Tyra just won't quit.
Between her modeling career, her flirtation with the Top 40 charts (does "Shake Ya Body" ring any bells?) and her notorious girl-power advice, she has America under her polished thumbnail. The newest season, called "Cycle Eight," of her most successful brainchild, "America's Next Top Model" is sure to have viewers loving and hating her for at least one more season. The question is: will the newest set of "Top Model" contenders flood the show with enough Fendi, mascara and catfights to keep the momentum strong? The two-hour long season premiere makes that answer a definite "yes."
Just as last season's finale battle between blondes CariDee and Melrose slips from memory, "ANTM" sends 13 new models our way. As far as the cast is concerned, every ingredient in the reality show stew is present, but this time the producers threw in a few eccentric additions for extra agitation.
Now conservative Renee, a 20-year-old stay-at-home mom, poses alongside "intellectual" pixie-like Sarah and loudmouth Brooklyn native Kathleen. Two plus-size models, Whitney and Diana, prove themselves amongst the stick-thin majority while Dionne tries to shake her "stuck up" image. A model who has already proved that she is capable of upturning the goodwill of the penthouse is Natasha, an outspoken foreigner who moved from Russia to the United States at age 18 to marry her 40-year-old husband. In this first episode, her distaste for burping sparks a catfight over the dinner table. Naturally, excitement ensues.
The judges of "ANTM" aren't to be overlooked either. Like "American Idol"'s Simon, Randy and Paula, the "ANTM" judges Miss J, Nigel, Jay Manuel and Twiggy, a recent, classier replacement for throwback supermodel Janice Dickinson, have reached star status themselves. They've slowly crept from their original homes at the judges' panel to more prominent positions within the show.
In the first episode, Miss J and Jay Manuel, clad in army-inspired tank tops, camo capris and heeled boots, fed the models some tough love to start the show off right. Unworthy of meeting Tyra with such little skill, the vivacious bunch had to endure Top Model boot camp, which included impromptu catwalking and marching to the beat of "1, 2, pose off!" Moreover, Tyra polished the overture by wildly dancing her way through her grand entrance, with a stomp troupe in her wake, proving Tyra can do anything she wants.
After the necessary introductions, the models underwent the episode's fundamental and most substantial activity, the photo shoot. In another unusual twist, the theme of the shoot was political; pairs of models posed to encapsulate conflicting stances on current issues. One duo represented pro-choice and pro-life, another pro-guns and anti-guns, etc. While an interesting idea, it's hard to say whether or not "ANTM" viewers enjoy being briefed on heavy subjects during an hour of thoughtless television. Perhaps it's best to leave politics in the realm of true reality, instead of on reality TV. Still, the show managed to elicit memorable reactions from the models regarding the theme, as one first said she was anti-fur but later admitted to wearing fur, "if the animal was already dead."
"America's Next Top Model" proves once again that it can entertain the masses, new twists or not. With such a solid, action-packed format, devoted fans will continue to watch more of the same of this good, if tacky, show. Between the supremely eclectic cast, mainstay judges, controversial photo shoots and Tyra herself, "Cycle Eight" is sure to keep America drooling over their favorite reality TV fix for one more season.
