Wednesday nights are for TV again.

[jlh]

Thanks to everyone who voted in and commented on the poll. Results to follow!

Wow, So You Think You Can Dance was pretty amazing last night, wasn't it? 20 dances! No filler, finally!

You know it's been a slow gossip week, or that Project Runway rules the world, when gawker links to Inside Higher Ed. However, any doubters that Tim Gunn is sex on a stick should check out this photo. (Totally work safe of course. This IS, after all, IHE.) The article is wonderfully catty, too.

But this week Project Runway made me really really sad. I'm still glum about it today. I understand why they made the choice they did—bad design is worse than bad teamwork—but in human terms they made the wrong choice and I feel so horrible for Malan because he really was likable in my usual liking the prickly sort of way. The memory of Robert + Kayne = Love and Kayne's win will not make up for it and I'm not sure I'll be able to watch that episode again. Wah.

Speaking of higher education, yesterday I caught Oprah's BFF Gayle King on The View and she was talking about Oprah's opening of a school for girls in Africa and how they are looking through all the applications for girls with, as she said, "that 'IT' factor." That makes me very nervous. I'm hoping that the "IT" that they are looking for is different than the "IT" that say, Simon Cowell is usually looking for—Gayle said something about an ambition to make your life better—but I feel this idea of star quality is taking over too many choices these days. I certainly do not have this "IT" factor, and it is a given, isn't it, that most people don't, and I'm not sure that star quality is the best judge of someone to go into a school. I worry for the wallflowers, I really do.

Comments

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

::sigh:: Sounds like the same "IT" factor they look for in the Ivy Leagues. Something that means you're going to be a success measure in money and power and fame. Granted, Oprah herself as certainly got "IT."

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Do you think they look for an "IT" factor for the Ivy Leagues? Because my Harvard class, not really dripping with Star Power. There were plenty of introverts, myself included, even grouchy misanthropes with no interpersonal skills whatsoever. It wasn't even like, running with Type A's (which I am not, and certainly was not at 17). We had to interview, sure, and impress people, but I think that's different, and people who didn't interview well had their stats to fall back on I'm sure.

There's just no way in hell that I had "IT" at 17.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I was reading a review of a book that talked about what they look for, and they said that they did allow non-IT people. It was just that they made sure they didn't dominate the class. So you could have people who didn't fit that mold, as long as there were enough potential stars. It was kind of like the Slug Club the way it was described. Not everyone was the same kind of star, and there were some people who might have had a lot going against them but excelled in some way anyway. So that ultimately if you looked back there were a lot more famous Harvard grads than there were famous Hunter College grads, even if they both had a lot of smart people at their school. I can't remember the name of the book, but it had something to do with the Ivy Leagues in the title.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

It could be that I just didn't know those people! I mean, I knew people who were really interesting, and personable, and fun, but they weren't those sort of crazily magnetic center of every room types, and I ran with the drama crowd at various points. But maybe I'm thinking of IT as being more rare than whoever wrote this book did. I don't think I've met more than two or three people who were like that, who were like, superstars in their own circles or whatever. Or maybe I don't know a potential star when I see one. I just got my 15th reunion book, which has down what everyone is doing now, and sure there is a lot of success, and then there are a lot of people who just are a lawyer someplace and have a bunch of kids.

It's weird, I guess it's just one of those things where I just feel like Harvard was just another school at the end of the day. Or I just didn't notice because everyone was like "that" and now "that" has become my norm? Or, I spent too long in advertising, where people are talking about real star quality and would have thought that all my classmates were total dorks? I'm not sure. I'm just sort of flabbergasted that someone wrote a book about this. I'll have to see if I can find it. Thanks!

[tartpants.livejournal.com]

In my own LJ I threw a fit because to me it wasn't that bad teamwork is "better" or more acceptable than bad design, but that drama and fighting are something the producers want to keep around. Vincent and Angela were the focus of the show, and really, Angela should have gotten it for tearing apart Vincent's dress on stage, not coming to her little meeting with even a sketch in hand, and for NOT DOING A FUCKING THING. Ugh. I felt really awful for Malan, cos he was so gracious on stage when he said if anyone would have to go home, it should be him because he's ultimately responsible for the creation of the dress. :(

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I think that Malan would have brought plenty of drama because he's such a weirdo and was so obnoxious to the producers last year. So I'm not entirely sure that was one of the factors. I felt HORRIBLE for Malan and I'm really quite put out. I want to find him someplace and give him a hug!

That said, I think Robert is the Jay/Nick of this season, in that he is the go-to narrative voice and often the voice of reason while still being intersting in himself. Massive love for Robert and also Kayne.

[tartpants.livejournal.com]

I really really like Robert so far, and you know I loved Jay to bits. I was always curiously indifferent about Nick, even though most people I knew loved him.

Do you think Kayne's cheekbones are real or implanted?

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I think they are real, actually. If it were his chin I might wonder, though. But you know, he's fake in a fun way and not a scary way, so I say, real.

Nick's appeal and Jay's appeal were very different, I'd say. Overlapping but different. But yeah, completely in love with Robert.

[didi75.livejournal.com]

Yah, I agree. Malan made some really bad fashion choices -- his dress was ugly and not even done. But Angela is EVIL! I don't like her, and she doesn't deserve to be there. In the final credits it says that elimination decisions are made through scores, and consultation with the producers and Bravo. Knowing this, they should have got rid of Angela. I felt really bad for Malan.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I'm really heartbroken, the more I think about it, and the TWOP recapper is sad too. WAH!

[sisterpandora.livejournal.com]

Malan, by the precedents set prior on the program, had to leave. He failed at designed.

Angela needs to go. She's a local-ish girl for the first time on the show and I can't stand her.