I recently read somewhere that the contestants on Project Runway Australia were kind of amusing in that they were trying to out-polite the Project Runway Canada ones, but that the host was not as funny or quick as Iman. To which I thought: wait, what? Polite Canadians? Iman? *clapclap* Bring me this Project Runway Canada that you speak of!
Well, I just watched the first episode, and the potential for hilarity is enormous. It starts out with a panorama of the city, and they used the same yellow lens filter, which worked pretty well for New York, but made the smaller and less scyscraper-happy Toronto look bit like Dubai after a severe biological attack. Having established that we're in some sort of barren, desert-like hellscape, we are shown the contestants, herded on some filthy-looking and equally devoid of life industrial dock. And then, finally - Iman arrives. Aboard a huge, seemingly empty yacht. Just her, standing on the prow of her ghost ship, waving regally. Whenever the camera panned out to show the entire boat, I half-expected the co-host (who appears to be a cross between Tim Gunn and Magnum, P.I.) to go "Look what we had shipped from overseas!" And one of the contestants actually mirrored that sentiment by declaring "I guess they wanted a foreigner or something, 'cause all of a sudden - there's Iman."
That being said, she makes an awesome host. For one thing, she seems very opinionated and has no qualms about voicing those opinions. I think at one point she even cut one of the other judges short just to state how much she disagreed with what he was saying. Then there's her persona. At first I couldn't put my finger on what was bugging me about it, she just seemed kind of stiff - and it didn't help that they literally alternate between having her, and a headless mannequin deliver the "after the break..." line in the mini-promos. Then, finally, it hit me - it's like she's doing an extension of the the she-pharaoh character from that Michael Jackson video. She's just being very regal and poised. And I secretly hope that's just how she acts in real life, even when she's, like, buying groceries. Because let's face it - she can totally pull it off.
As for the contestants, they're delightful reinforcements of Canadian stereotypes - endlessly polite and friendly. The first guy to get booted off said that everyone else was obviously better than him and he was out of his league. The second guy was all about how creative the others were, and how grateful he was for this experience. What's more, when this Transylvanian cub (a recent immigrant from Roumania - not yet well-versed in his new homeland's customs) blurted out at the judges that he didn't want to make plain clothes, because "plain garments are all that Canada has" - the editor in chief of Canadian Elle just chuckled and bowed her head graciously, whereas in the American version the response would probably be more along the lines of "Guess what else we have? Running water." There's only one person who's a bit aloof and who declared she's only there to do her own stuff and doesn't intend to pay attention to anybody else. Can you guess which province she is from? If you hissed disdainfully "Secessionist!" and spat at the nearest baguette - you were right.
My favorites so far are: a funny, plump and perky Asian girl from Vancouver, the Transylvanian, who does a lot of frou frou and keeps talking about "bringing Euro to the table" (dude, you don't have Euros yet), and, in a love/hate kind of way, this guy from - get this - Saskatoon in Saskatchewan who said he started making clothes because he was so fat in high school that nothing fit him.
I also just read who won, in the fucking GOOGLE LINK DESCRIPTION for the official site. Ehh.
Well, I just watched the first episode, and the potential for hilarity is enormous. It starts out with a panorama of the city, and they used the same yellow lens filter, which worked pretty well for New York, but made the smaller and less scyscraper-happy Toronto look bit like Dubai after a severe biological attack. Having established that we're in some sort of barren, desert-like hellscape, we are shown the contestants, herded on some filthy-looking and equally devoid of life industrial dock. And then, finally - Iman arrives. Aboard a huge, seemingly empty yacht. Just her, standing on the prow of her ghost ship, waving regally. Whenever the camera panned out to show the entire boat, I half-expected the co-host (who appears to be a cross between Tim Gunn and Magnum, P.I.) to go "Look what we had shipped from overseas!" And one of the contestants actually mirrored that sentiment by declaring "I guess they wanted a foreigner or something, 'cause all of a sudden - there's Iman."
That being said, she makes an awesome host. For one thing, she seems very opinionated and has no qualms about voicing those opinions. I think at one point she even cut one of the other judges short just to state how much she disagreed with what he was saying. Then there's her persona. At first I couldn't put my finger on what was bugging me about it, she just seemed kind of stiff - and it didn't help that they literally alternate between having her, and a headless mannequin deliver the "after the break..." line in the mini-promos. Then, finally, it hit me - it's like she's doing an extension of the the she-pharaoh character from that Michael Jackson video. She's just being very regal and poised. And I secretly hope that's just how she acts in real life, even when she's, like, buying groceries. Because let's face it - she can totally pull it off.
As for the contestants, they're delightful reinforcements of Canadian stereotypes - endlessly polite and friendly. The first guy to get booted off said that everyone else was obviously better than him and he was out of his league. The second guy was all about how creative the others were, and how grateful he was for this experience. What's more, when this Transylvanian cub (a recent immigrant from Roumania - not yet well-versed in his new homeland's customs) blurted out at the judges that he didn't want to make plain clothes, because "plain garments are all that Canada has" - the editor in chief of Canadian Elle just chuckled and bowed her head graciously, whereas in the American version the response would probably be more along the lines of "Guess what else we have? Running water." There's only one person who's a bit aloof and who declared she's only there to do her own stuff and doesn't intend to pay attention to anybody else. Can you guess which province she is from? If you hissed disdainfully "Secessionist!" and spat at the nearest baguette - you were right.
My favorites so far are: a funny, plump and perky Asian girl from Vancouver, the Transylvanian, who does a lot of frou frou and keeps talking about "bringing Euro to the table" (dude, you don't have Euros yet), and, in a love/hate kind of way, this guy from - get this - Saskatoon in Saskatchewan who said he started making clothes because he was so fat in high school that nothing fit him.
I also just read who won, in the fucking GOOGLE LINK DESCRIPTION for the official site. Ehh.
3 comments:
Ok, ok, it is my fault. It was me who wanted to know their website. Can I be forgiven, please...
No! Unless you bake me LOTS of delicious stuff the next time I viist.
:D just say when!
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