Project Runway Rundown: Musically Challenged

I've recently complained that the show's producers have decided to make the challenges unnecessarily impossible.

For example, it wasn't enough to do something avant garde, so they had to throw in astrological signs into the mix; it wasn't enough to design for a recent college grad, they had to throw their moms (and their opinions) into the mix.

Last night was no exception — it wasn't enough that they had to design for a fellow contestant, but they had to use a randomly assigned musical genre as inspiration. In the past, I've complained that these wacky twists have resulted in subpar fashion, and last night was no exception — two were pretty obvious, two were too tentative and another was (hilariously) off the mark.

What was different this week was that, in designing for and interacting with each other, we saw more of the final five's personality (THERE you are, Korto!) than we ever have. If nothing else, the musical element of the challenge turned out to be a great, inspired twist from a comedic standpoint. I don't remember the last time I laughed out loud so much at an episode of "Project Runway."

I figured we were in for a treat as soon as Leann took Suede's model. Suede wasn't happy and my girlfriend Erica mentioned that a move like that could bring on bad karma. Judging from the "hip-hop" outfit Leann had to wear on national TV, I think we can say Erica was right.

In the workroom, Tim drew weird looking red buttons from that terrific velvet bag to reveal that Kenley would be designing a hip-hop outfit for Leann, Leann would be designing a country outfit for Korto, Korto would be doing a punk look for Suede, Suede would be creating a rock-inspired look for Jerrell, and Jerrell would try to make Kenley look pop.

You'd think that Kenley would be the most scared designer given her assignment (I guess she was too busy being insane), but Korto seemed troubled by the outfit she had to create (she's not a fan of punk — shocker) AND the one she had to wear. Fortunately, Korto began to lighten up once she got in her cowboy boots, doing a little line dance and improvising a country song (Shania Jank!) that was 10 times better than Leann's rap (that girl is SO white!) I also enjoyed the multiple instances in which Korto huddled with Jerrell in a corner to, in essence, point and laugh at Kenley's idea of hip-hop.

Ah, Kenley. We knew from the previews for this week's episode that she'd be chastised by Tim, but by the time Tim came by for his workroom visit and the "blowup" occurred, it just didn't seem like THAT big of a deal. Don't get me wrong, Kenley absolutely deserved to be scolded by Tim for all the past brattiness/bitchiness in the workroom, runway and confessionals. It's just that, specifically, last night's exchange didn't seem so bad compared to some of Kenley's past work. Still, she had it coming.

I was also pleasantly surprised how receptive she seemed to wear and work Jerrell's "Kenley Spears" look (which you know was completely out of her comfort zone) and break out of her duds from 1954 (apparently, Jerrell did some historical research and exactly pin-pointed the year Kenley references with her clothes).

I wasn't so much surprised at the revelation that her idea of hip-hop was completely misguided. That's why it was funny/infuriating to hear her tell Tim that HE didn't know anything about the genre — it's not like she's a big authority on the matter. In fact, Kenley appeared to be under the impression that Alicia Keys was hip-hop just because she's black. She probably thinks Whitney Houston is hip hop.

Right before the runway show, Kenley repeatedly asked Jerrell whether the accessories she was using looked hip-hop. Jerrell barely contained his laughter and nodded. You may think it's cold of Jerrell to sabotage a fellow competitor (who actually worked with him pretty well), but I say when you're a bitch to every one of your colleagues all the time, they're a LOT less likely to help you. Jerrell also admitted that he entertained the idea of sabotaging Suede. That was probably before he realized that Suede doesn't need help sabotaging himself.

The runway show this week was less a fashion showcase than a hilariously kooky Halloween contest. Highlights included Leann's hair (pictured, left), Suede's gigantic emo bang and blue eye shadow, Korto's butt, and Kenley's breasts (though that last one was mostly a personal highlight for guest judge LL Cool J).

Jerrell and Korto's outfits ("Yes they can!") were selected as the top two. The judges said Jerrell's pop outfit was easily recognizable as pop and stopped just short of slutty. Heidi had concerns about Kenley's breasts (that's a fun sentence), but seemed to come around. However, the win went to Korto, who'd bleached Suede's jeans and constructed a strong, cohesive look. Personally, I thought Jerrell's was a little better than Korto's, and a LOT better than the two looks he won for the past couple of weeks.

That left Leann in the bottom three again, for not going country enough. Still, we knew she'd be safe because Kenley had misfired so spectacularly and because Suede has a permanent spot reserved in the bottom two. Everything about Kenley's look was wrong — the high-waisted mom jeans, the weird printed blouse, the jacket. On top of that, Kenley threw in her customary attitude, until LL (King of Hip Hop) Cool J finally seemed to convince her she'd misfired.

In the end, she avoided elimination because Suede was LONG overdue. Sure, his look for Jerrell was more boring than what Jerrell wears on a Tuesday afternoon (except for the tight pants which left a definite penis outline - ewww!), but it was NOT worse than Kenley's. His auf'ing was a career achievement award for weeks and weeks of sucktitude. Goodbye Suede. Can't really say John will miss you.

So what'd you think of this episode? LL Cool J is a "fashion icon"? Really? Why the hell did they make them re-select models at the start of the show, if they weren't going to be used this week? Finally, is there any way Kenley crashes the Korto-Leann-Jerrell Bryant Park party (if you've read the spoilers, please keep the answer to yourself).