America's Next Top Model

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America's Next Top Model
Format	Reality television
Created by	Tyra Banks
Judges	Tyra Banks J. Alexander (5-present) Nigel Barker (2-present) Paulina Porizkova (10-present) Twiggy (5-9) Janice Dickinson (1-4) Kimora Lee Simmons (1) Nolé Marin (3-4) Eric Nicholson (2) Beau Quillian (1)
Theme music composer	David Thomas & Les Pierce
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	12
No. of episodes	143
Production
Running time	60 minutes (44 without commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	UPN (2003–2006) The CW (2006–present)
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original run	May 20, 2003 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

America's Next Top Model (often shortened to Top Model or abbreviated as ANTM) is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry.

The show was created and is hosted by veteran television personality, former supermodel and current talk-show host, Tyra Banks, who also serves as the head judge and executive producer of the show. The first "cycle" premiered in May 2003 and was one of UPN's highest rated shows. The show's seventh cycle was the first of the shows among regular programming on UPN's successor network, The CW, and thus far is the network's highest rated series.^{[1][2][dead link]} The show will continue until at least the 2009-10 season.^[3] The opening theme is performed by Tyra Banks and is produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Banks co-produces the show with Ken Mok and Anthony Dominici.^[4] For the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 television seasons, ANTM was the #1 show in average viewers on The CW.^[5]

Show format

Each season of America's Next Top Model has from 9-13 episodes and starts with 10-14 contestants. Each episode, one contestant is eliminated, though in rare cases a double elimination or no elimination was given by consensus of the judging panel. Makeovers are administered to contestants early in the season (usually after the first or second elimination in the finals), and a trip to an international destination is scheduled at about two-thirds of the way through the season (usually with five or six contestants remaining).

Each episode of Top Model covers the events of roughly a week of real time (however, while overseas, an episode roughly covers three to four days, totaling two weeks of filming abroad), and features a fashion challenge, photo shoot or commercial, a critique of each contestant and her performance by the judging panel led by Tyra Banks, and the elimination of one or more contestants. As of Cycle 10, the current judging panel includes runway coach J. Alexander, fashion photographer Nigel Barker and Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova. Previous judges included fashion icon Twiggy, supermodel Janice Dickinson, fashion stylist Nolé Marin, designer Kimora Lee Simmons and fashion editors Beau Quillian and Eric Nicholson. Photo shoot director Jay Manuel, though not a permanent judge, is featured every episode. Usually, an additional guest judge will sit in on the panel every week. Each episode is usually associated with a theme in the world of modeling, such as dealing with the press in interviews, selling a commercial product, appearing in a runway show or going on "go sees".

An episode usually begins with the contestants receiving training in an area concurrent with the week's theme. For example, contestants may get coached in runway walking, improvisational acting, or applying make-up to suit various occasions. A related challenge soon follows, such as a mock runway show or interview, and a winner is chosen by a judge. She receives some prize, such as clothing, a night out, or an advantage at the next photo shoot, and she is usually allowed to share the benefits with a certain number of other contestants of her choice.

The next segment is a photo shoot, and each contestant's performance will reflect heavily on her judging for that week. Each season features photo shoots such as bikini or lingerie shots, beauty shots, posing nude or semi-nude, posing with a male model, and posing with animal(s). Usually one photo shoot per season is replaced with a commercial shoot (excluding Cycle 2, Cycle 5 and Cycle 9 where there were both a commercial and a photoshoot and Cycle 3 where there was no commercial at all) and in Cycles 2 and 9, a photo shoot was replaced by a music video for Tyra Banks and Enrique Iglesias respectively.

The final segment of each episode is judging. During judging, contestants are often given a challenge in some area such as posing, selling a product, runway walking, or choosing a representative outfit or make-up to satisfy a given prompt, known as a pre-evaluation task. This practice has been discontinued since Cycle 8. Each contestant's photo is then shown and evaluated by the judging panel. After all photos have been evaluated, the contestants leave the room as the judges deliberate. The elimination process is ceremonious, as Tyra reveals and hands out the photos of the contestants that have not been eliminated one-by-one, in order of merit, each time saying, "Congratulations. You are still in the running towards becoming America's Next Top Model". The last two contestants who have not received their photos are brought up as "the bottom two", and Tyra critiques each one before revealing which of the two is continuing on in the competition (the other being eliminated). However, there have been three exceptions, as Cycle 4 had a double elimination, Cycle 5 had a non-elimination, and in Cycle 9, the original eliminee was saved by another contestant's decision to quit on the spot, just moments after Tyra had called her name for safety.

The format varies slightly when only three contestants remain. With the exceptions of Cycles 1 and 2, (when CoverGirl wasn't a sponsor), and Cycle 3 where there was no commercial, the three remaining contestants compete in one last photo shoot and commercial for CoverGirl, followed by a judging session in which the judges eliminate the contestant they feel to be the weakest. The final two then compete in a runway show in front of the judges and a live audience, before both their performances there and during the entire competition is considered when the judges declare a winner.

Since CoverGirl has become a sponsor, each week from week 3 to 12, recap excluded (with exception of Cycle 3, Cycle 9 and Cycle 10 where it was awarded on Week 2 as well) a girl can be voted CoverGirl of the Week by the viewers. From Cycle 11 onwards, this has been replaced by a Top Model in Action segment, focusing on former contestants and their post-show accomplishments.

ANTM with The CW

It was announced on January 24, 2006, that Top Model would be part of the new The CW network, a merger between UPN and The WB, when the next cycle started in September airing on Wednesdays. Prior to the announcement of merging with The CW, UPN had committed to renewing the series through its ninth cycle on January 20, 2006,^[6] for which casting was conducted throughout mid-2006.

To celebrate its tenth cycle, ANTM aired a special installment called America's Next Top Model: Exposed in two parts on the CW on Wednesday, February 6 & 13, 2008. It reviewed the best cat fights, mishaps and most memorable photoshoots, personalities, defining moments and contained other segments about the show since Cycle 1 to Cycle 9, and featured a special opening fusing all three openings together. Camille McDonald (Cycle 2), Toccara Jones (Cycle 3), Eva Pigford (Cycle 3 winner), Bre Scullark (Cycle 5), Cassandra Whitehead (Cycle 5), Joanie Dodds (Cycle 6), Jael Strauss (Cycle 8), Dionne Walters (Cycle 8), Heather Kuzmich (Cycle 9), and Bianca Golden (Cycle 9) all returned to comment on events that happened in their or other cycles.

On March 3, 2008, The CW confirmed that an 11th and 12th cycle would run.^[7]

The Tyra Banks Show

America's Next Top Model is also very connected with Tyra Banks' talk show: several contestants have made appearances on it, most notably Natasha Galkina (Cycle 8) who worked as a correspondent for the show.^[8] The show's stage was also used for the Cycle 5 reunion show.

The Fiercee Awards had categories as follows. Bold names indicate the category winners.

• Biggest Makeover Meltdown (presented by CariDee English (Cycle 7) and Saleisha Stowers (Cycle 9)):
  • Jade Cole (Cycle 6)
  • Jaeda Young (Cycle 7)
  • Bianca Golden (Cycle 9)
• Craziest Phone Call (presented by Jaslene Gonzalez (Cycle 8) and Nicole Linkletter (Cycle 5)):
  • Shandi Sullivan (Cycle 2)
  • Natasha Galkina (Cycle 8)
• Lifetime Achievement (presented by Tyra Banks):
  • Toccara Jones (Cycle 3)
• Worst Walks & Wipe Outs (presented by April Wilkner (Cycle 2) and Heather Kuzmich (Cycle 9)):
  • Norelle Van Herk (Cycle 3)
  • Rebecca Epley (Cycle 4)
  • Jael Strauss (Cycle 8)
• Most Dramatic Exit (presented by Camille McDonald (Cycle 2) and Diana Zalewski (Cycle 8)):
  • Jade Cole (Cycle 6)
  • Ebony Morgan (Cycle 9)
  • Kimberly Rydzewski (Cycle 10)
• Ugliest Cry (presented by Jenah Doucette (Cycle 9) and Keenyah Hill (Cycle 4)):
  • Shandi Sullivan (Cycle 2)
  • Joanie Dodds (Cycle 6)
  • Jael Strauss (Cycle 8)
• Biggest Change (presented by Tyra Banks):
  • Shandi Sullivan (Cycle 2)

This ceremony was preceded by red carpet interviews of Toccara Jones, CariDee English, Jaslene Gonzalez, Camille McDonald, Keenyah Hill, Carol Alt, Quiana Grant, Melissa Baker and Tyra Banks, followed by an online fashion review by Toccara Jones and Jay Manuel. Amongst Jay's favourites were Jones herself, together with McDonald, while Jones liked Gonzalez. They agreed that Saleisha Stowers, Norelle Van Herk and Banks were amongst the best dressed while English was amongst the worst.

Modelville

Tyra Banks has decided to launch a new reality show, inside her Tyra Show, called Modelville which featured Renee Alway, Bianca Golden, Dominique Reighard, Fatima Siad and Lauren Utter vying for a $50,000 contract. Dominique won and received a contract from Carol's Daughter.^[9][10]

ANTM Writers' Labor Dispute

On July 21, 2006, the writers of America's Next Top Model went on strike while working on Cycle 7, set to premiere on the new CW Network in September 2006. The writers sought representation through the Writers Guild of America, west, which would allow them regulated wages, access to portable health insurance, and pension benefits. These benefits would be similar to those given to writers on scripted shows. The strike was the focus of a large rally of Hollywood writers coinciding with the premiere of the new network on September 20, 2006.^[11] The dispute was chronicled in a July 24 interview on the website Television Without Pity with Daniel J. Blau, a former TWoP recapper who covered the series, and at the time was an ANTM show producer.^[12] In November 2006, the writers on strike were taken off payroll.^[13]

Criticism

Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, commenting on ANTM and Project Runway in the September 2006 issue of Harper's Bazaar, slammed it as "trash that is funny for five minutes if you're with other people. If you're alone, it's not funny. Those girls will never be the next Gemma Ward. There is no justice in the fashion business." Ward was discovered in Australia's Search for a Supermodel, a similarly themed model reality show that was created before ANTM and aired in Australia in early 2003. Lagerfeld served as a photographer for the French version of ANTM.^[14]

Allure magazine criticized the show in its October 2006 issue, saying that ANTM "hasn't exactly produced any actual supermodels." Compared to ANTM, participants in American Idol are thought to have a better chance at a good career in their field, even if they don't actually win the contest.^[15]

Ken Mok and Tyra Banks noticed that most of Cycle 8's girls were unusually heavy smokers. "Tyra and I understand the influence 'Top Model' has on a generation of young people, and we want to make sure we get the right message to our audience," Mok said, which then prompted the "green" theme of Cycle 9.^[16]

After filming Cycle 10, the producers of America's Next Top Model were served with a lawsuit from Michael Marvisi who owns the loft used as the Top Model house. The lawsuit claims the contestants as well as the production crew caused an estimated $500,000 in damages to the loft. Marvisi claims the contestants engaged in food fights, made holes in the walls, caused water damage to the bathroom, damaged a $15,000 chandelier beyond repair, and caused $90,000 worth of damage to an electrical store. Also, the production crew has been accused of damaging the flooring and making holes in the ceiling for lighting equipment.^[17]

Clothing and Accessories Line at Walmart Stores

The Americas Next Top Model franchise has released a new clothing and accessories line based on the top model show. The line is sold at most Walmart stores. The line includes from fashion bags to cosmetic products up to hand bags.^[18]

Cycles

Cycle	Premiere Date	Winner	Runner-Up	Other Contestants (In Order of Elimination)	Number Of Contestants	International Destination(s)
Cycle 1	May 20, 2003	Adrianne Curry	Shannon Stewart	Tessa Carlson, Katie Cleary, Nicole Panattoni, Ebony Haith, Giselle Samson, Kesse Wallace, Robin Manning, Elyse Sewell	10	Paris, France
Cycle 2	January 13, 2004	Yoanna House	Mercedes Scelba-Shorte	Anna Bradfield, Bethany Harrison, Heather Blumberg, Jenascia Chakos, Xiomara Frans, Catie Anderson, Sara Racey-Tabrizi, Camille McDonald, April Wilkner, Shandi Sullivan	12	Milan, Italy
Cycle 3	September 22, 2004	Eva Pigford	Yaya Da Costa	Magdalena Rivas, Leah Darrow, Julie Titus, Kristi Grommet, Jennipher Frost, Kelle Jacob, Cassie Grisham, Toccara Jones, Nicole Borud, Norelle Van Herk, Ann Markley, Amanda Swafford	14	Tokyo, Japan
Cycle 4	March 2, 2005	Naima Mora	Kahlen Rondot	Brita Petersons, Sarah Dankleman, Brandy Rusher, Noelle Staggers, Lluvy Gomez, Rebecca Epley, Tiffany Richardson, Tatiana Dante, Michelle Deighton, Christina Murphy, Brittany Brower, Keenyah Hill	14	Cape Town, South Africa
Cycle 5	September 21, 2005	Nicole Linkletter	Nik Pace	Ashley Black, Ebony Taylor, Cassandra Whitehead (quit), Sarah Rhoades, Diane Hernández, Coryn Woitel, Kyle Kavanagh, Lisa D'Amato, Kim Stolz, Jayla Rubinelli, Bre Scullark	13	London, United Kingdom
Cycle 6	March 8, 2006	Danielle Evans	Joanie Dodds	Kathy Hoxit, Wendy Wiltz, Kari Schmidt, Gina Choe, Mollie Sue Steenis-Gondi, Leslie Mancia, Brooke Staricha, Nnenna Agba, Furonda Brasfield, Sara Albert, Jade Cole	13	Bangkok, Thailand
Cycle 7	September 20, 2006	CariDee English	Melrose Bickerstaff	Christian Evans, Megan Morris, Monique Calhoun, Megg Morales, AJ Stewart, Brooke Miller, Anchal Joseph, Jaeda Young, Michelle Babin, Amanda Babin, Eugena Washington	13	Barcelona, Spain
Cycle 8	February 28, 2007	Jaslene Gonzalez	Natasha Galkina	Kathleen DuJour, Samantha Francis, Cassandra Watson, Felicia Provost, Diana Zalewski, Sarah VonderHaar, Whitney Cunningham, Jael Strauss, Brittany Hatch, Dionne Walters, Renee Alway	13	Sydney, Australia
Cycle 9	September 19, 2007	Saleisha Stowers	Chantal Jones	Mila Bouzinova, Kimberly Leemans, Victoria Marshman, Janet Mills, Ebony Morgan (quit), Sarah Hartshorne, Ambreal Williams, Lisa Jackson, Heather Kuzmich, Bianca Golden, Jenah Doucette	13	Shanghai & Beijing, People's Republic of China
Cycle 10	February 20, 2008	Whitney Thompson	Anya Kop	Kimberly Rydzewski (quit), Atalya Slater, Allison Kuehn, Amis Jenkins, Marvita Washington, Aimee Wright, Claire Unabia, Stacy Ann Fequiere, Lauren Utter, Katarzyna Dolińska, Dominique Reighard, Fatima Siad	14	Rome, Italy
Cycle 11	September 3, 2008	McKey Sullivan	Samantha Potter	ShaRaun Brown, Nikeysha Clarke, Brittany Rubalcaba, Hannah White, Isis King, Clark Gilmer, Lauren Brie Harding, Joslyn Pennywell, Sheena Sakai, Elina Ivanova, Marjorie Conrad, Analeigh Tipton	14	Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Cycle 12	March 4, 2009	TBA	TBA	Still in the running: Celia Ammerman, Aminat Ayinde, Tahila Brookins, Kortnie Coles, Isabella Falk, Nijah Harris, Allison Harvard, London Levi, Sandra Nyanchoka, Natalie Pack, Fo Porter, Jessica Santiago, Teyona	13	São Paulo, Brazil [19]

Contestants

Crossover Appearances

• In Cycle 3, Taye Diggs from Kevin Hill appeared in the acting challenge, which was won by Yaya DaCosta but it was the cycle's winner Eva Pigford who guest-starred on the show, she later starred on other UPN/CW show such as Smallville.
• The winner of the following cycle Naima Mora also got to guest-star on a show, Veronica Mars.
• Kim Stolz (Cycle 5) and Furonda Brasfield (Cycle 6) were given a small guest-starring role on episodes of Veronica Mars. Kim and Furonda's roles were cameos in the same series.
• CariDee English (Cycle 7), who won the acting challenge in Episode 9, guest-starred in an episode of the series One Tree Hill. More recently, she had an cameo appearance in an episode of Gossip Girl.
• For Cycle 8, the acting-themed episode had Tia Mowry of CW's The Game give the girls a crash course in acting, although the "crossover" was limited to Mowry's appearance, as the challenge winner was not given a guest role as a prize.
• Also several contestants (winners or not) have landed roles in shows by UPN or the CW, such as Mercedes Scelba-Shorte, Ann Markley, and Toccara Jones.
• Analeigh Tipton and Samantha Potter (both Cycle 11) were featured in an episode of The Big Bang Theory which featured the main characters locating the top model house.

Influence on pop culture

The show has been referred to in many series, such as ABC Family's GREEK and The Big Bang Theory and FOX's Family Guy. It also had its own E! True Hollywood Story episode, featuring, among other, past contestants Elyse Sewell, Mercedes Scelba - Shorte, Kim Stolz and Bre Scullark^[20].

Oxygen Network, which has acquired the cable rights of ANTM, is going to air a series of documentary called Top Model Obsessed, featuring past contestants Lisa D'Amato, CariDee English and Bianca Golden^[21].

International versions

This list is not exhaustive.

Region/Country	Local title	Network(s)	Broadcast year(s)	Presenter(s)	No. of cycles	Notes
Afghanistan	Afghanistan's Next Top Model[22]	Mazar-i-Sharif	2005		1
Australia	Australia's Next Top Model	FOX8	2005-present	Erika Heynatz (2005-2006) Jodhi Meares (2007-2008) Sarah Murdoch (2009-)	5	First franchise in the Southern Hemisphere. Also aired on VH1 in the United States in 2007. It is the most popular non-sporting event or show on subscription television in Australia.
Austria	Austria's Next Topmodel	Puls4	2009	Lena Gercke	1	First cycle whose host is an ex-winner (Lena won Germany's Next Topmodel Cycle 1)
Belgium	Topmodel	KanaalTwee	2007-present	Ingrid Seynhaeve (2007) An Lemmens (2008)	2
Brazil	Brazil's Next Top Model	SET	2007-present	Fernanda Motta	2	First franchise in Latin America
Canada	Canada's Next Top Model	A-Channel (2006-2007) CTV (2008-present)[23]	2006-present	Tricia Helfer (2006) Jay Manuel (2007-present)	3[23]	Open casting calls will commence in January 2009.
Caribbean	Caribbean's Next Top Model	CaribVision[24]	2008	Carla Campbell	1
Central America	Super Model Centroamérica	BCCA	2007	Leonora Jimenez[3]	1
China	China's Next Top Model (CNTM閃亮模坊)	Dragon TV	2008-present	Li Ai	2
Croatia	Hrvatski Top Model	RTL	2008	Tatjana Jurić	1
Denmark	Denmark's Next Top Model	TV3	2005-2006	Anne P	3	Was originally part of Scandinavia's Next Top Model
Finland	Suomen huippumalli haussa (Searching for Finland's Top Model)	Nelonen	2008-present	Anne Kukkohovi	1
France	France's Next Top Model	Métropole 6	2005-present	Odile Sarron (2005) Adriana Karembeu (2007)	2
Germany	Germany's Next Topmodel	ProSieben	2006-present	Heidi Klum	3	The first franchise to air a live final show
Ghana	Top Model Ghana	GTV	2006	Abenaa	1	First African franchise
Honduras	Amiga Top Model	Commodore	2007		1[4]
Hungary	Hungary's Next Top Model	Viasat 3	2006	Viktória Vámosi Panni Epres	1
Ireland	The Model Agent	RTE 2	2009	Erin O'Connor	1
Israel	הדוגמניות (The Models)	Channel 10	2005-2008	Galit Gutman	3
Italy	Italia's Next Top Model	SKY Vivo[25]	2007-present	Natasha Stefanenko	2
Kazakhstan	Я красивая (I'm Beautiful)	Hit TV[26]	2005		1
Mexico	Mexico's Next Top Model [27]	SET	2009	TBA		Second franchise in Latin America
Nepal	Mega Model	Image Channel	2008	Pallavi Dhakal	1
Netherlands	Holland's Next Top Model	RTL5	2006-present	Yfke Sturm (2006-2007) Daphne Deckers (2007-present)	4
New Zealand	New Zealand's Next Top Model	TV3	2009	Sara Tetro	1	Australia's Next Top Model judge Charlotte Dawson was offered the job but turned it down after negative press.
Nigeria	Nigeria's Next Top Model	Hi TV	2007	Adoara Oleh & Oreke	1	Second African franchise, after Ghana.[28][dead link]
Norway	Norway's Next Top Model	TV3	2005-present	Kathrine Sørland (2005-06), Vendela Kirsebom (2007-present)	6	Was originally part of Scandinavia's Next Top Model
Philippines	Philippines' Next Top Model	RPN	2007	Ruffa Gutierrez-Bektas	1	Second Asian franchise, after Thailand
Russia	Ты супермодель (You're a supermodel)	CTC	2004-present	Fyodor Bondarchuk (2004-05) Alexander Tsekalo (2006) Svetlana Bondarchuk (2007-present)	4
Scandinavia	Scandinavia's Next Top Model	TV3	2005-2006	Kathrine Sørland Anne P Mini Anden (2005) Malin Persson (2006)	3	First regional adaptation of the franchise. Consisted of contestants from Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
Slovakia	Slovakia's Next Top Supermodel (H'lada sa Supermodelka)	TV JOJ	2007	Simona Krainova	1
Spain	Supermodelo	Cuatro	2006-2008	Judit Mascó (2006-2007) Eloísa González (2008)	3
Sweden	Sweden's Next Top Model	TV3	2004-present	Mini Anden (2004) Malin Persson (2005-06) Vendela Kirsebom (2007)	4	Was originally part of Scandinavia's Next Top Model
Switzerland	Switzerland's Next Supermodel	3+ TV	2007-present	Nadja Schildknecht (2007) Franziska Knuppe (2008)	2
Thailand	Thailand's Next Top Model	Thai TV3	2005	Sonia Couling	1	First franchise in Asian continent
Turkey	Turkey's Next Top Model (Top Model Turkiye's)	Star TV	2006	Deniz Akkaya	1
United Kingdom	Britain's Next Top Model	LIVING	2005-present	Lisa Butcher (2005) Lisa Snowdon (2006-present)	4	A spin-off was created called Britain's Missing Top Model, which featured disabled girls competing against each other. A charity celebrity version is planned for next year as part of Comic Relief
West Africa	West Africa's Next Top Model[29]		2009	Oluchi Onweagba		Will consist of contestants from Cote D'ivoire, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Liberia and Nigeria

See also

• List of television show franchises

References

External links

• Official Site
• Apply for Cycle 12
• America's Next Top Model at the Internet Movie Database