Design Star 2011: They're baaaa-aaack

I used to watch HGTV's Design Star for the hilarity of it...strange, low budget projects combined with totally impractical deadlines always ensured hilarity.  Remember this gorgeous space from the first season?

They designed this space for themselves...they must not like themselves very much.

And this bedroom from the second season's finale?  The person behind this now has a show on DIY and HGTV.  Yikes.

Is it a dorm room?

Last year, however, I watched and dared to dream that a blogger whose style actually deviated from the traditional, HGTV look, could win.  Well, win she did.  The blogsphere rejoiced.

And now, I am looking forward to the 9 PM debut of this year's Design Star with more enthusiasm than I ever had for the show before.  Looking at the cast bios on the HGTV website, I'm pleased to see that most of them have actually studied design.  Plenty of degrees.  Most are working in the industry or in related fields.  I see just one contestant that might be out of her league.  It'll be interesting to watch how she does around trained professionals.

Do you think Design Star has actually turned a corner?