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 The finale of Season Four of Bravo's "Project Runway" brought fashion glam and reality show fam to the Tribeca Grand Hotel Wednesday night. Contestants such as Chris March, Victorya Hong, Kathleen "Sweet P" Vaughn, Ricky Lizalde, Carmen Webber, Kevin Christiania and Jack Mackenroth and fellow finalists Rami Kashou and Jillian Lewis came out to cheer the win of 21-year-old "Runway" wunderkind Christian Siriano. The super-sewer known for finishing his elaborate designs well ahead of the group admitted speed was his strength. He can even, he says, style his spiky, asymmetrical hair in only 20 minutes. So is it all the caffeine? The Power Bars? "No," he laughed, "we ate nasty food. I don't really think about it. I just do it. I really don't know, even my mother's like, ‘What the hell?'" Even before his win was announced Wednesday, Siriano was a fan favorite – and living in New York City, he's got plenty of fans to remind him of that fact. "I get marriage proposals every day," Siriano told me. "And I get touched, like people want to pick me up and hug me and hold me because they think I can fit in a purse. Actually, I can fit in a purse." It's not an empty claim. During filming, he was carried around in his own tote bag by well-muscled fellow designer Mackenroth. "I had to get my workout," joked Mackenroth. "And he only weighs 100 pounds. Well, he got up to 108 pounds when he was on the show and he was like, ‘Oh my God, I'm so fat!'" There is one thing that Siriano would like to set straight, however: his challenge-winning, frilled, puff-sleeved concoction inspired by a painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was not '80s, okay, people? "People call it '80s and I'm like, ‘People, no,'" he said. "Did people wear suits like that in the ‘80s? No. It's seventeenth century. It's period." Siriano continued to play with period ruffles, jackets and hats in the runway collection he showed at Bryant Park Fashion Week in early February. His combination of high drama and high fashion immediately caught the eye of guest judge Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, who told him on the final episode that she'd be honored to wear any one of his designs. "He's Mr. Fierce," said "Project Runway" design mentor Tim Gunn. Though, Gunn did admit, Siriano was one of the designers who frequently rejected his suggestions. "If they don't turn on my criticism, I don't say ‘What's the matter with you?'" said Gunn. "I just say, ‘Great confidence, now show that to the judges.'" Other Bravo fixtures rounded out the crowd, sipping champagne and munching hors d'oeuvres. "Project Runway" Season One winner Jay McCarroll told me it's not only the contestants' taste he admires. "I just touched Rami's butt," he said. "Rock hard. I hate the jeans he wears but what's underneath is good." "Top Chef's" Ted Allen said he will never do a reunion season of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." TRESemme's Nathaniel Hawkins, who gave hair advice on the "Project Runway," told me that his favorite political ‘do belongs to Hillary Clinton. "In the way that Margaret Thatcher had a commanding hairstyle," he said, "Hillary has a modern version of that. I actually like it a lot." You heard it from the professionals, folks, helmet hair is cool. In the end, though, the person who seemed to be having the most fun was Lisa, the lanky runway model who strutted Siriano's designs in the competition. She beamed by his side in a brand new outfit, a one-shouldered mini-dress in deep blue that fit her perfectly. And, yes, it had a ruffle. "He made it last night," she told me with a grin. "I went to his apartment at 6:30 and it was on the dress form, just two pieces of fabric sewn together. And he said, ‘How short do you want it?' And I said, ‘Pretty short!' He made the whole thing in like an hour and a half. And then tonight he did my hair." I couldn't resist asking the most important question. And I'm glad I did. "Yes!" Lisa said, almost leaping out of her stilettos, "I get to keep it!" Related StoriesNight-flights-from-Visakhapatnam  The newly laid runway at the Visakhapatnam airport was inspected by officials from the DGCA recently. The runway and the night landing facilities have been found to be up to the mark and new services would be introduced shortly. The national carrier Indian would start night flights from Visakhapatnam to New Delhi and Mumbai from the 1st of June. More flights would be introduced in a phased manner. &n more Babu-is-now-a-‘changed’-man! The TDP chief Chandra Babu Naidu is getting desperate by the day. He is now trying his best to motivate the party workers and keep them within the party fold. Many party workers have said that the party has turned elitist and Babu is always surrounded by a coterie. The TDP workers have no access to their leader. But Babu has now decided to make amends. He said that form now on, he will spend more time with party workers. Babu also said that party workers are now free to call on him at any time. No one will stop the workers from meeting him. But not everyone in the party is convinced. They see this as yet another ply by Babu to keep the workers happy as the elections are fast approaching. more Survivor:-Fans-vs.-Favorites-winner-crowned  Parvati Shallow was the last woman standing on "Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites." The 25-year-old boxer and charity organizer from Los Angeles outwitted, outlasted and outplayed her competitors — both "favorite" former castaways and "fan" contestants — to claim the title of "Sole Survivor" and the CBS reality show's $1 million prize during Sunday's live finale. She previously came in sixth place on "Survivor: Cook Islands." Shallow received five votes over three for runner-up Amanda Kimmel, more AB-Jr:-Crore-and-more!  Last year, Star Screen presented the Best Actor in a Comic Role award to Abhishek Bachchan (Bunty Aur Babli). This year, when the organisers approached him to perform at their award night, they were stumped when he demanded a whopping Rs 1.5 crore for the January 6 function. Says our well-informed source, “The unreasonable amount sent Star representatives into a tizzy. They tried to negotiate but when Abhishek did not relent, they dropped him. Star Screen was very keen to have Abhishek do the finale act, but th more Goud-in-no-hurry- The new party of Devender Goud is likely to take some more time to shape. Goud has a meeting with intellectuals’ from the Telangana region. Most of the speakers including Goud, Jayashankar and others listed out how party after party took the people of Telangana for a ride. The meeting passed a resolution demanding a separate Telangana at the earliest. Goud is not yet clear about the proposed political party that he is planning to launch. He is till expecting some big leaders from the TDP and the TRS to join him in the next few days. Observers say that Goud will take his own time in making up his mind about his political party. & more Teething-problems-of-PRP  Praja Rajyam seems to be suffering with the teething problems. The party high command is very much worrying with the resignations of its leaders at this crucial stage. There were many left and many more ready to leave the party. VJR.Naaragoni who is quite dissatisfied with the party tendered his resignation to the party, has reconsidered his decision with the appeal from party general secretary Allu Aravind. While at the same time some new entrants like Vangaveeti Radhakrishna is filling joy in the hearts of party more Bait-for-Jr.NTR-  Did Chief Minister Y.S.Rajha Shekar Reddy forgot adding ‘Indira and Rajiv’ to his new projects? No. Not if he wants to stick to his chair for the next five years if elected in the coming elections. Then why did he dare to name a project Telugu Ganga as ‘Nandamuri Taraka ramarao Telugu Ganga Project’, a name that is associated with his rival Telugu Desam Party? What is the secret behind his latest move? Any one who follows the current political picture of the state can finds an answer with out any prompting. That is for more Chiru-hosts-big-party-  The PRP leader and MLA from Tirupathi Chiranjeevi hosted a big party for his MLAs the other day. The party was in celebration of his entry into the Assembly. The party was held at Chiranjeevi’s residence. The spread was lavish and drinks flowed freely. The MLAs had a good time eating and drinking merrily till the wee hours. Chiranjeevi spent a considerable amount of time entertaining the guests and making them feel at home. Allu Aravind did not attend the party. Naga Babu mad more PRP-–-One-Hero-and-rest--Zeroes!  All is not well in the newly formed Praja Rajyam Party. The leaders from other parties who joined the PRP with high expectations are now slowly realizing the truth. The seniors from other parties are now slowly being cold shouldered. No leader is allowed to hog the media limelight, even briefly. The party is keen to project Chiranjeevi and Chiranjeevi alone as the face of the party. Chiranjeevi is the hero and the rest, from senior political leaders to ex-bureaucrats and ex-police officials are all only just extras. Bhuma and Shobha Nagi Reddy, Hari Rama Jogaiah, C Ramachandraiah, KSN Murthy and others ar more Malayalam-film-stars-join-hands-for-fund-raiser-film  Almost all leading Malayalam film stars will come together to act in a film, officially launched Monday and being made by the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) to raise funds for the association's activities. The yet untitled film, which was planned last year itself, will be produced by actor Dileep and a major portion of the box office collections would go to AMMA, said ace comedian Innocent, who is also president of AMMA. Last year, Dileep had handed over Rs.1 million to the association fo more |
