Episode Report Card Jeff Long: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Road To Runway: Season 3 Casting Special
By Jeff Long | Season 3 | Episode 1 | Aired on 07.10.2006
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close. It's back!Tim Gunn takes us on a tour of this season's designer auditions. Sadly, there weren't as many freakshows as in years past. But, unsadly, it looks like there are going to be some pretty cool designers competing.
We also get some where-are-they-nows from designers from previous seasons. Wendy Pepper is apparently finding some success in the fashion industry. She has also lost another twenty-five pounds since last seen on the program. Austin is designing wedding gowns for Kenneth Cole. Kara Saun is barely hiding her rage about not winning. Nick is still teaching and designing. Daniel Vosovic seems to be taking his time before presenting a line. Jay McCarroll is afraid that his clothes will get people shot� It sounds like he has problems with some manufacturing practices or something. His hair is short. Santino seems happy. But since he was already God, things are sort of the same.
We are introduced to 19 semi-finalists. They were all required to make a bio video for the show. Tim, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors, and Heidi Klum discuss each of the semi-finalists that we meet (there were 45 total). There are only 15 finalists, so I'm assuming that four of those people will be unseen in the first challenge. Or perhaps, like in the muslin challenge from last season, they'll knock four people off at once. Soon we'll know.
First impressions have provided a few predictions. Annoying: Uli Herzner, Jeffrey Sebelia, and Angela Keslar. Funny: Katherine Gerdes, Bradley Baumkirchner, and Laura Bennett. Mark my words, people -- MALAN BRETON. He's our love-him-or-hate-him guy. Granted, the edit of the show made it pretty clear that he's a safe betâ¦but still. And Kayne Gillaspie's inspiration is Dolly Parton. I may be wrong about the annoying and funny predictions, but I think I'll be right about Malan. He's either brilliant or a total con. We'll see. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
And we begin with the dulcet tones of one Heidi Klum Seal. I'd like to take this time to thank the Bravo marketing executives that created this year's slogan, "Everyone's on pins and needles." My Heidi impression didn't really gel until I'd heard her say that fifteen or a hundred times. And, I'm not sure if we'll see evidence of it during this season, but I hear that Heidi is expecting another baby. THIS JUST IN...Heidi Klum and Britney Spears's uteruses have unionized and are demanding vacation time. Don't let them put you in that car, Norma Rae.
Over the ending credits for Kathy Griffin's show, Heidi tells us that we're going to meet the designers from "Project Runway 3."
Tim Gunn interviews that he was both elated and scared when he heard that the auditions for the third season were about to begin. The mannequins are as happy to see Tim as I am. We missed you, Daddy.
Shots of palm trees...I'm guessing they held auditions in Myrtle Beach? Note to self: study American geography iconography. Palm trees = Los Angeles.
As we see shots of Project Runway hopefuls, Tim tells us that the audition process started with open calls in L.A., Chicago, Miami, and New York City. Designers were required to bring in a portfolio, three garments, and a completed twenty-page application. We see a guy with an Amish beard tell the judges in a shaky voice that he "want[s] it." A woman declares that if the judges give her a sheep, she will give them a sweater. Well, I can give them a sweater for a sheep. This ain't the barter system, lady.
As Tim voices over that some people were sent "straight home," we see a shot of a Marilyn Manson-inspired woman, complete with different-colored freaky contact lenses. I hope she just thinks that her look is pretty and she isn't trying to shock anyone, 'cause that shit's tired. We hear Tim tell a few people that they weren't interested. "We're not excited at all," he tells one guy. I really did miss Tim. He also tells us that people who were passed through to the next level were required to submit a bio video. We see a few clips from some of the videos, including a guy with an incredibly arch British accent, a guy dancing around Manhattan, and a guy doing that old Conan O'Brien photo-with-the- mouth-cut-out trick with Tim Gunn's photo. He must have loved that one. With the bio videos and portfolios, Tim discussed with Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and Heidi who would be in the final fifteen.
The auditions started in L.A., with last year's Santino Rice assisting. Tim interviews that his "brain was bleeding just in anticipation" of spending two complete days with Santino.