America’s Next Top Model

Tim crowned MasterChef champ

MasterChef has crowned Tim Anderson as its 2011 winner after he out-performed Sara Danesin and Tom Whitaker in the final last night.

Royal wedding special for Million Pound Drop 

Million Pound Drop will screen a special Royal wedding special featuring a couple who are getting married on the same day as William and Kate, April 29.

ITV and Sky secure Champions League deals

ITV and Sky Sports have been awarded the new UK broadcasting rights for the UEFA Champions League football through to 2015.

Fergie says no to The X Factor USA

Fergie has put an end to any suggestion she will be a part of The X Factor USA, confirming she couldn’t spare the time to commit to the show.

America’s Next Top Model all-stars announced

An America’s Next Top Model ‘all-stars’ series has been announced that will see returning contestants from previous seasons competing for another shot at success. The network promises “breakout characters” with “memorable stories” from the past will be returning.

9:00pm Monday, January 10 on LIVING

The model hopefuls are not the only ones getting makeovers this season on America’s Next Top Model. The show itself is getting a fresh high fashion look as well, with the winning girl gracing the cover of fashion industry bible Italian Vogue. In the fifteenth series Tyra Banks is taking her international modeling competition juggernaut to the next level, demanding that the winner be not just model material, but also able to rock the world’s most exclusive magazines and runway shows.

This week, the 14 contestants move into their new model house in Venice Beach, California, where the walls are plastered with Italian Vogue covers for inspiration. There, six foot two Anne reveals a quirky preference in men – bearded warlocks – that gets the other girls’ attention. But there is not much time for gossip as “the Js” soon reveal the first jaw-dropping challenge. It takes the revamped show’s high fashion theme literally, asking the girls to walk a runway suspended four storeys above the ground for a Diane von Furstenberg fashion show.

The models’ first photoshoot tackles a serious issue when the girls take pictures to combat teenage bullying. Each girl must choose a nasty name she was called back at school to be painted on her body while she works a tiny swimsuit – a particularly difficult challenge for lesbian Kayla who was teased constantly for her sexuality. Can the girls’ beauty and confidence shine through the unpleasant memories? 14 gorgeous girls take a stand against bullying this week on LIVING, but only 13 will make it to the next round of competition. Who will the judges cut first?

9:00pm Monday, January 3 on LIVING

Season 15 of smash hit fashion fight series America’s Next Top Model brings a new twist to the popular formula – plastering the winning girl’s image all over the magazine that represents the very pinnacle of modelling success, Italian Vogue. The girl will also get a contract with top agency IMG, home to Gisele Bundchen and other supermodels at the top of their game. Which 14 girls will win the chance to compete for these extraordinary honours when the judges make their first cut this week exclusively on LIVING?

Host and producer Tyra Banks chooses a diverse group of 32 model wannabes to start out on the road to superstardom this week, including a pair of bubbly sisters, a beauty queen, country belles and ‘a rich bitch’. Whichever of these big personalities is chosen, she will need to have the modelling chops to flourish in the ultra intense world of edgy high fashion. In preparation the girls learn not only how to strut and pose, but also to handle jealous competitors straight away in Ms Banks’ crash course in catty comments and backstabbing behaviour.

This week, it all gets started on LIVING when the girls work fabulous frocks from designer Cynthia Rowley on the runway. After being grouped into types, the model hopefuls must prove they can stand out in a garden party photoshoot to win the judges approval. Which girls will prove they have what it takes to grace the pages of the world’s most exclusive high fashion magazine when the mother of all TV modelling competitions kicks off this week?

Raina and Krista are going head-to-head in one almighty battle to receive the coveted title of America’s Next Top Model.

Tyra has worked the girls for 12 long hard weeks. They’ve been made-over, vamped up, dressed down, covered in clay, posed on a busy subway, squeezed in a Hobbit hole and repeatedly critiqued, criticised and broken apart. 

Now only two girls remain, in a ANTM final BIGGER than any other: set to push Krista and Raina to the edge. 

A helicopter ride take our girls to their CoverGirl commercial shoot, where they must perform to camera with precise and perfect timing. 

A Seventeen magazine cover shoot puts them through their paces, and an intimate home visit from Tyra will bring our final two to tears. 

It’s been a long, hard competition for Krista and Raina, and the final judging with determine who will be crowned America’s Next Top Model, and which girls life will change forever. 

DON’T MISS THE DRAMATIC FINAL - Monday, 9pm on LIVING

9:00pm Monday, November 1 on LIVING

Fangs, fake blood by the bucketful and some of New York City’s funniest comics spice up the action as Tyra Banks’ fashion juggernaut, America’s Next Top Model, continues its run on LIVING this week. Incredibly, the beloved fashion institution is now in its fourteenth cycle and has lost none of its edge, recruiting industry insider Andr� Leon Talley as a fresh face at the judging table this season. The show’s legions of fans can expect all the usual scheming and screaming as the remaining ten girls duke it out for the title and the fabulous prizes.

This week, the girls visit the famous New York City improv theatre Upright Citizens Brigade and learn to think on their feet as they test their comedy skills on stage. Then, CoverGirl spokeswoman actress Dania Ramirez challenges the girls to use their new acting skills to sell her company’s cosmetics in Times Square using only gestures. Later, over at the model house, there is stress in the air as pretty Brenda gets an emergency punk makeover.

Elsewhere, pop culture’s current vampire-mania comes to this instalment of Top Model, as the runway wannabes are asked to play beautiful but blood-thirsty creatures of the night for their photoshoot. Every model must wear special vamp-chic contact lenses that obscure their vision, while posing in a bathtub of blood with a male model. When the girls are asked to fly blind for fashion, will they rock their photos despite having only four senses to work with? The girls might be playing the undead this week, but one model’s career is definitely not immortal when the time comes for elimination. Who will be the next to leave?

9:00pm Monday, October 18 on LIVING

The search for the fourteenth girl to wear the America’s Next Top Model crown continues this week on LIVING, as Tyra Banks and her fellow judges make their second cut from this fresh batch of lovely ladies. The international fashion phenomenon now boasts a hot new industry insider judge – Andr� Leon Talley – and one of the most impressive fields of competitors ever.

A nerve-wracking catwalk challenge for designer Rachel Roy is not the only source of drama as the show gets underway. When wild card contestant Ren tells mouthy Alasia to “shut the f**k up” she ignites fireworks, and some of the girls start to question the claims of former cult-member Naduah.

On their first beauty shoot the girls must try and sell the advertised fragrance with their poses despite the rain and wind. Then, flamboyant judge Andr� spares no one’s feelings as he spells out whose picture is going to end up on the cutting room floor in a tense elimination.

9:00pm Monday, October 11 on LIVING

Tyra Banks’s smash hit modelling competition America’s Next Top Model struts back onto LIVING this week for its fourteenth cycle. The international fashion phenomenon is no awkward adolescent, however, it has taken on a hot new industry insider judge – Andr� Leon Talley – and recruited one of the most impressive fields of competitors ever. The show’s fans can enjoy a double helping of season-opening episodes, which offer all the Top Model staples – from haircut hysterics to catty comments and model house meltdowns.

32 beautiful women start out in the first instalment of this week’s double bill, but Tyra and her assistants must narrow the field to just 12 hopefuls. To make the cut, they have to create a profile page on Tyra’s ‘fiercebook’ with a picture and a video ‘netwalk’. Which ladies will be invited to be Tyra’s friends and move on to the next stage? Multiple piercings, bad wigs, a former cult member and a repeat contender from a previous series liven things up.

A surprise thirteenth contender joins the fray as the girls move to New York in the second half of this week’s double bill. The contenders tour Madame Tussauds with celebrity blogger Perez Hilton and meet Ren, the wild card contestant. Then, they head straight to make-overs for an edgy new look. In their first photoshoot for designer Cusio Barcelona they are sporting little more than their new hairdos for the mostly nude shot. It is a big challenge for the ladies’ first professional outing in front of the camera. Who will be the first to be sent home?

It’s time for a brand new season of America’s Next Top Model, Cycle 14, and its all change on the panel.  

The show welcomes one of the most influential members of the fashion world, André Leon Talley, as a new judge.  Thirteen new model hopefuls from across the country are given the chance to prove they have what it takes when the competition kicks off.

The opening double bill sees Tyra, Miss Jay and Mr Jay whittle down 33 gorgeous girls to 13, testing out their profile pictures, back stories, attitude and runway walks.  The girls include Cybil Shepherd’s god-daughter, a volunteer mortician and a girl who was brought up in a religious cult.  In the second episode of the night, at 10pm, Perez Hilton also turns up to set the girls a challenge and the girls are ushered into the salon for their often emotional style makeovers.

Talley, who will join Tyra Banks, photographer Nigel Barker and a weekly guest judge on the judges’ panel, is one of the fashion industry’s most influential style-setters.  Currently serving as the editor-at-large of Vogue, Talley is prominent in the world of designer fashion and has a front-row seat to runway shows all over the world.

Miss J. Alexander, long-time judge, breaks free from the judges’ desk to take on a mentoring role during challenges with the models.  “After cycles of watching the girls not get it right, I thought they would benefit more from my ‘high heels’ and hands-on approach than my sitting in a chair judging their photos,” said Alexander.  “And with Andre Leon Talley, this should be the best cycle yet.”

Cycle 14 welcomes a panel of rotating guest judges that include: Sally Hershberger (Salon Owner/Proprietor), Rachel Roy (Runway Fashion Designer), Sean Patterson (President of Wilhelmina Models), Dania Ramirez (CoverGirl Representative), Patricia Cleveland (First African American Supermodel), Ann Shoket (Editor in Chief of Seventeen Magazine), Whitney Port (Star of “The City,” Runway Fashion Designer), Sara Tetro (Owner of 62 Models), Sara McLeod (Actress from “Lord of the Rings”) and “Top Model” photo shoot director Jay Manuel.

 

“AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL” CYCLE 14 PARTICIPANTS:

BRENDA

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Age: 23

Occupation: Administrative Assistant

 

ALASIA

Hometown; Marietta, Georgia

Age: 18

Occupation: Student

 

NADUAH

Hometown: San Diego, California

Age: 22

Occupation Full-time mother

 

RAINA

Hometown: Minnetonka, Minnesota

Age: 22

Occupation: Student

 

TATIANNA

Hometown: Ewa Beach, Hawaii

Age: 21

Occupation: Student

 

GABRIELLE

Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri

Age: 18

Occupation: Student

 

SIMONE

Hometown: Lenexa, Kansas

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

 

ANSLEE

Hometown: Dacula, Georgia

Age: 23

Occupation Bar Tender

 

ANGELEA

Hometown: Buffalo, New York

Age: 23

Occupation: Answering Service Operator

 

JESSICA

Hometown: Conway, Arkansas

Age: 18

Occupation: Model

 

ALEXANDRA

Hometown: Kerrville, Texas

Age: 21

Occupation: Student

 

REN

Hometown: Grand Prairie, Texas

Age: 22

Occupation: Living

 

KRISTA

Hometown: Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Age: 26

Occupation: Retail Manager

 

The winner of AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL will be managed by Wilhelmina Models, receive a $100,000 contract with cosmetics giant CoverGirl and appear on the cover and in a six-page fashion spread of Seventeen magazine.

Host Tyra Banks has been forced to apologise over a promo for America’s next Top Model which featured a model with “the smallest waist in the world”.

Banks was criticised over the clip which has her telling the hopeful she has the smallest waist in the world before saying to her fellow judges “There’s something about her I quite like.”

The model, who is only known as “Anne from Dallas”, stands before the judges in the promo and demonstrates the exact size of her waist with a man wrapping his hands completely around it.

One of Banks’ fellow judges say that if the model progressed to the final it “will make…the rest of the cast eat Tic Tacs and watercress for the rest of the season.”

Banks, who has been a vocal campaigner against the use of ultra-thin models and unhealthy body image, has apologised for the promo running in the US ahead of the upcoming season.

“As a leader in celebrating and promoting healthy body image, I must admit that I regrettably didn’t see this clip before it was released to the public,” Banks said in a statement.

“But on behalf of the Top Model team, these were not the intentions, and we truly apologise for any confusion, anger or disappointment it may have caused.”

Source: The Age

America’s Next Top Model was made women (and men no doubt) go running, screaming with brain-fried glee year after year. As TV shows go, it’s more addictive than a mixture of Pringles and heroin.

And now, it’s back with a bang… albeit, a slightly shorter one.

This series Tyra Banks (presenter, judge and Queen of Everything) and the team have added a twist: short models. While previous series have required ANTM hopefuls to stand over 5’7”, series 13 will require all contestants to be 5’7” or shorter.

As someone who stands at over 6 feet tall, I’m hurt by this move. That said, I’m not prepared to shave my manly legs and pose in a bikini, so all’s well that ends well.

To celebrate the new season, each week ANTM will be setting you a new challenge at www.antmchallenge.com to see if you’ve got what it takes to be a top model.

To enter you’ll need to upload a photo or video in response to a new challenge set each week running from 11th January until 24th March.

Judges from LIVING and ASOS including Zeba Lowe – head of styling for ASOS magazine, will choose a winner each week who will get their hands on £100 worth of ASOS vouchers to spend on this season’s hottest looks.

*clicks fingers in a Z shape*

Winners will also be broadcast at the end of each episode of ANTM on LIVING.

There are 10 challenges in total and one grand prize for the ultimate winner – to star in their own ANTM themed photoshoot styled by ASOS, get an exclusive invite to the ASOS season preview and bag a tailored piece from the new season’s collection.

Tyra thinks that the ability to Smize – smiling with your eyes – is what sets a model apart from the competition. So to see if there is anyone out there that can stand above the rest of the competition ANTM thought they’d get you to show your Smize (via a photo) for this week’s challenge.

Tyra’s top tips for the ‘Smize’ are:

1. Stand feet apart with your shoulders down – as if someone is pushing them down towards the ground

2. Keep your head up – as if a string attached to the top of your head is pulled skywards

3. Now put your hand on your tummy and think of something delicious! A hot chocolate sundae or maybe your partner kissing your neck – whatever works for you.

4. Focus on that delicious thought as much as you can and make that thought shine through your eyes

5. But remember don’t smile – the trick to this is all about using your face muscles and not your smile

6. Actually carve your eye-sockets into the shape of a grinning mouth (okay, I made this one up)

Good luck, and of course, don’t forget to tune in to ANTM 13 Mondays at 9PM on LIVING to see who won.