Season Premiere: Venice Qualifying 1 on G4/Esquire

At long last, American Ninja Warrior has returned! Tonight's premiere episode took place in Venice Beach, California. Former NFL player Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Jenn Brown join the crew along with Matt Iseman, the only returning host. The first six obstacles we saw in Season 5 were:

• Quintuple Steps
• Frame Slider*
• Domino Hill*
• Floating Chains*
• Flying Nunchucks*
• Warped Wall

*new to American Ninja Warrior

On to the contestants:

• Travis S. - the first competitor to see the new obstacles is defeated by the frame slider.
• Brian Orosco - The man. The myth. The legend. Brian has a lot to prove after a disappointing showing last season in qualifying. Unfortunately, he is the first competitor to ever face the flying nunchucks, which send him into the water below. This obstacle looks to be a tough one to tackle. They made one of the most decorated Ninja Warriors look like an unseasoned rookie.
• Jordan Babineaux - Another NFL player trying to transfer his skill set to the ninja warrior course, Babineaux is trying to find the success that Kamerion Wimbley found last season. It was not meant to be as he just couldn't hang onto the floating chains.

HGTV Design Star: One Client, Four Apartments

The Mission: In teams of two, the contestants will design an apartment for the same young married couple with the hopes that the couple will choose their design.

The Teams: By Random Choice
Brooks and Tiffany- Interesting, they seem like they're totally different
Anne and Jeribai- I could see some tension, Anne is a control freak
Tylor and Cris- They worked together last week and don't really like each other
Abby and Boris- These two worked together too, not sure about the duo

NEW TWIST: TWO WILL GO HOME!!!


Interview Clients- Best Questions
Anne and Jeribai:  If you had to choose between clean lines or shabby sheik?

Brooks and Tiffany: What is entertaining like for you guys?
         Clients reaction was hilarious, she called them ADD, which they were.

Tylor and Cris: Do you like to watch TV in your living room?  HAHAHA

Abby and Boris: Just the interaction was great, Boris was hilarious in this episode.

First Glance at apartments
Anne and Jeribai: Their interactions seem to be creative and insightful.  They seem to be on the same page.

Brooks and Tiffany: These two seem like they're a better team than first imagined.

Abby and Boris: Boris wants to use faux molding, just stop painting near the ceiling to look like crown molding, which Abby is not thrilled about.  Sounds like a terrible idea.

Tylor and Cris:  Tylor takes over and wants a green that she isn't thrilled about.  She is thinking about herself and what she would want.  Tylor said it's not about her, but I'm thinking she needs to follow her heart.

Furniture Shopping
B&T: They are looking at some vintage chairs and a lounger.

C&T: They found a tray and a rug for the family room.

B&A: Abby finds a bookshelf that she likes, Boris likes it too.  Boris, "I'm not feeling horny." Blam!

A&J: A barbed wire art piece, Jeribai thinks it is abrasive, so Anne will take credit for it.

Design
B & T: They laid out this cool design for the wall using painters tape.  It has inspired me to try this out in our babies room whenever I get to start painting.  Thanks Brooks and Tiffany!  True Design Star potential!

J& A: Jeribai wants to create a stripe on one side of the apartment, two create a two-toned effect.  Anne doesn't want Jeribai to do it himself because it'll take too much time.

C&T: They have their green walls, over the entire apartment, really boring.  Cris is not pleased.

Most teams have a focus wall with a bold color, which Cris and Tylor did not.

David Bromstad
The winning room will be featured in HGTV magazine.  They're looking for things that are easy for the viewer to do on their own.  The camera challenge needs to be something a renter could do that is easy to do and easy to correct upon moving out.

Camera Challenges
All of the camera challenges left something to be desired.  None of them had any mind blowing ideas or clear demonstrations on what to do.  Bromstad had Abby in tears, but in a good way.  He was playing psychologist and Abby is feeling a lot of anxiety.  She seems a little unstable, but aren't great artists like that?  Cris had a good energy, but she didn't show anything.  Tylor, "the expert", was awful. This guy is so overrated, by his own doing.  I think Anne is a natural at this camera challenge thing, but she used a focal wall as her challenge which even I know about.  Brooks had more energy this time, but almost too much, at a maniacal level.  That is Brooks though.  The winner in my opinion:  Brooks, just because he had a more original idea even if it wasn't perfect.

American Ninja Warrior Returns!

Finally, the newest installation of American Ninja Warrior is upon us. The Season Premiere is July 1 on NBC and once again, episodes will air on both NBC and G4 aka Esquire. Will we finally crown the first American Ninja Warrior?! Can't wait to find out!

For more info, check out the official ANW wesbite.

HGTV Design Star: Lofty Ideas

Deisgn Star Season 8 Cast (photo courtesy of HGTV.com)

The contestants in the second episode are given the task of transforming an old industrial warehouse loft into a multi-functional space for living and working in.  Each designer must creatively update a vintage item and integrate it into the space.  The contestants teamed up and each took a different section of the loft.  They all have to agree on who the loft is going to be designed for (rock/glam client) and it needs to be cohesive.  They'll have their first camera challenge of the season!

The four distinct living areas are: living, eating, sleeping, and working.

The teams are:

Brooks and Jeribai - workspace

Jessie, Boris, and Abby- Kitchen, dining, and foyer

Tylor and Cris- Living area

Tiffany and Anne- Bedroom space

• They all agree on using cooler tones since it's a warm space.
• Brooks and Jeribai are going to create a drum space.  They take off and have the crazy ideas.
• Anne starts off bossing Tiffany around, sounding like a total B!  They want the bed to be the focal point.
• Tylor doesn't want to work with Cris, he thinks he has to babysit her.  It's the oldest with the youngest designer on this one.  
• Jessie is going to work on the kitchen, Boris on the dining, and Abby on the foyer.  Jessie has bragged about how much she has worked on kitchen spaces and she's the master.
• Boris wants a large backette, a seating area against the wall.
• The camera challenge is taking a vintage item and refurbishing it for something new and then they will have 45 seconds to explain what they're doing with it.  More on this later.
• Tylor wants to take an old VW bug hood and he's going to make into a piece of wall art.
• Jessie sends Abby home to paint instead of allowing her to shop for her furniture.
• Abby is painting 4 or 5 twenty foot walls.
• Jessie is trying to find a bunch of accessories for the kitchen.
• When everyone comes home, Abby has painted most of the walls, everyone loves the colors.
• Boris and Jessie decline to help Abby with painting, leaving her to work on the walls alone, again.
• Cris is taking an old camera and making it into a floor lamp.  I wasn't sure what she would do.
• Brooks and Jeribai are playing the drums and dancing, totally carefree.
• Brooks wants to have a coffee cup with old coffee in it and used up whiskey bottles.  Jeribai talks him out of it.
• Jessie is taking old safety deposit boxes and refurbishing them into spice racks.  Actually pretty cool.
• Tiffany is taking an outdoor sign to make into a headboard.  She wants to paint it but Anne talks her out of it.  She's the "expert".  She slept on it and decided not to paint it.
• Tylor is outside banging on his hood and Cris sees it, and is not impressed.  She pretty tells him that is on him.
• Jeribai is putting corrugated metal on one wall and it looks pretty cool.
• David comes and immediately hates the paint.  Calling it juvenile.  He also makes it known that they should be appealing to the HGTV audience, because they should want to do this to their own home.
• Camera challenge time.  The best camera challenges: Anne, Abby, Cris  The worst: Brooks, Tylor, Jeribai.
• Brooks was surprising at how bad he was.  I think he'll step it up in future episodes if he survives. (He does)
• Tylor talks about his cigarette machine table, it sounds clever, but he sucks.  He really does.
• Now Abby is helping sew for Jessie, so she has yet to work on her space.
• Brooks is hanging 500 feet of rubber making it into a chandelier, and everyone is loving it.  He then hangs lightbulbs in the spaces.
• Cris hates the hood, she says it looks cheap, Tylor doesn't care because he is so arrogant.
• Tiffany hangs blue string lights throughout the headboard, I think it takes away from it, but what do I know?
• Abby lays down the curtains she has been sewing on the counter, but Jessie had painted that counter.  I feel bad for Abby, she isn't getting any help here.
• With five minutes left, Abby starts to arrange her furniture.
• TIME IS CALLED, time for judges.
• I love Genevieve.
• The judges aren't in love with the foyer.  The dining room doesn't get a lot of love either.  The kitchen was a fail, she didn't stock the shelves.
• The bedroom got some kudos for the side tables and the bedding.  The blue lights in the headboard were pointed out but otherwise they liked it.
• The space of Brooks and Jeribai had all good responses.
• They liked the living space, except for the stupid car hood.  The refurbishing of the camera was praised.
• Tylor and Cris were saved.  So, they were in the middle.
• Anne won the competition, so Tiffany was saved.  Brooks and Jeribai also were safe.  The trio was held back, but then Boris was safe.
• Taylor Swift, I mean, Jessie was kicked off.  Thank God, in my opinion, she was over confident, to the levels of cockiness, which was unfounded.

MY TOP 9 DESIGNS

1. Brooks

2. Anne ^

3. Cris

4. Jeribai

5. Tylor

6. Tiffany

7. Boris

8. Jessie*

9. Abby (Just because she didn't get to do anything)

MY TOP 9 DESIGNERS

1. Brooks

2. Jeribai

3. Cris

4. Abby

5. Anne^

6. Tiffany

7. Tylor

8. Jessie*

9. Boris

^-Winner *-Eliminated

Share your thoughts below. Who's your top designer at this point? To see some pictures from this week's challenge visit the HGTV Design Star blog by clicking here.

HGTV Design Star: Season 8

Episode: A Brand New Season- Original Air date 6/9/2013
There are spoilers in this, beware! 

One note before reading.  I have no expertise in design, only in what I think looks good and what I might actually like to use.  With that being said, if you're offended, please say something in comments because I love banter and it gets my rocks off.  Or at least, my heart-rate.

The Contestants:

Anne Rue from Florida, she categorized her design style as "beautiful, functional and livable eclectic." She also says she loves to incorporate color into her designs and enjoys mixing classic and coastal design styles. *all of these quotes are from the HGTV website unless I put a parentheses around it. (She looks like Connie Britton, which orange hair)

Tobin Green from Florida constantly strives to evolve and step outside his comfort zone while creating his signature vintage industrial spaces. 

Tiffany Brooks from Illinois is the owner of a residential interior design business favors contemporary spaces with an out-of-the-box twist. 

Abby Vasek from Texas has a clean, bohemian design style by adding in masculine lines. (Bubbly, might be over the top)

Tylor Devereaux from Michigan creates warm, modern rooms that are classic and simple, but loves putting his design over everything. (This guy is the guy who I totally forget about)

Boris Eckey from California has a European background that informs his luxurious yet comfortable design style. (Uh oh, early villain!)

Jessie Miller from Missouri describes her style as urban regency. (No idea what that means!)

Jeribai Tascoe from California likes to create modern, edgy spaces that feature an element of fun and his initials.

Cris Mercado from the Dominican Republic draws inspiration from her tropical surroundings to create a look she calls "bold contemporary." (One of my faves from minute I saw her)

Brooks Atwood from New York is a creative director and design professor, likes to push the envelope with his cutting-edge, modern style that he classifies as futuristic and avant-garde. (Stole top spot from Cris)

Show Commentary:

• David Bromstad is the host/mentor of this show and his challenge for the contestants had to turn an empty space into an example of their brand.  They can design their own fabric and wall paper.  They're encouraged to show the panel something inventive and something that is "you".  They had two days to make this thing happen.
• I think the coolest thing about this challenge was the creation of the wall paper.
• Brooks is freaking out early because he has never created an entire room, he usually teaches students about designing more than actually designing.
• I really love Brooks, his hair, beard, and personality have star quality written all over him.
• Tylor apparently has a lot of talent, but I can't imagine watching his show, boring!