I’ll admit it – I’m not a huge fan of fashion or modeling. I never truly poured over magazines envying what I saw and trying to find ways to make myself look like the women I saw in them. I looked through catalogs and found items I wanted - toe socks, crackling nail polish, that cute swimsuit, etc. I didn’t care about what brands were high class (probably because a lot of what I wore was secondhand, either hand-me-downs or bought at thrift stores and yard sales.) I didn’t care about who took the photographs or what the models’ names were. I only paid enough attention to the picture to see if the items were something I wanted or if the guys were hot…but what girl interested in guys doesn’t? I probably made mental comments about the women too, but I was always trying not to really look at the people unless they looked similar to me. It wasn’t often. It didn’t help that I felt like I was underweight (I know, it shocked people when I said I thought I needed to gain weight and didn’t care what I ate.) I never saw what the big deal of modeling was.
Now that I’m older, I understand better the draw that modeling has. It seems to be a validation of a person’s gorgeousness. But beyond that, I’ve always known being a subject for photographers is not easy. I’ve always gotten lucky with my pictures. Hell, I got most photogenic in a local pageant with my mother as the photographer against girls who used professional photographers for theirs. It’s not easy. I never saw the point of make-up and spending so much time and money on something that, to me, didn’t matter. Of course, I was a huge tomboy and spent a lot of time outside being a very active and messy girl. The said draw of modeling and an increased interest in reality competition shows (i.e. Survivor, The Fear Factor, Dancing with the Stars, etc.) gave rise to a new show – America’s Next Top Model.
A quick search on IMDB for “next top model” showed that a large number of countries had picked up on the success of America’s Next Top Model and did their own version. Australia’s Next Top Model and America’s Next Top Model were both available on Hulu. I’ve recently decided to watch Australia’s Next Top Model. Almost immediately there were differences I could notice between what I was watching/listening to and what I could remember from America’s Next Top Model. One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed in the first two seasons compared to the majority of America’s Next Top Model’s early seasons, Australia’s Next Top Model has shown a marked interest in being healthy, not skinny. What I can remember of the early seasons of America’s Next Top Model was a preference for skinny as opposed to plus size models so long as the skinny wasn’t sickly looking. That’s not to say that there weren’t plus sized models competing. It’s just that it was more obvious in America’s Next Top Model that bigger girls at the beginning of the show were going to have a harder time making it in the modeling world even with the aid of Tyra Banks and her ever-changing judging panel.
That brings me to the next point – the judging panel. In America’s Next Top Model, the girls are judged by Tyra, a few regular judges for that season and a guest judge until it makes it to the final two. For Australia’s Next Top Model, the judging panel is made of a few regular judges each season and a guest judge. I actually was glad that Tyra was available throughout the season to mentor the girls, help them through their challenges (both professional and personal!) and was the one to dispense advice and let them know who made it through each week as well as who was eliminated. After all, she was the host of America’s Next Top Model. She stood in front of the applicants with only their photos and looked at the girls in their eyes as she let them know where they needed to improve. In Australia’s Next Top Model, the host didn’t necessarily mentor the girls she would later be giving the final critiques to. Also, the host held a binder with small poster-sized photos versus the more portfolio-sized photos used in America’s Next Top Model. For all the viewers knew, with how often the host would look at the binder, she had a script sitting opposite as to what she was to say for each girl. Mind you, I haven’t yet watched all the available episodes of Australia’s Next Top Model, but there’ve been two hosts so far and both have had some kind of binder or clipboard to hold the photos in.
Something else I’ve noticed is that age is a huge factor in the modeling industry. Once the young women (and later men America’s Next Top Model) reach a certain age, they tend to be less marketable in a wide range of markets because a younger crowd do not wish to be buying things that are marketed by someone that reminds them of their parents - or worse their grandparents! However, the few seasons I’ve watched of Australia’s Next Top Model, I don’t remember a single girl over the age of 21 competing, however, 26 has been considered among the oldest on America’s Next Top Model. While Australia’s Next Top Model has girls as young as 16, if I remember the seasons of America’s Next Top Model, the youngest was 18. I could be wrong though. Perhaps I’ll go through and re-watch all the seasons I can of each version of Next Top Model and do episode reviews. I’m already planning on doing so eventually for Charmed and a few other series…
One of the best things about America’s Next Top Model is the challenges done each week before the event the contestants get judged on. Typically they have something to do with each other. The challenge winner may still end up getting eliminated – unless the prize happens to be immunity. Australia’s Next Top Model is the same. The best thing about these competitions is that even if the girls don’t win the big competition, there is a huge possibility that they’ve won or been chosen as a friend by a winner of one of the challenges. The prizes for these smaller competitions within the huge one could be anything from a shopping spree to free clothes to a photo shoot to guest appearances in movies, television shows, and even music videos. These prizes can and will help the contestants with their modeling careers, or acting if that’s what they change their minds to.
One of the most annoying things I’ve found in most reality shows is in the parts regarding their lives within the house. While America’s Next Top Model rarely even referenced it except for during the times that they addressed someone breaking the rules or lying to the judges, possibly even telling the judges some of the thoughts of another contestant due to a want to win by any means possible, Australia’s Next Top Model did tend to address the behavior that occurred in the house. They addressed fitness, rule-breaking, healthy and smart habits (admonishing girls for stupid stunts before shoots –blueberries anyone?), bullying and even a few more subtle admonishments about sabotaging the other girls.
Overall, I think I preferred Australia’s Next Top Model over America’s Next Top Model, but I tend to try to skip through the drama based scenes, no matter what else may be occurring during the scene. I love seeing the behind the scenes on the photoshoots and even hearing the critiques and tips for not only the models in the competition but also the aspiring models likely watching the show.
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