Supermodel Extraordinaire Tyra Banks created the concept for television's first professional model competition, America's Next Top Model (ANTM) in 2002. The show first aired in May of 2003 and has continued to be UPN's top rated show. The stakes are high for each season's all female contestant group as they vie for a $100,000 modeling contract with the cosmetics giant Cover Girl, professional representation by the elite Ford Modeling Agency, and a career-changing spread in a leading fashion magazine such as Elle magazine or Vogue. America's Next Top Model just saw its 7th season (called cycles) and has featured a wide range of impressive judges including the famous 1960’s model Twiggy, the world's first supermodel Janice Dickinson (who now has her own model competition show called Janice Dickinson’s Modeling Agency), Nigel Barker (ex-model turned fashion photographer), runway coach J. Alexander and Tyra's friend and stylist Jay Manuel.
The number of contestants ranges from ten to fourteen females who are all between the ages of 18 and 26. Each contestant comes to the show featuring their own particular look and style, but Tyra quickly develops a radical new makeover for each contestant. The contestants are quickly made over and given brand new haircuts, hair color, and new makeup looks, oftentimes against their will. Each contestant is then moved into one house or apartment that has been designed and developed to look like a trendy model’s residence. The girls are put together with roommates, and oftentimes explosive and dramatic fights develop.
Each episode of America's Next Top Model sets up the model hopefuls on a challenging photoshoot, many of which occur outside in extreme elements or feature terrifying stunts with animals or insects. It is the job of the contestants to look both beautiful and confident, and also to maintain a professional attitude no matter the stress of the situation. Other than the photoshoots, the contestants are also sent to “try out” for jobs and contracts in front of other powerful industry professionals including designers and agents. The competition for these jobs is severe, and part of the challenge is to see how strong the contestants remain under the bright lights of the fashion world. Audiences wait for the international component of each cycle when Tyra announces the girls have to pack immediately for an impromptu overseas trip to experience the modeling world in another fashion-forward city. Cities that the models have visited include Paris, London, Tokyo and Barcelona. The international competition is the most difficult as the models struggle to get jobs and complete photoshoots in a strange country having little to no facility with the native language.
Generally one contestant is eliminated at the end of each episode, and the elimination is decided by the judging panel that is headed by Tyra Banks. Each judge views the best photos from each contestant’s shoot and evaluates the head and body shots for poise, commercial and high-fashion appeal, as well as pure aesthetic value. During each elimination, Tyra Banks delivers the news with compassion and sometimes stern reminders about how difficult it is to stay in the modeling business. The last contestant remaining becomes America’s Next Top Model and goes on to have numerous endorsements and take part in fashion industry events all over the world.
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