Apparently it pays to remind people over and over that ‘you’re fierce and kind of a big deal’. That strategy netted Project Runway:Season 4 contestant Christian Siriano a cool $10,000. Siriano was voted this season’s “Fan Favorite” by a landslide. The results were unveiled during tonight’s Project Runway: Season 4 reunion show.

This season of the show featured some incredibly talented and professional designers. While it didn’t have the same sexy mix of volatile characters (see Wendy Pepper in season 1 or Santino Rice in season 2), the clothes themselves were fascinating as was watching the process that these talented designers used to come up with them. Not surprisingly, some of the designers have become role models for young children and even favorites of celebrities. Kit talked about how young girls are emailing her scans of their designs to ask for advice. She says she loves being a positive influence. Lovable kook Elisa also said she loves the message she seems to be sending young girls that it is okay to be different. Sweet P, who was eliminated in the last episode, said she’s heard from celebrities like Jack Black and Catherine Keener that she was their favorite on the show.

Victorya Hong, who looked decidedly uncomfortable, talked a little bit about her unconnected show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at New York City’s Bryant Park and how her line had gotten some press (she didn’t say whether it was good or bad). Judge Heidi Klum, who loves to call it like she sees it, said Victorya always seemed uptight on the show as she did at the reunion.

We learned that Seattle-native Jack Mackenroth did indeed have a skin infection that kept him in the hospital for 5 days. The HIV-positive designer has since made a full recovery. Jack was an early favorite and even won the torturous menswear challenge. He agreed that it was disappointing to have to leave but doesn’t regret attending to his health. His early exit allowed Chris March the second chance that still has him in contention.

We also learned that Kevin is still not gay even though Heidi and Tim don’t seem to believe him. In another montage, we find out that one of Elisa’s hobbies is to write backwards in her journal like Leonardo DaVinci. The other designers compared her to Mork from Ork.

Then there is the Ricky scene. Now being a faithful viewer I knew that lingerie designer Ricky Lizalde wept a lot during the show, but until I saw that montage I never realized how much. In one scene, we see Ricky weeping uncontrollably while hearing the producer ask him simple questions like what his name and age are. Another time he can’t get through a sentence that includes the words “accessory wall”. Still Lizalde’s willingness to show extreme emotion and human frailty have made him a huge favorite among fans. 

There weren’t any real controversial moments during the reunion show. The closest was when a viewer question asked if any of the designers were upset when they heard other designers’ comments about them. Carmen, who left early on,  said she was hurt that none of the designers seemed to miss her. Later, the designers expressed their annoyance with Christian’s use of the word “fierce” and Chris March’s scary laugh.

Elle fashion director Nina Garcia and designer Michael Kors also fielded a couple of questions. Kors talked about the one moment where he lost his composure completely and couldn’t stop laughing. Not surprisingly, it was during the runway show for the God-awful ‘Divas of the WWE’ challenge. Kors also revealed that even though he dresses blandly now, he used to be a huge follower of trends that included leg warmers, shawls and diaper pants (someone tell me what those are?). 

Probably the funniest moment in the mostly bland reunion show was a montage that showed the last 6 designers revealing their chosen wrestling names while showing off their moves: Christian would be “Ferocia Coutura”, Jillian: “Tuffie”, Rami: “Ramilicious”, Sweet P: “Spread Eagle”, Ricky: “Mexican Jumping Bean” and Chris M.:“Wonder Woman” (an alter-ego that he said would use his large man breasts to smother his opponents). God love Chris March.

Other revelations: The judges loved the hair/avant-garde challenge the most, Tim never reveals what he sees and says in the workroom to the judges before the runway show, when the judges write on their cards during the runway shows they are scoring the designers with a 1-5 and also noting their first impressions of the garments.

We also learned that Project Runway: Season 3 contestant Michael Knight is coming out with his own fragrence. He was on the reunion show to present Christian with the “Fan Favorite” check. Knight was last year’s pick.

As for the designers who didn’t make it to the Final 4, their consensus on who will win seems to be equally split between Jillian, Christian and Rami.

Now that the obligatory reunion show is out of the way, it is on to the real deal. The 4 remaining designers created their collection of 12 pieces that reflect their individual point of view. Christian and Jillian are guaranteed spots to show at Fashion Week. Rami and Chris M. created entire lines but only show the judges their strongest 3 garments to begin with. The winner of that match-up gets the third and final spot at Fashion Week and the chance to win $100,000, a new car and a chance to sell their line on Bluefly.com.

The eagerly awaited two-part Project Runway: Season 4 finale begins February 27 on Bravo TV. The winner will be revealed on March 5.