‘Project Runway’ Season 16 Episode 5 Betting Odds

–’Project Runway’ will feature a wide array of models this year ranging in size from 0 to 22.

–’Project Runway’ has already been renewed for two more seasons after this one.

–Episode 5 of ‘Project Runway’ Season 16 will air on September 14, 2017 at 8:00 PM Eastern on the Lifetime Network

I’ve had a hard time getting a handle on the ‘Project Runway’ oddsmaking process but maybe I’m starting to figure it out. In Episode 4 we saw the elimination of Deyonté Weather who was co-second choice to get her walking papers at +500. Aaron Myers was the top choice to be eliminated (+250) and the top choice to be ‘Bottom Two But Safe’ (+400) and he slid by narrowly and lives to fight…er…design…another day. It has been noted in the previously linked article that Samantha Rei has ‘had about 10 seconds of screen time all season’ and that sure doesn’t bode well for her fortunes going forward.

I guess that Samantha Rei *could* win with no screen time but it’s highly unlikely. It’s not that she’s done a lousy job with just one ‘Low’ (bottom three) score in four weeks but then again she hasn’t had any “High” (top three) scores either. Since she’s soundly in the middle of the pack thus far and has little screen time it’s doubtful that she fits the very important criteria that we discussed last week–just how significant personality is in not only ‘Project Runway’ but all reality shows. Design skills alone aren’t enough to get it done as the elimination of Deyonté Weather demonstrated. He was the Week 1 winner but copped a ‘low’ score in Week 3 and is now on the outside looking in. Rei has three middle of the pack finishes and one bottom three so she could be the next one out.

Also of interest in Episode 4–the much maligned Shawn Buitendorp finished second this week after being bottom three in Episode 1 and bottom two in Episode 3. Last week I mentioned that Lifetime clearly wants to advance the ‘Twin Angle’ and the fact that Shawn and to a lesser extent her sister Claire are becoming objects of derision for the audience actually enhances the probability that they’ll stick around for awhile. Consider this quote from the TVLine.com episode recap:

And how is it that the twins manage to become more obnoxious as the weeks go by? “Everyone’s kind of annoyed,” Margarita said while Claire and Shawn squawked at each other from across the workroom, adding that “it’s not fair” how much they help each other. As Deyonté noted, “I wish I had an extra set of hands.”

YOU GOTTA HAVE A ‘HEEL’

It’s pro wrestling booking 101. You can’t have wrestlers that the fans love and want to buy tickets (or PPVs) to see unless you have wrestlers that they hate. Ricky Steamboat needed Ric Flair. Carlos Colon needed Abdullah the Butcher. The Rock n Roll Express needed the Midnight Express. So on and so forth. The more that the Buitendorp Twins act obnoxious and are perceived to flout the rules by working together, the more anxious that the viewers will be to see their eventual denouement. The fact that Shawn was top two in Episode 4 only helps to advance this ‘angle’.

Another interesting bit of news that has likely been overlooked in the wall to wall hype over Hurricane Irma–the ‘Project Runway’ finalists debuted their collections at New York Fashion Week on Friday. The ‘Project Runway’ producers have done a decent job of keeping things on the QT and attendees weren’t informed as to who designed what or, for that matter, which designers made the finals. There was at least one ‘tell’–one of the collections was almost certainly from the ‘modest but stylish’ design ethos of Utah based Muslim designer Ayana Ife. I’ve been bullish on her chances all season and even had her installed as my opening favorite. Since she clearly makes the finals I’ve bumped her up to the top three of the Season 16 ‘odds to win’. The other favorites are Brandon Kee (one top 3 finish, one top two finish and 1 win), Kenya Freeman (two top three finishes, one bottom three) and Batani-Khalfani (one bottom two finish, two top two). Ayana Ife and Margarita Alverez have a win and a top three respectively but no ‘bottom three’ finishes. The Episode 4 winner Michael Brambila is also in this situation with three straight ‘middle of the pack’ finishes before his victory.

Here’s the updated numbers for Week 5 of ‘Project Runway’ along with some new prop bets. The plot synopsis from LIFETIME describes Episode 5 as follows: “Drawing inspiration from the hit film Descendants 2, the designers visit Lyndhurst Castle and are tasked with creating a look that represents “Good” or “Evil.” Most of the results are angelic, but as always, the devil is in the details.”

PROJECT RUNWAY SEASON 16 BETTING ODDS

TO WIN SEASON 16 OF ‘PROJECT RUNWAY’

Ayana Ife: +250
Brandon Kee: +450
Margarita Alverez: +450
Kenya Freeman: +750
Batani-Khalfani: +750
Kentaro Kameyama: +750
Michael Brambila: +1150
Claire Buitendorp: +2500
Amy Bond: +2500
Shawn Buitendorp: +2500
Aaron Myers: +3500
Samantha Rei: +3500

PROJECT RUNWAY SEASON 16 EPISODE 5 PROPOSITION BETTING ODDS

TO BE ELIMINATED IN EPISODE 5 ‘PROJECT RUNWAY’ SEASON 16

Samantha Rei: +325
Amy Bond: +450
Aaron Myers: +450
Shawn Buitendorp: +750
Claire Buitendorp: +750
Michael Brambila: +1250
Kentaro Kameyama: +1250
Margarita Alvarez: +1500
Kenya Freeman: +1500
Ayana Ife: +2500
Batani-Khalfani: +2500
Brandon Kee: +2500
No One Eliminated in Episode 5: +2500

TO FINISH BOTTOM TWO BUT SAFE EPISODE 5 ‘PROJECT RUNWAY’ SEASON 16

Aaron Myers: +350
Samantha Rei: +500
Amy Bond: +500
Kentaro Kameyama: +750
Shawn Buitendorp: +750
Claire Buitendorp: +750
Michael Brambila: +1250
Margarita Alvarez: +1500
Kenya Freeman: +1500
Ayana Ife: +2500
Batani-Khalfani: +2500
Brandon Kee: +2500
No One Bottom Two but safe in Episode 5: +2500

TO WIN CHALLENGE IN EPISODE 5 ‘PROJECT RUNWAY’ SEASON 16

Brandon Kee: +325
Ayana Ife: +450
Margarita Alverez: +450
Kenya Freeman: +450
Claire Buitendorp: +750
Batani-Khalfani: +750
Michael Brambila: +1700
Kentaro Kameyama: +2500
Shawn Buitendorp: +2500
Aaron Myers: +3500
Amy Bond: +3500
Samantha Rei: +3500
No One Wins Episode 5 Challenge: +3500

TO FINISH SECOND IN CHALLENGE IN EPISODE 5 ‘PROJECT RUNWAY’ SEASON 16

Ayana Ife: +350
Margarita Alverez: +350
Kenya Freeman: +450
Brandon Kee: +700
Claire Buitendorp: +700
Batani-Khalfani: +950
Michael Brambila: +1500
Kentaro Kameyama: +1500
Shawn Buitendorp: +1500
Aaron Myers: +2500
Amy Bond: +2500
Samantha Rei: +2500
No Second Place Finisher in Episode 5 Challenge: +2500

WILL TIM GUNN USE HIS SAVE IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: +450
No: -900

WILL TIM GUNN SAY ‘GATHER ROUND’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -350
No: +300

WILL TIM GUNN SAY THE WORD ‘FABULOUS’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -250
No: +210

WILL TIM GUNN SAY THAT HE’LL ‘MISS’ THE ELIMINATED DESIGNER?

Yes: +210
No: -250

WILL TIM GUNN USE THE EXPRESSION ‘LOT OF LOOK’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: +180
No: -210

WILL TIM GUNN SAY THAT HE IS ‘WORRIED’ OR ‘CONCERNED’ ABOUT A DESIGN IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: +150
No: -170

WHO WILL BE ELIMINATED FIRST?

Shawn Buitendorp: -210
Claire Buitendorp: +180

WILL EITHER BUITENDORP TWIN MAKE REFERENCE TO KATY PERRY?

Yes: -150
No: +130

WILL EITHER BUITENDORP TWIN USE THE WORD ‘INDEED’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -350
No: +300

WILL ANY JUDGE ASK ‘WHERE IS SHE GOING’ OR ‘WHERE IS SHE GOING IN THIS OUTFIT’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: +130
No: -150

WILL ANY JUDGE SAY THAT A DESIGN ‘LOOKS EXPENSIVE’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -150
No: +130

WILL ANY JUDGE SAY ‘I WOULD WEAR THAT’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -150
No: +130

WILL ANY JUDGE SAY ANYTHING QUESTIONING ‘WHO SOMEONE IS AS A DESIGNER’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -150
No: +130

WILL ANY CONTESTANT SAY ‘THIS IS A COMPETITION’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: +210
No: -250

WILL ANY CONTESTANT USE THE EXPRESSION ‘WHO I AM AS A DESIGNER’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -150
No: +130

WILL ANYONE ON THE SHOW USE THE EXPRESSION ‘MAKE IT WORK’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -350
No: +300

WILL ANYONE ON THE SHOW USE THE EXPRESSION ‘PROJECT SEAMSTRESS’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -130
No: +110

WILL ANYONE ON THE SHOW SAY THE WORD ‘MATRONLY’ IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: +150
No: -170

WILL ANYONE ON THE SHOW USE THE TERM ‘MALL CLOTHES’ OR OTHERWISE SUGGEST THAT AN OUTFIT LOOKS LIKE IT CAME FROM THE MALL IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: +180
No: -210

WILL ANY DESIGNER SUFFER AN INJURY IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: +600
No: -750

WILL ANY DESIGNER CRY ON CAMERA IN EPISODE 5?

Yes: -150
No: +130

KEY DEMO RATING FOR EPISODE 5 AS REPORTED BY ‘TV BY THE NUMBERS‘?

Over 0.4: -150
Under 0.4: +130

TOTAL VIEWERSHIP FOR EPISODE 5 AS REPORTED BY ‘TV BY THE NUMBERS‘?

Over 1.5 million: -150
Under 1.5 million: +130

About the Author: Jim Murphy

For more than 25 years, Jim Murphy has written extensively on sports betting as well as handicapping theory and practice. Jim Murphy has been quoted in media from the Wall Street Journal to REASON Magazine. Murphy worked as a radio and podcasting host broadcasting to an international audience that depended on his expertise and advice. Murphy is an odds making consultant for sports and 'non-sport novelty bets' focused on the entertainment business, politics, technology, financial markets and more.