Posts Tagged ‘CNTM’
Nearsighted Winnipeger with Braces Wins Modeling Contest
That’s what the headline of the Winnipeg Free Press should have read this morning.
I’m happy for both the finalists on Canada’s Next Top Model, but I was sort of rooting for Linsay at the end. I mentioned before that aboriginal girls in this country have far too few role models. It would have been great to see the college graduate win the competition and parlay the opportunity into some sort of media career. She still can, and I hope that she does.
I picked Meaghan as the winner just after Rebecca was eliminated. The ugly-duckling/underdog edit she was getting made it obvious that she was the chosen one. Plus, I knew how much pull Winnipeg’s Adrienne Butikofer has with the Toronto fashion elite, so I suspected that the fix was in. Call me a conspiracy nut if you will, but don’t ever doubt the influence of Winnipeg’s golden child.
All in all it was a good season of the show, although I could do with a little less Jeanne Beker on my TV screen. I adore Jeanne on Fashion Television, but there’s something about the way that she came across on this program that was condescending and obnoxious. I’m the biggest windbag in Canadian fashion, and she made me look like a helium balloon floating alongside the Hindenburg. You know you’ve gone too far over the top when . . .
Canada’s Next Top Conundrum
I have no idea who is going to win Canada’s Next Top Model.
I picked Maryam as my pre-show favorite and I haven’t been disappointed with her performance. I then predicted Meaghan and Heather as the final two, only to watch Heather eliminated the very next episode. Now I’m looking at that CoverGirl photo of Meaghan from last night and thinking “Dear Zob in heaven, no!” She looks like just ate a bad clam.
Maryam’s photo, on the other hand, is gorgeous. The girl is a freakin’ superstar. Plus she’s only eighteen! I’m sure Elmer Olsen has already signed her up now that she’s been given the boot.
So I guess I’m rooting for Linsay now. Nikita is too annoying, Meaghan is too weepy, and Linsay’s just sort of cool. She’s this season’s Rebecca Hardy.
I suppose she’ll be out first in next week’s finale because I’ve picked her as my favorite. Or maybe I’ll be completely surprised by the decision of the judges once again. The best five definitely made it to the final five, but it’s been a crapshoot to predict the final two since then. After a couple of predictable seasons of ANTM, Tyra Banks needs to take a few notes from her Canadian counterparts. #1: Keep the audience guessing . . .
Speaking of Canadians, Jeanne Beker is coming off like Janice Dickinson on this panel, but without the vulgar humor that makes Janice somewhat bearable. I adore Jeanne on Fashion Television, but I don’t like her on this show. She needs to take a lesson from me: If your schtick is to be a crusty old broad, then at least do it with a self-deprecating smile on your face.
Shocking!
If I didn’t see it, I wouldn’t have believed it!
On last night’s shocking episode of Canada’s Next Top Model, frontrunner Heather was eliminated. In other jaw-dropping developments, Heather wore flat boots to her go-sees in New York City. I guess I shouldn’t have been so shocked that she was sent home after that bleached-blonde moment.
I predicted that Linsay’s breakthrough week was coming. She really listens to the judges and seems to be learning from her mistakes. That kind of conduct is always rewarded in the Top Model universe. Meaghan, my pick to win, had another great week. Nikita performed quite poorly but still managed to squeak by Heather in the bottom two. Maryam was grounded in Toronto again, but kept in the competition by the judges. I’ve alluded to the fact that her passport difficulties are likely beyond her control. Why else would the judges look beyond the issue twice?
Anyway, I’m glad that Linsay’s still around. I like her look. I don’t believe she stands a chance against Maryam and Meaghan, but I do believe that someone is going to notice her as a result of this competition. Far too few girls who grow up on reserves in this country find themselves going to college — never mind entering modeling competitions — so I hope she can parlay this experience into a career where she can inspire others to achieve their goals.
In other news, Richie Rich really needs to step away from the cosmetic procedures. I’ve seen eighty-year-old Palm Beach socialites with fresher faces.
The “Actress-Pretty” Kiss of Death
I suppose that there’s nothing worse than being called “actress-pretty” when you’re appearing on a modeling show. When the phrase emanates from the lips of Tyra Banks on America’s Next Top Model, you know your days are numbered.
It’s not much different on Canada’s Next Top Model. After being called “actress-pretty” a few too many times, Rebeccah got the boot on last night’s episode.
I can’t say that I’m going to miss her, and I can’t say that I didn’t see it coming. Of any Top Model series I’ve ever seen, this has been the most logical installment, with every girl who deserves to be eliminated actually getting eliminated on the episode where she fails to deliver a decent performance.
Yet it’s getting sort of predictable. In fact, I predict it’s going to go like this: Linsay will have one breakthrough week, sending Nikita home because of her bad attitude. If Maryam doesn’t go to New York as the previews suggest, she’ll be in the bottom two, where the judges will explain that her passport issues are not her fault and therefore not reason enough to lose such a strong competitor. Linsay will go the next week, leaving Maryam to battle the blondes in an ill-fated commercial. Despite the strength of her portfolio, the judges will reluctantly cut her. Meaghan’s gorgeous face and generally upbeat attitude will get her to the final two where she’ll beat frontrunner Heather in a split decision simply because of her mass-market potential and ability to learn on her feet. What’s a winner without a positive growth-arc edit?
I’d be thrilled with almost any other outcome. Nothing would please me more than to be surprised! But I don’t believe that I’m going to be surprised.
What do you think is going to happen?
Sayonara Tara
The remarkably unphotogenic Tara was sent home on last night’s episode of Canada’s Next Top Model. I sort of expected it, but what I didn’t expect was Linsay’s appearance in the bottom two. I absolutely, positively hated Rebecca’s photo. Everything that’s wrong with her bone structure was glaringly obvious in the picture. She’s cute, but she’s definitely not a model.
Linsay, on the other hand, has cheekbones for days and an intriguing face that I really haven’t seen before. Native American models have not gone very far in the business, and I’d be delighted to see a girl like Linsay succeed (even on a commercial level). She really seems to be trying to win the competition, too, unlike Rebecca.
What’s worse about Rebecca, however, is her total lack of versatility in her photos. Linsay has been criticized over and over again for the same problem, yet her portfolio is distinctly more interesting.
I shouldn’t be mad at Rebecca for taking dull photos. I should be mad at the judges for keeping her around. I don’t know what they’re waiting for! A complete mental breakdown? C’mon, this isn’t America’s Next Top Model!
That’s brings me to another point. Why do people get up on reality shows nowadays to talk about their “social anxiety” disorders? Do they think that the rest of lived in an age where getting up in front of a panel of people to be roundly criticized was an enjoyable process? Did we have thicker skin back in the olden days? Or did we just understand that not every situation in life was going to be comfortable, and that our interactions with other weren’t only about stroking our own egos. The next time I hear one of these girls talk about how hard it is for them to lead a charmed life, I’m going to throw a brick through my TV screen. Shut the **** up!
Ebonie and Irony
Ebonie was sent packing on last night’s episode of Canada’s Next Top Model. I suppose it was ironic that she spent much of the episode celebrating her triumphant return home to the Bahamas only to be sent home a second time by the panel. That’s irony, right? I’m not sure. I feel like a poor man’s Alanis Morrisette this morning. I’m not fully caffeinated yet . . .
Anyway, Ebonie was the weak link in the competition, just like Jill was before her, and like Tiffany was before Jill. These girls are being eliminated in the exact order they deserve to go. It’s like a parallel universe that is the exact opposite of America’s Next Top Model.
I don’t know who’s next to go. Linsay hasn’t been doing terribly well, but I’m expecting her to have a breakthrough before they show her the door. I’ll put my money on Nikita for now because a bad attitude is the fastest ticket home on this show. Her photo this week was dreadful, too.
I still believe that Maryam is around for the long-haul, because I don’t believe she would have been cast without a passport if they didn’t believe she could win. Procuring a passport and traveling internationally as a landed immigrant in Canada is a difficult process, wrapped up in red tape, and not only subject to the laws of the countries you’re traveling to, but to the laws of the countries you’re traveling through. I’m sure the producers knew exactly what they were getting into when they cast Maryam on the show. I guess we’ll see. I can’t wait until next week!
Where in the World is Ceri Marsh?
As is the custom in my house, I was watching Fashion Television and eating a pie Sunday afternoon when I saw Jeanne Beker interview both Lisa Tant and Rita Silvan at the Chanel Cruise 2010 show in Venice.
I immediately said to myself “Where in the world is Ceri Marsh? Why isn’t FT interviewing her? Was she stuck in the office while her editor-in-chief rivals schmoozed with the jet set on an Italian beach? Why did I just eat a whole pie?”
For all I know she could have been there, but I would have expected some FT footage of Canada’s most influential fashion icon. Then I began to wonder if her absence at the event had something to do with the appearance of Lisa Tant and Rita Silvan. I know that the threesome try to appear civil in each other’s presence, but I’m not buying it. They’re about as close as Alexis, Krystle and Sammy Jo on Dynasty. If you get them in a room together you’re practically guaranteed that someone is going to lose a wig.
Anyway, I’m glad that Ceri is using FT to draw a little attention to herself and her magazine. I did see her on TV a week earlier, looking lovely and talking about the Canada’s Next Top Model cover shoot. Perhaps she’s got too much going on at FASHION to be flying off to second-rate fashion shows (the resort collections — please!) Still, I know these editor-in-chief types a little too well to just dismiss this incident entirely. There’s more to it, and like the crack journalist I am, I’m determined to expose the truth.
Makeovers!
It was makeover week on Canada’s Next Top Model!
As Tyra would say, Meaghan got the “long, wavy extensions down to here,” only without the waves. She looks good, but the more I look at her photos, the more I believe that she is going to get the “actress pretty” elimination. She’s gorgeous, but more telegenic than photogenic.
Nikita got the “Bettie Page,” but without the waves that made the pinup’s hairdo so distinct. The bangs were just too short. She reminded me of Jim Carrey in “Dumb and Dumber.”
Maryam didn’t need much work, so they gave her a “Mariacarla.” She reminds me of Mariacarla, so it was a wise choice. I love this girl!
Linsay got the best makeover, both in theory and in practice, when they gave her the “Linda Evangelista.” The color is better for her, and the cut does wonders for her bone structure. All of a sudden, she’s a contender.
I don’t know what they did to Tara. She looks exactly the same as she did before. She’s got a great body, but I don’t see a model when I look at her face.
The worst makeover was given to Heather. Her “girl-next-door” look was given a “high-fashion ass-whoopin’,” or something like that. Her eyebrows were bleached into oblivion, too. Her hair doesn’t appear to hold a style for more than ten seconds or so, and the color process just made that fact more obvious. Way to sabotage the frontrunner, Jay!
Jill got the “Lisa Hartman from ‘Knot’s Landing’.” I know Tyra’s never used that reference before, but that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the mop they sewed to her head.
They tried to give Ebonie the “Halle Berry,” but her hair was in such bad shape that they decided not to torture her anymore. Instead she got the “Soccer Mom.” She’s got to be the next one to go. Just look at the photo above. Why, in the name of Zob, did they put her in that horrible swimsuit?
Rebeccah probably got the most dramatic transformation when they gave her the “Agyness Deyn.” I can see this girl working a lot of looks, and her hair appears to take the abuse quite well. Despite her ridiculously unwarranted appearance in the bottom two, she’s beginning to grow on me.
All in all, it was a fun episode, and I can’t wait to watch it again when it repeats ten times this week on various CTV affiliates. I want to get a second look at Jeanne Beker. I swear that she was peeling like Meryl Streep or Goldie Hawn in “Death Becomes Her.” I adore Jeanne, but she was wearing more makeup than Jay Manuel, and that’s never a good thing.
Two for the Price of One
Canada’s Next Top Model premiered last night with an episode that promised great things to come.
Of course, the highlight of the evening was when early frontrunner Heather tripped over her own feet on her way to pick up her photo after Jay Manuel called her name. I know it’s cruel, but there’s something about laughing at the misfortune of reality show contestants that’s so utterly satisfying — I couldn’t help myself!
The show had other great moments, including the voluntary exit of Alexandra due to a pre-existing injury and the elimination of Tiffany due to a lousy photo shoot. Thank Zob for Jeanne Beker who questioned whether or not it was wise to keep a single mother in her twenties in the competition when there were younger, taller, more-photogenic girls still around. Tyra would have made Tiffany a semi-finalist just so we could watch her cry about how much she missed her baby in the confessionals! And with two girls gone in the first episode, I suppose there won’t be a surprise double-elimination sometime in the future.
My early favorite, Maryam, got the first callout. Impressive! Between that and my endorsement, I suppose that she’s cursed now. I was also impressed by Heather, Meaghan, Rebeccah, Linsay and Nikita. Ebonie and Jill aren’t doing it for me, and I’m still on the fence with Tara. Maybe she just needs a makeover.
Anyway, check out the official site to see the results of the first photo shoot, and let me know who you’re rooting for in the comments section.
Photo Credit: James Lourenço
The CNTM Final Twelve
Now that she’s back from her Italian vacation, Jennifer Campbell is wasting no time adding juicy material to the FASHION Magazine website.
Click the link above for a behind-the-scenes look at the FASHION cover shoot to promote the third cycle of Canada’s Next Top Model. My early pick is the butch girl in the middle with the bad tan and the Ève Salvail haircut. With a good makeover, she could go places. Oh, wait! That’s Jay Manuel. Is he taking lessons from Tyra on how to make himself the only top model on the show? What’s next? Is he going to fire Yasmin Warsame?
Anyway, I’m so excited about the premiere of the show tonight that I could explode (much like Jennifer Campbell after her Italian vacation). I have high expectations for the show now that it’s on CTV. With a little luck, the judges might discover the next Jaslene Gonzales or Naima Mora — I can only hope!
Come back tomorrow to read more about the premiere, and to leave your thoughts about CNTM in the comments section.
Auntie Fashion 