One involves Donna Moss who got kicked off of a previous season on Design Star, and now has her own show. Donna is from Dallas and calls herself "The Queen of Bling". Really. I just happened to see the sneak preview and let's just say that HGTV must be trying to create a Bravo type Housewives decorating franchise. You know, rich, over done women decorating, complete with drama and lots of bling and bad taste for us all to ogle and love to hate. Clever programming, or just tacky disaster?
From HGTV: "Donna Moss, a former finalist from season one of HGTV Design Star, is the host of the new series Donna Decorates Dallas. Each week Donna works with her two daughters, Tiffany and Ashley, along with a team of skilled artisans and craftsmen to create unique and timeless home interiors. As a former professional in the travel industry, Donna brings a global perspective to her designs. Her favorite design motifs include elegant Old World themes with glamorous Gothic tones and lush Hollywood-inspired rooms."
It's funny how on both Food Network and HGTV that some of "the losers" end up with a show anyway.
In the preview episode, Donna goes to a bloated Dallas McMansion of a house to add some new bedding to the master bedroom. The decor is high end Steinmart if you get my drift. The Queen of Bling immediately escalates the project to an entire room do-over, complete with knocking out walls, and managing to cram in about $50K (or more) of high priced junk from some design mart in Dallas.
There was also a side trip to another client's house who hated some chairs that had been placed there by Donna Decorates Dallas. The Queen of Bling and her assistant fixed it pronto! They took away the offending chairs, and brought in two tufted throne like chairs more in line with the client's hefty taste. Then they bedazzled them with large fake jewels that were hot glued into each tuft point.
It is so awful, that it is almost a joke, like watching movies my friends and I used to call "pig heaven" (that usually starred Pia Zadora). They were so bad we loved them. Well this room is so bad I thought maybe it was a "pig heaven" joke. But sadly, it is not that lovable.
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| Room design on HGTV by Donna Moss, The Queen of Bling, on her new show Donna Decorates Dallas |
Does HGTV have a hit on its hands with Donna Moss? Will we all tune in every week to see what bad taste she whips up, and then snark it to death on the blogs? Or will we really not care. Stay tuned.
D #2 of The Double D Season, is none other than New Jersey Housewife Dina Manzo, who got out after season one on Bravo. She often told us she was an interior designer who also did event design HERE.
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| Dina Manzo interior designer and event designer |
Her style is commensurate with her peers and her location and the environment they all live in. I imagine in New Jersey, she is very successful.
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| Some of Dina Manzo's event design |
And obviously so does HGTV. They snatched her up from Bravo. Tonight, she is a guest judge on Design Star, where the challenge is to create a wedding decor in two days. This appearance is a prelude to her new show in the Fall on HGTV called "Dina's Party".
The first episode on the new show is called: "A Big Pink New Jersey Wedding". Attention brides!
The weird thing is how Dina does her over-the-top event design in people's homes, turning a tacky home into a mini tacky catering hall.
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| A Big Pink New Jersey Wedding |
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| This was the client's living room after Dina got done with it |
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| Will Dina bring back the ice sculpture? |
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| The client's living room before it got transformed into "A Big Pink New Jersey Wedding" |
Wowza! Excess and bling and bad taste!!!! Way to go HGTV! Your ratings will surely soar. I can hardly wait for Jenny and Nicole and Erica to weigh in!