TV REVIEW

‘MasterChef Junior’ 
fun despite its issues

By MATT BARNAUSKAS

Daily Arts Writer

If there is one show that makes 

me feel like I’m underachieving 
in life, it’s “MasterChef Junior.” 
Entering 
its 
fourth 

season, the 
pint-sized 
spin-off 
of 

the hit FOX 
show “Mas-
terChef” 
continues to 
present chil-
dren of such 
culinary 
excellence 
that it puts 
most of its viewing audience to 
shame. I may be able to cook a 
burger, but I highly doubt I’ll 
ever make something that looks 
half as good as eight-year-old 
Kya’s Wagyu beef burger with 
two kinds of cheeses.

“I think it’s time for a girl to 

win ‘MasterChef Junior,’” con-
testant Avery says as she walks 
into the MasterChef Kitchen. 
For its first three seasons, 
male contestants have been the 
favorite sons of the series, with 
all three winners having been 
boys, along with two of the 
runners-up. This dominance 
stands in stark contrast to the 
adult-oriented 
“MasterChef,” 

which has boasted five female 
winners over the course of six 
seasons. However, the distribu-
tion of the final two contenders, 
seven females to five males, is 
far more balanced.

This dynamic between the 

two shows brings an eyebrow-
raising dynamic. While the 
show seeks to share culinary 
knowledge with a young gen-
eration, it has become increas-

ingly narrow in its selection of 
elite contestants. The lack of 
young diversity is a shame con-
sidering the wider represen-
tation present in the flagship 
“MasterChef” program itself.

By having one of its young 

competitors address the lack of 
female winners from the begin-
ning, 
“MasterChef 
Junior” 

seems to be challenging itself to 
broaden its horizons as it looks 
for its next champion among a 
sea of bright young faces that 
burst with energy.

It’s this enthusiasm and won-

der that carry “MasterChef 
Junior.” 
Representation 
and 

gender politics aside, the show 
is still, in many ways, a joy to 
watch. Gone are the petty rival-
ries and cynical reality show 
machinations of the adult alter-
native, replaced by the sincerity 
of childhood.

The common tendency of 

reality to turn characters that 
stand 
out. 
One 
contestant, 

Adam, emphasizes his Brook-
lyn origins and talks with the 
delivery of a stand-up come-
dian, while Avery, dressed in 
overalls, plays up her bayou 
roots with recipe a called the 
“Sportsman’s Paradise Burg-
er.” These basic archetypes 
are common, but “MasterChef 
Junior” steers away from the 

negative tendencies that type-
casting usually resorts to in 
competitive reality shows. No 
child is made out to be a villain 
or a jerk; they’re just kids that 
want be the best cooks they 
can be. Even though it’s been 
on for four seasons, the show’s 
pervading positive attitude still 
makes for a nice refresher from 
the inherent nastiness of sev-
eral reality competitions.

The 
universal 
encourage-

ment extends to the judging. 
Instead of resorting to put-
downs and angry rants meant 
to artificially heighten drama, 
judges Gordon Ramsay, Gra-
ham Elliot and Christina Tosi 
(her first time on “MasterChef 
Junior”) bring valid construc-
tive criticism. Tosi excels in the 
instance when presented with a 
marshmallow pie by contestant 
Alexander. The pie is, frankly, a 
mess and Alexander knows it, 
but Tosi searches for the good 
and offers necessary comfort 
for a young boy in a stressful 
situation.

This goodwill towards inno-

cence fosters a show with a 
constructive atmosphere. As 
Alexander and fellow contes-
tant Kade are eliminated, the 
rest of the participants gather 
around for a big group hug. It’s 
a common scene on the show, 
but the comforting sentiment 
continues to carry over across 
seasons.

“MasterChef Junior” still has 

issues of finding diverse cham-
pions; a challenge made even 
more difficult considering it’s 
hard for audiences at home to 
assess the abilities of the young 
chefs. However, the positive 
atmosphere continues to create 
a show that offers up the best in 
its young competitors.

B

MasterChef 
Junior

Season 4 
Premiere 

Fridays at 8 p.m.

FOX

Stands in stark 

contrast to 

adult-oriented 
‘Master Chef.’ 

Enviro-folk from 
Jeremy Loops

South African 

singer blends music 

and message

By CATHERINE BAKER

Daily Arts Writer

It’s seven in the morning and 

I’m woken up by the pounding of 
rain on my window. Panicking 
briefly that I’d left my car windows 
rolled down, I remind myself that 
I do not have a car here and I am 
not, in fact, still in high school. 
After this minor disruption in my 
heart rate, I soothe myself with 
the repetitive patter against my 
window and the sporadic flashes 
of light that illuminate my messy 
room. The beating of the raindrops 
is continuous and takes root inside 
my mind to make sure that I won’t 
get any more sleep tonight. And 
Jeremy Loops does the same. His 
use of new musical techniques and 
limited instruments create music 
that will linger long after it has 
stopped playing. Rain has always 
been associated with reflection, 
just like Loops’ lyrics on life, love 
and simplicity will make you 
think.

Jeremy Loops, originally from 

Cape Town, South Africa, is a mod-

ern folk singer and environmental 
activist. Speaking out for aware-
ness through both his organization 
Greenpop and his lyrics, he seeks 
to battle deforestation and travels 
around Southern Africa teaching 
underprivileged 
schoolchildren 

how to better protect their planet. 
His important ecological advocacy 
follows the similar messages he 
portrays in his music, combining 
traditional folk instruments with 
contemporary lyrics.

In 2014, Loops debuted at #1 on 

iTunes in South Africa and recent-
ly released his first full-length 
album Trading Change in August 
2015. Since this recent claim to 
fame, he has begun touring along-
side Twenty One Pilots in Europe.

Trading Change’s opening track, 

“Sinner,” is characterized by a 
quick banjo and gravely vocals, 
with lyrics that create a feeling of 
community around the idea that 
humanity is full of sinners. Loops 
displays his vocal range right off 
the bat, looping his own voice and 
instruments to create interesting 
and original layers of sound.

“Down South” was the first song 

from Loops I heard and the layered 
opening a cappella drew me in like 
a moth to a flame. Transforming 
into a full band sound while still 
maintaining a sense of simplicity is 

a talent I have only found in Loops. 
The lyrics, “Remember how we 
say / Someday we’ll set sail / It 
took me so much to get where we 
are,” dream of looking ahead to the 
future and still pleading for stag-
nancy in the present.

Combining all of these elements, 

“Trip Fox” utilized snaps, more 
banjos, strangely syncopated lyr-
ics and dueling harmonicas. “Tell 
me you’re living free / Tell me we 
can do it again” reiterates the same 
themes of being content where you 
are while dreaming of a place far 
away. Brandishing a wicked banjo 
solo (trust me, that feels just as 
strange to write as it does to read), 
“Trip Fox” transcends the label of 
“modern folk” and becomes simply 
amazing music.

“Running Away” showcases 

Loops’ versatility as an artist as he 
gets in touch with his rock roots, 
yet retains an aggressive harmon-
ica in place of a bass line. As the 
title suggests, the song glorifies 
escaping from all responsibilities 
and taking to a life on the road, a 
sentiment that most of us can echo.

I may not be in high school 

anymore, I may not have a car 
and I may not always be ready to 
move on from the past, but Jeremy 
Loops makes the future look pret-
ty enticing.

The play is set in an unnamed 

dystopian society with its main 
character, Katurian, as a short-sto-
ry writer. After detectives discover 
an eerie similarity between the 
gruesome violence of Katurian’s 
stories and several recent child 
murders, he is brought in for ques-
tioning. When Katurian hears that 
his brother Michael has confessed 
to the murders, including sharing 
details on their twisted upbring-
ing, Katurian suffocates him as a 
kind of mercy killing. His mission 
is to save his stories from destruc-
tion. Many of these stories are 

recounted within the play.

With two weeks to put together 

this five-week production, Rich 
casted the show based on the abil-
ity to capture the emotional depth 
of these highly complex and trou-
bled characters.

“Each character is so specific 

and different in what they’ve 
gone through in life, and really 
an understanding of that and an 
understanding of drama is what 
I was looking for from actors,” 
Rich said.

Although originally scripted 

as a cast of all men, Rich bent the 
gender of one of the detective 
characters in an effort to make 
the production more relatable to 
female audiences. The produc-

tion has innovated in other ways, 
too, in order to make such a mul-
tilayered play possible.

“When I first started thinking 

about proposing this show, it was 
two years ago and I said to myself, 
‘No, it’s too challenging of a piece,’ 
” Rich said. “I didn’t know how I 
was going to do the stories, because 
I wanted to do each one a different 
way. So now, we have shadow play, 
we have puppets, we have lighting 
changes, and we have some that 
are just stories read aloud.”

Expect laughs to turn to tears, 

breaths to be drawn and irresist-
ibly uncomfortable moments to 
last too long. Revel in “The Pil-
lowman” ’s bleakness and you’ll 
be just fine.

PILLOWMAN
From Page 1A

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Friday, November 13, 2015 — 5A

Balmain x H&M is 
style hype at its peak

STYLE NOTEBOOK

By JULIA DOYLE

Daily Arts Writer

The highly anticipated, highly 

promoted release of Balmain x 
H&M featuring designs by Bal-
main Creative Director Olivier 
Rousteing occurred this past 
Thursday, Nov. 5 at 8 a.m. To many 
a consumer’s displeasure, by noon 
that same day the only item left on 
sale was a tiny, simple, white ban-
deau. So what’s the deal?

Dedicated shoppers lined up 

for hours (and in some cases, days) 
outside of the various H&M stores 
lucky enough to carry the collec-
tion. Masses of people, men and 
women alike, waiting for those 
clear doors to open. Once they 
did, chaos basically ensued — on-
lookers videotaped the craziness 
of shoppers storming the racks. 
Comparable to a Best Buy on 
Black Friday, these H&M stores 
were 
completely 
run-through 

only minutes after the crowds 
stampeded. Online, the situation 
was far worse. The website was 
so flooded with volume that it 
completely crashed, and to shop-
pers’ disappointment, once it did 
go back online, all the items were 
gone. Sold out. Poof. Vanished. So, 
why all the hype? We chalk it up 
to two simple reasons.

The first reason for the unprec-

edented success was the campaign 
itself — what many would call a 
genius fashion marketing cam-
paign. If you have a social media 
account, the ads for this collection 
were everywhere. Not to mention 
putting Kendall Jenner’s face on 
anything at this point turns said 
item into coveted gold. But to use 
her face, name and brand alone 
wouldn’t have made this big of 
an impact. However, throwing in 

Gigi Hadid along with Jourdan 
Dunn was what added to the suc-
cess of it all. But still bear with us, 
because that wasn’t what made it 
stand out. It was the entire pro-
duction of the campaign. Lashy, 
high-fashion and constantly in 
your face — from a music video as 
edgy as the line itself, to a launch 
party so highly publicized by 
Kendall, Gigi and Jourdan them-
selves, to the sheer amount of star 
power at that launch party (Kylie 
Jenner, Ellie Goulding, Cameron 
Russell, among others), this cam-
paign was buzzed about since 
May 2015. Given the six months 
of unmatched anticipation for this 
line to drop, can’t say I’m too sur-
prised about the lack of hangers on 
the shelves. 

The second reason for such 

sold-out success is sheer quality 
product — the entirety of the line 
itself was fabulous. Yes, we estab-
lished that Kendall Jenner could 
sell essentially anything. But had 
these looks not been as great as 
they truly are, there’d be no reason 
for fans to line up. Rather, they’d 
simply look online at the pretty 
pictures of Kendall and Gigi walk-
ing hand in hand down the red 
carpet at the release, which at this 
point is the only thing most con-
sumers (including myself) can do 
with the line. Each piece encom-
passes the signature design, fit and 
look of Balmain as a brand, taken 
to new heights by Rousteing.

The pieces aren’t for those 

looking for simple cocktail attire. 
From huge pops of bright color to 
decadent patterns to colorful faux 
leather and decadent fur jack-
ets, each piece is bolder and more 
dauntless than the last. Clearly 
resolute in every piece from the 
collection, Oliver Rousteing does 

a fantastic job of making the line 
effortlessly edgy from head to 
toe. Encompassing the trademark 
black and gold silhouettes that 
Balmain is coveted for, Rousteing 
is not afraid to put a twist on these 
designs, made for the modern and 
high fashion woman.

While the collection itself is 

worth the hype surrounding it, 
it would seem that this collabo-
ration between high fashion and 
mass produced retail, between 
Balmain and H&M, is anything 
but for the masses. 

That being said, my hesitation 

with this line is the pricing. Yes, 
this is Balmain, but this is also 
being sold at H&M — a retailer for 
the average person. When people 
shop at H&M, their intention is not 
to drop $500 on a cardigan. Collab-
orations between a top tier design-
er and a retail store like H&M are 
created to provide an affordable 
way for us “average peasants,” we 
non-Kardashians to wear design-
er-quality clothing. Clearly H&M 
is missing the point here. In the 
past, H&M has done collabora-
tions with huge names. The list is 
endless and quite impressive: Stel-
la McCartney, Versace, Roberto 
Cavalli, Isabel Marant, Alexander 
Wang, Beyoncé, David Beckham, 
Karl Lagerfeld and so on. 

So it would seem everyone who 

is anyone in fashion, style and 
pop-culture has collaborated with 
H&M. Yet in each of these lines, I 
saw prices that soared above $400. 
Clearly H&M knows they can prof-
it on these lines. Unfortunately for 
us, the “average” consumers, we 
may just have to be content with 
looking at these designs from afar, 
because it would seem that appar-
ently the prices are not going to 
change any time soon.

