"Shear Genius" is the latest reality competition show to hit the airwaves. The show airs Wednesday nights on Bravo, replacing the similarly themed and just concluded “Top Design.” The basics of showcasing the best of the best in their chosen field and putting them through challenges remain the same. This series field of expertise is hair styling and is hosted by Jaclyn Smith. Twelve finalists from all over the world live in a loft while competing.

Each week, one stylist is pronounced as showing “shear genius” winning a challenge and another is sent packing. The ultimate winner will receive $100,000 from Nexus (sponsor of the show), hair styling duties for an Allure magazine cover shoot, and an apprenticeship with Nexus’ top stylist Roy Teeluck. Unlike in ‘Top Design,’ host Jaclyn Smith doubles as one of the judges. Joining her on the panel is celebrity hairstylist Sally Hershberger, Allure magazine fashion director Michael Carl, and the Nexus’ “Shear Genius” hair salon director Rene Fris.

The premiere episode featured a small-scale challenge of cutting each stylist ’s signature style into a mannequin’s head. Each stylist gets their own workstation staged in a circle in this vast room allowing the contestants to eye each other as they work. The winner of that challenge got the opportunity to pick first from the group of models used in what’s dubbed “the elimination challenge.”

This challenge was more extensive in that the stylists had to use craft supplies from Michaels to make ‘hair art’ on a live model. The models displayed the stylist’s work as they paraded down a runway for the judges. The judges deliberated with the stylists out of the room and then singled out just six of the stylists as being in the top three or bottom three while announcing the top stylist and the one going home.

The show summary online promises a wide variety of challenges and potential clients including A-list celebrities. There are some standout contestants that viewers can love, can hate, and even love to hate. I think however this theme will be tough to appeal to anyone not interested in this particular field.