If Tyra Banks can't produce a bona fide top model, what hope is there for New Zealand? JOANNA HUNKIN asks the experts
In August 2003, Adrianne Curry became the first winner of America's Next Top Model. Since then, her career has reached the less-than-illustrious heights of two nude photospreads in Playboy magazine and various reality television appearances.
In fact, of the 10 women to win Tyra Banks' popular model search, none have
lived up to the "Top Model" tag. At best, they are making a decent living stalking the runways of C-list designers at fashion week.
So what hope is there for the winner of New Zealand's version, which starts next Friday? Will they enjoy the flash-in-the-pan success of a New Zealand Idol? Or is there a real chance the winner could become a top model?
We asked three industry experts, including host Sara Tetro, for their take on the competition.
It depends on the selection process, according to Caroline Barron, director of Nova Models, Talent and Management - one of the largest modelling agencies in New Zealand and rival to Tetro's 62 Models and Talent.
"With a TV show, often you can be looking more for a girl who makes the viewers want to watch the show, rather than a top model," says Barron.
"I certainly look at the American ones and go 'none of these girls are models'. There might be one in there that I would pick up if she walked into my agency.
"But they are picked because they're passable and they've got quirky personalities."
WORLD fashion designer Francis Hooper shares Barron's thoughts, saying it is "a TV show and a TV show only".
"It's an entertainment programme that is manipulated so that it's a great watch.
"I think everyone within the fashion industry is going to be intrigued, either positively or negatively, to watch it unfold.
"But I would not, as a designer, say that the winner is absolutely going to be the best person."
Tetro, however, argues there is little difference between a good model and a good model for television.
"It's a multi-faceted arena. Good models who look amazing and have zero personality are very limited anyway, on screen or off screen.
"I think people may have been a little bit misled about how much of this needs to be for television. ... Models aren't just pretty faces."
As to whether the finalists could go on to have successful careers, Hooper says it depends entirely on how they come across on screen.
"Those girls are really playing Russian roulette with their careers," he says. "They really have to come across as ambassadors for beauty and youth, on top of being a pretty face.
"Other models in the industry, who aren't in the programme, don't have that added, extra issue."
Barron agrees the notoriety of appearing on Top Model could hurt a girl's chances if she was shown to have a bad attitude. But even so, the chances of a girl becoming an international success story are very, very slim.
"It's like going to tennis lessons and ending up in Wimbledon," she says. "Whether they're found through a modelling comp or scouted in the street, the percentage of girls who actually go on to have a healthy earning, global modelling career is so, so tiny."
Understandably, Tetro is more positive and believes the girls have a good chance of career success. She's also quick to point out they uncovered plenty of fresh, new talent.
"I've heard murmurs of 'all the good girls have been found', which I find hilarious because there's lots of new girls.
"Fashion and models change and girls who may not have been on the radar two years ago all of a sudden shoot to the top of your vision."
But what about recent reports which uncovered at least two of the finalists were already represented by modelling agencies when they auditioned and had featured in various campaigns, including Air New Zealand Fashion Week?
"You get that on every programme in the world," says Tetro. "There's always someone who's got a bit more experience. The girls are fully aware of it - we talk about it on the programme."
She also hit out at the unnamed sources who had been fuelling the reports.
"If they want to talk to the media then they should be named. If they're ashamed to say what they're saying, then don't say it."
New Zealand's Next Top Model premieres on TV3 next Friday, March 13 at 7.30pm
Where are they now?
CYCLE ONE: Adrianne Curry
After whingeing about her prizes from her win, Curry was cut off from Tyra and the show. After some minor modelling gigs, Curry's biggest claim to fame was appearing on the reality TV show The Surreal Life, where she met former Brady Buncher Christopher Knight, whom she later married. The couple now have their own reality series, My Fair Brady and Curry has posed nude for Playboy magazine. Twice.
CYCLE TWO: Yoanna House
House enjoyed some moderate runway success following her win, walking for various designers at Fashion Week and featuring on the cover of Psychology Today magazine. In 2005, she became the host of a reality makeover show The Look For Less, which screens on America's Style Network.
CYCLE THREE: Eva Pigford
The first African American winner of ANTM, Pigford graced the covers of several magazines following her win - including Brides Noir, Women's Health and Fitness and Essence magazine - before changing her name to Eva Marcille and pursuing an acting career. The former model is now a bonafide soap star with a recurring role on The Young and the Restless, playing a character called Tyra. How fitting.
CYCLE SIX: Dani Evans
After winning ANTM, Evans is one of the only winners who continues to have an active modelling career and appeared at last month's 2009 Spring Fashion Week in New York. Since winning, she has done several campaigns for CoverGirl cosmetics, including a commercial with Queen Latifah.
CYCLE NINE: Saleisha Stowers
Last year's winner came in for some controversy when it was revealed she had already worked with Tyra before, appearing on The Tyra Banks Show as a model and featuring on ANTM cycle six. The controversy doesn't seem to have hurt her career, however, with recent appearances in InTouch Weekly, OK! Magazine and the Macy's catalogue.
