Project Runway Season 5, Episode 11 – Face the music

OK, sorry to jump ahead to next week but how can we not talk about the most intriguing part of last night without doing so? For me, the most interesting moment came seconds after Suede went off in a rainbow of punk tears and scenes from next week’s show aired.All of the contestants were crying on the runway!!Tears were streaming down Korto’s and Jerell’s faces, Kenley had on her patented little girl pouty face and even Leanne looked like there was some wetness underneath all those bangs.And those didn’t look like happy tears, no matter the editing … wow. What the heck could happen?Does Nina go off the deep end and actually break the skin with one of her scathing comments? Are they told that they are all too boring to be allowed on the grounds at fashion week? Do they only get 24 hours to complete their Bryant Park collection?I guess only time will tell … but for now, I guess we should bid adieu to Suede, who finally ran out of steam. He hadn’t been great the entire show and as the designers lined up to dress each other in outfits of a specific musical genre, he seemed destined to overthink his task and get snuffed out.!And even though his rock ‘n’ roll look for Jerell wasn’t bad, it really wasn’t that good either. It didn’t help, that, as the judges pointed out, Jerell’s everyday attire is much more creative and edgy than the pants-and-vest look that Suede’s brain produced.Suede was in the bottom with “Miss Kenley Spears,” and both were in a different orbit than Korto and Jerell, who did wonders in designing the looks being worn by the bottom two. Korto’s punk rock look for Suede was fun, if not a bit cartoonish, and Jerell’s “Britney” look for Kenley definitely made her look like she should be selling out stadiums, not whining about Tim Gunn’s disrespect for tulle.Kenley’s bottom-two hip-hop outfit for Leanne was something that she likened to Alicia Keys’ aesthetic. Too bad Keys’ music is listed under, um, R&B/soul. That’s like confusing the U.S. with Australia … close, but no cigar.The only way Kenley’s outfit could have gotten less hip-hop would be if “surrealist” Jennifer crawled into Kenley’s brain and designed it. And even then it might have been taken as a “Gossip Girl” ode to hip-hop or something rather than an utter mix-up of R&B and hip-hop.Ironically, it might have been Jerell’s runner-up look that saved Kenley all together, as guest judge LL Cool J, himself a hip-hopper, seemed to be gentle in his dismemberment of Kenley’s look for Leanne … while possibly distracted by Kenley Spears’ show-me-but-don’t-show-me poptart ensemble.Yes, she looked cute as she talked back and pouted. Suede … not so cute in full makeup and Rainbow Brite hair while quietly defending his rock look.I did feel sorry for Suede in the end, though he was way past his expiration date. I mean, when it was time to face the judges for the final time, the poor guy looked like Boy George’s kid brother rather than being able to rock his normal Pepe Le Pew blue streak.And we all know it was that blue streak that got him as far as the top five in the first place.A few random thoughts:- Kenley, even your cuteness can’t make up for your big, ol’, red-rimmed mouth. Why can’t you revert back to being just the Betty Page girl? Why do you have to be Betty Page brimming with rudeness?- When was the last time you saw a woman “eating ribs” in an outfit like what Leanne put Korto in? Has Michael Kors ever seen a real-live woman eating ribs?- Tim Gunn is the most polite man on the face of the planet.- Was it years as a repressed classically trained cellist that made Suede decide that to get noticed he had to talk in the third person and dye the line between his brain hemispheres blue?- Jerell used to be a model, so what was up with his boring runway walk? I totally expected him to work it! Hmmm … maybe it was the outfit.- I’m still sticking with the top three that I picked last week – Korto, Jerell and Leanne. Kenley’s big mouth is clearly sucking a hole in the ozone layer.