Have you ever been deliriously excited when you’re almost at the end of an interminable task? The preparation for your SATs? That huge pile of laundry? Moving cross-country? Painting the Sistine Chapel?

Okay, maybe not that last one, but you know what I mean. That’s how I feel this week. The agony that is Project Runway season 6 is almost at an end, and I can feel it, almost like I’m Dorothy and I’ve clicked my heels three times. I want to go home, which in this case is New York City, where in my dreams season 7 is better and Michel and Nina never leave.

Which, according to press reports, they won’t. So we have that going for us, which is nice.

As for this week’s show, I have a confession. Thanks to my penchant for peeking, I saw the final collections months ago, so I figured out who our final three were weeks ago. This week’s shocking double elimination wasn’t so much shocking as expected.
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Logan, wave goodbye. We’ll still see your silver pants from a thousand miles away.

Sorry, I get ahead of myself, but this episode was another in this season’s long line of “Make a pretty ensemble/dress, designers!” My eyes, they glaze over. What ever happened to “Here’s some Tupperware. Design a garment!”

Last night’s challenge even went so far as to bastardize from this season: Make a companion piece to your best (i.e. winning) design from this season. Oops, sorry, Logan. We’ll just pick out your prettiest gown, since you were never a winner.

And since the theme of this season seems to be black/white/turd brown, we were once again left with no color on the runway. Or at least, no vibrant colors.
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You know how Tim Gunn is always saying, “This has great potential”?

That’s how I feel about this season. It had great potential but squandered it weeks ago, and even finally having Michael Kors and Nina Garcia back where they belong (at judging panel) can’t make me care much about the outcome of this sad season.

About the only thing I noticed last night was Althea’s tragic root growth. Garnier is a sponsor. Give the poor girl a box of hair color and let her do a touch up, for the love of Pete Campell!

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Is lots of feathers, sequins and more feathers. In black or white, preferably. Because if you’re in a stage show, and you’re Christina Aguilera, you need to be seen by the 92nd row, and only black and white will do. Feathered black and white.

Oy! I’m feeling dirrrty.

This week’s challenge featured not one, but two so-called fashion icons. The first was Mr. Bob Mackie, the Sultan of Sequins, and yes, he’s looking a little…plastique, but listen, if you grew up in the ’70s like I did, you can’t help but have grown up on a heaping pile of the man’s creations for Carol Burnett, Diana Ross, and of course, Cher. Now would have been the week to pull out the “Half-Breed” tribute, Shirin. Who among us doesn’t remember Cher at the Oscars, thumbing her nose in this little number? Read the full story

Last night’s show. Oh, last night’s show. It makes me happy, and yet, it makes me so, so sad. And angry.

This biased, out-of-nowhere judging must stop! These substitute judges must return from whence they came! I need a drink. Is Oktoberfest still going on? Heidi seems to think so. But I get ahead of myself.

Our usual models are eighty-sixed in favor of several ladies in varying styles of wedding gowns. But these are not blushing brides. They are all divorcées, and their dresses must be remade to represent their new lives. Sort of like the Trash the Dress trend, only without mud and paint. But dye is allowed. Read the full story

First, the good news: Our beloved gentleman of the bon mot, Michael Kors, is back and a bewitching shade of persimmon. Laws, he has been missed!

And now, the bad news: The designs produced this week weren’t fit for the bargain basement sale at Loehmann’s. Sorry, designers. Better step it up.

This week’s challenge was yet more product placement nirvana for Macy’s and the I.N.C. clothing line— make two looks that were cohesive and fit the brand. Oh, and make them both in shades of blue.

Now, blue is my second favorite color, after pink. And there are so many different blues you can work with. But the designers, working in teams this week, picked the saddest combos, and perhaps the shiniest, in some cases. Is L.A. Mood running another special on discontinued fabrics? Read the full story

Annie get your glue gun, because it’s time for a costume design challenge on Project Runway.

Taking note of the Hollywood setting, this week the designers are given a choice of film genres and must pick one and crank out an outfit that hews to their particular archetype, while also envisioning a character who will be wearing it. Some have more imagination than others, and some need remedial film scholar studies. Read the full story

If you guessed newsprint as the unconventional fabric of choice for this week’s challenge, you won the kewpie.

Although it injected some life into this season’s so far dull challenges, there’s still one huge problem with Project Runway‘s sixth season — the judges. Or should I say, the continued absence of NIna Garcia and Michael Kors. But more on that later. The headlines today are all about what you can do with paper.

Heidi appears in a darling black and white Breton top (and really, everyone should have that staple in their wardrobe) to tell the designers the answers will be found…in black and white. Tim loads them into the van and takes them to the Los Angeles Times building, where they meet with Times’ fashion critic Booth Moore. Amidst pallets of newspaper, the designers are given three minutes for a snatch and grab mission, and as usual in these type of challenges (remember the Gristedes challenge, the trash barge challenge, the Saturn car parts challenge?), some get greedier than others.

Back at FIDM, Tim gives a lecture on the history of the paper dress, and lays out the materials they can use, such as dyes, brushes, markers, and muslin for base, although it can’t show in the finished design. Which I agree with — muslin is a crutch for weak designers.
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NEW YORK (AP) — c: After a massive delay, “Project Runway” is revealing its new batch of aspiring fashion designers. Until now, they lurked in the shadows, prematurely sidelined by a legal battle over the popular design-challenge series, which began on Bravo but ended up in the hands of Lifetime.

As the female friendly network prepares for the Aug. 20 premiere, the 16 contestants’ diverse faces and backgrounds are ready for launch. Three of them — Nicholas Putvinksi, Gordana Gehlhausen and Irina Shabeyeva — hail originally from Russia, Bosnia and the Republic of Georgia, respectively.
Yet another contestant, Malvin Vein, lists his favorite designer as “himself” and inspiration as “the farmers of rural China.” Another, Louise Black, claims the first garment she ever sewed was her very own wedding dress.
Nearly half call New York City home.

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It’s that time of year again when most of us TV critics get to act all smart by picking Emmy winners, but many of us wind up looking silly ’cause most of those picks are wrong. Emmy voters, after all, are about as predictable as an approaching tropical storm.

And that’s not our fault. They can’t help it if they’re not as smart or well-informed as we are. That said, check out my picks below…

BEST DRAMA
The nominees: Boston Legal (ABC); Damages (FX); Dexter (Showtime); House (Fox); Lost (ABC); Mad Men (AMC)
What should win: Mad Men
What will win: Mad Men
Why: Although AMC’s retro hip series led all dramas with 16 nominations, it’s no lock to win. Strong competition will come from Lost and Damages, two compelling (not to mention twisty-turn-y) dramas that were impossible to ignore. But Mad Men deserves some Emmy love for its brilliant writing, well-drawn characters and bringing the swinging ’60 back to life in painstaking detail. Mad Men is also one of those rare dramas in which the characters say more a with long stare or an awkward glance than they do with 10 pages of dialogue.

BEST ACTOR (DRAMA)
The nominees: Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment); Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad); Michael C. Hall (Dexter); Jon Hamm (Mad Men); Hugh Laurie (House); James Spader (Boston Legal)
Who should win: Hamm
Who will win: Hamm
Why: Clearly the voters love bad boy Spader. Just about everyone on the planet picked The Sopranos‘ James Gandolfini in this category last season. But who walked away with the little gold statue? Spader. Even he was shocked. Don’t be surprised if it happens again. You can make a strong case for every actor nominated. Byrne was magnificent as a caring therapist with his own family problems. Hall is deliciously twisted as a morally conflicted serial killer. Cranston showed us drama chops we didn’t even know he had as a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher who suddenly finds himself mixed up in the crystal-meth business and Laurie, well, no one plays crabby better than Laurie. But as a slick, philandering ad man with a secret past, Hamm turned in a career-defining performance that put him on TV’s A-list.

BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA)
The nominees: Glenn Close (Damages); Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters); Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit); Holly Hunter (Saving Grace); Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
Who should win: Close
Who will win: Close
Why: For playing a take-no-prisoners litigator who’ll do whatever it takes to win a case — including murder! — Close should not be ignored like she was last year when Field won. If Close gets dissed again, it’ll probably be because voters couldn’t resist Sedgwick’s comely Southern-fried accent or they wanted to see Field make another “you like me, you really, really like me!” acceptance speech.

BEST COMEDY
The nominees: Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO); Entourage (HBO); The Office (NBC); 30 Rock (NBC); Two and a Half Men (CBS)
What should win: 30 Rock
What will win: 30 Rock
Why: OK, let me get this out of the way: Two and a Half Men isn’t an Emmy-worthy comedy. In any year. Sure, it’s mildly amusing and Charlie Sheen has that horndog look down pat (he’s had lots of practice in real life), but it’s not on the level of the other four shows. That it keeps getting nominated should tell you something about the state of comedy on TV. For years I’ve been hoping Curb Your Enthusiasm would win. It never does. And it won’t this year. Entourage, while still entertaining, has lost a bit of its luster and comedic edge. The Office is a hoot but no comedy makes me laugh out loud more than 30 Rock.

BEST ACTOR (COMEDY)
The nominees: Alec Baldwin (30 Rock); Steve Carell (The Office); Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies); Tony Shalhoub (Monk); Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men)
Who should win: Baldwin
Who will win: Baldwin
Why: For me, Baldwin can read the phone book deadpan and be a scream. OK, so I wrote that last year. But it’s still true this year.

BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY)
The nominees: Christina Applegate (Samantha Who?); America Ferrera (Ugly Betty); Tina Fey (30 Rock); Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine); Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)
Who should win: Louis-Dreyfus
Who will win: Applegate
Why: Another strong category in which every nominee is deserving. Everyone knows how much I love me some Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She makes wacky and neurotic so hot and sexy. But Applegate kinda does the same thing on Samantha Who? and she hasn’t won yet.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (DRAMA)
The nominees: William Shatner (Boston Legal); Ted Danson (Damages); Zeljko Ivanek (Damages); Michael Emerson (Lost); John Slattery (Damages)
Who should win: Emerson
Who will win: Emerson
Why: His bug-eyed intensity as the leader of The Others on Lost is both captivating and hypnotizing. Emerson’s marble-sized orbs should have their own agent. Don’t be shocked, though, if Danson or Ivanek, who were equally stellar on Damages, win.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (DRAMA)
The nominees: Candice Bergen (Boston Legal); Rachel Griffiths (Brothers and Sisters); Chandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy); Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy); Dianne Wiest (In Treatment)
Who should win: Wiest
Who will win: Wilson
Why: About three people saw Wiest in In Treatment. And that’s a shame since HBO’s short-lived drama was outstanding and, at times, difficult to watch. But who says every show must be feel-good and easy to digest? Not me. Unfortunately Wilson or Oh will probably get the nod.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (COMEDY)
The nominees: Jeremy Piven (Entourage); Kevin Dillon (Entourage); Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother); Rainn Wilson (The Office); Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men)
Who should win: Harris
Who will win: Harris
Why: As much I love Piven’s foul-mouthed Ari, his character has become a bit one-note. Ari gets mad. Ari screams. Ari curses. But devilishly charming Harris continues to steal every scene he’s in on Mother.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (COMEDY)
The nominees: Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies); Jeam Smart (Samantha Who?); Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live); Holland Taylor (Two and a Half Men); Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty)
Who should win: Williams
Who will win: Poehler
Why: Williams is sinfully good on Betty, but Poehler is one of the most talented female cast members Saturday Night Live has ever had. And her Hillary Clinton impression has even impressed, well, Hillary herself. That’ll be enough for voters.

BEST REALITY COMPETITION SHOW
The nominees:The Amazing Race (CBS); American Idol (Fox); Dancing with the Stars (ABC); Project Runway (Bravo); Top Chef (Bravo)
What should win: Dancing with the Stars
What will win: The Amazing Race
Why Race has already nabbed five Emmys in this category. While Idol gets bigger ratings and Dancing is more popular, there’s something about watching contestants hoofing it around the globe the Academy loves.

BEST REALITY COMPETITION SHOW HOST
The nominees: Tom Bergeron (Dancing with the Stars, ABC); Heidi Klum (Project Runway, Bravo); Howie Mandel (Deal or No Deal, NBC); Jeff Probst (Survivor, CBS); Ryan Seacrest (American Idol, Fox)
Who should win: Bergeron
Who will win:Bergeron
Why: Because no one is as off-the-cuff funny or charming. Sure, Seacrest tries and sometimes succeeds, but Bergeron succeeds more without trying at all.

BEST MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
The nominees:Bernard and Doris (HBO); Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale (HBO); The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Lifetime); A Raisin in the Sun (ABC); Recount (HBO)
What should win: Recount
What will win:Recount
Why With three films nominated, the odds are pretty good HBO will walk away a winner. The smartly written and sharply acted Recount was the best of the bunch. If HBO’s loopy film about the disastrous 2000 presidential election doesn’t win, Raisin probably will. (But it shouldn’t since it was only mediocre and P. Diddy was as stiff as a redwood in it.) If Raisin wins, the question is, will HBO demand a…recount? Bad joke. Sorry.

BEST MINISERIES
The nominees: The Andromeda Strain (A&E); Cranford (PBS); John Adams (HBO); Tin Man (Sci Fi Channel)
What should win: Cranford
What will win: John Adams
Why It was a 600-part miniseries HBO spent a gazillion dollars to produce. That has to translate into a big Emmy win, right?