With only five designers and five episodes left to go in the second season of the wildly popular "Project Runway," Bravo's reality TV fashion design contest, the race for Olympus Fashion Week and the final three designers is heating up. Here with a rundown of the five remaining contestants and their chances is The Eagle's own fashionista Annie Rebekah Gardner and TiVo box owner and often fashion-impaired nerd Daniel Gray Longino.
Annie says...
Santino: First off, too-tan designer Michael Kors and Elle editor Nina Garcia should stop hating and start congratulating Santino's avant-garde couture. Not only is his character appropriately flamboyant for reality TV, but his designs are well thought out, well executed and legitimately good. So maybe his "Heidi's Homeland" lingerie collection was a little out there, but really, despite Kors and Garcia's negativity toward his plant dress, its concept was original and totally well done. He also does a mean Tim Gunn impression that will really have you rolling on the floor. Also, he wore stilettos to the Nicky Hilton party. How awesome is that? I say he'll be at fashion week.
Nick: Poor Nick. Poor, poor Nick. He's actually a decent designer (totally won the Barbie challenge!), but has been stuck for most of this season playing second fiddle to Santino's wild antics. The judges nailed him for his Garden Party dress, which was arguably one of the best, and whose heart didn't hurt when he was separated from his beloved model Tarah thanks to Zulema's double-crossing? Seriously, his grief at losing his "little Naomi Campbell" during the Inspiration episode literally made me cry. He seems like a nice guy, and he and his guy friends have great camaraderie even in the midst of the pressure of reality TV competition. With that said, I do worry that little Greek Nick's designs won't be strong enough to cut it for the final three at Olympus Fashion Week. He gets too much fashion inspiration from Paris Hilton and her Greek shipping magnate, and that, dear friends, is a fashion no-no.
Daniel V.: It's too bad he's gay, because I would hit that. He'll be in the final three for sure.
Chloe: Chloe is short, cute and has a great attitude. Her designs are innovative and well executed, and aside from that Garden Party debacle of a dress, have been well thought out. Out of all the designs, hers are the ones that I would be most likely to wear, as they are girly and have enough vintage and modern inspiration to be wearable. I expect her to make Olympus fashion week, not only because of her solid skills, but because as part of the female minority, she needs to rep us ladies well.
Kara: Kara may be a lady, but this does not grant her the right to fashion week. Her designs are unoriginal (her "No Trespassing" dress made me barf), she can't handle the stress of the sewing room and she makes me hate South African accents (in real life, I actually love them. Thanks, Kara). In basically all the challenges thus far she has only glided by with sheer luck, since her designs usually generate enough criticism from the judges to cause concern. She had better get voted off soon, because I can't really handle her stressed-out grunts anymore. Please, just go.
Daniel says...
Santino: Santino, or as he is referred to in my apartment, Dantino, is without a doubt the most talked about designer this season on the P-Run, and deservedly so. The tall and lanky Dantino stands out amongst the competition with his eccentric, self-aggrandizing style. At first, I was really feeling Dantino. With both his designs (both his dresses for the Barbie and Nicky Hilton challenges were excellent), and his cattiness (remember his "those three women have never had sex" comment from the lingerie challenge?).
But, like his at-first witty Tim Gunn impression, he has just taken it too far. Tim and Andrae at the Red Lobster? What? I get the feeling that the judges have been wanting to axe Dantino for his showboating, but I suspect the producers of the show have been saving him from an early exit. Dantino will make the final three, and let's face it - he could probably send his models down the runway in an outfit constructed out of only a Doritos bag and still not get cut.
Nick: To me, Nick is a quandary wrapped up in an enigma inside a riddle dowsed in skin cream. I mean, according to the text that pops up during his confessionals, he's 38, yet he doesn't look a day over 27. He has a Greek name, yet he's always slipping into Spanish, selling Nicky Hilton his "chiclet" like a "Mexican boy." Sometimes he's rocking the faux-hawk, and sometimes not. It's this inconsistency that dooms Nick's chances of making it to the final three.
Plus, he's way too wrapped up in out-designing Dantino, which is frankly outside his realm of talents. The only time I connected with Nick was after losing his fave model. Nick immediately copped a defeatist attitude, revealing that he just wanted to quit and go home. Listen, Nick, I've been there. When I'm playing RBI Baseball on the original Nintendo Entertainment System and the computer has me commit three straight errors in the bottom of the ninth inning, I just get to where I don't even want to play anymore.
Daniel V.: I knew Daniel V. was going to tear up the runway ever since I saw his gangsta style dance walk in the show's intro. The fresh-out-of-fashion-school New Yorker looks like the long-lost gay Stroke, and his designs are the best overall. He will not only make the top three - his recent immunity after the Plant challenge aside - but also is my pick to win. Annie might want to proclaim her love for cutie pie Daniel V., but we all know her heart desires another Daniel ... fallen designer Daniel Franco! When he pitched his "Lovemaking" collection to Heidi Klum, Annie was ready to house Franco's babies.
Chloe: Chloe? More like bore me, know what I'm saying? If you want a cute black and blue dress, Chloe is definitely the designer to go to. Other than that, her outfits are bland. Her attempt at channeling a Manhattan skyscraper fell short, and she has proven again and again that she can't be imaginative enough to win. And whose idea was it to pair the very short Chloe with the most freakishly tall model ever? I was really surprised when it looked like Emmett totally had a crush on her, because I can't figure out how the super tall Emmett even saw her, because she's really short. I think that Chloe will make the final three, but be basically no factor in determining the winner.
Kara: Kara totally sucks. Everyone knows this. Her annoying antics, like searching an elevator shaft for a Barbie hat (seriously, WTF), are enough to disqualify her from life. Kara is the clear dark horse to win, but she can't sneak by these next challenges. She will be the next to go, no matter what kind of last minute spectacle she tries. Not even a well-timed worm on the dance floor could save Guadalupe.
