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Well, there was no “Top Chef” again this week. Sigh. But there is good news after all: This week brought us the final challenge before Fashion Week on “Project Runway.”

And, honestly, I’m relieved. This season has been a letdown from its first highly anticipated five minutes. Season 6 just needs to be put out of its misery.

Say it with me now, two episodes left. YAY.

But before we can say good-bye to such a spectacular failure, we have to crown a winner. To do that, the designers have to get to Bryant Park, where they’ll have their fashion show and then a winner will be revealed.

And you know what? For the first time, I don’t care who wins. I won’t hotly debate you or mount a long-winded defense of my personal favorite. It’s not that I’ve changed — don’t get me going on Robin from “Top Chef” — it’s that “Project Runway” has. Of course, I’ve discussed this ad nauseum this season and I can’t blame you if you’re sick of it. But I think we’re to the point of irreparable damage. The kind where TV sets are tuned in to something specifically because it’s NOT “Project Runway.”

OK, I guess I can get fired up about things. Ha. Anyhoo, Thursday’s episode narrowed down the designers from five to three and from those who would get to show a 12-piece collection at Bryant Park and those who will just go home and pout about being so close yet so far.

If they had anything to pout about it would be the fact that their final challenge was just as yawn-inducing as every challenge this season. OK, it wasn’t as boring as the infamously bad “make a blue dress” challenge, but as far as final challenges go, this was a snoozer. The designers were charged with finding inspiration in the Getty. To which I said, “What the heck is the Getty?” I mean, I think I’m pretty in the know about things, but I was at a loss. Turns out it’s a museum/research institute/cool building in L.A. It was plenty pretty and neat, but not exactly expected.

So the five remaining designers — Irina, Gordana, Carol Hannah, Christopher and Althea — and their models, naturally, since they have a show too and all, spent 30 minutes checking out the surroundings of the Getty.

Pretty, but YAWN. The fabulous Season 5 contestant Korto Momolu was dead-on when she told our own Gavon Laessig in Thursday’s Pulse, “They’re just kind of doing regular things, whereas in past seasons they would put a little twist in there. It wasn’t just you making an outfit, it was you making an outfit out of socks or corn chips or something. It seems like a really easy season.”

I want corn chips! I want socks! An outfit based on some building filled with things so creative these designers should be denied entrance? Um, no …

So, these folks, who Korto would eat for breakfast, by the way, were given two days and no twists to create an outfit. And the only interesting part of the whole thing is that Irina and Althea aren’t talking to each other. Meh.

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Brightening things up considerably was the sudden presence of Cindy Crawford, who appeared as a guest judge during the runway portion. She looked amazing — stunning! I was almost embarrassed to have her watch the kind of amateur stuff the designers sent down the runway.

In fact, I think the only really beautiful outfit was Carol Hannah’s regal gold dress that was based on a French bed from the 1700s. It didn’t much look like the bed (which was actually a relief) but it was gorgeous.

Gordana’s dress, which was meant to have the same angelic quality of a painting at the Getty, was beautiful, but it wasn’t particularly interesting. And judge Nina Garcia was right to rip it up for having a really heavily zipped back.

Christopher’s dress was a total mess. The top was fitted, the bottom was like an old ’80s jean skirt and the colors worked horribly.

Irina and Althea didn’t have their best days either. Irina created a pretty flowly Grecian-like number that didn’t much fit the painting that inspired it or the accessories she paired with it. Althea, meanwhile, clearly ran out time on the top of her outfit while working lines into her skirt that had the added affect of ruining it all together because the fabric puckered.

That puckering landed Althea in the dog house for the first time and into the bottom two, which wasn’t really the bottom two after all.

Instead of naming the winners first and then working down the line to the bottom, they first told Irina she’d be going to Fashion Week and then seconds later called Christopher’s name and told him he wasn’t.

Next came Carol Hannah, who got the pass to Bryant Park, leaving Althea and Gordana to duke it out for the final spot. Not that they duked anything out, they just both hung their heads and waited for what we all knew was coming: Althea to Bryant Park, Gordana home. Althea had been consistently in the top all season and Gordana had just been skating by. No brainer. It would have been a total shock if the judges had gone the other way.

So it’s all ladies at Bryant Park, which is fine because these particular girls have been the best all season.

I think Irina’s going to win it all, but you know what? I don’t really care who does.

To some up: “Meh.”

Random thoughts:

• Cindy Crawford looked soooo good. It made me realize how crappy everyone else looks. It’s not just bad lighting, it’s bad genes.

• For those who want to see a real winner, Korto will judging Kansas University’s edition of Project Runway on Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Woodruff Auditorium at the Kansas Union.

• Did anyone watch the “Top Chef” all-star reunion episode? As much as I love both Fabio and Carla, I just didn’t have the time to watch it live, though I plan to this weekend. Thoughts?

• How awful was Christopher’s sobbing? Seriously, it’s sad that the only guy left was the only one crying.

• So, the promos for the Bryant Park finale show Carol Hannah sick with something contagious. Could it be Swine Flu? Oh, right, this was taped so long ago it could have been bubonic plague.

• How do you think “Project Runway” can save itself after two bad seasons?