America's Next Top Model

America's Next Top Model (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

America's Next Top Model, often abbreviated as ANTM or Top Model, is a reality television series in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry. It was created by talk-show host and model Tyra Banks, who also serves as the host, head judge, and executive producer. She co-produces the show with Ken Mok and Anthony Dominici. Banks also performs the opening theme, which is produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins.

The first "cycle" premiered on May 20, 2003 on UPN and became one of the network's highest-rated shows. The series moved to UPN's succeeding network, The CW, for the seventh cycle, and is currently the network's highest rated series. Advertisers pay $61,315 per 30-second slot during the 2011"12 television season, the highest of any series on The CW. On October 16, 2012, The CW renewed the show for a 20th season, which will premiere in summer 2013 and will feature female and male contestants for the first time, so it will be called America's Next Top Model: Co-ed Edition The show is now in an HDTV format.

Format

See Top Model series#Format description for more information

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

Judges

The current judging panel consists of Banks, fashion PR maven Kelly Cutrone, male supermodel Rob Evans, and Filipino fashion blogger Bryanboy. Previous judges included fashion icon Twiggy, models Janice Dickinson and Paulina Porizkova, fashion stylist Nolé Marin, runway coach J. Alexander, designer Kimora Lee Simmons, fashion editors Beau Quillian and Eric Nicholson, Vogue editor André Leon Talley, and fashion photographer Nigel Barker. Though not a judge, Jay Manuel was featured in every episode as the photo shoot director. From Cycles 1"18, an additional guest judge sat in on the panel every week.

It was announced in April 2012 that Barker, Alexander, and Manuel would not be returning to the show for the nineteenth season, as their contracts were not renewed. Banks stated that it was a difficult decision but the show needed a "new boost" and that she hoped to work with "her guys" in the near future.

Judges

Tyra Banks (2003"present; C. 1-present)
Kelly Cutrone (2012"present; C. 18-present)
Rob Evans (2012"present; C. 19-present)
Bryanboy (2012"present; C. 19-present)
Janice Dickinson (2003"05; C. 1"4)
Beau Quillian (2003; C. 1)
Kimora Lee Simmons (2003; C. 1)
Nigel Barker (2004"12; C. 2"18)
Eric Nicholson (2004; C. 2)
Nolé Marin (2004"05; C. 3"4)
J. Alexander (2005"09; C. 5"13)
Twiggy (2005"07; C. 5"9)
Paulina Porizkova (2008"09; C. 10"12)
André Leon Talley (2010"11; C. 14"17)

Presenter

Tyra Banks

Bold print indicates that the judge/presenter is currently judging/presenting this current season, Cycle 19.

Network

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 seventh cycle started in September airing on Wednesdays. The series became the first series among regular programming to air on the network. Prior to the announcement of merging with The CW, UPN had committed to renewing the series through its ninth cycle on January 20, 2006, for which casting was conducted throughout mid-2006. ANTM is the only show left on the network that was originally from UPN.

With the start of the eighteenth British Invasion cycle, the program converted to high definition, becoming the second-to-last primetime show on the five major English-language broadcast networks in the United States to make the switch, and the last to air in the regular season to do so.

To celebrate its tenth cycle, ANTM aired a special installment called America's Next Top Model: Exposed in two parts on the CW on Wednesday, February 6 & 13, 2008. It reviewed the best cat fights, mishaps and most memorable photoshoots, personalities, defining moments and contained other segments about the show since Cycles 1 to 9, and featured a special opening fusing all three openings together. Camille McDonald (Cycles 2 and 17), Toccara Jones (Cycle 3), Eva Pigford (Cycle 3 winner), Bre Scullark (Cycles 5 and 17), Cassandra Whitehead (Cycle 5), Joanie Dodds (Cycle 6), Jael Strauss (Cycle 8), Dionne Walters (Cycle 8), Heather Kuzmich (Cycle 9), and Bianca Golden (Cycles 9 and 17) all returned to comment on events that happened in their or other cycles.

After announcing that the seventeenth season will be an All-Stars version, Tyra Banks said on The CW upfronts in May 2011, that there won't be a "normal" season of the show anymore.

Syndication

The show is syndicated to NBCUniversal's cable division, with Oxygen as well as Style Network carrying the series, usually in marathon form throughout the daytime period on either network, and running through most of or an entire cycle. Bravo, MTV and VH1 have also aired the series in the past.

The Tyra Banks Show

America's Next Top Model was also very connected with Tyra Banks' talk show: several contestants have made appearances on it, most notably Natasha Galkina (Cycle 8), who worked as a correspondent for the show. The show's stage was also used for the Cycle 5 reunion show.

Tyra launched a new reality show inside the Tyra Show, called Modelville which featured Renee Alway, Bianca Golden, Dominique Reighard, Fatima Siad and Lauren Utter vying for a $50,000 contract. Dominique won and received a contract from Carol's Daughter.

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 Daniel J. Blau, a former TWoP recapper who covered the series, and at the time was an ANTM show producer. In November 2006, the writers on strike were taken off payroll.

Partnership with Walmart

The ANTM franchise has released a clothing and accessories line based on the television show. The line is sold at most Walmart stores. The line ranges from cosmetic products to handbags.

Cycles

The first three cycles of America's Next Top Model were filmed in New York City and it was relocated there in cycles 10, 12 and 14. Los Angeles has been filmed throughout most of the cycles starting with the fourth cycle.

Cycle	Winner	Runner-up	Other contestants in order of elimination	No. of contestants	Destination(s)
1	Adrianne Curry	Shannon Stewart	Tessa Carlson, Katie Cleary, Nicole Panattoni, Ebony Haith, Giselle Samson, Kesse Wallace, Robin Manning, Elyse Sewell	10	Paris
2	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, Como & Verona
3	Eva Pigford	Yaya DaCosta	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	Montego Bay Tokyo
4	Naima Mora	Kahlen Rondot	Brita Petersons, Sarah Dankleman, Brandy Rusher, Noelle Staggers, Lluvy Gomez, Tiffany Richardson & Rebecca Epley, Tatiana Dante, Michelle Deighton, Christina Murphy, Brittany Brower, Keenyah Hill	14	Cape Town
5	Nicole Linkletter	Nik Pace	Ashley Black, Ebony Taylor, Cassandra Whitehead (quit), Sarah Rhoades, Diane Hernandez, Coryn Woitel, Kyle Kavanagh, Lisa D'Amato, Kim Stolz, Jayla Rubinelli, Bre Scullark	13	London
6	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 & Phuket
7	CariDee English	Melrose Bickerstaff	Christian Evans, Megan Morris, Monique Calhoun, Megg Morales, A.J. Stewart, Brooke Miller, Anchal Joseph, Jaeda Young, Michelle Babin, Amanda Babin, Eugena Washington	13	Barcelona
8	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
9	Saleisha Stowers	Chantal Jones	Mila Bouzinova, Kimberly Leemans, Victoria Marshman, Janet Mills, Ebony Morgan (quit), Sarah Hartshorne, Ambreal Williams, Lisa Jackson, Heather Kuzmich, Bianca Golden, Jenah Doucette	13	Shanghai & Beijing
10	Whitney Thompson	Anya Kop	Kimberly Rydzewski (quit), Atalya Slater, Allison Kuehn, Amis Jenkins, Marvita Washington, Aimee Wright, Claire Unabia, Stacy-Ann Fequiere, Lauren Utter, Katarzyna Dolinska, Dominique Reighard, Fatima Siad	14	Rome
11	McKey Sullivan	Samantha Potter	ShaRaun Brown, Nikeysha Clarke, Brittany Rubalcaba, Hannah White, Isis King, Clark Gilmer, Lauren Brie Harding, Joslyn Pennywell, Sheena Sakai, Elina Ivanova, Marjorie Conrad, Analeigh Tipton	14	Amsterdam
12	Teyona Anderson	Allison Harvard	Isabella Falk, Jessica Santiago, Nijah Harris, Kortnie Coles, Sandra Nyanchoka, Tahlia Brookins, London Levi-Nance, Natalie Pack, Fo Porter, Celia Ammerman, Aminat Ayinde	13	São Paulo
13	Nicole Fox	Laura Kirkpatrick	Lisa Ramos, Rachel Echelberger, Courtney Davies, Lulu Braithwaite, Bianca Richardson, Ashley Howard, Kara Vincent, Rae Weisz, Brittany Markert, Sundai Love, Jennifer An & Erin Wagner	14	Maui
14	Krista White	Raina Hein	Gabrielle Kniery, Naduah Rugley, Ren Vokes, Simone Lewis, Tatianna Kern, Brenda Arens, Anslee Payne-Franklin, Alasia Ballard, Jessica Serfaty, Angelea Preston & Alexandra Underwood	13	Auckland & Queenstown
15	Ann Ward	Chelsey Hersley	Anamaria Mirdita, Terra White, Sara Blackamore, Rhianna Atwood, Lexie Tomchek, Kacey Leggett, Kendal Brown, Esther Petrack, Liz Williams, Chris White, Kayla Ferrel & Jane Randall	14	Venice, Milan, Como & Verona
16	Brittani Kline	Molly O'Connell	Angelia Alvarez, Ondrei Edwards (quit), Nicole Lucas, Dominique Waldrup, Sara Longoria, Dalya Morrow, Monique Weingart, Mikaela Schipani, Jaclyn Poole, Kasia Pilewicz, Alexandria Everett, Hannah Jones	14	Marrakech
17	Lisa D'Amato	Allison Harvard	Brittany Brower, Sheena Sakai, Isis King, Camille McDonald, Bre Scullark, Kayla Ferrel & Bianca Golden, Alexandria Everett, Shannon Stewart, Dominique Reighard, Laura Kirkpatrick, Angelea Preston (disqualified)	14	Crete & Santorini
18	Sophie Sumner	Laura LaFrate	Jasmia Robinson, Mariah Watchman, Louise Watts (quit), Candace Smith, Ashley Brown, AzMarie Livingston, Kyle Gober, Seymone Cohen-Fobish, Catherine Thomas, Eboni Davis, Alisha White (quit), Annaliese Dayes	14	Toronto Macau Hong Kong
19	Laura James	Kiara Belen	Jessie Rabideau, Maria Tucker (quit), Darian Ellis, Destiny Strudwick, Yvonne Powless, Allyssa Vuelma, Brittany Brown, Victoria Henley, Kristin Kagay, Nastasia Scott, Leila Goldkuhl	13	Ocho Rios & Montego Bay

Reception

Ratings

For the 2006"2009 and 2010"2011 television seasons, America's Next Top Model was the No.1 show in average viewers on The CW.

Cycle	Timeslot (ET/PT)	Network	Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	Tuesday 9:00 pm	UPN	2003	N/A
2	Tuesday 9:00 pm		2003"04	#122	6.13
3	Wednesday 8:00 pm		2004"05	#108	5.0
4			2004"05	#106	5.1
5			2005"06	#113	5.0
6			2005"06	#113	5.0
7		The CW	2006"07	#112	5.4
8			2006"07	#112	5.4
9			2007"08	#148	5.12
10			2007"08	#168	4.23
11			2008"09	#140	4.43
12			2008"09	#142	4.35
13			2009"10	#122	3.28
14			2009"10	#121	3.29
15			2010"11	No. 126	3.46
16	Wednesday 8:00 pm, Wednesday 9:00 pm		2010"11	No. 133	2.52
17	Wednesday 9:00 pm		2011"12	No. 142	2.42
18	Wednesday 9:00 pm		2011"12	No. 151	1.52
19	Friday 8:00 pm				1.22

^America's Next Top Model, Cycle 1 does not have a ranking for the 2003 season because it aired in the summer of 2003 and not within the official 2002"2003 U.S. television season.
^The finale for Cycle 14 was actually on May 12, 2010. The recap was shown a week after the actual finale.
^Episodes aired Wednesdays at 8:00 pm during from February 23 to April 13, 2011, when the show moved to 9:00 pm at the following week. Re-airing of previous week's episode took the old time slot to avoid clashing with Survivor, Minute to Win It, and American Idol.

Criticism

Yahoo!'s "Shine" lifestyle website blasted the show's cruelty and elements of humiliation, saying that some of the girls' critiques from the "cruel and unusual" judges are "really cruel and cringe-inducing," and that the show "humiliates and degrades young women." They created a list called "10 reasons why 'America's Next Top Model' is bad for women, humans," citing such things as giving an unrealistic vision to girls (both on the show, and watching) about what life as a model is like, and "always espousing empowerment and female strength and then forcing the contestants into embarrassing scenarios far outside the realm of real-life modeling." One such scenario highlighted was when two final contestants "were made to wear bikinis so skimpy that the producers had to blur out Allison's butt cheeks," and performed a "creepily sexual mud fight," after which the contestant Teyona Anderson was "commended for taking her weave in her hand and whipping it around on the runway like a sexy feather boa."

Allure magazine criticized the show in its October 2006 issue, saying that ANTM "hasn't exactly produced any actual supermodels."

Ken Mok and Tyra Banks noticed that most of Cycle 8's girls were unusually heavy smokers. "Tyra and I understand the influence 'Top Model' has on a generation of young people, and we want to make sure we get the right message to our audience," Mok said, which then prompted the "green" theme of Cycle 9.

The winner of Cycle 9, Saleisha Stowers, was discovered to have been in a Wendy's commercial, on a catwalk in the Cycle 6 show and an episode of Tyra Banks Show prior to the Cycle 9 event. The CW network said she had revealed her role in the Wendy's commercial, and "after reviewing the commercial, it was determined that her appearance did not amount to 'modeling' experience, and therefore did not exclude her from participating in the show."

After filming Cycle 10, the producers of America's Next Top Model were served with a lawsuit from Michael Marvisi who owns the loft used as the Top Model house. The lawsuit claims that the contestants as well as the production crew caused an estimated $500,000 in damages to the loft. Marvisi claims the contestants engaged in food fights, made holes in the walls, caused water damage to the bathroom, damaged a $15,000 chandelier beyond repair, and caused $90,000 worth of damage to an electrical store. Also, the production crew has been accused of damaging the flooring and making holes in the ceiling for lighting equipment.

Contestants' crossover appearances

In Cycle 3, Taye Diggs from Kevin Hill appeared in the acting challenge, which was won by Yaya DaCosta but it was the cycle's winner Eva Pigford who guest-starred on the show. She later starred on other UPN/CW shows such as Smallville.
The winner of the following cycle Naima Mora also got to guest-star on a show, Veronica Mars.
Kim Stolz (Cycle 5) and Furonda Brasfield (Cycle 6) were given small guest-starring roles on episodes of Veronica Mars. Kim and Furonda's roles 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. More recently, she had a cameo appearance in an episode of Gossip Girl.
For Cycle 8, the acting-themed episode had Tia Mowry of CW's The Game give the girls a crash course in acting, although the "crossover" was limited to Mowry's appearance, as the challenge winner was not given a guest role as a prize. Instead, Renee Alway, who won the challenge, got a surprise visit from her husband and son in which she shared with Dionne Walters, whose family also showed up for a surprise visit.
Also several contestants (winners or not) have landed roles in shows by UPN or The CW, such as Mercedes Scelba-Shorte, Ann Markley, Toccara Jones and Cassandra Whitehead.
Analeigh Tipton and Samantha Potter (both Cycle 11) were featured in an episode of The Big Bang Theory which featured the main characters locating the top model house.
At the E! News preshow for the 81st Academy Awards five contestants were featured modeling Oscar gowns: Ambreal Williams, and Saleisha Stowers (both Cycle 9), Samantha Potter (cycle 11), Nijah Harris and Natalie Pack (both Cycle 12)
On May 12, 2010, Angelea Preston, Jessica Serfaty, and Simone Lewis from Cycle 14 appeared on a Jay Walking All-Stars segment on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
On February 24, 2012, Brittany Brower, Bre Scullark, and Lisa D'Amato from Cycle 17 appeared on a Jay Walking All-Stars segment on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
On November 21, 2012, Allyssa Vuelma, Jessie Rabideau, and Kiara Belen from Cycle 19 appeared on a Jay Walking All-Stars segment on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Jenascia Chakos (Cycle 2) appeared in 2010 in an episode of Wheel of Fortune.
Analeigh Tipton starred as Jessica Riley in the well known romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Cycle 13 contestant Courtney Davies appeared in the ABC family TV series Pretty Little Liars as Quinn in a recurring role for 2 episodes in 2011.

Influence on pop culture

The show has been referred to in many series, such as ABC Family's GREEK and The Big Bang Theory and Fox's Family Guy. It also had its own E! True Hollywood Story episode, featuring past contestants Ebony Haith, Giselle Samson, Elyse Sewell, Adrianne Curry, Camille McDonald, April Wilkner, Mercedes Scelba-Shorte, Toccara Jones, Ann Markley, Amanda Swafford, Eva Pigford, Michelle Deighton, Brittany Brower, Naima Mora, Ebony Taylor, Lisa D'Amato, Kim Stolz and Bre Scullark as well as judges & personals Janice Dickinson, Tyra Banks, Nigel Barker, J. Alexander, Jay Manuel, Ken Mok and Michelle Mock-Falcon. It covered the first five cycles and recently reaired with a few added minutes of footage which cover cycles 6 to 10 and Stylista.

Oxygen Network, which has acquired the cable rights of ANTM, is going to air a series of documentary called Top Model Obsessed, featuring past contestants Lisa D'Amato, CariDee English and Bianca Golden.

The show has even inspired a game of the same name. The game was released on May 23, 2010.

Spin-off

In October 2008, The CW announced that it had ordered a spinoff pilot of America's Next Top Model, titled "Operation Fabulous". The proposed show would have starred ANTM creative director Jay Manuel and runway coach Mrs. J. Alexander as they travel the country to provide makeovers to everyday women. Tyra Banks and Ken Mok would have served as executive producers for the new show. However, The CW ultimately declined to pick up the show.

International broadcasts

America's Next Top Model is currently shown on TV internationally in 170 countries and regions, namely: Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the whole Southeast Asia (except Timor-Leste). The following table shows countries and regions that have aired this show:

The channel in bold also broadcasted their own version of Top Model.

Country	Channel	First aired	Last aired	Cycle(s)	Episodes
Australia	FOX8	2004	present	1"14	137
Austria	Puls 4	January 8, 2009	present	1"2	20
Brazil	Sony Brasil	2004	TBA	1"17	TBA
Bulgaria	BTV Lady BTV Cinema GTV	2012 2011 2005	present	1"10	TBA
Canada	MuchMusic CTV Two	2003 (Citytv) 2008 (CTV) 2012 (MuchMusic & CTV Two)	2011 (CTV)	All	All
Canada	MusiquePlus	2008	present	4"12	117
Chile	Canal 13	2010	TBA	TBA	TBA
China	CCTV-2	TBA	present	All	All
Estonia	Kanal 2 Kanal 11	TBA	2012 2011	1"13 1"12	TBA
Finland	Nelonen	January 6, 2004	present	1"13	TBA
France	Direct Star	May 2011	April 2012	5"11
Germany	VIVA	2007	present	1"8	TBA
Greece	Skai TV	2006	present	1"13	TBA
Hong Kong	TVB Pearl STAR World	2003	TBA	1"15	TBA
Italy	Sky Uno (Italia)	2007	present	1"15	169
Japan	Fuji TV, TV Tokyo, YTV, Nihon Television, TV Asahi	2004(C1-5 Fuji TV), 2007(C6-9 TV Tokyo), 2009(C10-11 YTV), 2011(C12-13 NTV), 2011"present(C14 " present TV Asahi)	"?	All	TBA
Latin America	SET	2004	TBA	1"17	TBA
Lithuania	TV6	TBA	TBA	1"13	150
Netherlands	Yorin RTL 5	May 31, 2004 August 18, 2005	August 11, 2005 "?	1"4 (Yorin) 4"16 (RTL 5)	163
New Zealand	TV3	2004	2010	1"13	215
New Zealand	Four	2011	present	14"18	215
Philippines	Studio 23, ETC, Star World, Velvet	2004 (Studio 23), 2006 (ETC), 2006 (Star World), 2008 (Velvet)	2005 (Studio 23)	All	TBA
Poland	TVN	September 8, 2010		1"13
Portugal	SIC Mulher	2009	Present	7"17	TBA
Puerto Rico	WAPA-TV	August 17, 2009 May 20, 2011	September 8, 2010 "?	1"14 15"16	182 "?
Russia	Muz-TV	February 1, 2010	present	1"18	All
Serbia	B92	August 1, 2012	present	2"7	TBA
Singapore	Channel 5	TBA	TBA	1"2, 4"13, 15"16	TBA
Southeast Asia	Channel V	2005	2009	3"11	141
Southeast Asia	STAR World	2010	present	11, 13"17	141
United Kingdom	Sky Living	2004	present	1"17 (cycle 18 currently airing)	204
Vietnam	HTV2	2009	2009	1"3 ( Cycle 3 is now airing)	26+
Ukraine	ApexStarMediaGroup	2013	present	1 (Cycle 1 is now airing)	26+

Home video releases

Until 2012, only season 1 of ANTM had been released domestically on DVD. This is because the home video license was formerly held by UPN, and was distributed for them by Paramount Home Entertainment. Since the series is now independently produced, the video rights to the remaining seasons have, until recently, been open for acquisition (and therefore, the remaining seasons had yet to be issued on DVD or Blu-ray). However, on May 30, it was announced on the CW that Cycles 2 & 3 were available to pre-order on DVD via new licensee CBS Home Entertainment. They are now available for purchase on Amazon.com