Design Star premieres to Canadian audiences on May 14 in HGTV’s Monday 10 pm ET/7 pm PT time slot. The premise pits 10 aspiring designers against each another, vying for the chance to star in their own HGTV series. The hook is that they have to decorate using, for example, supplies bought only from a cosmetics store, or in another ep, a camping store. Each week, the judges eliminate one contestant and announce, ‘Your show is cancelled.’

Hosted by Clive Pearce (pictured), Design Star aired in the US from July-September 2006, scoring the title of HGTV US’s highest rated series of 2006. Pretty good for one of the net’s first forays into reality contest shows. A second season is in the works for July 2007. The first season’s winner, David Bromstad, now has a show called Color Splash on HGTV US.