HGTV Design Star Season 5 Cast Critique, Pt. 2

Yesterday I covered the first half of the lineup for the upcoming season of HGTV’s Design Star and today we’ll plow through the remaining six contestants.

MICHAEL MOELLER, 30
New York City

Michael Moeller says he grew up the star of his family.  I sure hope he’s an only child.  He’s definitely got some design chops and by the looks of his portfolio, dabbles in a lot of different styles, which should help him.  I’m a sucker for humor, so it was refreshing to see a decent dose of it in Michael’s work.

Michael seems all about the mix.  You won’t see any matching lamps in his portfolio.  No matching side tables.  So why the matching stools in this last picture, Michael?  The mystery!  I like the mix, and I hope I like him.  The whole “I’m the star of my family” thing has me wary of committing to that, but we’ll see.

My prediction for Michael: Solid chance of top four.

NINA FERRER, 31
New York City

Hmmm, no online portfolio for Ms. Ferrer?  Her blog has mysteriously been removed from the Internets too, so WTH?

My prediction for Nina: By the way she’s contorting her upper body in all of the publicity shots, I’m guessing she’ll end up in some kind of catfight and utter the phrase “women are always threatened by me,” before getting the boot in the middle of the season.

STACEY COHEN, 35
Chicago, IL

Stacey Cohen’s online portfolio has all the usual suspects.  A couple of kitchens, a few bedrooms, some living rooms.  Not a lot of visual va-voom to speak of.  Not horrible, but definitely not memorable.

My prediction for Stacey: She’ll play it too safe and leave early on.

TERA HAMPTON, 41
Austin, TX

I was excited when I saw Tera Hampton was from Austin.  Hometown girl!  Yay!  And then I took a look at her online portfolio and immediately deflated.  We couldn’t be more polar opposite when it comes to design styles.

It pains me to say it, but…can we just get a Texan on this show who isn’t into the old world and overwrought?  It just looks like Hobby Lobby threw up everywhere.

My prediction for Tera: Those with styles similar to Tera’s have never made it to the finals.

TOM VECCHIONE, 46
New York City

Tom Vecchione’s portfolio reminds me of a more rustic version of Martha Stewart protégé Eddie Ross.

I’m dying for a gleaming surface.  There’s a lot of character in his work, for sure, but can Tom stretch stylistically beyond the antique thing?

My prediction for Tom: It will be hard for him to take direction from some young whippersnapper, so look for his feathers to fly if he’s not project manager on a group challenge.  He’ll pull a Scott Corridan (Season 2) and flame out early on some ego trip.

TRENT HULTGREN, 41
Venice, CA

Trent Hultgren used to be a pastor and a missionary, leading the pack as Most Unlikely Former Career.  I don’t know what kind of minister he used to be, but he clearly seems well-suited to his current vocation as an interior designer.

Everything looks tasteful, luxurious and inviting.  My first thought after checking out his work on HGTV’s site was, “he’d be good at designing for the hospitality market.”  Then I found his company website and discovered he’s designed a lot of weddings and events as well as interiors, so that fits.  The only thing that stuck in my craw was the repetitive misuse of “your” instead of “you’re” throughout the textual parts of his site.  He’s in desperate need of a ghostwriter for his blog/twitter page and a copywriter for his site.

My prediction for Trent: His well-rounded, extensive portfolio online is pretty impressive.  Trent’s my pick to win it all!

As I’ve done for previous seasons, I’ll be doing episodic recaps and hoping to continue interviewing the castoffs each week, so check back for that! In the meantime, what do you think of the cast?

Design Star premieres on HGTV June 13th at 9pm Central.