Viewers Set to Vote for the Next HGTV Design Star

Viewers Set to Vote for the Next HGTV Design Star

NEW YORK, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Surviving eight formidable competitors, seven devilishly clever design challenges and three tough judges was the easy part for David Bromstad, 32, of Miami, Fla. and Alice Fakier, 31, of Temple, Texas. After the next episode of HGTV Design Star airs on Sunday, September 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, viewers finally will get their chance to click on HGTV.com or text message their vote to decide who has the on-camera hosting skills and design chops to get their own show on HGTV.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060830/CLW072)

The virtual polls to select the HGTV Design Star will open on Sunday, September 3 at 10 p.m. ET and will close at noon ET on Wednesday, September 6. At the conclusion of Sunday night's episode, viewers can vote once daily on HGTV.com for their favorite designer finalist or they can send one daily text message via cell phone to HGTV1 or 44881. They can text the letter "a" to vote for David or the letter "b" to vote for Alice. After the viewer votes are tallied, one of the final two talented designers will catapult to fame as HGTV's next design star. The winner will be announced on the final episode airing on Sunday, September 10 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

If the HGTV.com message boards are any indication, it's too close to call. With so much at stake -- a regular spot on one of cable's top rated networks, national visibility for their design work and instant celebrity -- it's no wonder that Bromstad and Fakier were excited, yet focused, during the taping of the final challenge in New York City's Bryant Park earlier this week. Since their final designs will be revealed during the HGTV Design Star episode airing on Sunday, this challenge was their last chance to impress the show's judges and television viewers.

Bromstad and Fakier were given 26 working hours to finish working on two 16' x 12' glass structures. With the clock ticking and host Clive Pearse checking in periodically, they sketched, shopped, designed, decorated and raced to complete the final challenge. While show judges Martha McCully, the executive editor of In Style magazine and renowned designers Cynthia Rowley and Vern Yip stopped by to view the finalists' progress and offer a perspective on the designs and on-camera performances, ultimately the winner will be selected by viewers across the country.

"Viewers have been waiting for weeks for their chance to weigh in on who should be the next HGTV Design Star," said James Bolosh, Vice President, Original Programming, HGTV. "There are some pretty strong opinions out there and it will be a difficult vote for viewers because we have uniquely talented individuals on the ballot. It could go either way."

HGTV Design Star premiered on Sunday, July 23 with an eclectic group of 10 finalists who represented various lifestyles and life stages, personalities and preferences, education and experience. The group included a former beauty pageant finalist and mother of two from Utah, as well as three Harvard graduates. Each week the competition in the highly-rated show became more intense as the finalists were pushed to their limits in tough design challenges. For example, in one challenge, the finalists designed spaces using only items found in pet, beauty, camping or automotive stores; while in another challenge they designed using a single color -- yellow, blue, red or green -- as inspiration. Bromstad and Fakier each won a weekly design challenge before getting the final shot at stardom.

About HGTV

HGTV, America's leader in home and lifestyle programming, is distributed to more than 91 million U.S. households and is one of cable's top-rated networks. HGTV.com is the nation's leading online home and garden destination that attracts an average of 5.2 million unique visitors per month. HGTV owns 33 percent of HGTV Canada and provides much of the Canadian network's daily programming. The network's branded programming also can be seen in 87 territories across all seven continents and its selected programming is available to service men and women on board Navy ships and through American Forces Radio & Television Service (AFRTS) which services more than 1,000 outlets in over 175 countries.

Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Nashville and New York, HGTV is wholly owned by The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), which also operates Food Network, DIY - Do It Yourself Network, Fine Living and Great American Country.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060830/CLW072
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN7
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: HGTV

CONTACT: Audrey Adlam of HGTV, +1-212-549-8599, or aadlam@hgtv.com; or
Eileen Campion of Dera, Roslan & Campion Public Relations, +1-212-966-4600, or
Eileen@derapr.com, for HGTV

Web site: http://www.hgtv.com/

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