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Taylor's Journal
America's Next Top Model 2
ANTM2 is starting on I believe the 13th of January, just before the next Idol! UPN's posted the pictures of the new girls on their website, as well as the new judges. Kimora Lee Simmons and Beau Quillian are gone, but, unfortunately, that hag Janice is still around. I guess she saved Tyra's life once or something....
Here's a rundown of the contestants:
ANNA BRADFIELD, 24, a housewife from LaGrange, CA
Obviously a somewhat traditional girl, as you don't see many 24 year old housewives these days. Even fewer 24 year old housewife/models. She's certainly pretty enough, though. She lists her favourite music as gospel, describes herself as "virtuous, forgiving and encouraging", and says her life motto is to make a positive impact on everyone she comes in contact with. Hopefully she won't try to make that impact by force on the unwilling like Mizz Robin tried to do last year. Also, in their group shot, Anna looks eerily like judge Janice Dickinson. That might fare well for her, as Janice can be notoriously bitchy.
Anna Bradfield's Profile
Anna Bradfield's Photo Gallery
APRIL WILKNER, 23, an account executive from Miami Beach, FL
Hate the profile picture. It screams, "Oh, warden, I'm all lonely in this cell, can you please let li'l ol' me out for one second? I promise I won't bonk you over the head and steal your keys." Likes female pop singers (Pink, Mariah, Madonna, Beyonce, etc.), and says her favourite food is "Soy sauce mixed with raw egg poured over a steaming bowl of Japanese rice mixed with seaweed and Ikura". Guess "sushi" or "Japanese food" would have been too hard to type, eh? She says she's disciplined, extreme, and passionate, and if it scares you, "do it!" Frankly, she scares me. I'll leave the "do it" jokes to your imaginations.
April Wilkner's Profile
April Wilkner's Photo Gallery
BETHANY HARRISON, 22, a waitress from Houston, TX
Oh, she's pretty. Don't like the shirt they have her in, but she's pretty. So pretty her favourite movie is "Pretty Woman." Hopefully, that's all she has in common with the movie. She likes R&B, chocolate, and Sex and the City, and says her life's motto is to dance like no one is watching, sing like no one is listening, and love like she's never been hurt. For whatever reason, I remember it as "Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like nobody's watching." I suspect she drew a blank while filling out the form and chose the closest thing to the dancing portion to fill the blank. Elyse Sewell, she's not.
Bethany Harrison's Profile
Bethany Harrison's Photo Gallery
CAMILLE MCDONALD, 25, a student from Mamaroneck, NY
Judging by her appearance, and her listing of Jamaican underground movies and reggae music in her favourites, I surmise that she's Jamaican. Or a really good actress. She says that her favourite foods are "ones that are well prepared- only fish!" (yikes!) and describes herself as "outspoken, sex appeal, down to earth". I think she may have misinterpreted the question as "Name three words that have nothing to do with each other." On another note, when did 'sex appeal' become an adjective? She says the only thing permanent in a lifetime is change. Ri....ght..... .... .... .... I don't like her.
Camille McDonald's Profile
Camille McDonald's Photo Gallery
CATIE ANDERSON, 18, a wire stripper from Wilman, MN
OK, I understand why they clarified that "wire stripper" meant "electrician" in her profile. For a minute there, I wondered if stripping counted as previous modelling experience. She's our first blonde, and is rather pale, as one might expect from a Minnesotan. She describes herself as "tall, melodramatic and romantic." This from the woman who listed "Dumb & Dumber" as her favourite movie and "Jimmy Neutron" as her favourite TV show. Oh, well. If she wants to pretend to be a character in a Danielle Steele novel, that's really up to her. She says the harder you work, the luckier you get. Especially if you're a stripper like she is. OK, I added that last part.
Catie Anderson's Profile
Catie Anderson's Photo Gallery
HEATHER BLUMBERG, 18, a customer services representative from Moreno Valley, CA
First off, her hair is streaked. Uh oh. You just KNOW they're going to give her a makeover in which she's going to moan about all the money she wasted on highlights and they're going to tell her that's not top model attitude and dismiss her a la Nicole who had the contest won but couldn't keep her mouth shut about her hair and her stupid boyfriend and I believe I've just created the world's longest run on sentence so I'll stop now and get back to Heather. Her favourite movie is "The Hot Chick" (strike two!), but she redeems herself in my eyes with her life's motto, "Life's a bitch and then you die." That may be my motto as well, but I suspect that Heather and Life will have a lot in common.
Heather Blumberg's Profile
Heather's Photo Gallery
JENASCIA CHAKOS, 21, a waitress from Burien, WA
On the other side of the coin, we have 21-year-old Jenascia. I hate her picture. Hate hate hate it. She says her favourite TV show is Family Guy (good girl), her favourite food is beef (not steak, burgers, or , and her favourite activity is football. On the flip side, her favourite movie is Moulin Rouge, and she likes classical music. She say's she sarcastic, energetic and unusual, and says why act your age when you're always getting older? I really like her, and that's saying alot from a football hating vegetarian. Expect her to go far.
Jenascia Chakos' Profile
Jenascia Chakos' Photo Gallery
MERCEDES SCELBA-SHORTE, 21, a waitress from Valencia, CA
Methinks Tyra Banks might have an unresolved waitress fetish. Anyways, Mercedes seems rather a ghetto girl, despite her pretentious hyphenated name. She likes hip hop, Latin, and R & B music, Cuban food, and lists "watching men wrestle in mud in briefs" as one of her favourite TV shows. She says actions speak louder than words, but her words seem to speak volumes about her.
Mercedes Scelba-Shorte's Profile
Mercedes Scelba Shorte's Photo Gallery
SARA RACEY-TABRIZI, 22, a restaurant hostess from Seattle, WA
See. Everyone else is a waitress, and she's a restaurant hostess. So she's GOTTA win. Nyah. Seriously, though, in all the pictures I've seen of her, she looks unable to do anything but a "staring off into space" face. Her favourite movie, striking a point for modelling (or mens' leering material, depending on your definition), is "The Making of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit". She likes rap, R & B and eighties music. She describes herself as articulate, stunning, and sarcastic as hell, and her life's motto is "What's next?" We'll certainly see.
Sara Racey-Tabrizi's Profile
Sara Racey-Tabrizi's Photo Gallery
SHANDI SULLIVAN, 21, a services clerk from Kansas City, MO
Jeez. That CAN'T have been the best picture they had of her. Her hair is awkward, her ears are enormous, her mouth is open, and she's wearing an ugly gray t-shirt. I doubt this picture does her justice. I told myself that I wouldn't watch the girls' audition videos because I never do when I'm making my predictions, but I just had to to see if Shandi always looks like that. She is very pretty in person and very articulate, but I get the feeling that she doesn't photograph well. Sort of the anti-Adrianne. Although she does look good in the group photo. But I digress. She likes the Breakfast Club, Kids in the Hall, and lists no favourite music. (Nor would I. Some people are just like that, I guess.) She says to be open to everything and everyone because you never know. Amen. I've decided I rather like Shandi.
Shandi Sullivan's Profile
Shandi Sullivan's Photo Gallery
XIOMARA FRANS, 25, a bartender from Morganville, NJ
All bow to Xiomara, queen of the Amazon! Kidding, kidding. But seriously, Xiomara? She sounds like a Bond villain. Xiomara lists her favourite movie as "Gangs of New York", and also likes "The Osbournes", " That 70's Show", Twizzlers, and fencing. Yes, fencing. The sport with the swords. Or foils, I suppose. She says she's talkative, direct, confident, and hyper, and her goal is "to go through life with a big fat smile on my face. So far, so good." Something about her goal puts me off, though. I guess it suggests "Get over everything, you baby." Anyways, Xiomara reminds me uncomfortably of Robin Manning, and I don't like it. Next, please.
Xiomara Frans' Profile
Xiomara Frans' Photo Gallery
YOANNA HOUSE, 23, a baby sitter/ clothing designer from Jacksonville, FL
Oo, a clothing designer. That should certainly help her modelling. (Too bad Kimora Lee isn't still around, or they could swap fashion tips!) She enjoys "Fashion Trance", "The Wonder Years", and Indie pop music. She also likes Cuban and Middle Eastern food, and peanut butter. She watches sumo wrestling and rally racing, and describes herself as feminine bob (Bohemian bourgeois), energetic, and witty. Her life motto is a Cyndi Lauper song, namely, "Girls just wanna have fun!" Her bio pretty much speaks for itself without my comments. But I like her as well, and wish her luck.
Yoanna House's Profile
Yoanna House's Photo Gallery
So, who'll win? In a competition filled with people named Jenascia, Xiomara, Yoanna and Shandi, nothing is certain, but here are my predictions:
1. Jenascia
2. Mercedes
3. Camille
4. Yoanna
5. Shandi
6. Anna
7. Xiomara
8. Bethany
9. April
10. Heather
11. Catie
12. Sara
Of course, while we're here, I might as well introduce you to the judges!
Of course, starting off, we have Ms. Tyra Banks, the star and producer of the show. She's guest starred in recurring roles on "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Felicity." She was the first African-American woman to make the cover of GQ magazine, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and the Victoria's Secret catalog. In 1997, she earned the Michael Award for Supermodel of the Year, and has advertised Swatch, Cover Girl, Nike, Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Dolce & Gabbana.
Secondly, we have facelift victim- er, former supermodel Janice Dickinson. She was one of the world's first supermodels, and, according to the site, "also became the first model to insist on being paid like a star--and treated like one, too." It screams "bitch", nay? She's appeared in Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and Playboy, and modelled for Versace, Armani, and Calvin Klein. She penned a book on her experiences entitled "No Lifeguard On Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel." That's one accident I certainly wish never happened.
Next up is Eric Nicholson, senior editor of Jane Magazine. He attended the Parsons School of Design in New York City, and has worked with many celebrities, among them Charlize Theron, Britney Spears, Julianne Moore, Courteney Cox-Arquette, Christina Ricci, Kate Hudson, and Lucy Liu. (Boastful, are we?) He's also worked on ad campaigns for Abercrombie and Fitch, H + M, and Banana Republic.
Our fourth judge is Nigel Barker, renowned high fashion photographer, has worked for fashion giants Armani, Valentino, Gaultier, Kenzo, Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren. He owns his own photo studio, Studio NB, and has appeared in Oyster, Interview, (t)here, Paper Mag, Black & White, Instinct, Forum, Angeleno, and Paperboy, amongs others. His clients include Saks Fifth Avenue, Nicole Miller, Gortex, and Bulgari.
Our final panelist is Jay Manuel, who is listed as "guest judge/ producer", which leads me to believe that the show will keep last year's format of the rotating fifth panelist. Viewers may remember Jay Manuel from the first season of ANTM as a make-up artist and photo director who, along with runway diva J. Alexander, was a perpertual presence throughout the season. He's been instrumental to the careers of models Tyra Banks, Iman, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, and Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, and others including Vanessa Williams, Alicia Silverstone, Mya, and Kim Cattrall. His clients include Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Victoria's Secret, and Revlon. He's also worked with Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts, and Francesco Scavullo. He is currently the Head National Make-Up Artist for I-IMAN cosmetics.
This year's loft has the rooms divided by decade: four to the sixties' Mod Room, four to the eighties' Punk Funk Room, and four to the nineties' Bling Bling Room.
The next season of America's Next Top Model starts on Tuesday, January 13, at 9 PM ET/PT. The website promises an upset within the first ten minutes. Well, we'll see.
Current mood: optimistic.
Current music: Confrontation- Survivor Soundtrack.