Project Runway entertains royalty,Shear Genius trims the Final Four into Three and Tabatha's reign of salon terror begins!

Finally got our fabulous on as Project Runway embarked on their drag queen challenge this week,with a special guest appearance by last season's Chris March(one of my favorite designers on Season four,yah!). Chris not only showed up on the runway in a big old Viking gal outfit with Heidi,he also got to make the workroom rounds with Tim Gunn,how awesome is that?



Alas,Chris was not one of the judges-that honor went to RuPaul,whose expertise in this field can not be denied(altho,if Divine were still alive,she would have definitely been in that fourth chair). Immunity was put back on the table and the winning outfit will be auctioned off online for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS,a very nice bonus indeed.



Some of the designers took to this challenge like a duck to water and others just didn't. I thought Suede was in like Flynn at first,since he and his model, Hedda Lettuce(damn,I love drag queen names-so much fun!)got along great at first. However,during one of the fitting sessions,Hedda got a little bitchy with Suede,sniping at him about the elbow length gloves-"Were you too lazy to make sleeves?" Not cool,honey,not cool at all!

The two of them did kiss and make up(hugged,actually)and the outfit was deemed good enough to go thru to the next round. I liked the gloves and don't know what Hedda's problem was,unless she's sensitive about exposing her upper arms(I can relate to that).



Blayne's wacky ensemble for Miss Understood managed to pass muster as well,even with Tim Gunn declaring that it looked like a "gay pterodactyl out of Jurassic Park".

Also,one of those pointed shoulder wings came loose during the runway showing and flopped around all over the place,which wouldn't be acceptable during one of the usual challenges but I think the judges were a tad bedazzled by all of the glam at that point.



A real show stopper was Terri's manga marvel of an outfit for Acid Betty;if she had shown up at the Conneticon convention I went to this month in that number,there would've been a whole flock of anime fans dying to be in her court.



Terri was a strong contender for the win,as was Korto with her fire inspired dress for Sweetie, with removable back piece(suggested by Chris March and good on Korto for taking his advice). I loved the curly pieces on the shoulder,they gave the gown a very harlequin type of feeling and the fitting on the whole thing was so well done that Michael Kors said it gave her model a "Heidi Klum body."



The winner of this challenge turned out to be Joe,who really didn't seem too comfortable at first,saying that he needed to approach this like he would making a Halloween costume for one of his kids.

After talking with Varla Jean Merman,his client,Joe seemed to warm up to the whole deal and took Varla's idea for a snappy sailor suit to whip up what resulted as "Ann Margaret on the Love Boat." It was fun and fab,plus RuPaul gave Joe some props for using that extra big belt buckle to "hide the candy."



Keith's crumpled looking dress for Sherry Vine was a near fatal faux pas; it looked something a desperately drunk and naked person would pull together to get home without being arrested for indecent exposure.

All of that layered fringe resembled either shredded paper or leftovers from a ticker tape parade and Nina chided Keith for making his garment a "puzzle." He came pretty close to being sent off of the show for making an outfit that even the Chicken Lady from KITH couldn't make it work.



Fortunately for him,Daniel's dull dud of a dress for the lively Annida Greenkard was much worse. I don't know happened to Daniel;he started off strong with that blue drink cup dress in the first challenge of this season and has gone down severely down hill from there.

Daniel clearly did not get the memo for this one,telling the judges that he didn't want to use florals or sequins because they're "gaudy" and that he was making an outfit for a drag queen,not a " Vegas showgirl or something from Cirque de Soleil". As RuPaul said,"Hello,DRAG!" They dress like showgirls,dummy!

I don't know what's up for next week,but it will be hard to top this challenge,that's for sure. Note to Blayne;enough with the "licious" crap already! Some people can pull off a catchphrase and others simply shouldn't bother.



Shear Genius' Final Four had some double trouble in their Shortcut challenge,as each stylist was given a set of twins to make over(the twin revelation occurred midway thru the process of working on the first girl's hair). The stakes were very high,since the winner of the Shortcut would be guaranteed a spot in the Final Three.



Nicole won the Shortcut,due to her making one of her blonde twins a very flattering chocolate brunette. Then the elimination challenge sent the stylists to a studio,where they had to create an avant garde hairstyle based on one of the four seasons for a photo shoot.



Charlie had Spring and went for a frizzy flower look,the kind of thing we've seen him do before. The photographer hated it,saying it looked too "dreamy" but for some reason,it was good enough to land Charlie a spot in the Finale. I was hoping that he would go,that guy has been working on my nerves for awhile now.



Dee had Autumn and she was supposed to give the model a hairstyle that would fall back(the girl had to jump on a small trampoline)but instead,the hair went up and down,not side to side. Since the cut itself was decent,Dee made it in. I was happy about that but since Nicole's place was secure,that only meant one thing.



Daniel was sent packing,which bummed me out a little. He had Summer and was told that his model was going to be "misted"(it was more like a hosing down),so that her hair had to be able to hold up under the water barrage. It did,but the photographer still wasn't happy,complaining about the back detail that wouldn't show up on camera.

He did have a point,yet during the shoot,Daniel was able to take down a couple of his braids to make the shot work better and was very agreeable throughout. Alas,he had to go but took his dismissal with good cheer. Next week is the Finale and best of luck to Dee and Nicole(Charlie,you need to really work it for me to root for you,buddy!)



Tonight,Bravo premieres another hair raising series starring Tabatha,my favorite stylist from season one of Shear Genius. Called Tabatha's Salon Takeover,it's the Kitchen Nightmares version of beauty parlor makeovers with her in the Gordon Ramsey host role.

I have high hopes for this show,as Tabatha is a take-no-prisoners type of gal and clearly intends to not spare anyone's feelings when critiquing their workplace. She may appear to be a mean girl but the lady does truly care about giving good hair styles and helping others to be all they can be:



RANDOM NOTES: FALL PREVIEW EDITION

Let's look at a couple of upcoming shows that should make those September nights a lot more interesting. One of them is a spanking new series and the other is an old favorite that fell on hard times during it's second season but is ready and revved up for the third go-around:




SAMURAI GIRL: ABC Family will be debuting this show in a three night run,starting September 5 and it stars Jamie Chung as Heaven,a 19 year old girl whose wedding and life are interrupted by enemies from her family's past. Based on the series of books by Carrie Asai,this could be a cool kick ass warrior woman series:



HEROES: Season Three begins on September 22 and it looks like they don't call it "Villains" for nothing,folks! Welcome to Level Five,indeed!: