the second batch of designers next week!

MTV has brought back the guidos and guidettes of Seaside, NJ for an all-new season of Jersey Shore. Mike “The Situation”, DJ Pauly D, Snooki, Jenni “J-Woww”, Ronnie, Vinnie, Sammi “Sweetheart”, and even the “Kim Kardashian of Staten Island” herself, Angelina are all back for fights, hook-ups and tons of fun in the sun as they leave Seaside and head to South Beach, Miami.

Due to the massive snow storm that occurred back in January (more commonly known as “Snowmageddon”) the cast of Jersey Shore decided to head down to South Beach in Miami, FL to film their second season. Pauly D and The Situation decided to road trip down to Miami and see the sights as they went along. As expected they found themselves in a little predicament as they were passing through North Carolina. They had decided to stock up on fireworks and set them off in an abandoned corn field. Their car ended up getting stuck in the field and they had to call AAA. The first AAA truck got stuck and so they had to call another. Finally, they were able to shoot off the fireworks and continue their trip down to Miami.

J-Woww and Snooki decided to road trip as well and while passing through Georgia, they ended up at a severely red-neck bar. While there, Snooki found out that it’s possible to fry her favorite snack… pickles. Her high was dashed when she and J-Woww were hit on by a local who could barely keep a rhythm on the dance floor, let alone fist pump.

The Situation and Pauly D got to the new house first and got their pick of beds. A few minutes after, none other than Angelina walked in, surprising them both. Since her early exit wasn’t the best received last season, both guys were a little wary of her arrival. Sammi, Ronnie, and Vinny came in next and like their roommates, weren’t too happy to see Angelina as well.

Last but not least, J-Woww and Snooki came in and were shocked like everyone else that Angelina was there. Snooki, J-Woww, and Sammi claim that their angst against Angelina isn’t because she left the show early last season, but due to the fact that there was talk that she was talking about them behind their backs to the press.

All the tension came out when the girls shared a cab when they headed out to the club on the first night in addition to the already awkward tension between Sammi and Ronnie, since they broke up before filming started.

I would expect nothing more than all of this to happen their first night in Miami. With a single Ronnie and Angelina back in the picture already added on to the craziness that already is the cast of the Jersey Shore, season 2 will be just as entertaining, if not more, than season 1.

Tune in to MTV on Thursdays at 10pm.

The Emmy Awards nominations continued.

Outstanding Reality – Competition Program

Nominees:

American Idol (FOX)
Dancing With The Stars (ABC)
The Amazing Race (CBS)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
Top Chef (Bravo)

Prediction

It’s a good set of nominations this year but The Amazing Race has always won this award. They have not shown signs of letting up so it may be hard for the other shows to keep up. My take: it’s a toss between The Amazing Race and Project Runway.

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series

Nominees

The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien (NBC)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Real Time With Bill Maher (HBO)

Prediction

It’s nice to see Conan O’Brien’s The Tonight Show among the list of nominees this year. I’m definitely looking forward to what he has in store for us. But, among the nominees, I’d say it’s a tie-up between Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart.

Outstanding Animated Program

Nominees

The Simpsons (FOX)
Alien Earths (NGC)
The Ricky Gervais Show (HBO)
Disney Prep and Landing (ABC)
South Park (Comedy Central)

Prediction

I was able to catch a couple episodes of The Ricky Gervais Show, which was funny if you like his comedy style (which I do). But I do think The Simpsons has this in the bag.

Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series

Nominees

Glee (FOX)
Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Modern Family (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
United States of Tara (Showtime)

Prediction

Modern Family. Hands down. How can it not be?

Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series

Nominees

Mad Men (AMC)
Dexter (Showtime)
Big Love (HBO)
Friday Night Lights (DirecTV)
True Blood (HBO)
The Good Wife (CBS)

Prediction

I want to say Dexter but I really think it’s a one-man show. I think I’ll go for Mad Men since it’s really a show about people.

Outstanding Casting For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special

Nominees

Emma (PBS)
You Don’t Know Jack (HBO)
The Pacific (HBO)
Georgia O’Keefe (Lifetime)
Temple Grandin (HBO)

Prediction

Since The Pacific and Georgia O’Keefe are the only ones I watched and I loved The Pacific, I will say The Pacific.

So what do you think? Who’s gonna get the award? What are your predictions?

Last Tuesday night, we saw a cultural phenomenon come to a close as the 6th and final season of MTV’s The Hills ended. Minus Heidi and Spencer, the entire cast was present at the finale party at The Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Making surprise appearances were The City’s Whitney Port and the girl who started it all, Lauren Conrad herself.

I was glad that Whitney and Lauren were able to come back to say goodbye to the show that helped launch their careers. Whitney, who gained her own spin-off show and a clothing line, was very sad to see the show end, but excited about where her own show would be heading as well as hoping that her clothing line would continue to become a success.

Lauren, also sad to see the show end, was just happy that the current cast included her in the finale. Always humble about how much of an impact she really had on the show, she had grace and dignity, contributing the show’s success to the cast and crew involved throughout the entire 6 seasons.

Heidi and Spencer had been absent from the show since their bizarre encounter out with the rest of the cast showing their newest spiritual discovery in crystals that are supposed to help with different emotions. (Or something like that…) It is still not known whether their divorce is a hoax, but as of right now we can hope that they get it in their 15 minutes of fame were up at least an hour ago…

As for the rest of the cast:

Lo moved in with her boyfriend Scott and they are both hoping to take the next step in their relationship and get engaged. Hopefully we’ll have a proposal very soon!

Audrina is continuing her acting career, still working at EPIC records and has become the newest face for BOGO jeans. It has been confirmed that MTV is giving her her own show, so we will definitely have to stay tuned for that as well!

Stephanie is still with her new beau that she met towards the end of the season and staying away from the alcohol!

Lastly, everyone’s favorite bad girl K-Cav aka Kristin Cavallari isn’t really sure what she’s gonna be doing now that the show is over, but I already know we’ll definitely be seeing more of her in the future!

So after 6 seasons, 102 episodes, sex tape scandals, broken relationships, boys and alcohol, we close the chapter on The Hills.

Last Tuesday’s episode of The City was strangely reminiscent of a certain The Hills Season 3 episode when Heidi moved out of her apartment with Lauren and moved in with Spencer… Well, minus the ego-tripping spoiled kid, but add a really random fight out of nowhere between Roxy and Whitney, you end up with Roxy moving out of Whitney’s apartment.

The week before that, Kelly Cutrone presented Whitney with an opportunity to have Whitney’s line, “WhitneyEVE” be worn by Canadian pop star, Lights, who has been making her way through the US music charts. Roxy was given this assignment since Lights was coming to People’s Revolution to pull pieces for an upcoming show she was having in New York. Whitney’s more girlie, feminine line wasn’t really what Lights was looking for since she had a more punk and edgy style. If you’ve seen the show, you know Roxy is the most persistent person you will ever meet when it comes to Whitney’s line and she wouldn’t settle until Lights had at least one piece of Whitney’s line. Roxy successfully got Lights to wear one of Whitney’s jacket for the show, but to everyone’s disbelief, she took it off and threw it on the stage literally right after she got on stage. Whitney was furious with Roxy claiming that she hadn’t done her job, but as Roxy tried to explain, you can’t force people to wear something they weren’t comfortable with. I agree. Whitney didn’t see this as a valid excuse which ensued a fight that I hope other viewers (not just me) saw as coming out of nowhere.

This leads to this week’s episode where Roxy took Sammi house-hunting with her in hopes of finding a place of her own. She did find a place, but because of the high cost, she was forced to turn to her father, who simply told her ‘no’ and said that he wasn’t going to help her anymore and that she either needed to come home, or find something she could afford on her own.

At the end of the episode, Roxy moved out to stay with Sammi while she looked for a place.

I’m hoping this doesn’t affect their relationship too much. We shall see on Tuesday, July 13th for the season finale.

Last Monday and Thursday, The Real Housewives of New York City concluded their 3 part reunion special. As I stated in my first post about this reunion, there was really no need for 3 parts. Bravo pretty much stuck the 2 major subjects of drama from the season in two parts and then took the less significant drama and stuck it into the third part.

As stated in my last post, the 1st part of the reunion centered on the break-up of best friends Jill Zarin and Bethenny Frannkel. In the 2nd part, the show’s host, Andy Cohen, had the women discuss the 2 episodes that will be remembered as “Scary Island.” New York Housewife Ramona Singer began the third season with a goal to “renew” herself. She began a skincare line called TruRenewal, started her own jewelry line, and even cut her hair to give herself a new look and feeling. (She somehow thought cutting her hair made her look like an older version of actress Cameron Diaz. Not the case AT ALL!) Anywho, along with all this renewal, she added her marriage to the list of things to renew and decided that before she and her husband renewed their vows, she and the other housewives should have a “bachelorette vacation.”

Ramona invited all the housewives to the vacation, but only Bethenny, Alex, the newest housewife Sonja, and despite warnings from Jill and LuAnne, Kelly tagged along the trip as well. The women flew out to St. John’s and then took a 2 day yacht ride to a private island and estate where they spent their 5 day trip. Since Kelly became the new housewife during season 2, she and Bethenny never really got along. I personally think it was mainly due to a clash of personalities along with Kelly’s extremely laid back attitude which really came off as “I don’t care about anyone.”

Bethenny, who was pregnant at the time, really tried to keep herself low-key, but Kelly kept instigating numerous fights throughout the trip that ended up leading to her being escorted off the trip by a Bravo producer.

If the drama couldn’t get any worse, the day after Kelly left, Jill randomly decided to show up and “surprise” Ramona after stating that she wasn’t going to come on the trip. Ramona ended up “politely” asking Jill to leave.

The women all agree that it was a trip to be remembered, but hopefully soon forgotten. With all the drama, the addition of Sonja, LuAnn’s single “Money Can’t Buy You Class” (available on iTunes), Season 3 of the Real Housewives of New York will be one to be talked about for a long time.

Tune into Bravo Monday nights at 10pm for the 2nd season of the Real Housewives of New Jersey and keep a look out for the Real Housewives of Washington D.C. which is slated to premier the first week of August.

OK. Reality TV has transformed the face of America. Or maybe it just reflects what we have collectively become as a society. In either case, reality TV represents the worst in our culture.  It has long been said that the way to riches in entertainment is to appeal to the lowest common denominator.  In the last decade or so, the TV networks have raised that creed to a high art form.

Viewers tune in by the millions to watch attractive young people act like buffoons.  They watch boorish, uneducated fools with no morals prance around for the cameras.  They watch as the institution of marriage is reduced to the same level as a new washer and dryer – a game to be played or a prize to be won.

So since I can’t beat ‘em, I’ve decided to join ‘em.  Tell me if this isn’t just as good as at least half the reality shows on the air today.  And maybe only slightly more offensive.

The idea came to me the other day when we were watching the classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  Why not put six real, but not too dangerous, mentally ill patients in a ward with six actors pretending to be patients.  We could watch them go through group therapy, interact in the lounge, go through their one on one sessions with the doctors.  All the while attractive young contestants, maybe acting as orderlies on the ward, would try to figure out who was acting and who was really crazy.

Of course, the attractive young people would all live in a dorm together for the duration of the show, maybe right above a bar for maximum drunken stupidity.  It has everything.  Attractive young people.  Degrading and demeaning activities.  Psychological games.

I think this could be the next great show in the inevitable slide toward televised executions and gladiatorial-style battles to the death.

What do you think?  Too soon?  Maybe we should wait a couple of  years for the bar to sink a little lower.  I’m a patient man and we’ll get there soon enough.  I’m still working on a title, but I’m thinking maybe “Crazy or Just Desperate for Fame and Money?”