Hasta La Ideas

This past Monday, the much-anticipated two-hour premiere of Dancing With The Stars Season 8 aired in its full stage makeup and sequined glory, and boy was it an eyeful! The earliest stages of every season are always hectic, as host and judge commentary are cut short and dancers are practically shoved onstage to ensure enough time for all 13 unseasoned pairs to perform; meanwhile backstage commentator Samantha Harris appears progressively more awkward throughout the night as she clumsily searches her brain for more original questions for each panting contestant awaiting their scores. However, Season 8’s premiere was considerably even more frenetic than usual, as contestants Holly Madison and Melissa Rycroft were announced as the last-minute replacements for injured drop-outs Jewel and Nancy O’Dell, and were pressured to perform with less than a week of preparation behind them. While audiences love to see certain stars shine, like graceful Shawn Johnson, studly but little-known “Sex And The City” star Gilles Marini, and the unexpectedly poised Lil’ Kim, viewers also take pleasure in seeing others clunk around the floor Cloris Leachman style, like Apple whiz Steve Wozniak and Belinda Carlisle did this time around. Our favorite pro dancers faithfully lived up to expectations — Edyta looking enviably toned as ever in her usual barely-there costumes and Maksim, in true “bad boy” form, already making his partner cry within the first couple weeks of practice (I think that might be a record, even for him). And then there were the costumes. Oh, the costumes — you just never know what the stars will be sashaying across the dance floor in next, or just how far they’ll take the Cha-Cha as an excuse to wear the most ridiculous or risque outfits on national television. I’ll admit — if I had a body like Kym Johnson’s, there are plenty of onstage outfits I wish I had an excuse to wear just so I could strut down the street in an obscene display of self-confidence, but others were straight-up too “snazzy” for their own good. Vote below for which premiere outfit you think made the gaudiest first impression!

Last month we got you excited about the Green Sled Design Challenge, and now the results are in. If you weren’t able to contribute this year, don’t worry, the event is going annual.

The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) Boston hosted their first ever Green Sled Design Challenge 09, a contest that required participants to think, design and build a green sled made of 90 percent recycled materials.

For prizes, the Greenest Award went to team Epic from Ecovative Design for their recycled cardboard sled. Radius took the Best Aesthetic Award with its ironing board sled. Best Overall was awarded to team Dwight Ideas (a Mass Art student team) for a design that combined recycled skis and bicycle parts to create a unique and high performance sled.

Other entries consisted of sleds made of recycled/reused soda bottles, mailing tubes, tree limbs and chairs, among other things. The Co-sponsors were extremely pleased with the results. “The eco-benefit, industry support, and great turnout have us planning a 2nd annual Green event next year” – said Mario Gonzalez, Event Organizer and Designer at Radius Product Development – “It’s a good way to keep everyone thinking green while having fun doing it.”

Click here to see the sleds in action.

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Mattel has taken Barbie’s 50th birthday party global. After we posted news of Barbie’s human-sized Malibu dreamhouse (the setting for this evening’s gala birthday bash, planned by Colin Cowie), we heard from some far-flung readers about celebrations in other parts of the world. Par exemple, the first floor of Parisian lifestyle boutique colette has been transformed into a special “Barbie room,” featuring a collection of Barbie clothing and accessories by fashion designer Jeremy Scott as well as oodles of limited-edition Barbie products exclusive to colette, including Linda Farrow glasses, Alexis Mabille bow ties, a Goyard trunk, Bruno Frisoni stilettos, and—be still our hot pink hearts—a special edition dessert by Ladurée (pictured above).

In China, Barbie lovers are celebrating in the first ever Barbie store, which opened on Friday in downtown Shanghai. Designed by New York-based Slade Architecture and Ogilvy & Mather‘s BIG division, the six-floor, 40,000-square-foot emporium is part of Mattel’s push to transform Barbie into a global lifestyle brand. Molded, clear polycarbonate panels on the interior facade create a transparent three-dimensional layer that refers to traditional decorative architectural elements, as well as jewelry and picture frames, while a whimsical lattice pattern of Barbie iconography is printed on the exterior glass. At the core of the store is a three-story spiral staircase that encloses 800 dolls. Other features include a pink escalator, a DIY-minded “Barbie Design Center,” a cafe, and a soon-to-open spa.

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Lance Armstrong, 700 cycling enthusiasts, and about twice that number of Nike sneakers swooshed their way through the streets of Hollywood on Saturday, as the seven-time Tour de France winner led a 2.2-mile ride to celebrate the launch of “Stages,” a Nike-sponsored global art exhibition that will support the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and its LIVESTRONG campaign. Among the artists, cyclists, and artist-cyclists that turned out for the launch party were Shepard Fairey, who created a mural for the project (pictured at right, behind Armstrong, Nike CEO Mark Parker, Fairey, and LAF president Doug Ulman) and Barry McGee.

Stages is now in its earliest stages. The project has commissioned 22 artists and designers—including Fairey, Tom Sachs, Marc Newson, Geoff McFetridge, Kenny Scharf, and Christopher Wool—to create original works of art inspired by Armstrong and his efforts to raise global awareness of cancer. The artists will begin working on their pieces between now and July, leading to an exhibition at the Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery in Paris on July 16th. After the Paris opening, each of the one-of-a-kind works will go on sale to benefit the LAF, and the exhibit will travel to New York, L.A., and Portland, Oregon. Nike will further the cause by releasing two new lines—a “Hope Rides Again” apparel and footwear collection, and “Greatest Hits”footwear—with proceeds going to the LAF. Click “continued…” for a larger shot of Armstrong, Parker, Fairey, and his Armstrong-inspired mural for Saturday’s event.

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While Design Miami has decided to go all out and expand for this year’s Art Basel, there has been a casualty along the way with another fair that runs concurrent to the biggest art fair in the world. PrintBasel, which is dedicated to graphic art, has announced that it has decided to cancel this year’s event due to the economy and from early warning signs from last year’s Art Basel Miami, which found potential buyers much more gun shy to pick up pricey pieces. However, they has said that they do hope to return for 2010. Here’s a bit:

The problem, [executive manager Robert Schiess] wrote, was particularly acute for smaller fairs. “Economic considerations clearly prevent exhibitors to invest in smaller fairs. PrintBasel, with its specific focus on printmaking, suffers subsequently. Not enough exhibitors have applied to participate. This is why we are renouncing holding PrintBasel in 2009.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media