Kathy Alexander, a local staging colleague and A/R member, invited me to a Grand Finale party hosted by Dan Vickery, HGTV's Season 4 Design Star finalist.  The big bash was held at Kell's Irish Pub in downtown Portland this evening, where they had large screens set up to play the actual HGTV Season 4 Finale show.

We arrived early to get a good table (and had a cocktail before ordering a delicious Irish dinner) and soon a big white limo pulled up outside and out popped Dan Vickery with some of his family & friends ... when Dan walked into the pub, everyone cheered and he happily posed for photos with his "fans" and even signed autographs.  Dan was accompanied by a gorgeous tall brunette who he later introduced as his girlfriend, Rose.  Dan is extremely gracious and about the nicest, most humble person you could meet.  Not to mention what a talented designer he is!

There were multiple huge screens set up in the pub, and once the actual HGTV Season 4 finale started, during the intermissions Dan stood at the mic and took questions from the audience.  We learned some interesting things about the show, some of which may surprise you:

• The "Elimination Rounds" actually take 10 to 12 hours!  There is a lot of editing done to whittle them down to just a few minutes on each weekly episode.  Dan said the atmosphere during these rounds is quite tense.

• None of the Design Star contestants are paid for their time on the show.  Their accommodation and meals are provided, but nothing more.  They work an average of 14-16 hours each day for 6 weeks and exist on about 6 hours of sleep each night.  Dan said his Oregon family was hugely supportive of his entering the competition and that he couldn't have done it without their help.
  

• There is no interaction between the contestants and the judges (Vern Yip, Candice Olson, and Genevieve Gorder) during the filming of the show -- only at the Elimination Rounds.   
  

• Where do the "Helper carpenters" come from for the Grand Finale?  The producers run an ad on Craigslist!

• How do the families and their homes get on the show?  The producers figure out which neighborhoods are relatively easy to get permits in, and go knocking on doors.  Anyone who participates gets all the work done for free.  After the designers do their work, a professional construction crew follows up to correct any deficiencies and to make sure everything is done according to local code.

Kathy & I put this sign on our table so there was no doubt who we thought the winner was!

Although Dan was the Runner-Up we think he did a fantastic job ... and we hope he'll win the "on line show" on HGTV.  There's still time to go to their website and vote for Dan!  That competition ends on Tuesday Sept. 15th @ 5pm EST.

Here's a few photos of Dan tonight during the Grand Finale Party held in his honor ... he was a superb host!

Did you see the show?  Did you agree with the judges' outcome? Looking forward to hearing what others thought of it.

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Maureen Bray's Room Solutions Staging is a Portland-based professional home staging company.   To see Before & After photos of both our Vacant and Occupied properties, view our updated Portland OR home staging photo gallery.