Reality Check

Here are some of the things that keep me busy in the evening. I used to allocate at least two hours reading each night and lately I tried learning Thai (thirty minutes). However, there are more tempting things that keep me occupied these days, thus reducing my reading and study time considerably.

And that is nothing but reality shows. I’ve long been crazy about them. We all know there’s nothing real about these shows, but still I’m addicted. There are lots of them around but I can only manage to squeeze in a few, right? So let’s start this long list, shall we?

I’ve seen the first, third, and fourth seasons of Project Runway US and now I’m following the latest season. I think the show’s on its last five contestants now. It’s quite difficult to choose favourites among the five coz they are all amazing and each have an individual style. No single challenge stands out for this season though, except perhaps for the last one in which they designed looks for each other. Anyway, the contestants of this season are pretty tamed. It has hardly any of the obnoxious characters that marked the previous seasons. And I like it this way coz I want to focus on the clothes rather than the designers’ personalities.

I also watched Project Runway Australia, which had its season finale a couple of weeks ago. A Filipino was one of the contestants by the way, and he was booted out in fifth challenge (if I remember this correctly). The final three had very different aesthetics and this contrast showed well during the final show. The winner obviously gained points for the commercial viability of her clothes rather than her creative vision, which the first runner-up had more of (and I was rooting for the latter).

And of course, I have to watch the first season of Project Runway Philippines. Oh dear, where do I start? Hmmm... some designers come out with really good, tasteful pieces, but in general, the creativity is lacking, or inconsistent at best. One contestant even remarked that his fellow designers seem to be stuck with making gay beauty pageant gowns. So true!

Also, I’m surprised at the complacency of the contestants who would say something like, “I’m already happy to be safe for this challenge. I don’t have to win.” This sharply contrasts with the contestants of PR US and Aus, who would always strive to win. I wonder why the Pinoy contestants simply lack the drive for excellence. I want to see the remaining designers pushing the envelope further and really represent what Filipino design can come up with.

Moving along, America’s Next Top Model recently commenced its eleventh season. I have seen all seasons except the ninth one. I’m not really excited with ANTM anymore coz, let’s face it, this show did not produce any top model at all. Well, ok, Tocara (from season five I think) had a spread on Vogue Italia’s all-black edition, which is no simple feat. But aside from that, does anyone know if any of the ex-ANTM girls achieved top model status? I don’t think so. Most girls never went near the modelling radar. ANTM will never produce a Jessica Stam, not even a Bruna Tenorio.

Still, I like watching ANTM coz the show has become more absurd! For example, this season has a transgendered contestant. Gasp! I think Tyra has stopped looking for top models, and is instead trying to save her show from oblivion, hence, she has to make the crop of contestants more controversial. And yes, people are still talking about them girls, in such case, Tyra is successful in retaining viewers. Well, whatever, ANTM still is one of my guilty pleasures. I pretty much learned everything about modelling from the show, which completely explains why I’m not a top model, no?

Moving along... so Survivor is on its seventeenth season. They’re shooting it in Gabon this time. I missed quite a number of previous seasons coz the show has become arduously monotonous. However, I read in some blog that there are gay contestants this season and so I’m including the show in my must-watch on top of the fashion-related reality shows.

Ok, last na to... I caught the opening episode of The Amazing Race last night (is this their twelfth season?). TAR is my most favourite reality show evahhh. Before the age of Youtube, I go to the office late just to watch its 9:00 am broadcast. If I remember it correctly, I watched every bloody season of the show. I still never get bored of it.

With this season, it’s still too early to tell which of the teams are going to excel but I hardly pay attention to that than the places that they visit. Now who do I need to blow around here so I can be a contestant of TAR? I would not even mind being a part of the insipid Asian version.

So those are shows on my watch list. I hardly watch any other TV shows these days. In fact, I don’t watch TV at all. Thanks to Youtube these are all available on my computer screen.