‘Face Off’: Central Florida artist is going to finals

Laura Tyler of Orange County has made it to the finals of “Face Off” for a second year.

“I need that second chance,” she said in the episode that aired Tuesday on Syfy.

The special- effects makeup artist, 28, is getting it. She is one of three contestants who advanced to the finals, which will air at 9 p.m. Tuesday on Syfy. The winner will receive $100,000 and a 2013 Fiat.

In the latest episode, Tyler won judges’ praise for creating a human-bird hybrid. She came up with an aging umbrella cockatoo that had a flesh-colored face.

Glenn Hetrick, one of the judges, marveled that Tyler had outdone herself this season. Neville Page, another judge, praised Tyler as an intelligent designer. She was a finalist last fall. This year, the show brought back show veterans to compete against newcomers.

“I wanted to do it because I felt I had unfinished things,” Tyler told me in August. “There were more creatures that needed to come out.”

Tyler and Hetrick will promote the show’s finale on “Katie” at 2 p.m. today on WESH- Channel 2. Tate Steinsiek, another contestant, is also featured on Katie Couric’s show.

Another “Katie” guest today will be Bette Midler, who talks about women performers pushing the envelope sexually. Midler says she finds “a grossness” that is “not flattering to the women themselves.”