I had called this 'the skinny' but I wrote waaaay more than I expected...
Where it started: US Top Model Season 1 was pretty good. Raw, fresh, honest. They included lots of parts that are cut out of most of the versions - weigh-ins, exercise, counseling, body waxing (a staple in pretty much all the first seasons - pretty sure it still happens, but it isn't shown anymore). And Tyra hadn't taken over yet - she was present as a person, but not an overwhelming, attention-seeking presence.
As the seasons progress, it becomes more about Tyra. It just gets annoying. 'Everyone look at me, Everyone worship me, Everyone try to be me....' She was fine as a normal person in the show, but it got clear that she wanted to be treated as more than a normal person, more like a godess. UGH. If you want to worship Tyra, you watch her talk show (where even the interviews end up being about her), not a modeling competition.
Though they have tried to redeem the show recently in other ways. The challenges and photo shoots had been getting unrealistic and didn't seem to teach useful modeling talents or build any skills. Now that the goal is high fashion (the prize is a spread in Italian Vogue - that's a damn good modeling prize!), the photo shoots have gotten better and the big name photographers have gotten bigger. So it looks like they are trying.
Top Model Canada - pretty good, especially the season when Jay Manuel hosts, but there are not many seasons.
Top Model Australia - it starts a little rough - the production quality was low, the interview staging looked really cheap, but it did get the point across. The first two seasons or so where all about sexy photo shoots, not much about versatility, with no high fashion or editorial (seems their editorial means less staged photos, not the rough, raw, and different that I have grown to expect from editorial, like Vogue). And you'll find quickly that Australia (and New Zealand) do not blur boobs or bleep words, so the first few season sexy shoots = lots of Boobage.
There are some awesome girls from the Australian versions, and also some you'll really hate (especially when they win or get to second place). And the judges are great, especially with a real big Australian designer on the panel since day 1. The seasons with Napoleon Perdis are interesting, but I felt it got better (variety in challenges and photos) after he left.
A big difference in Australia - the live finales. They can get a little long and redundant, but it is nice to see the contestants that had been eliminated and it is fantastic that they have (in theory) gone completely to call-in votes to pick the winner. With the previous season where there was speculation that the voting lines were cut when the producers/invested parties had the results they wanted (the season where they announced the wrong winner 'because the voting was so close'), it doesn't quite feel like the public got to chose the winner. But it is still trying to get somewhere that none of the other countries' versions have.
Top Model New Zealand - the dynamic is a little different with a strong trio of coaches/judges (maybe like the US was trying to do before Tyra proclaimed no one could upstage her...). But there are only two seasons. I loved season two, but I have a bias because I really liked the winner.
Top Model Britain - I generally like this (currently watching season 4 and have seen season 6, just not yet 5) but there is too much attempt at drama for me. There is so much focus on the fights between the girls, and there seem to be so many more fights (but maybe that is in the editing and what they chose to show or blow out of proportion). I look forward to the photos at the end but can do without a lot of the filler. I like Lisa Snowdon as a non-overwhelming, friendly model/judge/mentor and I think (recent seasons) Elle Macpherson is filling the role well, also.
Live Finale! Britain also started doing a live finale (with the previous, 6th season) and the public got to vote for the winner. It at least seems that they have figured out the system for people voting for the winner (seems they were trying to be careful since this took place after the Australia wrong-winner SNAFU). Also, they filled the time with more live performances and stuff that was a little less redundant than the clip shows they like to show on the Australian finales. Not to give too much away, but I didn't quite agree with the recent winner. She was nice and all, but I really wanted the runner-up and Britain has had only white winners (though I guess that makes sense with their 90-some-percent white population vs the US's 70-some-percent).
Other notes
I like the brutally honest, previous model judge dynamic that Australia has (Charlotte Dawson) and Britain had (loved Paula Hamilton as a judge). I guess that is the equivalent of the US version when we had Janice Dickinson, but Janice was a bit too much for me...
What other English-speaking top model versions are out there? I am running out.... I might have to start watching in other languages even though I will probably only understand the runway and photo portions.
From what I have seen, my rating of the different versions:
#1 Australia
#2 New Zealand (but maybe it is a saving-grace that they have only a few seasons)
#3 Canada (also only a few seasons)
#4 tied Britain (season 4 is boring me a bit, haven't seen 5, but generally 1,2,&6 were entertaining, 3 was okay (to me, Paula was the best part) but generally too much drama that I don't care about) and USA (good initially and shows some attempts at getting better, now if only they could replace Tyra then it might be more bearable and less her-ego-centric)
Lots of babble for probably no one to read, but I wanted to compose my thoughts on the seasons I have watched so far.
Where it started: US Top Model Season 1 was pretty good. Raw, fresh, honest. They included lots of parts that are cut out of most of the versions - weigh-ins, exercise, counseling, body waxing (a staple in pretty much all the first seasons - pretty sure it still happens, but it isn't shown anymore). And Tyra hadn't taken over yet - she was present as a person, but not an overwhelming, attention-seeking presence.
As the seasons progress, it becomes more about Tyra. It just gets annoying. 'Everyone look at me, Everyone worship me, Everyone try to be me....' She was fine as a normal person in the show, but it got clear that she wanted to be treated as more than a normal person, more like a godess. UGH. If you want to worship Tyra, you watch her talk show (where even the interviews end up being about her), not a modeling competition.
Though they have tried to redeem the show recently in other ways. The challenges and photo shoots had been getting unrealistic and didn't seem to teach useful modeling talents or build any skills. Now that the goal is high fashion (the prize is a spread in Italian Vogue - that's a damn good modeling prize!), the photo shoots have gotten better and the big name photographers have gotten bigger. So it looks like they are trying.
Top Model Canada - pretty good, especially the season when Jay Manuel hosts, but there are not many seasons.
Top Model Australia - it starts a little rough - the production quality was low, the interview staging looked really cheap, but it did get the point across. The first two seasons or so where all about sexy photo shoots, not much about versatility, with no high fashion or editorial (seems their editorial means less staged photos, not the rough, raw, and different that I have grown to expect from editorial, like Vogue). And you'll find quickly that Australia (and New Zealand) do not blur boobs or bleep words, so the first few season sexy shoots = lots of Boobage.
There are some awesome girls from the Australian versions, and also some you'll really hate (especially when they win or get to second place). And the judges are great, especially with a real big Australian designer on the panel since day 1. The seasons with Napoleon Perdis are interesting, but I felt it got better (variety in challenges and photos) after he left.
A big difference in Australia - the live finales. They can get a little long and redundant, but it is nice to see the contestants that had been eliminated and it is fantastic that they have (in theory) gone completely to call-in votes to pick the winner. With the previous season where there was speculation that the voting lines were cut when the producers/invested parties had the results they wanted (the season where they announced the wrong winner 'because the voting was so close'), it doesn't quite feel like the public got to chose the winner. But it is still trying to get somewhere that none of the other countries' versions have.
Top Model New Zealand - the dynamic is a little different with a strong trio of coaches/judges (maybe like the US was trying to do before Tyra proclaimed no one could upstage her...). But there are only two seasons. I loved season two, but I have a bias because I really liked the winner.
Top Model Britain - I generally like this (currently watching season 4 and have seen season 6, just not yet 5) but there is too much attempt at drama for me. There is so much focus on the fights between the girls, and there seem to be so many more fights (but maybe that is in the editing and what they chose to show or blow out of proportion). I look forward to the photos at the end but can do without a lot of the filler. I like Lisa Snowdon as a non-overwhelming, friendly model/judge/mentor and I think (recent seasons) Elle Macpherson is filling the role well, also.
Live Finale! Britain also started doing a live finale (with the previous, 6th season) and the public got to vote for the winner. It at least seems that they have figured out the system for people voting for the winner (seems they were trying to be careful since this took place after the Australia wrong-winner SNAFU). Also, they filled the time with more live performances and stuff that was a little less redundant than the clip shows they like to show on the Australian finales. Not to give too much away, but I didn't quite agree with the recent winner. She was nice and all, but I really wanted the runner-up and Britain has had only white winners (though I guess that makes sense with their 90-some-percent white population vs the US's 70-some-percent).
Other notes
I like the brutally honest, previous model judge dynamic that Australia has (Charlotte Dawson) and Britain had (loved Paula Hamilton as a judge). I guess that is the equivalent of the US version when we had Janice Dickinson, but Janice was a bit too much for me...
What other English-speaking top model versions are out there? I am running out.... I might have to start watching in other languages even though I will probably only understand the runway and photo portions.
From what I have seen, my rating of the different versions:
#1 Australia
#2 New Zealand (but maybe it is a saving-grace that they have only a few seasons)
#3 Canada (also only a few seasons)
#4 tied Britain (season 4 is boring me a bit, haven't seen 5, but generally 1,2,&6 were entertaining, 3 was okay (to me, Paula was the best part) but generally too much drama that I don't care about) and USA (good initially and shows some attempts at getting better, now if only they could replace Tyra then it might be more bearable and less her-ego-centric)
Lots of babble for probably no one to read, but I wanted to compose my thoughts on the seasons I have watched so far.
i say WHATTT??
ReplyDeletei watched all these?
wow!
just wow!
i think i managed to follow america's next top model like maybe until 3rd season, and then it started the get boring and i just dont bother to follow it anymore.
never bother to check on other countries editions either.. LOL..
but hey, thanks for the review.
should have watched australia's then..
I watched All of them....
ReplyDeleteThough to be fair (and to clarify that I do not have That much free time), I play them on my computer while I am doing work, so I half watch while doing other stuff. But that's probably the real test of if something is good enough to keep my attention. That's why I'm having trouble getting through Britain's season 4.
Yes, if you try watching any, I would say Australia starting at season 3 or more. Although the first two seasons are entertaining, the tasks are all sexy and not a variety like they would really get in 'real' modeling, plus the production quality gets better.