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.