It's about time, Top Model

There are so many amazing African models. Top model has been going on what, 10 years? And they only now start a Africa's Top Model. Well, it is about time.

So excited that it is in English so I can watch! (If only they would subtitle in English the ones from non-English speaking countries...)

http://antmafrica.com/about-antm-africa-2/

America's Top Model Season 18

I was let down with the all-star season (cycle 17) - there wasn't live stuff except the first episode and there were only two or three girls I really liked and they didn't win. Plus the weird cut/ refilming of the season finale.

Anyway, having watched all of Britain's next top model, I am super excited for this US season because half of the contestants were previous UK contestants. I don't expect to recognize them all, but I am excited that the shows are colliding. :) I find it funny that the first complaints are about not understanding the accent. After watching plenty of non-US shows, I don't have that problem and forget that it can be a problem for some.

This is a fun twist because the US ones were starting to bore me. Now, if Tyra can avoid making it all about her, I might really enjoy this season.... Here's hoping!

US Top Model All Stars!

I am scared but so excited! Usually I wait to watch seasons until they are over and I can watch all the episodes together, but I can't wait for this.

I remember all these girls (since I pretty recently watched all of the seasons) and I do have a few favorites. At the same time, it has been a long time for many. This season can't really be about starting a modeling career because some of the girls are too old to start modeling (sad but true).

So I am a little worried how this all star season will go, but it will be fun to see some of the girls again. However, with a show all about the girls who were memorable, the opening sequence with all Tyra as all the girls was a bit much. Hopefully Tyra won't try to be the main focus all season.

And the celebrity guests this season, probably not necessary but could be interesting, and the live finale like the other country shows, we'll see how it goes for the US. At least for this all star show, it makes sense since it is not really a modeling competition, so it works fine for the public to have input (if that is how they are doing the finale, with some public voting).

Movie, TV, reading Update

Been watching more movies and shows between work.Generally, here are my thoughts:

Funny Face has an interesting premise - turn a not-model into a model - seems like something I'd like, especially with Audrey Hepburn, but I have mixed opinions. It is shot beautifully, and has some interesting songs (it's a musical) and fantastic clothes, but the love interest (Audry with Fred Astaire) did not work for me and the bohemian dance scene did not seem to fit with the usually graceful Audrey.

I have an odd mix of stuff on my computer... next up Clockwork Orange. Besides the content that is supposed to shock the viewers (which I knew to expect, like violence and rape), the general premise makes you think. To me, a good movie confuses your emotions and makes you think. First you hate the character, for obvious reasons, then you might end up feeling bad for him, which is confusing because he is not a good person. But the premise makes you think. One thing I could do without is the 'futuristic' russian-infused-english. It may work in the book, but in the movie it just made it harder for me to understand. So, for movies that make you think, if you are okay with violence, this is a good movie. I would say people should see this once (though some argue it gets better with multiple viewings) - I am okay with once unless you don't get the movie at all, then multiple viewings may help.

As for TV shows, I have been starting this season's Project Runway. I do like watching multiple episodes at once, so I hadn't watched any and them watched 6 in a row. Though now I have to wait for more. The designers this season are very interesting with their unique styles and personalities.

I have also been watching the 1960s show Gidget with Sally Field (so cute!). This only lasted one season, and I can see why fans of the movies would not care much for the show - her love interest is off at college, so it is more about the family relationship during the school year. But, as I never saw the movies, separate from the movies, this is a cute series. However, you have to take it with a grain of salt. For me, some of the 'lessons' in the show don't match with my belief of encouraging women that they can do anything they want, even 'men's jobs.' But that was a part of the times - this is based on a series from the 50s, with 50s mentality of women as homemakers and all that jazz. But I've noticed enough of that in the Audrey Hepburn movies, too, and just chalk it up to being part of the time period. If you let it get to you, you may not enjoy this show or many of the Audrey movies.

Also watching Friends - as a replacement for my Top Model - to have in the background while I work. I have seen a lot of the early Friends shows, but I think 7th season on I haven't seen much. I don't know if I really want to (I have heard some opinions that it gets bad), but I would like to know how it ends, since the show is a pretty big staple of American pop culture.

And in Books (this is new for me), I have a lot of books I want to read. The hubby is more of the reader, so we went to Border's store closing sales. I actually found a few books I wanted. A few are picture collections (of rock stars), but I also found (and started) a book about the band Queen (Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen). Among the others I grabbed, the ones I am most excited about are: 1) one about hollywood (Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood) and how it changed with some pivotal movies and flops like Doctor Doolittle (incidentally, I loved as a kid and plan to re-watch soon); 2) one about the filming of Breakfast at Tiffany's (Fifth Avenue, 5:00 AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and The Dawn of the Modern Woman); 3) one about studio 54 and the disco party days (The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night); 4) one about Bruce Springsteen. I am a super slow reader, but I will review them if I finish any...

The not-so-Skinny on Top Model

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.

What I'm Watching

I downloaded a bunch of Audrey Hepburn movies. I love her, and love what I have seen, but I don't remember seeing much. I do remember My Fair Lady - I almost have that one memorized. And I recall parts of Sabrina, but I don't think I have ever seen all of the original movie. I may not have seen Roman Holiday before...

My first reaction: She's so Young! (24 when it came out? She looks younger than that, but she always did look pretty young.)

She's just perfect. Audrey plays innocent and childish so convincingly, then she learns some lessons, matures, and is fantastic at portraying that, too. Plus, she looks fantastic even when acting drugged by sleep medicines. And it's a cute story.

But Damn, that girl is teeeeeny tiny.


And somehow I'm in a Top Model phase, which I think came from my Project Runway phase. (If you like the top model premise at all, I definitely recommend Australia's and New Zealand's over the pitiful US version, but thoughts for another time.) I am currently watching Britain's 4th season, though I have already seen the 6th by download before I realized the rest were on youtube.

I am not a Top Model expert or anything, since I tend to have these on in the background while I work - I can't recall most of the contestants, but it is still some mindless fun and pretty pictures (I could do without the cat-fights). But I have to admit, I do enjoy when contestants throw a fit over the hair or posing nude... they knew what they were signing up for.

This is sad, Audrey in the same post as Top Model, but that is what I am currently watching.