Shear Genius finale:
Coming in to the final episode, it really felt (to me) like it was Daisy's game to win or lose. The recap strengthened this impression, by reminding us that she had finished in the top contenders in six out of eight challenges, and she was up on the Wall of Fame twice (I think?). I thought Anthony and Ben both had really strong shots at winning as well, but it really felt like Daisy was the odds on favorite.
And then came the actual final challenge. As happy as I am at Anthony's win, it really seemed to like Anthoy didn't really win the challenge, so much as Ben and Daisy lost. Anthony was clearly the winner for the challenge, but he didn't exactly knock it out of the park. No one did. Everyone's bob (as was noted by the judges) were off, mostly by not being short enough in the back. Some great ideas were displayed, but none were executed properly, and all three seemed to have at least one of their three dos that was pretty craptacular.
And what's with bringing in amateur models, and not telling them that they really don't get a say in the style they're getting? When Ben asked the one model if she didn't mind losing length, and she strongly protested, had I been him I would have had to tell her, "Look, I'm sorry they didn't prepare you for this, but this particular challenge is about creating a particular look on you, not pleasing you as a customer, so I have to give you the style I'm going to give you. I'm really sorry about that, but I need you to be able to accept it, and even be happy about the do I give you, particularly when you're modeling it."
And then poor Anthony, giving his models specific instructions, just before the runway walk, to really shake their hair and make it move, and then every last one of them walked out ramrod straight, as if everything above the waist was made of granite.
Bringing in amateur, unprepared models for a major creativity challenge is really kind of hobbling, don't you think?
On a slightly more superficial level, how incredibly awesome was Vidal Sassoon? What a neat guy. I know Ben was saying, "As a hairdresser, getting to meet Vidal Sassoon is a huge thing for me," or whatever he said. I was thinking, "Ben! I'm not a hairdresser, and I'd still be very impressed to meet Vidal Sassoon. He's frelling VIDAL SASSOON!"
I really liked that Vidal really seemed to make it a point to only say good thing about the competitors, and find what they did well in the messes they presented. He really seemed to get that the competition put silly and absurd constraints on the stylists that they would rarely have to deal with in the real world, and kind of refused to mark them down for the ways they failed because of those constraints.
I noticed toward the end of the judging, Michael Carl sort of rolled his eyes at Vidal's unrelenting positivity, and I just thought, "Bitch, don't roll your eyes at Vidal Sassoon!"
Anyway, good for Anthony, and I hope everybody in the competition gets a boost in their revenues from their appearances on this show.
Now it's time for the Top Chef cook off, and then TC3!