June 10, 2010, by
Atlanta designer Vern Yip has held fort as the most quotable judge on HGTV's biggest show "HGTV Design Star" over its first four seasons, providing honest and often sardonic observations.
Now you’ll see even more of him season five, beginning Sunday at 9 p.m.
Why? The show, which draws three to four million viewers a week, dumped host Clive Pearse and replaced him with… nobody. Minus a host, the three judges take over those duties and become more of a dominant presence.
“I really did enjoy more interaction with the contestants this year,” said Yip in a recent interview. “In the previous format, we remained behind desks. This gave us the ability to really assess them properly and really figure out who had talent.”
Yip throws off some hilarious lines in the first episode, where contestants are paired off and have to design bedrooms based on the other person’s personality.
“Who decided to execute all the geese?” Yip asked one woman who used goose feathers as a rug.
“It looks like a prison for a monk,” he said of another room. “It’s like he’s taken the loose threads from his garment and made a tarp on the wall.”
"Design Star" isn't just looking for a good designer but one with a unique point of view that can translate that philosophy over TV. So far, the biggest star the show has generated is David Bromstad ("Color Splash") from season one.
“People who are normally extremely talented and extremely accomplished buckle under the pressure,” Yip said. And some folks simply have a tin ear when it comes to trying to translate a client’s vision.
The show, which returns to New York for the first time since season one, will give designers access to construction crews during all challenges, allowing them to focus on design instead of just hammering wood or painting. And there will a greater emphasis on hosting from the get go. In past seasons, that aspect wasn’t introduced until later in the show.
Credit the revamp to Mark Burnett Productions, the same company that does "Survivor," which has survived ten years and 20 cycles.
“Mark has managed to make it interesting every single season” on “Survivor,” Yip said. “I was totally riveted and glued to my Tivo this year.”
Yip, whose HGTV show “Deserving Design’ was dropped last year after 54 episodes, has a new one coming up called “Urban Oasis” but he could not say what it’s about yet or when it debuts.”It’s a major endeavor,” he said, “unlike anything I’ve ever done.”
On TV
“HGTV Design Star,” starts 10 p.m. Sunday June 13 on HGTV
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