Good morning, everyone! Jaclyn welcomes the remaining seven would-be-geniuses to the salon and reminds them that Paulo won the last challenge and is now up on the Allure Wall of Fame. I have to add my two cents -- I finally was able to watch that episode, and he 100% deserved that win because that wig was beyond belief and his client looked amazing. (Also, thanks to Joe R for taking care of things while I was on vacation!) But back to this week. This week's shortcut challenge is for the stylists to color their client's hair with the most outlandish color they can come up with. This might actually explain Meredith's choice of hair color two episodes back -- she just did this challenge a couple of weeks early! The always delightful Kim Vo is there to judge them this week because apparently he is the God of Color (tm Daniel). He's done Fergie, Britney, and even, wait for it... Perez Hilton! Really, do we live in a world now where doing Perez's hair is considered noteworthy? Because that's a world I'm not sure I want to live in.

They each select a scissor box to find colored combs that will match them with their clients. The only thing of note about this is that the clients are all dark-haired, so this might be a little bit tougher. There's a collective orgasm as they're told they will have four hours to complete this challenge since it's about really vibrant color and they'll need time for the color to process. The winner gets immunity and will help determine the outcome of the elimination challenge. Now hang on a second -- if Paulo didn't get immunity for winning last week, why should someone doing a smaller challenge get it now? Once again, I am asking questions that I should just leave be, because we'll never know. For a split second the look on Paulo's face says he might just be wondering the same thing.

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Previously on Shear Genius, freakishly long hair was styled, though not cut, because we're apparently into coddling the tragically coiffed these days. Then Matthew was sent home to be with his beautiful wife and the sun that shines from her ass.

Jaclyn welcomes the stylists and congratulates Charlie on his 17th win of the season. It's weird how Charlie's gone from tedious to kinda funny to serious threat to win in the span of three weeks. He's got immunity this week, which Nekisa finds annoying. I'm sure Kim Kardashian finds the fact that Nekisa is stealing her look annoying, but you don't hear her bitching about it. The Gollum-mouthed Roy Teeluck (seriously, it looks like he just bit into a giant ball of ink) will be the guest judge on the short-cut challenge (and the elimination challenge tomorrow). That challenge will be to start styling one woman's hair, then at various intervals switch clients with another stylist, choosing to continue that stylist's plan or not. They'll be judged on the head of hair they end up with when time runs out. So it's high-stakes Hot Potato (or Hot Po-tah-to if you're Charlize Theron). Paulo, whose sense of self-satisfaction has become so massive that it's weighted down his hair, low-flow-showerhead-style, interviews that this offers a great opportunity for sabotage. The stylists pick models, with Charlie intentionally picking a woman with steel wool hair (and unruly steel wool at that) in the hope that by starting with her, he won't end up with her.

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After the "shear" excitement of little-known reality guest stars last week, what awaits us tonight? (Other than the regular cast of little-known reality stars.) ("Stars.") Jaclyn Smith continues to loosen up a tad and express some emotion as she congratulates Charlie, but then gets serious to ask who he thinks is struggling. He names Gail, and predictably she responds by saying she's a fighter who is going to fight. As opposed to a fighter who is going to knit. We also learn that Matt has poor social skills and gets on everyone's nerves. Jaclyn then introduces the week's guest judge, Campbell Mc-something -- I can't figure out his last name because Bravo won't stop showing giant promos on the bottom of the screen for Kathy Griffin's show. And hey, advertise away, but maybe not when it obscures information in the show that's on RIGHT NOW. Campbell's clients include Katherine Heigl, Christina Aguilera, and Cameron Diaz, or in other words, some of the most divisive actresses in Hollywood. Daniel is naturally smitten but is delightfully charming about it, as always.

This week's Short Cut challenge is to create a "structurally complicated" hairdo that incorporates at least one accessory, and she warns them that a braid or a bun won't cut it. This is a challenge I appreciate as a girl with ridiculously thick hair, whose own fancy hairdos are generally structurally complicated and involve a whole lot of hidden support. They choose scissor boxes that they aren't allowed to open, and they meet their clients, all of whom have hair that is, at the very least, waist-length. They all open their scissor boxes and in a ridiculous gimmick, the number on their scissors represents the length of their client's hair. Why does it not have a name? Or a number from 1-10? Do they think we don't appreciate just seeing the length of hair on these women and need to know an exact measurement? My brain hurts from these questions, so let's just get to the challenge, shall we?

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The second season of Bravo's Shear Genius premieres tonight at 10 p.m.

The final three finally met the ultimate hair guru -- Vidal Sassoon. After he gave them a speech about giving back, how proud he is of the threesome (even though he held up four fingers, not three!), he headed out. Rene told them to pick a box that will determine the order for which they will choose their designer clothes for their challenge. Their options, Luca Luca, Cynthia Rowley, and Dina Bar-El. Daisy, Anthony and Ben linked up with the wardrobe, respectively. Then, they spent their time alone, contemplating how much they deserve the crown.

The competitors got dolled up, left the loft for the last time and strolled their luggage to the salon for the final challenge; three hours to create three distinct looks, only two of which I could actually understand what Rene was saying; they must use color in one style and could do whatever they wanted for the other. Oh, and the Nancy Kwan bob for the third. The stylists were matched up with their hair models and were given the green light. Ben's "story" he was telling through his designs was "Outer to Inner Beauty." He quickly learned that his first model is going to be upset when he cuts her hair short. Ditto Anthony's model. His story was "Modern Movement." Daisy was going for the "S Curve," sporting different waves. Problem was, her curling irons didn’t get hot due to lack of power. But she pushed through and tried pin curls for the first time. Growing frantic with watchdog Rene nearby, she dropped her bowl of hair color. Eh, the five second rule came into play. There was no more time to mix more.

Who's Left?
We're down to the final four, with crazy Dr. Boogie, Ben and last week's winners, Daisy and Anthony. But who will provide the drama now that Tabatha and Tyson are out of the mix? Read the recap and find out!

The Short Cut Challege
This week's guest judge for the first portion of the show is celebrity hair stylist Kiyah Wright, who has worked on the likes of Tyra Banks and Gabrielle Union. For their short-cut challenge the remaing stylists must straighten, cut and style African American hair.

Ben basically freaks out at first, clearly not feeling comfortable working with the texture of African American hair, but his model opts to not go for a relaxer. In fact, Dr. Boogie was the only who went for a chemical relaxer, comparing his client's hair to steel wool.

The Short-Cut Winner
Kiyah declared Anthony the winner because she liked the way he consulted with his client and also thought the end-style result was youthful and bouncy.

Now, on to the elimination challenge!

Arithmetic lesson of the night When there are six remaining stylists who are given three ledgers, how many stylists are there per ledger? Easy, right? Well, it stumped this crew. "Why are there only three if there are six of us?" questioned Tabatha. They followed their map to a mall for their short cut challenge. Ben decided to get his freak on. And by freak, I mean a ninja costume, hood included. "Ben, what are you wearing? Are you having a bad hair day?" asked Jaclyn. He explained that he's showing them that he's ready for anything. "It's unusual," noted the hostess. Ya think? Jaclyn then introduced her own stylist /guest judge Jose Eber.

After pairing up, the contestants had to solicit clients and try to make the most money in two hours. Last week's winner, Tyson, got to double everyone up. He chose nemesis Tabatha to work with, while he put Boogie with Ninja Ben, and Daisy with Anthony. So basically, everyone was with someone they didn't care for.

Tabby, who is arguably the most outspoken in the bunch, was uncomfortable approaching strangers, but Tyson was ying to her yang as he wooed mall goers with his salesman-like charm. Boogie and Ben offered cuts for $5, $10 and $20, while Tyson's pitch was a cut in five minutes for bigger bucks. Anthony decided to rack in customers at $30 a pop. T&T were the last to reel anyone in, but ended up winning when they made more than the other two teams combined.

We're down to seven contestants, and the pressure is on Danna, who won the last two challenges. The stylists headed to their Short Cut Challenge, which Tabatha feared would be to groom dogs, but turned out to be to makeover some long-haired men who look like they still bang their heads to Guns N Roses. It was very Beauty and the Geek.

Dr. Boogie was thrilled to finally be working on a male, his specialty, and his competitors knew he and his infamous clippers owned this challenge. Jaclyn introduced famed hairstylist Christophe (he must be good if he only goes by one name), and they were all kind of star-struck. The Charlie's Angel then informed the gang that none of them would be offed during this gig. But when she asked Boogie who he would like to see go, he named Ben and Tyson. Ouch. The final seven picked their models and started to work their magic. Tyson talked himself up to his client, which is why Tabatha calls him FIGJAM (F--- I'm good, just ask me.) She and Boogie were totally horrified to see Ty flat-ironing his dude's hair. Nothing like making a man feel like a woman. When their hour was up, Christophe asked the clients their satisfaction level. The C-man chose Tabatha and Boogie as the top two stylists, then named Tabatha as the winner.

For the fourth installment, the 8 remaining stylists were introduced to Allure Editor in Chief Linda Wells, who informed them they had 1.5 hours to give their hair models a cut that had one look by day and another look by night that the clients would then have to transition by herself in five minutes. Still on a high from last week's win, Evangelin stuck with her hedge clippers as her chopping tool. Dr. Boogie got carried away his razor and turned his model's long red hair into a near buzz cut. While checking on the competitors' progress, Linda told the doc, "You are going to be the first person in the world to make the mullet attractive."

Once the short cut challenge time expired, Linda asked the models how they felt about their cut. Shockingly, Boogie's girl said she liked her very short 'do. Maybe she hadn't looked in a mirror quite yet. Linda noted it was "a little punky verging on ugly." Then the clock was set to 5 minutes for the models to change their hair to the night look. Danna won the challenge, then the gang had the rest of the day to relax at a spa.

Granted Meg Ryan’s famous shag was created a gazillion years ago, Sally invented it, therefore, the remaining competitors had to learn how to do it. Once she gave them a quick lesson, they worked on identical mannequins. While sticking around to intimidate the crew, Sally announced someone would be offed after the challenge. Sally went down the line one-by-one to question the stylists and critique their work. Her top three picks were Tabatha (she‘s becoming a regular on the top), Ben, and Tyson. Ty was crowned the shag survivor. Those on the chopping block were Danna, Lacey, and Evangelin. Jaclyn and Sally announced Lacey was cut from the competition. Buh-bye. Feel like we never even knew ya.

Once back at their pad, the stylists were able to use the phone for 5 minutes each. Tabatha once again proved to be the coldest contestant when she couldn’t understand why everyone was weeping while talking to a loved one. Did we know Daisy was a lesbian? Apparently she is because she called her girlfriend.

With the power to choose the order the stylists will select their models, Tyson gave the group an opportunity to give their reason as to why they should go second. Daisy was offended, thinking Tyson was playing head games. Tabby was annoyed and refused to play along.

This week's short cut challenge gave the remaining stylists two hours to transform a mannequin's hair from black to a level 8 blonde. Highlights from the bit: Tabatha was annoyed with the chatty Evangelin, and just as she joked about beating her with her plastic head, karma caused the sink to water Tabs down. We learned Lacy doesn't do color because it gets everywhere and might ruin her expensive shoes. And show stealer Dr. Boogie provided laughs by referring to the challenge as a "refresher crash course of being the genius that I am." Followed by calling himself "Mad Scientist Boogie" when the hair he was working on turn blue instead of blonde. Oops!

Joining winner Tabatha (who is an off-the-charts blonde herself and was in last place last week) in the top three were Evangelin and Ben.

When the gang strolled into their fancy home, Rene was there to inform them they had to choose their next client. Tabatha, Evangelin and Ben had first choice up at the wall with headshots of everyday women next to a photo of their desired celeb hairdo. Ben clearly isn't hip on Hollywood hotties because he thought Sienna Miller was Melanie Griffith (!). They calmly chose styles that were challenging enough to show their true talent, while the rest of the group was left with only seeing the potential client headshots. No wanted look included for comparison. No orderly fashion. It was a stylist free-for-all Dr. Boogie's technique was to grab more than one, figure out which girl he liked best, then dispose of his reject pile. Smart.

The Elimination Challenge began. The stylists were told to work with their client's desire, but give their professional input if a compromise was needed. Danna was able to talk her girl into not going as blonde as Jessica Alba's photo. Jim was thrilled with his easy-going client aiming for a platinum blonde Gwen Stefani look. Daisy was stressed while consulting with her brunette client, who wanted to look like a bleached Christina Aguilera. Rene made the rounds and worried for Jim's client, as well as Daisy's. "It was like Carrot Top in drag," Boogie gasped about Jim's girl. Love him! When the two hours were up, Daisy broke down about her "bitchy" client.

The hair models pranced down the runway for judges Jaclyn, Sally, Michael and guest judge Roy Teeluck, who was offering an apprenticeship to the winner. The stylists were questioned about their decisions, as were the clients about their reaction. Jim and Daisy tried to explain away their colorful blunders. Tabatha and Evangelin made the top three once again, along with Anthony, the winner. His prize: to be featured in a Nexxus ad in Allure. He did a happy dance. The bottom two, Daisy and Jim, however, were not so happy. Jim was eliminated for his Carrot Top creation. He gave a little speech about how grateful he was just for the experience. Too bad his orange client won't be giving thanks anytime soon. Until the next trim....

Hair stylists tend to gossip and lure out secrets from their clients, so here's scoop on the premiere episode of Shear Genius.

The 12 contestants range from quiet, young blondie to loud and proud divo. Their first challenge was to create their signature hair style on a mannequin in an hour. Snooze.The finished products were mostly asymmetrical. Judges Sally Hershberger and the still-gorgeous Jaclyn Smith gave their opinions on each. What we learned through the boring challenge: Dr. Boogie is hysterical, claims to be straight and cuts hair with an electric clipper-- no scissors
necessary. Evangelin, the "crazy Italian wife," gets way too emotional while talking about being a stylist, and Lacey can look at a tree and turn it into a haircut. Uh... I'll pass.

The players felt the heat when they learned there would not only be a winner and loser of the challenge, but that everyone in between would be ranked. Women rounded out the bottom three; the quiet, but stylish Tyson won with
his modern cut.

Salon Director Rene Fris was introduced and took the lucky dozen to Michael's Art Supply store to stock up for their first elimination challenge: create a hair art masterpiece in two hours. All kinds of things were purchased including feathers, birds of paradise and a treasure box (gasp!). The outrageous styles clearly took creativity, but look painful to actually have attached to your head. Frederick Fekkai guest judged, which totally impressed the contestants. Surpisingly, the pop-open treasure box head, made by the adorable Theodore (he's 22), won the prize. Unfortunately, the cocky "I am success" Paul-Jean, who was sure to be a drama queen, was
eliminated. So chip-on-her-shoulder Tabatha might have to take over to provide entertainment with attitude.

In the midst of all of this, the gang moved into their Real World-inspired house (bunk beds and pool table included) and quickly took advantage of the provided alcohol. Disappointingly, nobody got too tipsy, and there doesn't seem to be a hot tub nearby. Shoot.

It's early in the game, but Daisy and Tyson seem to be ahead in the race.

Until the next trim....

Talk about a genius idea — Bravo’s new reality show revolving around top-notch ‘dos is bringing the Breck Girl back! That’s right, wiggle into your old Jaclyn Smith jeans because Charlie’s sexy brunette Angel is the hostess of Shear Genius.

Watch as 12 stylists compete through hair-raising challenges involving A-list celebrities and not-so-famous (read: in need of a makeover) clients in order to save themselves from being “cut” from the group. He or she who manages to “blow away” the judges will be crowned Shear Genius. Think Project Runway in a gossipy hair salon.

The judges are guaranteed to be more outspoken than your mother when you got that horrible perm. Move over Jonathan Antin, Shear Genius is handing the scissor torch to Wilhelmina model/author/hairstylist Rene Fris, who is part of the European “Fab Five.” Joining him in the judge’s chambers is bi-coastal celeb stylist Sally Herschberger, who has a big, long list of credentials to make her more than qualified to be one of three judges. All that matters is one uber important detail — she has touched Brad Pitt’s hair. And hopefully Allure Fashion Director Michael Carl will be just as honest and brutal as the Michael judge on Runway (Kors, that is).

Let your hair down on Wednesday nights and give Shear Genius a snip of your time. Each week -- right here -- I'll be recapping the show, which premieres April 11 at 10/9c. So come back and tell me what you think.

Plus, find out more about the show at BravoTV.com!