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Sunday, May 16, 2010
Ybor City gets national TV time and Garboza/LaColla win $10,000 in HGTV's Battle on the Block
Posted by David Warner on Sun, May 16, 2010 at 5:19 PM
"Beautiful historic Ybor City, Florida… this trendy Florida neighborhood is a hot spot for young chic couples!"
So went the breathless opening voiceover on last night's episode of HGTV's Battle on the Block, which pitted three such Ybor couples against one another in an "epic battle for design supremacy" and a $10,000 prize. Host Genevieve Gorder gave each couple a nickname: Steve and Lauren Erickson were "The Picture-Perfect Family"; Historic Ybor Neighborhood Civic Association President Tony LaColla and his partner Jose Garboza (right) were deemed "The Neighborhood Authority for Design and Decor"; Ryan Clements (of Skate Park of Tampa fame) and Jenna Becker were labeled "The Wild Ones" and "The Coolest Kids on the Block."
B on the B, a labor-intensive home-design marathon, gave each family $5,000 cash, $10,000 in merchandise, access to a truck full of tools, a general contractor and three days to transform their master bedrooms — plus, most importantly for a reality competition show, plenty of opportunity to talk smack.
Tony and Jose's first interview sets the tone right off the bat: "Put two gay men's design style against straight couples, there's no question about it," says Tony. "We're gonna win." Later, Jenna says the prospect of Tony and Jose wielding power tools is something she can't imagine ("They can borrow your pink tool belt, " suggests Ryan), and she also muses about the Ericksons: "I definitely think Lauren's in charge. I think Steve kind of checks his [balls? it got bleeped] at the door." And Steve compares the Becker/Clements bedroom pre-makeover to "something that came out of The Golden Girls, 1984." The best moment is a faceoff at Lighting Unlimited. Encountering the Ericksons and their just-purchased hanging light fixture, Tony snarks, "Look at that ugly piece of garbage," and Garboza leaves them with "Good luck — you're going to need it."
All in good fun (they left the Ericksons laughing), and as Tony said during a viewing at Streetcar Charlie's last night, "It's a game!" It was also hard work; the show makes the whole process look exhausting, and Tony confirms that it was just as hard as it looked.
But it paid off. Ybor and Tampa got some nice national play, local home furnishing businesses got some good plugs, all three couples got new bedrooms — and Garboza/LaColla won the $10,000 prize for their boutique hotel-inspired room with its giant photo-mural of Seventh Avenue. They're taking the money and going on a cruise.
As for the "bragging rights for all eternity in the neighborhood" promised them by Genevieve Gorder? I think they'll be dining out on that for a good long time.
HGTV will rebroadcast the Ybor episode of Battle on the Block on May 21 at 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., and May 22 at 5 p.m.
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