Shear Genius

The Bravo show Shear Genius is all about what goes on behind the scenes in the world of "high end" hair styling.

Jaclyn Smith

High-end hairstyling is probably code for charging clients hundreds of dollars per haircut. The show airs on Bravo and is hosted by Jaclyn Smith. The premise of Shear Genius is much like all the other competition reality shows on the air but most similar to Bravo's Project Runway.

The show features 12 hair stylists competing for the $100,000 prize generously provided by Nexxus and the chance to be the main hairstylist for a photo spread in Allure magazine. The contestants face four judges at the end of every show. Three of the judges are permanent and the fourth judge is a guest judge that varies week to week. Also in striking similarity to Project Runway, Rene Fris is to the hairstylists on Shear Genius what Tim Gunn is to the designers on Runway, acting as a mentor.

The contestants face two challenges per episode:

• The Shortcut Challenge: In this challenge, the contestants hair cutting skills are tested. Judges choose the winner of the Shortcut challenge based on how well he or she cuts hair technically.
• The Elimination Challenge: Unlike the shortcut challenge, hair stylists incorporate their own style and creativity in their haircuts. Judges then choose a winner based on the display of innovation and creativity displayed in the final cut.

The inaugural season of the show was met with positive responses from viewers and featured the following hairstylists:

• Jim – Cut in round two.
• Lacey – Cut in round three.
• Paul Jean – Didn't make it past the first episode of the show.
• Tabatha – Cut in episode six.
• Theodore – Cut in round three along with Lacey.
• Tyson – Made it to round six where he was cut along with Tabatha.
• Ben – This almost-winner made it to the final round and was crowned the runner up.
• Daisy – Declared the runner up, along with Ben.
• Danna – Was told to put away her scissors and pack up her products in round five.
• Dr. Boogie – The man who names Martha Stewart as one of his mentors left the show in round seven.
• Evangelin – This "Eva Diva" made it to round four.
• Anthony – This 40 year old left his native England on vacation nearly 20 years ago and never returned. It's a good thing because Anthony was declared the winner of Shear Genius season one.

The second season featured the same premise as the first season with a whole new crop of stylists and a few different judges. Kim Vo took the judging chair once occupied by Sally Hershberger and Kelly Atterton took over Michael Carl's judging duties. Here's a bit about the constestants:

• Oshun – The man who knew he wanted to cut hair from the age of 10 was eliminated in the first episode.
• Parker – His B.F.A. (Bachelor's of Fine Arts) in sculpting couldn't help Parker make it past round two.
• Paulo – He's been cutting and styling hair for nearly 20 years and made it to the eighth round.
• Charlie – Had the skills to claim the first runner up spot.
• Daniel – This farm boy from Florida was eliminated in episode nine.
• Dee – She's only been cutting hair for about 10 years, but her skills with scissors and styling products impressed the judges enough to declare her the winner of season two.
• Gail – This one time pre-med student decided to ditch the scrubs for scissors. She made it about half way through the competition and was cut in round five.
• Glenn – Originally a chemical engineering major in college before entering the world of cosmetology, Glenn was eliminated in round six.
• Matthew – This Texan made it to round three before being told he was out of the competition.
• Meredith – After being eliminated in episode four, Meredith returned to her hometown of Chicago.
• Nekisa – Even though she graduated from beauty school at the same time she graduated from high school, Nekisa was told to bag up her blow dryer in episode seven.
• Nicole - This 24 year old had only been cutting hair for four years when filming of the show began. She was the second runner up.

Given that Shear Genius was well received by fans you can probably expect a third season, though no official announcement has yet been made by Bravo execs.

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