S13: Amanda Valentine

[KimberStormer]

I think the "sweet tunes" is emblematic--I literally cannot imagine how it can possibly be read as "fake" "calculated" or whatever--so in the absence of any common ground on which to debate, I'll give it a rest.

[Surrealist]

And I think the editors probably think they are making her look good, I'm sure they think that we are all amused by her lines about "laying down some sweet tunes.*" And they have shown this tiff between her and Korina/Char almost entirely in a way that favors her. We didn't hear what Korina or Char actually said to her, we didn't hear the tone, we didn't hear the context, we didn't hear them explain it (Char a little). We heard Amanda recount what both people told her from her point of view, we saw her explain it to a sympathetic Fade (I'm hoping he stays above whatever drama she wants to suck him into), and we saw her put on the waterworks in her TH.

I also don't understand the reliance on "Well, if Fade likes her, then she can't be that bad."

Fade seems like a genuinely nice guy who goes about his work and tries to avoid unnecessary drama. This is how all of the contestants should be.

Amanda went to Fade looking for an ally and create more drama. Korina's a big jerk. We've known this and seen examples since the first episode. It interested me that Fade told Amanda she must have said something to prompt those comments from Korina and Char. I'm not going to speculate on what exactly was said because I wasn't there and the editors didn't want us to see what happened for whatever reason.

Anyway. I don't think Fade was saying that as a dig at Amanda. I think he listens to people and tries to keep out of everything. I think he'd have something nice to say to any designer who approached him (except maybe Korina ;) ), so I don't think his concern was anything other than him being nice because she was having a bad time for whichever actual reason. Or maybe he genuinely likes her? Who knows.

[Oholibamah]

I also don't understand the reliance on "Well, if Fade likes her, then she can't be that bad."

 

If it's being used to combat the reliance on "Amanda liked Michelle so she must be terrible" then it has its merits.

 

If anything it came from her choosing to associate herself with Michelle.

 

I totally get not liking Michelle, but about 95% of the terrible things she said were in confessionals, which Amanda was not privy to. As for them continuing to communicate after the show, people have layers and I believe that under the right circumstances I would also be friends with Michelle, especially if I got to know her before seeing how she spoke about my colleagues in confessionals.

 

Potential Answer A: "I mean, its great because I have an idea of where the different fabrics are, but we only get a limited amount of time in Mood, and we have to consider our fabric choices in light of the challenge, so picking a fabric is still going to be difficult."

 

Potential Answer B: "well, obviously I have an advantage, I mean I've been there before, and I know where everything is, so obviously having been a previous contestant I have a big advantage."

 

Production requires their hamsters to answer with the question, so she is forced to either say "I have an advantage at mood because ____" or just flat-out disagree with the statement which would be disingenuous. I don't see how watering down what she's saying with "wells" and "i means" will accomplish anything beyond making the producers scrap her confessionals for meandering around the point. It would make me think she was trying to lessen how massive the advantage of being a returning designer is, which people would be jumping all over her for.

 

For the record, I have no problem with people not liking Amanda. I can understand how elements of her personality could be irritating. But I still don't see her being "smug", and I don't think associating with Michelle is fair evidence that she sucks.

[Julia]

If it's being used to combat the reliance on "Amanda liked Michelle so she must be terrible" then it has its merits.

 

I suppose. But I do think that lie down with bullies, get up with fleas is a valid concept. I also think that you'd have to be a little less sophisticated than Amanda tends to portray herself as not to realize that she was lying down with bullies. 

[Captanne]

Something I wrote over on the recent episode page, 2.  Not really relevant to the current discussion here but it's on topic and was spontaneous.  

 

Also, for what it's worth, I've been watching PR since Jay Carroll and Austin Scartlett graced the show.  (Oh, and Wendy Pepper and all the rest of the crew.)  I haven't missed a season.  I remember Amanda's first go around and I have always liked her.  I continue to like her.  I do not in any way think she is a re-incarnation of Gretchen and was just as appalled as everyone else by Gretchen and -- OMG, especially -- by Anya's wins.  Holy moley.

But I have always found Amanda to be refreshingly mature and adult.  So, I'm not seeing what everyone else here is seeing about her personality.

Was the fringe too much?  Sure.  Was that win questionable?  Absolutely.  But, I've seen such amazingly worse on this series that I don't really agree with all the pearl clutching from the viewers. 

So, one Amanda "meh" over here in the corner.  I like her and I think her personality is pretty darned durable and drama-free.  I like that about her.  (Dare I say, "Professional"?  Sure, why not:  I find her behaviour the most professional of the bunch and I have thought that since her debut in whatever season she was in.)

[Oholibamah]

I also think that you'd have to be a little less sophisticated than Amanda tends to portray herself as not to realize that she was lying down with bullies.

 

I agree that associating with bullies can speak volumes about a person - watching Season 8's groupthink under the odious Gretchen and Ivy's tutelage was painful to watch and has soured my opinion of Christopher, Valerie, Drummond, April et. al.

 

But I just don't recall Michelle being that terrible to people's faces - not to say that this excuses her behavior, but it wasn't something Amanda was present for. She was certainly whiney and self-absorbed, and perhaps there were deleted scenes of Amanda and Michelle backbiting everybody in the corner together. But as it was presented, Amanda and Michelle got along, and Michelle took enjoyment from smack talking people in her confessionals. To me the two events aren't related.

[Julia]

I'm totally willing to agree to disagree here. I do think, though, that it's likely Amanda has watched her season by now, so having two pictures of Michelle on her current season friends and family seems to me a bit like an endorsement. I may easily be reading too much into it, though. She may have just thought of it as associating herself with a winner.

[RealityGal]

If it's being used to combat the reliance on "Amanda liked Michelle so she must be terrible" then it has its merits.

 

 

 

 

I totally get not liking Michelle, but about 95% of the terrible things she said were in confessionals, which Amanda was not privy to. As for them continuing to communicate after the show, people have layers and I believe that under the right circumstances I would also be friends with Michelle, especially if I got to know her before seeing how she spoke about my colleagues in confessionals.

 

 

 

 

Production requires their hamsters to answer with the question, so she is forced to either say "I have an advantage at mood because ____" or just flat-out disagree with the statement which would be disingenuous. I don't see how watering down what she's saying with "wells" and "i means" will accomplish anything beyond making the producers scrap her confessionals for meandering around the point. It would make me think she was trying to lessen how massive the advantage of being a returning designer is, which people would be jumping all over her for.

 

For the record, I have no problem with people not liking Amanda. I can understand how elements of her personality could be irritating. But I still don't see her being "smug", and I don't think associating with Michelle is fair evidence that she sucks.

 

It's interesting that production would force her to say something, I've never heard of that before.   I've heard of leading questions and creative editing, but I've never heard of someone being forced to say something in a particular way or totally disagree.

 

But even if she were forced to begin a statement with "I have an advantage at Mood because..." one could answer it with "I have an advantage at Mood because I know where the fabrics are, but its still difficult because the right fabric is different depending on the challenge."   IMO, that just sounds honest.

 

Even if a producer chopped that answer off before the but, it would have sounded a lot less smug than Amanda's response (which I found to be smug in both tone and substance). 

 

As for the genuineness of here statement, she does have an advantage at Mood, she has shopped there under time constraints, but at the same time any of the other designers could have gone to Mood to get the layout of the store.   The others haven't shopped under a time constraint and thats an advantage, but as far as Mood is concerned is it a monumental advantage?  I don't think so.  The right fabric depends on the challenge, and the design the contestant has to create.  So she may know where things are right off the bat, but she hasn't been in Mood for a year, and other designers could have easily visited Mood before applying to the show.  What the other designers don't know, and what she doesn't know is what the challenge is.  So if her answer had reflected that she had an advantage in regards to Mood, but not the biggest advantage ever, I would have thought that was an honest response.

 

I would also be surprised to learn that Michelle limited her feelings to the confessional, when she seemed so very open about expressing her opinion in her very attitude towards Patricia.  I remember Michelle being rude and dismissive towards Patricia,and I think you can convey that attitude very easily without words, so I don't get the impression it was any big secret.  I don't think its a stretch to imagine that someone who is willing to give scathing reviews of someone elses work when they know it will be shown to millions is not going to mince words talking to their friend in the apartment at night when the camera crew may not be around.  So I don't think Michelle's attitude or feelings was a big shock to Amanda.

 

And I think choosing to associate with someone who is a jerk can be evidence of a persons personality.  I don't think for a minute that Amanda didn't know who Michelle was.  Saying you might be friends with Michelle before you saw her confessional, to me, is saying that Amanda somehow missed aspects of Michelle's personality, but IMO, its unlikely that spending as much time with her as she did that Amanda was blindsided by Michelle's confessionals.  And if she wasn't blindsided then she knew exactly who Michelle was and decided that she wanted to be her friend.    

 

So - in the end, M always V's.  I don't much care for Amanda, but others do.  Some people like vanilla ice cream, I like chocolate, other people will only eat Dippin' Dots....what are you gonna do?  :)

Edited September 1, 2014 by RealityGal

[backgroundnoise]

While I don't have any particular dislike of Amanda herself, I don't like the whole fans-decide-their-favorite-to-come-back.  I hate they way the production company tries to spin that as fans demanding a return of a favorite who got a raw deal.   They need to start including another option like "Rather a new person than any of the above" when allowing voting. 

 

There was nothing special about Amanda in her season, IMO, and certainly no unfair elimination.  And now that she's back, I honestly believe the producers are putting her in the top just to justify it:  "See THE FANS were right, she's great!"

 

Unfairly or not, this makes me want Amanda to fail, especially as I see her undeserving (IMO) designs keep getting praised.

[Nutjob]

Honestly, half the time I think Amanda's comments are tongue-in-cheek. I may be totally wrong, but when she says stuff about her brother ("laying down some sweet tuens") and the like, it seems to me like she's not being serious at all. I think that's why she doesn't bother me--I don't believe she's nearly as serious about herself as everyone else seems to.

[PepperMonkey]

I'm sorta, kinda starting to like Amanda a bit more than I did at the first of the season.

Maybe it's just because, oh my god, who is there to actually LIKE on season 13 or maybe she's relaxing some and I can tell that a bit of what she says IS actually self-deprecating, after all.

That eyeball dress, oh lord... I still don't see what that had to do with Cleopatra crying in the rain, but I guffawed when the eyeballs started to fall off. I'll take my laughs where I can get them on PR these days.

Also, I don't necessarily see a friendly acquaintenance-ship with Michelle Lesniak as an indictment of Amanda, at least not automatically. I'm trying to remember what Michelle did that was so heinous besides not liking Patricia. I liked Patricia a lot, but everyone's entitled to their opinion and some people just don't like each other. Michelle defied Nina in that one challenge but Idc about that because I'm ready for Nina to leave the show, and have been since Gretchengate. Michelle had that one blow out with Daniel, but I thought he was the crazy one in that scenario.

But as to Amanda, in relation to MIchelle: Michelle liked her and thought she had some talent and skill, which many in season 11 did not, so I understand why she would like her on a level.

But with this group of designers, and at this point, I don't even care if Amanda becomes the first returnee to win the whole thing. I wish I could say I cared drastically who wins, but I just don't have a horse I'm backing in this race, sadly.

[Julia]

That eyeball dress, oh lord... I still don't see what that had to do with Cleopatra crying in the rain, but I guffawed when the eyeballs started to fall off. I'll take my laughs where I can get them on PR these days.

 

My theory is that Amanda came prepared with a dress based on Salvadore Dali's eyeballs for the avant garde challenge and when they threw in the rainway twist she made some shit up about Cleopatra.

[Oldernowiser]

My theory is that Amanda came prepared with a dress based on Salvadore Dali's eyeballs for the avant garde challenge and when they threw in the rainway twist she made some shit up about Cleopatra.

Oh, you mean Cleopatra's makeup running down her face as she watched her city drown in the Nile? See, every time I think Amanda just has a super-dry self-deprecating stealth wit (which I would actually really enjoy) she ruins it with something stunningly vapid like that story. That and she has this weird 70s throwback vocabulary, did she actually say "rad" non-ironically the other night or am I not remembering it correctly? It was something like that.

ETA: I now remember, "I dig it." Okay, Amanda, I was actually alive in the 70s and never used that phrase then, let alone now. WTH.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Oldernowiser

[Julia]

Oh, you mean Cleopatra's makeup running down her face as she watched her city drown in the Nile? See, every time I think Amanda just has a super-dry self-deprecating stealth wit (which I would actually really enjoy) she ruins it with something stunningly vapid like that story. That and she has this weird 70s throwback vocabulary, did she actually say "rad" non-ironically the other night or am I not remembering it correctly? It was something like that.

 

I realize it's difficult to bridge what she had with rain, but Cleopatra? Really? Seriously, I think after a few thousand years of yearly Nile floods the egyptians figured out not to build in the flood plain. Yeesh.

[RealityGal]

I realize it's difficult to bridge what she had with rain, but Cleopatra? Really? Seriously, I think after a few thousand years of yearly Nile floods the egyptians figured out not to build in the flood plain. Yeesh.

I think the yearly Nile floods actually helped the Egyptian agriculture.  Beyond that, there is an Engineering an Empire episode about how the Egyptians were able to resist flood damage in certain areas, so I'm not entirely sure the city was floating away, and I wouldn't think it would happen during Cleopatra's reign.  But I'm no historian, I just watch a lot of documentaries.

[TudorQueen]

What kind of bothered me about Amanda's TH about her concept was that she talked at length about the storyline, the emotion, and especially the make up (which turned out to be irrelevant because Mary Kay used waterproof makeup, and she didn't get to do the whole "Cleopatra wipes her eyes and her makeup runs" thing), but nothing about the dress itself. 

 

Then she made that eye-gaze thing that hurt my own eyes, so maybe it was just as well. Loved it when she said 'Eye down!', though. That's the Amanda whose sense of humor tickles me.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I think the yearly Nile floods actually helped the Egyptian agriculture

Yes, all their farming was based on the natural irrigation and fertilization that annual flooding provided.  One of the biggest ecological disasters of recent years was the (well-intentioned) building of the Aswan Dam in 1970, which prevented that yearly flooding and required the use of fertilizer in the Nile Valley for literally the first time in recorded history, among many other problems.

But it doesn't bother me that Amanda didn't know that.  She's not a historian.  What DOES bother me is that her dress was falling apart on the runway - THAT she's supposed to know something about.  What the hell did she construct the dress with in the first place?

[RealityGal]

Yes, all their farming was based on the natural irrigation and fertilization that annual flooding provided.  One of the biggest ecological disasters of recent years was the (well-intentioned) building of the Aswan Dam in 1970, which prevented that yearly flooding and required the use of fertilizer in the Nile Valley for literally the first time in recorded history, among many other problems.

But it doesn't bother me that Amanda didn't know that.  She's not a historian.  What DOES bother me is that her dress was falling apart on the runway - THAT she's supposed to know something about.  What the hell did she construct the dress with in the first place?

 

It only slightly bothers me in the sense that she was talking about Cleopatra watching her village floating away like any of that really happened.  Did it happen in the movie?  I mean, I don't mind a reference to history, or even an incorrect reference to history, but the city floating away from Nile flooding was just a touch too much for me.  I would have accepted "Cleopatra crying in the rains while getting the news that Ceasar was dead" or "Cleopatra crying in the rains as she realized that she and Marc Anthony were doomed"

 

And who knows, I may have been more forgiving if the dress turned out better.

[Julia]

Interesting. I'm watching reruns of Amanda's first season, and I'm at the unconventional challenge, with Amanda's moss dress. Her moss dress which only didn't fail completely because Joe told her how to fix it. So she was up against Joe on the runway to go home (and this has passed into history as "the runway where her team threw her under the bus"). Joe said that he felt a little detached from his own aesthetic because his clients wanted loose fitting. Amanda, whose moss sack was equally figure-insensitive, and who the judges didn't ask, chimed in with how she never forgot that the clothes had to be wearable. It's, like, the bedrock of her creative process.

 

Amanda. Never forgets to be wearable.

 

Amanda really kind of sucks.

Edited September 18, 2014 by Julia

[Ms. TV]

Brand new to this site… so apologies if already addressed. I find Amanda to be one of the most annoying people I've ever seen on the show and I wish someone would slap that smug look off her face. Maybe I am not a professional in the fashion world, but she has zero talent. It is very apparent to me that she either knows somebody really well or is sleeping with one of the people who put the show together. I do not know anybody who would ever wear anything in this woman ever made, yet she is permitted to come back every week. If she is continued to push through to fashion week, then the secret is out that this show is one giant scam.

[janeyjay]

Watching "Nashville." Hear a familiar voice. Holy moly, it's Amanda, doing a spot as a stylist for one of the main characters. Crazy.

[GaT]

Watching "Nashville." Hear a familiar voice. Holy moly, it's Amanda, doing a spot as a stylist for one of the main characters. Crazy.

I just came here to post this! I saw her & thought "where do I know her from?" & then I realized who she was. I wonder if she's acted before or if this is something new for her? One thing I did notice though, they really covered up her moles. I know it's really shallow of me, but those moles just annoy me, I can't look at anything else on her face.

[Linderhill]

I saw her too and it took me a minute to remember where I knew her from.  Still annoying from her voice to her lack of acting chops.

[Coquette]

I am watching Nashville. How on earth did Amanda get a role. It's bad enough I have to watch her on Project Runway. Now she ruins one of my favorite shows. I'm sorry. But there is just something about her that makes my blood boil.

[Nidratime]

So, that's "reward" enough for her. She doesn't have to win, as far as I'm concerned. Good. ;-)

[susannot]

Ummmm, hello?  Where is the episode discussion thread?  Nevermind.  I will say only this:  Kini and Sean are great designers; Korinna is a flat-out, nickel-plated, mean-ass bitch.

[Lamb18]

When Amanda had her hair in braids tonight I thought she looked really pretty.

[Shelby]

When Amanda had her hair in braids tonight I thought she looked really pretty.

Her hair always looks pretty to me.

I just wonder why she doesn't get that thing removed from her face.

[fivestone]

I just don't get the Amanda hate... I think she's talented and beautiful, and I love her personality and point of view. She never has a mean word for anyone personally, even in confessionals, and even if she doesn't like someone's work, she just says "I don't get it" instead of "OMG they are such a terrible designer." I am and will be Team Amanda all day long.

[Totale]

I finally had the flash while watching this episode why I've been drawn to Amanda all these weeks.  She's pretty enough but no knockout, with lovely hair and a weak chin. Her designs don't stand out to me, and while she seems cheerful she also seems a bit dim.  It's the voice.  She has exactly the same pitch and inflection as a woman I had a major limerent crush on a few years ago, and it's a voice which flips a switch in me that makes me want to hear it say things they don't say on TV.  Ladies of her generation, turn away from the vocal fry and try to move a bit more in her direction.  You'll get what you want, I guarantee it...

[Oldernowiser]

Yeah, but if you have to close your eyes in order to board Team Amanda....perhaps in this show's context that's not a good thing?

;)

[TudorQueen]

"I have to uphold the integrity of the psychedelic Yeti" may be one of the single funniest things ever said on this show by someone who isn't Santino Rice.

[KimberStormer]

Agreed, TudorQueen.  I was never an Amanda hater, but I wasn't truly an Amanda fan until Psychedlic Yeti came into my life.  I don't know if people still hated her this week, but I felt like she was at her most charming.

[PepperMonkey]

As I mentioned in my post in Fashion Week spoilers, I'm actively rooting for Amanda now.

I'm the first one to admit when I'm wrong, and I went from thinking she was a prig to totally getting her and liking what I saw.

She was never, that I can remember, mean to anyone, not even in her talking heads. If I'm wrong about that, I apologize, but I'm hard pressed to remember anything she said or did that was sketchy towards others.

 

Also, unlike Sean, she was true to her esthetic all the way through. She never wavered. Sure, she did fringe a couple times, but she WAS the first one that did fringe. And she didn't keep doing it every other look.

 

Unpopular opinion time: IDC if she is friends with Michelle. My friends and I don't agree on every single thing. We have different politics and even different views on a person, but I still like them even if I don't agree with them all the time.

We'll see how it all plays out over the next couple weeks, but right now, I'm firmly team Amanda.

[joelene]

My opinion of Amanda has also gone up and down. I voted for her to come back (out of a poor group of people, granted) because I remembered her as pleasant. Then she started to aggravate me with her constant (it seemed) talk about how she knew everything and got the judges or whatever. She wasn't offensive, just annoying. Then I started to like her again, I think when her friendship with Fäde blossomed (also around the time when that weird thing with her and Korina happened that we never actually saw or was ever mentioned again. Man, that so so weird) and now I dig her (a phrase Amanda herself would totally say) because mostly she just seems like a big dork, and dorks are great. She doesn't seem like she has a mean bone in her body. She won't be on a list of favorite PR contestants or anything, but I like her.

Edited October 14, 2014 by joelene