Apr 21 2009
The final 13 are decided on Britain’s Next Top Model
In quick succession, 5 contestants and then a further 2 were eliminated from the new series of Britain’s Next Top Model, hosted by the gorgeous Lisa Snowdon.
Although the double-episode first show struggled a bit to maintain the army bootcamp theme, the final 13 models (photo, with Lisa Snowdon top centre) achieved some good results.
Early indications are that there is the usual collection of moaners versus talent, with plenty of catty sniping already in the mix.
Today.com require us to keep posts to a minimum, so see the full summary at Cheerleaders.
Like all these competitions, it could be the bits we don’t see that make up the judges’ minds. Still compulsive viewing though, not least because of the gorgeous Lisa Snowdon (photo 1, centre).
The explanation behind the poll included the thought that modern-day Helens of Troy could start wars - and that is a pretty close description of what we term modern amazons.
In a remarkably strong result, Leona Lewis topped an online poll of “ultimate natural beauty” according to women, and also came in 6th in the votes by men.
Surprises in the results were the absence of Kate Moss from the men’s results (No. 8 for women) and the absence of Denise Van Outen from the women’s list (No. 4 for the men).
Although the Top 13 contestants of American Idol had plenty to celebrate, and put on a perfect red-carpet performance, perhaps it was no surprise that the guest list would include ‘bikini girl’ Katrina Darrell who, in fairly tasteful green, accepted the opportunity for a little more self-marrketing.
The real ’stars’ included Allison Iraheta (photo 1) who mentions influences like Pink and Selena The 16-year-old always seems very comfortable with her style, which often includes her cherry red hair in contrast to punky clothes.
Listing Bjork, Amy Winehouse and Adele as influences may not do Megan Corkrey (photo 3) many favors with the hardcore-pop Idol audience, but she doesn’t plan to change to get more votes. She said she’s happy just “doing what I do” and hopes people accept her.
Meanwhile, Katrina Darrell (photo 4) explained that she has been in a bikini many, many times prior to American Idol and so it just seemed to suit the very hot day and gave an opportunity to tan while waiting in line. “You know, I did runway modeling in my bikini so it’s nothing that hasn’t been seen before. I did runway for Ed Hardy, I’ve walked with Tyrese and Eva Pigford from America’s Next Top Model. I’ve done a lot of runway.” Nuff said.
Lisa is one of our favourite modern amazons, a person who seems perfectly comfortable in her wonderful tall body. Without doubt the highlight of the recent Strictly Come Dancing on British TV, Lisa brought fantastic energy and fun to the show. As well as naming Lisa the most improved dancer and scoring perfect 10s, the judges often commented on the stunning outfits which Lisa wore with a unique combination of grace and power.
The idea that Paris Hilton needs a British Best Friend is a wonderful piece of tv folly. What the makers probably did not expect was the extreme social gap that exists between America and England. Paris is sharp and charming, while most of the hopeful BBFs are shallow and immature.
The next surprise is the so-called Paris lookalikes, British girls with as much class or affinity to Paris as Soho dustmen. They were in attendance to help model the outfits - and were as wooden as the average clothes hanger.
Meanwhile another Paris friend, Tamara Beckwith (photo 3), joined the show to help Paris judge the presents. Paris mentioned to Tamara that the outfits from earlier were “hideous”. The presents proved to be not much better. A pink tea set was the best. The British idea of funny was exposed rather sharply - dog pooh and a fake body part. As Paris and Tamara said - “disgusting and inappropriate” - and again we saw the huge gap between the style and intelligence of Paris and the gutter mentality of the British.
Ciara’s new single Never Ever has a riff from If You Don’t Know Me By Now (made famous by Simply Red) and a funky video to suit. As a song, it is okay, yet as a video it will probably receive plenty of airplay.
Reality TV shows are no strangers to semi-clothed potential stars, with the Fame Academy and Star Academy franchise being very successful with ‘promoting’ newcomers, especially in countries like France and Italy.
Dance music does not have many attractive female DJs, songwriters or producers. So, like with Rudenko, the marketing is often very modern and revealing, capitalizing on the hot summers of Ibiza and the minimal clothes of the thousands of dance fans.
Do you know anything about synchronised swimming, except the occasional snippet from the Olympics every 4 years? Just as tennis has realised that attractive sports stars are also great for marketing, so the Brazilian national team has been very happy that Bia and Branca Feres see their photoshoots as helping them be ambassadors for their sport.
Companies have also realised the value of their promotional material being readily available on the web. To gain that visibility they pay big money, like the $5m a year paid to Gisele for 7 years by Victoria’s Secret. Magazines and newspapers rush to publish the photos and, bang, next day they will be all over the web.
Equally, even high quality magazines like Vogue or Vanity Fair have realised the selling power of a sports star or movie star on the cover - especially if they happen to look like a glamour model as well. Or, as the photo of Lindsay Lohan in a Marilyn Monroe pose shows, looking like a sex siren of yesteryear.
