Like 95 percent of all basketball games, it's the final quarter of Project Runway/All Stars episodes and seasons that are worth paying attention to. And so it has come to pass that brilliant Portland apparel designer Michelle Lesniak, who already won regular-style Project Runway a couple years ago, is among the final four contestants to remain on the current season of All Stars.
Thanks to weird scheduling that involved a few missed weeks due to the holidays, this season has stretched over something like three entire months, and you're forgiven if you've been too distracted to pay attention (I've managed to see two episodes out of 11 so far). Nonetheless, the Back Stage Bar has been faithfully airing each installment on its giant screen, and the beauty of tuning in now for the nitty-gritty good stuff is that there's no need to bother catching up on all the manufactured drama and whatevers from before. The pressure is on and our city's player is in it. This week's episode is the last before the season finale, and the judges' decisions are resting on finer and finer points—these are all contestants who've either one or made an impression on Project Runways of yore, so there aren't any amateurs, and fewer and fewer outright runway fails—which makes it all the more fun to agree/disagree with them.
Plus, Michelle tells me she "WILL TOTALLY be there this Thursday!!" herself (I will too). The show airs at 9, but get to the Back Stage early for a prime seat. Here's a preview of what we're in for: