Design Star Season 2 Premiere Party

It's that time of the year. HGTV's Design Star has kicked off its second season with fabulous ratings and an even more fabulous cast.

While I'm sure many viewers are as upset as I am that we can't watch David Bromstad on the show again (although Color Splash did get picked up!), there's enough talent, creativity, and drama with the new cast to make up for it.

As viewers know, in each episode at least one designer's "show has been cancelled," and this week we said goodbye to the first eliminee, Lisa Millard. At the Design Star Premiere Party I spoke with Lisa, one of the fan favorites on the HGTV message boards. Prior to the party, I had viewed the first episode, minus the actual elimination. Yet, after speaking to Lisa, I had a feeling she was the one to be going home; Lisa commented that all her designs have an idea behind them, and that was obviously something the judges - Vern Yip, Martha McCully, and Cynthia Rowley - just didn't understand.

The elimination doesn't mean that Lisa will be giving up any time soon. It was quite apparent from speaking to her that this girl has chutzpah. User "Good Gardner" from the HGTV message boards asked on the boards: "What did she want to do with her self when she was in high school? Is this something that runs in her family?" According to Lisa, it was a bad experience that launched her design career. After working at a popular restaurant chain, a customer left her a few cents for tip. Upset, Lisa said something, and ultimately had to leave her job there. The extra time allowed her to focus on what she really loves: design.

Back to the party... season one winner David Bromstad was there, which makes me happier than a kid in a candy store. I've interviewed David a few times now, and he's just as sweet now that he has his own show as he was when he was a finalist last year. As I mentioned, Color Splash has been picked up, which says a lot for Design Star. The winner of Design Star doesn't just receive a six episode show on HGTV Sunday mornings at 6 a.m. when no one is watching. David got a primetime spot, tons of promotion, and his show is getting picked up. That's gratifying for viewers; they invest a lot of time in Design Star and it shows that their time is well spent. Of course, David Bromstad also set the bar high for this season's contestants.

As for the contestants, I got the chance to speak with most of them at the Design Star Premiere Party. My two favorites - personality wise - were Scott and Todd. Although, I'm sure if I had gotten a chance to speak with Josh Sparkle, I would have loved him as well.

Note: Halfway through the party, we all got to sit down for a viewing of the first episode (of course they end the preview right before the elimination is announced). HGTV President Judy Girard asked Design Star host Clive Davis to say one word about each of the contestants. When he got to Josh Sparkle, he stood up and said "Drag Queen is two words!" The audience roared with laughter.
I spoke with Scott and Todd the longest as well. Scott has quite the impressive design resume and cracked me up when he told me how disappointed he was to find out that David Bromstad had a boyfriend. Believe me, Scott, I wish he were single too!

Todd, the skateboard quarter pipe aficionado, was also super nice. As I told Todd, I think one of the coolest parts about him was that right off the bat, viewers knew who Todd was. His personality was strong and he made an impression. Todd told me to check out his website Epic Spaces, which I urge all of you to do, as it's an obvious extension of his personality.

As for some of the other contestants, Christina was absolutely stunning, Will was really sweet, and Josh seemed pretty quiet. Then there's Robb, who many message board posters seemed to think should have gone home instead of Lisa. He and Josh definitely had a rough time with their über tacky design, and many posters sounded off about his ego and loudness. Let me tell you, you don't know what loud is until you're sitting in front of Robb during the premiere viewing.

That's all for now. Until next week's Design Star, leave your comments below on who you think will win the ultimate prize as HGTV's newest Design Star!