S09.E02: Siren Song

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The artists arrive at the Port of Long Beach and board the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter U.S.S. George Cobb, which is where they learn they'll be making beautiful but deadly sirens based on unique sea creatures.

[Monty9]

I call shenanigans that the Blue Sea Slug was not a top look! [Things I never thought I would say] That Sea slug was gorgeous! Megan was working the sh*t outta that look.

 

Drag Queen Traffic Cop looked sorta Newsie Carnie Wilson on the boat which I thought looked nice on her but then the Cop outfit kept popping in and out. Her partner with the flattening of the colors was pretty bad. Granted the original colors didn't match the fish well but at least it wasn't the "Whatever-their-inspiration fish after an oil spill" look.

 

I thought the mouth on the shell headed one pretty much eliminated the "beauty" aspect. I can't imagine any sailor being like "Hey I can get bitten AND slobbered on?! Sign me up!" That would kill the allure. Otherwise it was a pretty great makeup though.

 

Sidney:  *whining* 'But she had so much hair"

Me: What? Jealous that she has hair and you don't? [FYI: Jason Statham makes me all giggly so no hatred of shaved heads but this guy was just a knob.]

 

Sidney: " This season is just so strong you can do a pretty good makeup and still be sent home."

Me: But you didn't do a good makeup.

 

So good elimination picks on that one judges. Thanks.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Monty9

[Taeolas]

Loved Kevin's comment about his model and the follow up later when Ve said "Who would go out with this siren?" and everyone pointed to Kevin. 

 

Not sure I loved the top looks, but they were decent enough. 

 

I noticed a lot of new models (or at least ones I didn't recognize before). Some certainly seem like keepers; they were doing their best to bring the character to live which was nice. Loved that the comraderie is still there between the models and the artists. Hell, it was like a feeding frenzy when they (the artists) ran into the makeup room at the start. And real nice that they thanked the model too. 

 

Beauty makeup was a lot of flubs all around though. Hell, Omar and Sidney couldn't even DO beauty make up; they got their model to do the final touches I think. I'm fine with those eliminations.

[Maelstrom]

Nice to see them have a beauty challenge so early in the season - hopefully it won't be the only one.

 

I thought the top looks were pretty good, though I didn't like the teeth on the shell-head model either. They were too jarring, especially since the model couldn't close her mouth with them in. Otherwise, though, a beautiful look that didn't go overboard with shapes and colors. I wasn't sure about the chest piece at first, but it's quite a unique look. I'd actually peg this as one of those few makeups that we haven't already seen a thousand times.

 

Wow, Megan really sold her makeup - in fact, I think her awesome performance made the makeup much better than it necessarily had any right to. IMO it seemed like an interesting concept that needed a bit more finesse, but then again when they only show it for about five seconds it's hard to get a good look at it.

 

Definitely agree with who they sent home. Really, you couldn't figure out how to use your model's long beautiful hair on a siren beauty makeup challenge?! Alrighty then. Though I wasn't too impressed with how the dark-haired bottom looks gal basically painted over her partner's entire paint job with black. WTH was that about?

 

Loved Kevin's comment about his model and the follow up later when Ve said "Who would go out with this siren?" and everyone pointed to Kevin. 

I loved this too, along with Glenn's comment finding Kevon's choice in women worrisome.

 

Glenn continued being surprisingly diplomatic tonight, while Ve's red hair continued to make her comments rather sharp. Maybe they decided to trade being the mean and nice judge, respectively.

 

So far this season Michael Westmore's critiques have been much more straight to the point and less skirting around the problems than in past years. Can't blame him for that! Maybe he has less time for his walk-throughs this year, and hence less sugar-coating.

 

100 episodes next week? Wow. Congrats Face Off!

[Maverick]

Glenn continued being surprisingly diplomatic tonight, while Ve's red hair continued to make her comments rather sharp. Maybe they decided to trade being the mean and nice judge, respectively.

100 episodes next week? Wow. Congrats Face Off!

 

 See, I thought Glenn was kinda rough on the guys that got eliminated.  "Did they go to a bar for one of the two days?" and "We didn't see much of your work int the product but what we did see didn't show much future promise" were beyond snarky.

[Quilt Fairy]

 See, I thought Glenn was kinda rough on the guys that got eliminated.  "Did they go to a bar for one of the two days?" and "We didn't see much of your work int the product but what we did see didn't show much future promise" were beyond snarky.

That was the meanest send-off I can remember on this show. They are generally really supportive of the bootee.

 

I thought the mouth on the shell headed one pretty much eliminated the "beauty" aspect. I can't imagine any sailor being like "Hey I can get bitten AND slobbered on?! Sign me up!" That would kill the allure.

 

There were quite a few creations that were screwed up by goofy teeth. Just because the siren is supposed to be deadly doesn't mean she's going to EAT the sailors she lures in. I was really expecting a wide range of "...and this is how she kills them".

 

This is the second week in a row where I just don't get what the judges are seeing. While I agree with the bottom looks, I thought the yellow and black fish was gorgeous, really surprised that it was only safe. OTOH, when they were still working on the other top look, I just thought it looked like a clown wig, and I didn't see any improvement in the final product.

[Maelstrom]

 See, I thought Glenn was kinda rough on the guys that got eliminated.  "Did they go to a bar for one of the two days?" and "We didn't see much of your work int the product but what we did see didn't show much future promise" were beyond snarky.

Fair point, those comments were pretty harsh. I guess I was thinking of what he said during the face-to-face critiques when I posted that earlier. I was especially surprised with how relatively easy he went on red-haired bottom looks gal, after she explained about the air bubbles in her face piece. Then again, she did look like she was about to burst into tears, so maybe even Glenn couldn't be mean to her.

 

Also realized I forgot to make fun of Glenn's hair in my first post, and my night just doesn't feel complete. So to that end, I don't understand the form language going on in Glenn's hair tonight.

[RedRockRosie]

 

Also realized I forgot to make fun of Glenn's hair in my first post, and my night just doesn't feel complete. So to that end, I don't understand the form language going on in Glenn's hair tonight.

 

Wouldn't a great challenge be to design a creature (of the night, tee heee) using Glenn's hair as  inspiration!!The competitors could have their pick of weeks since it's always changing.

 

(Hey, I can't hate him...he loves cats so I can forgive him pretty much anything...even his "fashion sense"..or lack thereof.)

[GaT]

My favorite was the yellow box fish one, so I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't even a top look. I still can't remember enough about the people to care about who got sent home.

[seacliffsal]

I really liked a lot of these looks. The yellow fish, blue fish (and not enough total looks to do any justice to Dr. Seuss). I liked the look that won. However, I would have been happy if all 4 contestants at the bottom had been sent home. Although Simon and Omar tried to go the beauty route, they spent too much timing doing something (?) that didn't translate into their look. Once one of the judges called her a cabbage head I couldn't see anything else when I looked at it.

[OakGoblinFly]

In a beauty challenge I didn't understand why so many of the pairs wanted to cover the models' faces.  I thought the more successful looks were the ones that used minimal face appliances that enhanced the models' features (like the top two looks), 

 

And I agree with Ve, why would you cover the hair of your model when you're creating a siren ..... use it as part of the make-up; it's appropriate in a challenge like this.

[Toaster Strudel]

I liked how Nora kept her cool when the pointy things didn't work out in the mold.    She's a "here's a problem, here's a solution" kinda gal.  It was adorable how her brain started to compute a workaround immediately without skipping a beat.

 

It's true, Glenn's critic was harsh, but rightly so.  It reminded me how one of the partners threw some acid on styrofoam and painted it black, made a few rubber strips, threw it together in to a "staff" and that was it.  The cabbage head was a 3-hour sculpt.  The model had to apply her own makeup.  So, yeah.  What exactly did they do on one of the two days?

 

Frankly, I too can work at that level and be eliminated on the first round... and I'm pretty sure I could come up with something good enough that Glenn wouldn't feel like the door should hit me hard on the way out.

 

My favorite was also the yellow boxfish, I thought it was the clear winner.  The black patches around the eyes were striking, organic, and beautiful.

 

I really enjoyed this beauty challenge with cool sea creatures as the inspiration.

[Quilt Fairy]

I am dreading more time with the weepy Missy

This is her second week in the competition and her second week in bottom looks. I don't think we'll be stuck with her for long. I don't remember her bio, but she's only 20 so she can't have much real life experience. And I gotta say, while I have disliked the various piercings and weird hair color of past contestants, I would take any of them in a heartbeat over the YMCA drag queen traffic cop persona she seems to favor.  I can't figure out if she thinks it makes her look good or stands out from the crowd or it's just an artistic choice, but it's just horrible. 

Edited August 5, 2015 by Quilt Fairy

[Percysowner]

This is her second week in the competition and her second week in bottom looks. I don't think we'll be stuck with her for long. I don't remember her bio, but she's only 20 so she can't have much real life experience. And I gotta say, while I have disliked the various piercings and weird hair color of past contestants, I would take any of them in a heartbeat over the YMCA drag queen traffic cop persona she seems to favor.  I can't figure out if she thinks it makes her look good or stands out from the crowd or it's just an artistic choice, but it's just horrible. 

 

Missy's weepiness is getting to me already. That said, she just missed bottom looks last week. I remember because I was shocked that the muddy paint job didn't hit bottom, then realized that the HR Puffenstuff clam and the face at vagina level creatures really were worse than a bad paint job. Missy will have to step it up to stay around.

[leighdear]

 

I didn't like the teeth on the shell-head model either. They were too jarring, especially since the model couldn't close her mouth with them in

If she had been able to close her mouth, smile sweetly, then bare those sharp teeth, it would have been a runaway winner. 

 

I think Dina, the cake decorator from Season 7 is always going to be the Gold Standard for beauty makeup to me.  Her work was always stunningly beautiful. 

 

Sad for Sidney & Omar, I think they just never got their footing and were behind from the first minute. 

 

My Glen love is still intact and strangely simmers.  When I see him sitting behind the judging table, I actually picture one of his kitties on his lap, unseen by the cameras.  *LOL*

[jaigurudeva]

So disagree with the judges this week. The yellow box fish make up was the best. The beauty make up was lovely, yet striking; cohesive, well done prosthetics and paint on the cowl, chest, arms, AND legs. And it looked most like the fish! The blue striped surgeonfish make up should have been the worst look. It looked nothing like the fish, the cowl was hideous, and the paint job was muddy and inconsistent.

[Ketzel]

As the camera panned down the line of models at the beginning of the judging, I kept involuntarily bursting into laughter. Mostly it was the aggressive dentition, but the helmets also made me laugh out loud. These were supposed to be beautiful female creatures, capable of luring men to their doom? None of them looked capable of luring men to a bacon buffet! The ones that weren't flat-out scary were grotesque, and that includes the winner, imo. Why do so many of the Face Off contestants have such a struggle when asked to portray beauty?

Edited August 5, 2015 by Ketzel

[Primetimer]

Sirens mixed with exotic sea creatures mainly serve as an excuse to say 'flabellina nudibranch' as often as possible.

Read the story

[Toaster Strudel]

It is wrong to say how much I looooove the PTV reviews?

[Lorimac]

Did I miss something?  I thought that Missy did a rather nice paint job on the head (cowl?) of her model and then her partner came over and covered it all up in black paint.  Missy should have been "Hold it, sister, you are ruining this - and I don;t care if it not YOUR vision - it's mine, so hands off."  I think the tears were regret that she hadn't stood her ground and ended up in the bottom for her partner's bad paint job.

 

As other have pointed out, Nora just vaulted into one of my all-time F-O favorites with her no-tears, no-scene, no-nonsense attitude. Yay, Nora! Don't let me down next week with a mold problem meltdown!

 

PS, I wish we had seen more of the blue slugfish; I woudl have liked to admire that one a little longer.

[leighdear]

Agree about Nora.  Only 2 episodes in, but she's coming off like a rockstar pro.  

[kangarara]

I assume the skull is because the bite of a blue-ringed octopus is gonna kill you unless someone gets you on CPR & respiration for the next 24 hrs?

[starri]

I think I like Meg.  I thought she was kind of whiny last week, but apparently "Missy" brings that out in people.  And Nora is definitely a keeper.

 

I thought the drag-queen looking makeup had such potential, but it just ended up looking like a sloppy Poison Ivy in the end.  But I guess the guys were rattled by their issues with the mold.

 

No matter how snarky he was during the deliberation, Glenn was unbelievably kind during the face-to-face portion of the judging.  Way more kind than either of the bottom looks deserved.

 

I know we've wanted a special just about the models for a while, but could we maybe even have like a short web series on them, especially Megan?  I'd love to know what her background is.  I'm assuming she's a dancer given how well she moves, but considering she's often the show's MVP (never mind the makeups), I wish the producers would indulge us.

[DHDancer]

Sirens lured sailors to their doom by running their ships against rocks.   Their songs were the deadly weapon.  Ah well, noone pays attention to historical accuracy anyway.

 

Count me in on loving the Blue slug and the yellow boxfish.   Blue ringed octopus kills with it's sting (as do many of these creatures -- they don't eat you)

 

I was really surprised noone just did body paint then use the hair etc to add some additional creativity.  Is there requirements to have to fabricate stuff?

Edited August 5, 2015 by DHDancer

[Betelnut]

This really could have been an individual challenge as it wasn't anything that one person couldn't do alone even with the time constraints.  That said, I doubt the judges would want to look to look at 16 or 14 (or however many of them there are) sirens.

 

The sirens were a lot better than the creatures from last week, thank goodness, so it looks like there are some talented people in this group.

[needschocolate]

This is her second week in the competition and her second week in bottom looks. I don't think we'll be stuck with her for long. I don't remember her bio, but she's only 20 so she can't have much real life experience. And I gotta say, while I have disliked the various piercings and weird hair color of past contestants, I would take any of them in a heartbeat over the YMCA drag queen traffic cop persona she seems to favor.  I can't figure out if she thinks it makes her look good or stands out from the crowd or it's just an artistic choice, but it's just horrible. 

 

Surprisingly, Missy was safe last week.

 

Did I miss something?  I thought that Missy did a rather nice paint job on the head (cowl?) of her model and then her partner came over and covered it all up in black paint.  Missy should have been "Hold it, sister, you are ruining this - and I don;t care if it not YOUR vision - it's mine, so hands off."  I think the tears were regret that she hadn't stood her ground and ended up in the bottom for her partner's bad paint job.

 

I thought it was interesting that the artist with the most colorful hair this season painted a very colorful cowl, and then her black haired partner came over and painted it black. 

 

Missy's voice grates on me worse than the Valley Girl vocal fry that so many women on TV have nowadays.  She always sounds like she is about to cry - it makes her seem very insecure, and, I have now discovered, I have no patience for people that are very insecure. 

[April Bloodgate]

Am I the only one who thought this was the second week that Kevon worked on a makeup that looked gynecological? (I know many people saw it in last week's clam.) The ruffles or whatever they were on the chest piece this week, in that color, looked like labia to me.

Definitely agree with those who are starting to like Nora. She worked on my favorite makeups both weeks, and she has a great attitude.

[Quilt Fairy]

Surprisingly, Missy was safe last week

Wow, she was? My bad. I guess I was just remembering that I expected her to be in the bottom last week and was shocked when she wasn't. A 20 year old fresh from make-up school or the haunted house industry just doesn't have the chops to succeed in this competition. It's a blend of artistic ability, experience, ability to work in a team, and emotional stability under pressure. She's lacking in a couple of those areas. She's definitely early exit fodder.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Quilt Fairy

[BusyOctober]

I haven't been blown away by anyone so far, but it's early and there's still a lot of chaff to be winnowed out.  I am glad Hat Guy (Omar??) is gone b/c his nasally voice grated my nerves.  People who sound like they need to blow their noses all the time is a major peeve. Yes, I know some people have adnoid or sinus issues and can't help it...just like I can't help that hearing that nasal musus filled voice makes me stabby.

 

Most of these artists missed the mark on the "Beauty" aspect. And the definition of "Siren".  I didn't see any of those creatures having the ability to lure anyone.  Maybe the sea slug because its movement was interesting.

[CherZ]

Nora is quickly becoming my fave too. She and Brittany worked so well together and had my favorite look of the night.

 

Agreed with the teeth being hideous on the winner. Ruined the beauty aspect for me.

 

Right team went home, but especially glad that bald smirky guy was first. He didn't do anything. At least his partner tried. Noticed that the judges didn't give him the "farewell pep talk" they usually give, but the partner got one, which is telling.

[Zanne]

I didn't like the paint job on the winner. It looked too uniform - a flat, bland paint topped with corpse eyes. When they called her scary and sexy I thought the judges had lost their collective minds. That thing was not sexy with those teeth, milky eyes, and horrible paint.

[sourpickles]

I think I'm in the minority here already concerning the whole season. So, two guys I didn't really know went home for a creation that was presented by both of them. I have no issues with the no one going home thing but to follow it up the next week with another team challenge, and one person ending up in the dumper and yet not going home again.......there's been no gimmick yet this season, but I have to wonder. Wasn't overall impressed with the designs either. All of them either color wise or formation, made me think of something I'd already seen. Some good stuff, some bad. I had no real fav. The drawing were better than the actual creatures. Ah well, on to next week.

[Kaoteek]

Yeah, wasn't too impressed by the top looks... or by any of this week's looks, really. Except maybe the feathered one, which was pretty... but read too bird-like, maybe, and not "aquatic creature" enough.

 

That said, I hope Missy won't leave anytime soon, cos I can't help to giggle every time she's on screen. And that's always a plus, between two "my mold is locked" incidents.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

This really could have been an individual challenge as it wasn't anything that one person couldn't do alone even with the time constraints.  That said, I doubt the judges would want to look to look at 16 or 14 (or however many of them there are) sirens.

No doubt this is why they did a double elimination this week. There won't be enough to do for a team of three, but they didn't want 15 individual works. Do they even have that many models? I don't recall seeing that many casts on the shelves the last time we saw them.

[starri]

No doubt this is why they did a double elimination this week. There won't be enough to do for a team of three, but they didn't want 15 individual works. Do they even have that many models? I don't recall seeing that many casts on the shelves the last time we saw them.

Well, they were also presumably limited to female models.

Although frankly, seeing a team attempt a male Siren would have been a lot more interesting.

[snakenax]

I find it interesting that the look that sent both teammates home was very, very close in attempted design to DIna's goddess and faerie. It felt very much like people trying to rehash a look they know works, without understanding why it works.

[Percysowner]

Wow, she was? My bad. I guess I was just remembering that I expected her to be in the bottom last week and was shocked when she wasn't. A 20 year old fresh from make-up school or the haunted house industry just doesn't have the chops to succeed in this competition. It's a blend of artistic ability, experience, ability to work in a team, and emotional stability under pressure. She's lacking in a couple of those areas. She's definitely early exit fodder.

 

Although I haven't seen anything Missy has done that makes me think she can win this, I must note that last season Logan "I came home from the army and decided to work on special effects SIX WEEKS AGO" made top three and Julian "I've never worked with [insert whatever they were doing that challenge here] before, made it to 4th place. Apparently, they both had real talent to carry them through.

 

Also, didn't Nora say she had just graduated from the Tom WhateverHisNameIs school the day before she came to FaceOff? She's done quite will and I really like her work. Skills are important, but being mad talented is also important.

[RococoChanel]

Missy is exhausting already. I'm all for color, but her look is SO distracting. I can't help but stare at her and it's so jarring tied with her vocal fry and constant ready-to-cry look. She seems like one of those deeply insecure people who wear garish clothing and hair colors to detract from their insecurity in their body. The thinking is, "I'd rather be the chick with the weird red hair than the weird fat chick." 

[call me ishmael]

The winning look at least tried to gesture to the Siren's song with her musical shell. But what put me off wasn't the teeth so much as the eyes. The weird bluish color looked like it would repel sailors rather than lure them close enough to be attacked.

I'm bugged by Kevon. He sulks with criticism and i'm pretty sure that he tried to say what each had done because he was sure that his chest piece was going to make him the winner since the judges had commented on it. I was quite pleased that he wasn't the winner.

[LittleIggy]

This is her second week in the competition and her second week in bottom looks. I don't think we'll be stuck with her for long. I don't remember her bio, but she's only 20 so she can't have much real life experience. And I gotta say, while I have disliked the various piercings and weird hair color of past contestants, I would take any of them in a heartbeat over the YMCA drag queen traffic cop persona she seems to favor.  I can't figure out if she thinks it makes her look good or stands out from the crowd or it's just an artistic choice, but it's just horrible.

Amen! Add the order of vocal fry to that Unhappy Meal and she makes me want to run from the room when she is on.

I liked the eyes on the winning siren. Quite hypnotizing.

[snakenax]

Calling her look Traffic Cop is quite a bit nicer than what I figured when I saw the hat, which is that it's meant to be a SS uniform cap, which are quite popular in some branches of the fetish/alternative look(Sharon Needles on Drag Race would walk around in one in the Werk Room, for example).

[diebartdie]

Wow, she was? My bad. I guess I was just remembering that I expected her to be in the bottom last week and was shocked when she wasn't. A 20 year old fresh from make-up school or the haunted house industry just doesn't have the chops to succeed in this competition. It's a blend of artistic ability, experience, ability to work in a team, and emotional stability under pressure. She's lacking in a couple of those areas. She's definitely early exit fodder.

Last Season, Emily Serpico had her 20th birthday during taping of the season.

[janerazor]

The yellow box fish should have been one of the top looks. I loved what they did with the model's lips. It bordered on cartoonish, but somehow it really worked for me.

 

I thought Missy's original paint job looked better than the black that her partner covered it up with. 

 

Nora and her partner's siren looked too subtle.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm on the Nora love train too. I loved that instead if getting upset that the tips had broken off, she immediately came up with a solution to fix it. Being able to think on the fly like that is crucial because, as we've seen on this show many times, shit happens.

Love that we had a beauty challenge so early in the season but why no preliminary challenge this week? I wish we could have seen a mini challenge with beauty makeup to give us an idea of individual skills.

[Edna Crandall]

Calling her look Traffic Cop is quite a bit nicer than what I figured when I saw the hat, which is that it's meant to be a SS uniform cap, which are quite popular in some branches of the fetish/alternative look(Sharon Needles on Drag Race would walk around in one in the Werk Room, for example).

Same. I looked at husband and said "is she dressing like a Nazi on purpose?" I usually don't care what the contestants look like, but an SS cap is a bit much. 

 

Piling on the Nora love. Great attitude + talent, A+ in my book. 

[Thealmightymalachi]

"Traffic cop" is about 9 levels kinder than what I've been calling her. She's ridiculous in the way that extremely low confidence people can be with their clothing choices - which almost always says to me that they're looking for who they are, as opposed to knowing who they are and using that identity to rock it.

She's beyond annoying to me. The heavy mouthbreathing, the slapdash makeup, the "HULK SMASH!" approach to opening molds...

She strikes me as someone who is just thought-less - not really comfortable with who she is or where she is in her life.

[Glade]

Did I miss something?  I thought that Missy did a rather nice paint job on the head (cowl?) of her model and then her partner came over and covered it all up in black paint.  Missy should have been "Hold it, sister, you are ruining this - and I don;t care if it not YOUR vision - it's mine, so hands off."  I think the tears were regret that she hadn't stood her ground and ended up in the bottom for her partner's bad paint job.

Yes!  That pissed me off so much; she did a gorgeous paint job, incorporating the stripes of the yellow boxfish, their inspiration, and then her partner came over and sprayed this horribly ugly, flat black over the whole thing, ruining it beyond repair. She should have gone home for that. There is nothing attractive or alluring about that black spraypaint.