Photo Credit: Laspata DeCaro

Oxygen Media, most recently awarded a 2012 Gracie Award for Outstanding Reality Show for its series The Glee Project, today announced its latest foray into unscripted programming: The Face, a new reality competition series along the lines of America’s Next Top Model or Project Runway, will showcase the efforts of three teams of up-and-coming models competing for the chance to become the spokesperson for a nationally recognized brand. World-renowned supermodel and businesswoman Naomi Campbell will be one of three supermodel coaches, who will each scout and choose their teams from the ranks of young models striving all over the world, then mentor and guide them through a series of trials representing the steep ladder to success in the fashion industry.

The Face will be produced by Shine America, a producer and distributor of many well-known hit series such as The Biggest Loser, The Office and Ugly Betty. Oxygen has formerly been home to cycles of America’s Next Top Model and, in its stated purpose as “a leading force in engaging modern young women,” is undoubtedly a good home for this new series. As Eden Gaha, President of Shine America says, “We are pleased to bring The Face to Oxygen, which we believe is the perfect fit for this new competition series that will take viewers behind the scenes of the glamorous and fast-paced world of modeling. It’s an incredible opportunity for these young models to work with and learn from an industry icon such as Naomi Campbell and the chance to become ‘the face’ of a national brand will be an exciting and meaningful start to their career.”

The Face is reportedly part of a fifty percent increase in Oxygen’s original programming, and the presence of a star like Campbell should attract plenty of viewers. Fans of scandal and drama would do well to hope for some onscreen displays of her legendary temper, though it is doubtful she will actually assault anyone, as has so often been alleged in the past. At any rate, even without the possibility of such histrionics (and only time will tell), the series should provide plenty of entertainment for fashion junkies everywhere. As Campbell says, “With The Face the audience will get a real insider’s look at this exciting industry that has been so good to me. One lucky girl will become the face of a major brand.”

Last night on the finale of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” host Alison Sweeney mentioned that this is the longest season in Biggest Loser history. Since it began shortly after New Year’s Day, I can see the math adding up. There were also 22 contestants this season.

The live finale of the show is always a big event, probably why “American Idol” decided to move its performance show to Tuesday this week–to compete head-to-head. Of course, I blog about both here, so that was annoying to me. Anyway, the first order of business was to bring out Jay and Irene, and find out who America voted to compete for the $250K grand prize along with sisters Hannah and Olivia. The winner was…Irene! So there would be three women competing for the grand prize, and Jay was relegated to compete for the $100K “at-home” prize.

The first group they brought out was Ana, Courtney and Marci. The all look great. Ana, who went home in Week 1 only to see her daughter Irene sail all the way through to the finals, lost 109 pounds at home, or 42.75%. Wow. Courtney lost 110, and she had already lost 100 pounds or so at home before even going on the show, so she is down to 213. Good for her. Her mom Marci lost 86 pounds and looks like a pencil, but it wasn’t enough of a percentage to overtake Ana.

Next up, the twins, Dan and Don; along with Q and Laramie. You might remember that Dan and Don threw their weigh-ins to force themselves out, but they shocked everyone last night by how great they looked. Dan lost 124 pounds, and he took the lead over Ana with a 43.21% weight loss. Don lost 130 pounds, but he was heavier to start out so he was still behind Dan. Q, who still looks mighty large, lost 93 pounds; and Laramie lost 84.

Then came Moses, Kaylee, Ken and Austin. Moses, who was 400-pounds to start, lost 153 pounds, but that still wasn’t enough to win the at-home prize. Kaylee lost 54 pounds, but looks great as she didn’t have as much to lose. Ken lost 158 pounds (wow!), and Austin lost a whopping 174, putting him in the lead now with a 43.94% weight loss.

Next up, Sarah and Deni; and Arthur and Jesse. Sarah, as Mrs. Mike pointed out, looks like a model. Deni, meanwhile, is a thinner pencil than Marci. Sarah lost 106 pounds, and Deni 125 pounds, giving her 48.83% weight loss and the lead over Austin. Arthur looked great too, but he clearly still has a ways to go. He lost 163 pounds, down to 344 pounds from a 507 starting point. And Jesse, who was woo-hooing for ten minutes, lost 83 pounds.

Then came Jay, Jen and Justin. Justin lost 173 pounds, which was great but not enough to win. Jay lost 181 pounds, and being that he was 400 pounds to start, that was pretty amazing. His daughter Jen looked awesome, and she has lost 114 pounds. But none of them lost enough to overtake Deni, who won the $100K at-home prize. But wait. Where was Rulon? Mrs. Mike pointed out that he left the show, so he wasn’t competing for the $100K. But why would they not even mention him?

Okay, here we go…but first, since Jillian Michaels is leaving the show to pursue other endeavors, they needed a new trainer next season to go along with Bob, Brett and Cara. That person is…wait for it….Anna Kournikova. The tennis star, who has been more recognized for her hotness than her tennis skills, will likely tower over most of her pupils, but it will be interesting to see what she brings to the table.

So here we really go. Alison asked Irene to choose the order in which they would weigh in. She picked Hannah to go first, followed by herself and then Olivia. Mrs. Mike pointed out that Olivia won, because they always set it up ahead of time so that the person who weighs in last wins. She is right, but I tried not to believe it.

So Hannah went first and she has lost 120 pounds, or a whopping 48.39%. Irene lost 116, or 45.49%. So it was down to Olivia. She lost 129 pounds, down from 261, giving her the win with a 49.42% weight loss. Good for her!

So there you have it, America. Whereas last time there was a 2-week break from Season 10 to Season 11, this time we have to wait until September for the show to pick up again. Whew, it really has been a long season. Anyway, thanks for reading!

For a reality show that changes things up frequently, “The Biggest Loser” can get a tad predictable and formulaic at times. That’s why I was fully expecting the final four to have to run a marathon as they have done the last few seasons. But alas, they did not. Maybe they felt they had proved their point. Anyway, here is how last night’s episode went down….

They had the final four–Jay, Irene, Hannah and Olivia–sit in a post-eliminating-Austin pow-wow with host Alison Sweeney and kind of feign fist pumps that they were in said Final Four. Okay, we get it! But seriously, who saw this coming? Tell me you had any of these folks in the finale.

Then came the initial challenge, sponsored by Jennie-O Turkey–where the contestants had to create the best tasting turkey burger for a bunch of kids. Yikes. The winner would take home $5K as well as a 2-week trip to the Biggest Loser Fitness Ridge Resort for someone they love. Olivia tried to pass plain Greek yogurt colored with food coloring as “green slime,” but she must have forgotten to add sugar, because what kid eats plain flavored yogurt? Wait, what adult does?? Anyway, Irene made hers with turkey bacon and cheese, and hers was a dud too. It came down to Jay’s “volcano” burger in which he added ketchup and cheese that somehow spewed out like lava, and Hannah’s cheesy burger. Not surprisingly, Jay won.

Then came the main challenge, the final one on the ranch–and instead of going home and running a marathon and coming back to weigh in, they had this golf course challenge on campus. And in lieu of golf clubs, they carried golf bags with the weight numbers they lost each week, which they had to gradually shed. They usually do a variation of this challenge every season, and this one never seems to get old. Hannah won and her prize was a $15K home gym. Kaboing! Now, that’s a prize. Oh, I forgot, they had a gratuitous appearance by last season’s champ, Patrick House, who still looks great.

After the last last-chance workout, it was finally time to weigh in. Irene was first and lost 3 pounds, followed by Jay who lost 4. Olivia needed to surpass 3 pounds, and she did, losing 4. Olivia was in the finale for sure. Then it was Hannah’s turn, and she also had to lose 3 or more. She also lost 4, bringing her total lost this season to 102, and a spot in the finale with her sister. So America will vote for whether or not to put Jay or Irene up against the sisters for the title of the Biggest Loser, and which one will then compete for the $100K at-home prize.

Then they showed them all going home, which is always cool. But this group of finalists just seems really cool and deserving, as in past seasons, there were alliances and catty behavior around this point.

So there you have it, America…..next week is the finale….will you vote for Jay or Irene? Honestly, I have no clue who I’d vote for. But it’s been a long season, and we’re almost through it! See you next week…

Last night’s episode of “The Biggest Loser” exposed who the Final Four would be, but not before some weird “final exams” administered by the trainers–Bob, Jillian, Cara and Brett. Of course, the prize was not weird–a cool $10K. They would have to show the trainers how much they learned by either showing them how to ride a spin bike, offering advice, boxing Cara, or answering questions about nutrition. The second part of that was that they would be competing in a Biggest Loser video game using their own avatars. Ha! Olivia won the overall challenge, edging out her sister Hannah by a hair.

The main challenge was stacking sandbags up colored flights of stairs or something (can you tell how much I actually watched this?). Austin won the challenge and had a 1-pound advantage at the weigh-in. Then, there was more final exam stuff–Brett took them all to Subway where they had to guess the exact calorie count of a sweet onion teriyaki sub. Hannah won that and a $500 Subway gift card.

Then came the last chance workout. Yeah, I forwarded through that too.

Then at the weigh-in, host Alison Sweeney offered Olivia a 1-pound advantage instead of the $10K she won, and offered Austin $10K instead of his 1-pound advantage. Naturally, Bob and Jillian tried to talk Olivia out of the $10K but she wouldn’t budge–and good for her. That’s a lot of money!

Then to the scale–Hannah was first and lost 4 pounds and was thrilled with that. Irene lost 5 though, and Jay lost 9. So Hannah was at the bottom. Olivia was next and lost 5. So she was ahead of Hannah but there was a chance the sisters would be below the yellow line together. Austin was next….and lost 1 pound. Ouch. So even his extra pound didn’t help him, and alas, he should have taken the money! But Olivia made the right choice.

Anyway, it was between Hannah and Austin, but almost a moot point because both Jay and Irene were close with Hannah throughout the competition, so it was bye-bye Austin.

So your final four–the sisters Hannah and Olivia; Irene, and Jay. Who would have picked this foursome, seriously? And that’s what makes the next two episodes so intriguing. By all accounts, Jay should win but he has shown weakness at times, so who knows. Irene has been a warrior after her mom was eliminated in Week 1. And the sisters have just been super consistent.

That’s it…we’ll see you all next week!

Last night’s episode of “The Biggest Loser” on NBC was overshadowed again by “The Voice,” and that’s fine because it kept the show to one hour. It was also, finally, makeover week. “Project Runway’s” Tim Gunn rode in on a horse and buggy to the Biggest Loser ranch and announced that it was not only makeover week, but that he had two surprises.

So the five semi-finalists–Austin, Hannah, Olivia, Irene and Jay–were treated to makeovers, and most of them looked great. Hannah’s hair was dyed blonde and looked borderline hideous. Then they had their family members waiting for them back at the ranch for a celebration, including Gunn’s hiring of the band One Republic. Well, I know he didn’t actually hire them, but you get the drift.

Then they all met on the beach for their challenge, and host Alison Sweeney announced that they were giving away two Mazda 5 cars. To win, they had to dig through car-shaped sand castles and pull out a key, then run a 1/4 mile down the beach and pier to the cars and see if the key would work. Irene won after I think two tries, and then it took a long time for the next winner, who was Olivia.

Then after the last chance workout, it was time for the big weigh-in. Hannah was first and lost 2 pounds; Jay lost 3 and suddenly both of them looked like they were in trouble. Austin pulled a 7, Irene lost just 2 (but weighs in the 150’s) and Olivia lost 4. That brought Olivia to 100 pounds lost, and she had promised everyone that if she did that, she would sing on the scale (Olivia is an opera singer). But before that, they had to choose between Hannah and Jay to go home.

But wait…..Tim Gunn’s voice and image appeared and he told them all that he had that final surprise to announce–the erasure of the yellow line. No one was going home! That was awesome. But not as awesome as Olivia’s voice…holy crap. All of the contestants and trainers were open-mouthed and teary-eyed after that. Wow.

So that’s it…there are still five remaining and just a couple more episodes of the show to go. Next week we’ll reach the final four for real. See you then!