'Project Runway' at the Paley Center

On Tuesday night, I attended the Paley Center's program, "Inside 'Project Runway'," and learned all sorts of juicy tidbits. For one, the producers are working on getting Marc Jacobs as a guest judge, which is better than SJP for true fashion freaks because MJ's perfume is divine, he wears cool glasses and loves the Mods. Two, Santino is blogging for Elle.com and though that counts as competition, I will still kindly link to it. And finally, according to my hair-extension-spotting friend Bette -- trust me, she's got a laser eye for this kind of thing -- Heidi's impossibly radiant waves are just that: impossible. Hope the Bravo lawyers don't get me for saying that.

The panel discussion hosted by the excitable Kristin Dos Santos from "E!" included Season 2's Santino Rice and Andrae Gonzalo, Season 1's Kara Saun, the great Klum and lots of producers in glasses, some named Jane. The crowd wore its best frocks but was no match for Santino who looked like a pimpin' Parisian carnival emcee. Way to go, dude, but it was a bit of a shame to see my man defanged. He did little more than provide spot-on Tim Gunn impersonations, funny though they were, and he said not an unkind word about anyone or anything. Zzzz...

Some of the most illuminating moments in the panel came when Heidi and the producers explained final elimination. For starters, it lasts ALL DAY. I always thought Michael Kors and Nina came to their decisions in 15 minutes or so, but it turns out they discuss for hours and hours. And then, when they drag the victims back on stage, they cut the air-conditioning for better sound quality, which is partly why the contestants always look so sweaty.

And in the awful-things-that-were-prevented category, Heidi said that they first pitched MTV on the show, but they passed. Thank Prada they did. Can you imagine what horrors they would've inflicted with all the seizure-inducing quick cuts, not to mention the ubiquitous shot of static they like to insert willy-nilly into anything and everything? I'm so glad they passed on this little show about sewing.

-- Margaret Wappler

PS. Buh-bye, Chris. You seem cool but I saw the dents in your cheetah-patterned armor from the get-go. I know SJP is awesome but you cannot visibly tremble before her! As for the rest of you, protect your faces from Victorya.

(Photos courtesy Kevin Parry /The Paley Center for Media / Bravo)