America's Next Top Model

America's Next Top Model
Created by	Tyra Banks
Starring	Tyra Banks J. Alexander Jay Manuel Nigel Barker Twiggy
Narrated by	Tyra Banks
Theme music composer	Darkchild, Kevin Arkell
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	102
Production
Running time	42 minutes (60 with commercials)
Original release
Network	UPN (2003 – 2006) The CW (2006 – Present)
Release	May 20 2003 – Present

America's Next Top Model (often shortened to Top Model or abbreviated as ANTM) is a competitive reality television show hosted by former Victoria's Secret model Tyra Banks. 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. The opening theme is sung by Tyra Banks and is produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Banks co-produces the show with Ken Mok and Anthony Dominici.

Format

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

Each episode of Top Model, covering the events of roughly a week of real time , features a fashion challenge, photo shoot or commercial, judging, and critique of each contestant and her performance by the panel led by Tyra Banks, and the elimination of one or more contestants. 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, or appearing in a runway show.

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 an animal. Usually one photo shoot per season (excluding Cycle 4), is replaced with a commercial shoot, though in one episode of Cycle 2, the remaining contestants appeared in Tyra's music video for "Shake Ya Body" in lieu of a photo shoot.

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 look to satisfy a given prompt. Then each contestant's photo is 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, each time saying, "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 has been eliminated. However, there have been two exceptions, as Cycle 4 had a double elimination, and in Cycle 5, both of the bottom two were spared.

The format varies slightly when only three contestants remain. In the series finale, the three remaining aspiring models compete in one last photo shoot and/or commercial, 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 both their performance there and during the entire competition is considered when the judges declare a winner.

ANTM Crossovers

Cycle 3, Cycle 4, Cycle 5, Cycle 6 and Cycle 7 have provided guest starring opportunities for contestants winning acting challenges and for the champions. The awarded roles are sometimes non-speaking parts, and the model rarely appears in more than one episode of the show.

Contestants who have won guest-star roles include:

• Eva Pigford (Cycle 3) got the opportunity to guest star on the short-lived UPN show Kevin Hill, was in the movie Crossover, and did a cameo on CW's The Game where the joke was that a character thought she didn't win the title of America's Next Top Model.
• Naima Mora (Cycle 4), Kim Stolz (Cycle 5) and Furonda Brasfield (Cycle 6) had guest roles on the TV series Veronica Mars. Naima Mora won the acting challenge in Cycle 4, and was offered a role on Kevin Hill, which she refused. She was eventually given a small guest-starring role on the second season premiere episode of Veronica Mars. However, for Cycle 5 and 6, Kim and Furonda's rewards for winning the acting challenge 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.

For Cycle 8, the acting-themed episode had Tia Mowry of CW's The Game give the girls a crash course in acting. However, the "crossover" was limited to Mowry's appearance, as the challenge winner was not given a guest role as a prize.

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. Prior to the announcement of merging with The CW, UPN had committed to renewing the series through its ninth cycle on January 20, 2008. for which casting was conducted throughout mid-2006.

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. The dispute was chronicled in a July 24 interview on the website Television Without Pity with former TWoP recapper and current ANTM show producer Daniel J. Blau. In November 2006, the writers on strike were taken off payroll.

Criticism

Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, commenting on ANTM and Project Runway in the September 2006 issue of Harper's Bazaar, says it's "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."

Allure magazine criticized the show in the 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.

Cycle summary

Cycle/Main article	First airing	Winner	Runner-up	Other contestants (in order of elimination)	Number of contestants	International destination
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 Dankelman, Brandy Rusher, Noelle Staggers, Lluvy Gomez, Tiffany Richardson & Rebecca Epley, 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, 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	TBA	TBA	TBA	13	TBA

International versions

Australia: Australia's Next Top Model — airing of FOX8 and the first two series previously hosted by Erika Heynatz. The third cycle began airing in March 2007. This series is hosted by Jodhi Meares.

Canada: Season 1 of Canada's Next Top Model aired in the Summer of 2006. It was hosted by Tricia Helfer and won by Andrea Muizelaar. Season 2, hosted by Jay Manuel, will begin airing in May 2007.

Finland: Finland's Next Top Model — to be aired May 2007.

Germany: Germany's Next Topmodel — finished its first two seasons; hosted by Heidi Klum; winner of season one was Lena Gercke, winner of season two was Barbara Meier. Season 3 is planned for early 2008.

Hungary: Hungary's Next Top Model — finished its first season; hosted by Hungarian supermodel Viktória Vámosi and later by Panni Epres, winner was Réka Nagy.

Israel: Models — has finished two cycles thus far with the third cycle debuting on January 14th, 2007.

Netherlands: Holland's Next Top Model — First season winner Sanne Nijhof. Second season winner Kim Feenstra. Hosted by Yfke Sturm

Nigeria: Nigeria's Next Top Model — First African version of the franchise.[1]

Norway: Norway's Next Top Model — Although part of Scandinavia's Next Top Model, the country hosted its own version in 2006.

Philippines: Philippines' Next Top Model — airing on RPN 9. Hosted by Ruffa Gutierrez-Bektas.

Russia: Russia's Next Top Model — Airs on CTC, hosted by Fyodor Bondarchuk (Федор Бондарчук), has had three seasons, the first winner is Kseniya, the second is Svetlana (Светлана), and the third is Tatiana.

Scandinavia: Scandinavia's Next Top Model — with contestants from Norway, Denmark and Sweden. It is broadcast on TV3 and is hosted by Kathrine Sørland, Anne P, and Mini Anden (Cycle 1 & 2) and Malin Persson (Cycle 3), each from Norway, Denmark, and Sweden respectively. Due to 3 countries being involved, the format differs somewhat from the original. So far it has completed three seasons.

Slovakia: Slovakia's Next Top Supermodel — The first season of the show, called H'lada sa Supermodelka, aired from January to March of 2007, with Ivana as the winner.

Spain: Supermodelo — has already finished its first season which airs on Cuatro

Sweden: Sweden's Next Top Supermodel

Turkey: Turkey's Next Top Model or "Top Model Turkiye's". First season finished airing, with winner Selda Car. Hosted by Turkish supermodel Deniz Akkaya.

United Kingdom: Britain's Next Top Model — airs on Living and hosted by supermodel Lisa Snowdon. The second season premiered on July 24 2006. The first season was hosted by Lisa Butcher. Britan's next top model cycle3 starts on Monday 9th of July 2007.

External links

• Official site from The CW
• America's Next Top Model at the Internet Movie Database