Daniel is eliminated from Shear Genius
The four stylists left on Shear Genius might or might not be the best of the best (I’m still wondering how Glenn got eliminated before Nekisa) but they do make for good television. And I’m a bit surprised at the make up of the final three.
The shortcut challenge tonight was “all about personalities” according to Jaclyn, who meets the stylists in the salon to give them the challenge. The would be judged by her personal stylist, Jose Eber. Jaclyn tells the stylists that they would need to become familiar with their clients and create a hairstyle that captures their personality and portrays what makes them unique. They would have 1.5 hours to complete the challenge.
After the stylists have been working for a while, Jaclyn comes in and tells them they have a “little problem” – they had been double booked. She tells them to go and meet their second client who turns out to be the identical twin of the first client. Jaclyn also drops another bombshell on the stylists. The winner of the shortcut challenge would be guaranteed a spot in the final three.
Jose Eber says that the decision was a close call. He says that all of the stylists impressed him and any one of them could work for him in one of his salons. But in the end it was Nicole who wins the challenge, giving the clients two totally different looks that showcased their individual personalities. I was surprised that Nicole won. Pleased, but surprised because I’m not so sure she would have made it to the final three had she not won immunity.
The elimination challenge is the photo shoot challenge, and the stylists would be working with celebrity photographer Michael Grecco. The stylists pick scissor boxes to see who their clients would be and then learn the challenge – create an avant-garde hairstyle to represent the season they had in their scissor box. The stylists would be judged on technical skills, creativity, and how well they work with the photographer. They had three hours after their meeting with Michael to create the look. And Rene tells them that the judges (including guest judge Linda Wells, the editor in chief of Allure magazine) would be at the photo shoot.
Nicole goes first, and her season is winter. At first Michael says that the hair looked like it had dandruff in it because Nicole had her model just lay down in the fake snow instead of holding up the hair and laying it out. All of her time (or a really good portion of it) was spent combing snow out of the hair.
Dee had autumn and Michael is unhappy with the haircut and the yellow pieces in the hair. He said he wanted a look that was flowing.
Charlie had spring, and at first Michael thought the hair was too soft, that it looked too romantic or period. Charlie worked with it and was able to create a hairstyle that worked for the shot.
Daniel went last, with summer as his season. The majority of his hairstyle was in the back, but the picture would be from the front. Plus the photographer hated the red braids he put in the hair, saying it did not work with his color palate.
The judges thought that Daniel was thrown off by the shoot, that he was uncomfortable and intimidated. Dee gave her model the same haircut she gives every model and that she didn’t take any risks. Nicole’s inexperience hindered her, and the judges thought she should have taken more risks since she had immunity. Charlie’s hairstyle was too soft and beautiful at first, but he was willing to work with the photographer and give him a style that worked.
Charlie wins the challenge, and I was surprised that a winner was even named since someone already had immunity. That left Dee and Daniel in the bottom two. Daniel used too much product in the hair, made a bad choice with the red hair pieces, and the shape of his style was not avant-garde. Dee did not make the right choice in terms of haircut – it didn’t work for the shoot and lacked originality. The judges also thought it was missing an avant-garde edge.
In the end it was Daniel who was eliminated. I think it came down to the fact that Daniel was very intimidated in the shoot where Dee was a bit more comfortable. Maybe the judges were also taking into consideration Dee’s past performance, but that didn’t save Glenn when she was eliminated so I don’t know why this would have been the case her. I personally thought that Daniel should have been saved. We’ve seen that haircut from Dee all during this season. Daniel took some risks – they were the wrong choices but it seemed as if he tried to step out of his comfort zone. Just my opinion.
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