Ink Master: Rivals is the fifth season of the tattooing competition series Ink Master that premiered on Spike on September 2 and concluded on December 16, 2014 with a total of 16 episodes. Season 5 follows 18 tattoo artists competing against each other in an elimination-style competition with a $100,000 grand prize. This season was first announced during the live season four finale where Joshua Hibbard and Jason Clay Dunn, who both had their infamous rivalry in season three, were the first pair announced.
Contestants
Source unless otherwise noted:
Judges, guest judges, and special appearances
Judges
- Dave Navarro (Host and judge)
- Chris Núñez (Judge)
- Oliver Peck (Judge)
Guest judges
- Joe Manganiello (Episode 2)
- B.J. Betts (Episode 3)
- Forrest Cavacco (Episode 5)
- Aaron Cain (Episode 8)
- Tommy Montoya (Episode 10)
- DeAngelo Williams (Episode 12)
- Tim Hendricks (Episode 13)
- Mike Rubendall (Episode 14)
- Rose Hardy (Episode 14)
- Nikko Hurtado (Episode 14)
Joe Manginello, Tommy Montoya and DeAngelo Williams are the only judges to serve on both the flash challenge and elimination challenge judging panels. Forrest Cavacco filled in for Oliver Peck in Episode 5.
Special appearances
- Kenny Stills (Ep. 10 Guest Judge's Canvas)
Judging and ranking
As in past season, the artist with the best tattoo, as deemed by the judges, wins the challenge. The one ranking lowest each episode is sent home. Minor changes in the judging and associated rules have occurred throughout the seasons.
The judge listing types are:
- Judging Panel
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- The judging panel is the table of three primary judges, and any guest judges for that episode if applicable.
- Guest Judge
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- A guest judge is selected for appearance and participation in some episodes, and is usually an expert in the skill the contestants are being tested on in the particular challenge. He or she collaborates with the Judging Panel to finalize the voting decision. A guest judge's vote carries an equal weight to that of the regular judges.
- Audience Voting
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- Audience voting is done through Facebook and Twitter, and was introduced in season 2. In season 5, the audience vote was used in the finale episode to guarantee one of the finalists a spot in the top two.
- Human Canvas Voting
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- After the tattoos are completed, the canvases for the challenge gather and vote on the best and worst of that day's tattoos. While the primary judges have the final say, the weight of the canvas vote does affect the judging panels final decision. This was a new venue for the Ink Master series.
Win or lose
- Contestants compete to display their strength in various aspects of the art of tattooing. Each week's Elimination Challenge features a particular skill that the artists must display their mastery of. To determine the winner, the judges must decide who has the best tattoo, which must also follow the guidelines for the skill being tested. A contestant risks elimination if they create a technically solid tattoo that does not meet the style or subject criteria for the week. To win, a contestant must outperform the other artists while adhering to the skill chosen for the challenge. The artist whose tattoo is judged to be the worst of the week will be eliminated.
Progress
Flash Challenge Progress
Elimination Challenge Progress
Credit Order: Emily & Aaron, Angel & Cris, Cleen & Tim, Caroline & Julia, Josh & Jason, Ty'Esha & LT, Don & Erik, Ryan & Mark, Jayvo & Robbie
- Â Â Â Â Legend
- Â INKMASTERÂ The contestant won the competition and was named Ink Master.
- Â RUNNER UPÂ The contestant was the runner-up on Ink Master.
- Â 3RD PLACEÂ The contestant was 3rd place on Ink Master.
- Â WINÂ The contestant won best tattoo of the day.
- Â F/OÂ The contestant won the face-off.
- Â (IN)+Â The contestant won the Head to Head Challenge.
- Â (IN)-Â The contestant lost the Head to Head Challenge.
- Â HIGHÂ The contestant was given an honorable mention by the judges.
- Â HIGHÂ The contestant was considered to be among the top.
- Â H/LÂ The contestant was given a honorable mention in the judges recall, but was voted worst artist by the human canvas jury.
- Â LOWÂ The contestant was among the bottom group in the judges recall.
- Â LOWÂ The contestant was voted worst by the human canvas jury.
- Â LOWÂ The contestant was considered to be in the bottom.
- Â OUTÂ The contestant was eliminated from the competition.
- Â OUTÂ The contestant was voted worst by the human canvas jury and was eliminated.
- Â DQÂ The contestant won best tattoo of the day, but was later disqualified from the competition.
Progress Table notes:
^Note c1Â : This was a Head to Head challenge. One Artist won and was safe from elimination, the other lost and was in danger. In Episode 1, the bottom 3 rival teams went head to head against each other. 1 teammate won while the other teammate lost.
^Note c2Â : Josh was disqualified from the competition after confessing he violated a multitude of rules he signed under a contract, such as having marijuana in possession. Despite stating he did not mean to interfere with these rules, he was immediately eliminated before the judges choose which contestant to send home for losing to their opponent in the elimination tattoo.
^Note c3Â : The judges decided that was no winner in the Head to Head challenge between Aaron and Cris.
^Note c4Â : In the first round, Cleen won best tattoo of the day and secured his spot in the finale. Jason, Mark, and Erik all did a second tattoo, which Erik subsequently won.
Episodes
Episodes begin with a Flash Challenge, a task that usually does not deal with tattooing itself, but has contestants utilize skills related to tattooing in an unusual way. Most of the time the skills highlighted in the Flash Challenge will be needed to complete the Elimination Tattoo. The winner of the Flash Challenge gets to pick which human canvas they would like to tattoo during the elimination tattoo and assign each contestant their canvas. The contestants are then given a chance to meet with their canvas before tattooing them the next day when they will be given a set amount of time to do the tattoo. A judging panel then commences where the best tattoos of the week are recognized, the weak tattoos are pointed out and one contestant is eliminated from the competition.
Epilogue
Joshua Hibbard would go on to win the New Year's Ink special.
Cleen Rock One appeared on Ink Master: Revenge. He was re-introduced in the second episode and ended as the first runner-up yet again. Cleen would once again compete, this time on Ink Master: Shop Wars to represent Golden Skull Tattoo with Aaron Is. They were the final veteran shop introduced in the upcoming tenth episode.
References
- http://www.spike.com/shows/ink-master
External links
- Official website
- Ink Master on IMDb