Sitting on a plane for 12 hours does weird things to people. Finding that I couldn't sleep well at all I started thinking of things to make me drowsy. Most people count sheep, but for me I decided to think about the differences between Project Runways. The American, British and Canadian versions.
Instead of making me drowsy my mind started organizing the variations in my mind and in no time I created a table showing the differences. Did I mention to you it was a 12 hour flight?
Here it is. The best of the 3 shows attributes I highlighted in yellow.
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| Music | Frenetic and foreboding the music mixes well with the visuals | Slow and often sparse, the music doesn’t do anything but make things seem slow. | Contemporary top UK tunes mixed with the visuals make the show enjoyable and topical. |
| Prod- | Nothing to complain about. It's slick production values make it the best | Oddly, there isn’t enough editing. A budget issue? Not enough cameras? Lighting is also an issue. There’s no mood, it’s just bright all the time | Everything is always oversaturated. The editing is frustrating as they don’t always show everyone’s creations. Omitting styles, only to see them on the catwalk |
| City | New York. The contestants never seem to go to far since everything seemingly is within walking distance from Parsons. | Toronto. The city’s only landmark apparently is the CN Tower. It’s in every open air background shot. | The city of London is beautifully showcased in the show. They get to go to clubs, bars, horse races, garden parties and even the London Eye |
| Work Space | Parsons, stark and in Season 1 a hideously coloured building. | Some warehouse in the suburbs | Instituto Marangoni, the great open workspace and the Skylights make it a dramatic space for the competition. |
| Living Space | Atlas and Gotham Apartments. Maybe because it’s in NYC but the spaces are so cramped that it makes my washroom look big. | The Rosemont is in Toronto’s Theatre district. The suites are large and the furniture is stylishly contemporary. Definitely the most civilized | 4 storey Georgian flat in Central London. A nice space in a great location but the bunk beds and Ikea inspired furnishings are horrible. |
| Casting | The best mix and certainly the most talented The 3 past winners couldn’t be more different. | The mix is actually not bad at all with only a dash of stereotypes. | The contestants are actually too young. Most are students and the garments they make are reflective of their skills. Even PRC contestants could make a better dress! |
| Hosts | Heidi Klum makes a great host and judge. I love her comments and zingers when they're accentuated by her Teutonic accent. | Iman. Her halting enunciation and constant posing is distracting. All that aside Iman is one beautiful lady! | Elizabeth Hurley Season 1, Kelly Osbourne Season 2. Osbourne lacks gravitas to be the host of Project Catwalk. It’s hard to take her seriously when she’s had so many fashion disasters herself. |
| Mentors | Tim Gunn, a true mentor with opinions that are dead on that no one ever listens to. His delivery of his advice is just as entertaining as his advice. | Brian Bailey, super nice guy but his personality is not weird or flamboyant enough to really make him in the same league as the other two mentors. | Ben de Lisi, more attitude then Tim and he likes to get his hands and mouth dirty. |
| Judges | The same team for all 4 seasons and still the best. Michael Kors and Nina Garcia | Shawn Hewson (Bustle Clothing) and Rita Silvan (Elle)… | Julien MacDonald and Lorrain Candy (Elle), Jean Reed (Grazia) Season 2 |
| Guest Judges | Diane von Furstenberg, Vera Wang, Sarah Jessica Parker... 'nuff said. | A bunch of people I’ve never heard of. | Also a bunch of people I’ve never heard of but they have cool British accents. |
| Phrases | In fashion one day you’re in and the next day you’re out. Auf Wiedersehen! | You don’t measure up. | Fashion has no mercy. |
While doing my research for my table I found out that there's a Project Runway Malaysia! If it's in english I'm gonna watch it!
