I'm so ashamed of myself. I was so busy last night watching the "Dexter" finale (before it got spoiled for me) and the "American Horror Story" finale (just to ensure I would have nightmares), that I didn't watch the season finale of Bravo's "Work of Art" reality competition show when it aired live at 9 p.m.

The shame is because Durham artist Kymia Nawabi was a finalist -- and she won!

The East Carolina grad did some great work this season and also showed herself to be a really nice person working alongside a group of bratty, immature mean girls. We're proud of Kymia for winning and for not being a witch to her fellow contestants. Like some people we could name.

Here's more about last night's episode and an interview Adrienne did with Kymia right as the season was starting. We hope to catch up with Kymia again soon!

Photo courtesy of Bravo

We finally caught up with Durham's own Kymia Nawabi, an artist who is competing on Bravo's "Work Of Art," beginning tonight.  Nawabi grew up in the Woodcroft area of the Bull City and attended Jordan High. She's also a graduate of East Carolina University.

Via email, she answered some questions about her work (she's exhibited at artspace), her experience on the show, and growing up Iranian-American in the South:

Happiness: What made you want to be on the show?
Kymia: I really cannot think of any other facility that provides such a great amount of exposure for a young and emerging artist. "Work of Art" was the best way for me to really promote, challenge and elevate my work and myself.  Also, I love that it is also this strange sociological experiment; putting 14 strangers together and seeing what happens with all that energy.

I've not been paying close attention to chef Rocco DiSpirito, so despite the fact that he's been a reality show regular, I'm not sick of him.

That's important when you're watching "Rocco's Dinner Party" (Bravo, 11 tonight; moves to 10 next week) because, just like in the title, Rocco is front and center.

Surrounding him is a show that's kind of like a mini-"Top Chef"; 3 chefs compete to cook a dinner for Rocco and his friends. One is eliminated quickly after a Quick Fire-like challenge. The other two go head to head, preparing a meal for a themed party. (The first theme is speakeasy.) The winner gets $20,000.
 

I would have preferred another season of "9 By Design" Bravo's last design series, but I guess that partnership with the Novogratz family didn't work out.

Instead the network regrouped and developed "Million Dollar Decorators" (10 tonight), a show about 5 people, based in Los Angeles, who decorate the homes of the wealthy.

In "9 By Design" there were upscale projects, but somehow the felt accessible to us po' folks. But I guess that's why it didn't last; it seems we Bravo viewers really want to feel a bit out of our elements. "Million Dollar Decorators" gives us yet another peak into a level of extravagance most of us will really experience.

Happily, it's also pretty entertaining.

Mash together elements of "Project Runway" and "Top Chef" and you get Bravo's latest reality competition show "Platinum Hit (10 tonight)."

This time the contestants want to be songwriters, well, kinda. Like one of the guest judges, Jermaine Dupri, they already seem sick of toiling in the background and are ready for center stage.

That's why you get one guy who proclaiming himself 'a musical genius,' and another who says "I sing for the widow, I sing for the orphan." For real.

We're giving away a copy of a book by one of our favorite reality stars:  Bethenny Frankel's "A Place of Yes."

In it, in trademark frank, funny and sweet fashion, Frankel reveals parts of her life and the lessons she learned from mistakes and believing in her vision.

Maybe you're skeptical -- Why should I listen to her? What does she know? She just got lucky because she was on a reality show!

Think again. According to this interesting article in The Hollywood Reporter, The former Real Housewife of New York star saw what a lot of folks didn't see at first, namely that going on a reality show could help build her brand.

Sure everybody's got that message now, but Bethenny was ahead of the curve. And now the payoff:  Reports say her Skinnygirl cocktail line just got acquired for $120 million.

So maybe you do need to get to a "Place of Yes." Just send me an email with "YES" in the subject line. We'll randomly pick a winner.

Season four of "The Real Housewives of New York City" (Bravo, 10 tonight) brings real change. Bethenny, now helming her own delightful show, is gone, and so is her wit and level-headedness.

That doesn't mean the new season is a snore. Nope there's plenty of drama. And even more crazy. A quick rundown, after a two-episode screening:

LuAnn: Though no longer a countess, she still walks around like she's royalty and the epitome of class, although most would agree that acting haughty is pretty tacky. Add being two-faced and passive-aggressive to that list. She has a new boyfriend. Naturally, he's French.

I'm starting to feel like 'Top Chef Masters' and 'Top Chef All-Stars' have ruined regular 'Top Chef' shows for me. Luckily, Bravo isn't making me wait for my next fix. With the excellent 'All-Stars' finale only a week ago, the network is already serving up a new installment of 'Masters' tonight (11pm).

This incarnation has Chef Curtis Stone hosting (an improvement) and adds esteemed food critic Ruth Reichl as a judge. Food critic James Oseland returns for his third season judging.

In tonight's premiere, some of the nation's fanciest culinary geniuses are first tasked with making compelling dishes with ingredients like canned corned beef and marshmallows. It's a wake-up call for the participants when nearly half the teams can't finish the first quickfire challenge. And it's a testament to the size of egos we're dealing with (love it!) when one of the forfeiting chefs (Naomi Pomeroy, Beast, Portland, Or) says, "I've watched 'Top Chef Masters' but I absolutely did not expect it to be this hard."

Finally, a fashion reality show (oh, excuse me, non-fiction fashion series) that's not a Project Runway re-do.

"All On the Line" (10 tonight, Sundance Channel) , stars Elle magazine creative director Joe Zee. In eight, one-hour episodes, Zee helps struggling designers save their flailing lines, giving them business advice and creative direction.

Sadly, we only got a preview reel and not full episodes. But I feel pretty good about the series. Zee is like Tabatha Coffey from Bravo's "Tabatha's Salon Takeover"; he's direct, funny and clearly knows what he's talking about.

Click below for a scene from one of the shows.

After assaulting us with that crazy train disaster known as "Top Chef: Just Desserts," Bravo owes us big time.

And it looks like they know it, because tonight's debut of Season 8 of "Top Chef" is an All-Star edition that has the potential to be the show's best season ever.

Seriously, how great does this sound: The producers have brought back 18 of the best non-champion egos -- I mean, contestants -- from the past 7 seasons to compete once more for the top prize. Plus, über-grump Anthony Bourdain joins the judge's table alongside Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and host Padma Laskshmi.