Has it really taken Tyra 16 seasons to be taken seriously?

America’s Next Top Model
Day/Time: Wednesdays @ 9pm EST
Channel: CW (Check your local listings)

Guess whose favorite crazy ex super model is back. Yep, it’s Tyra Banks and she is back for the sixteenth cycle of America’s Next Top Model. Yes, you heard me correctly. This show has really been on for sixteen seasons. It’s amazing isn’t it? Who would have ever thought that her crazy and kooky self would have been allowed to continue this nonsense for this long? Lucky for me she has. Even luckier for everyone she is still on this kick of “high fashion.” Last season was her first venture into the “high fashion” realm. She is trying to be more serious and actually taken seriously. That is why I’m sure this season will be just as interesting to watch.

Tyra and the CW network have taken all of the guess work out of who will make it into the house and onto the show by posting the short bios and pictures of the models for this cycle. I’m pretty disappointed about it. They use to not post this stuff until maybe the day before but this time they posted it the beginning of February. That is pretty foolish if you ask me. It takes all of the fun out of the first episode wondering who is going to make it onto the show. Apparently that is neither here nor there at this point since the network is set on just letting everyone know everything ahead of time. Looking through the girls’ bios they are all pretty much 23 and under except for one glaring stand out of a girl who is 26. Cue small violins playing as she recounts over and over about how this is her last chance to break into the modeling business. I also noticed that around 95% of the girls are in college or graduated college. That’s a nice step up from some of the other seasons. Is that your way of making this show more “high fashion” Tyra?

There really isn’t much else out there to know about this cycle. The only things that we can glean from the short preview clips is that they are still going with the “high fashion” theme, Miss J Alexander is not allowed to sit on the judges’ panel anymore, Andre Leon Talley is still there trying to make the show legitimate with his connection to Vogue magazine, and the girls will be doing a runway challenge while walking on water in a giant bubble. I hope that John Travolta is the guest judge for that challenge so he can comment on the girls’ ability to control the bubble. He does have the most experience of anyone I know since he was the boy in the bubble.

The only bit of insider info I can give you is that the trip this season is to Morocco. We know that since Jay Manuel, the photo shoot creative director, tweeted about it while he was there and posted a picture of him in the desert. That should be fun. I’m anticipating all of the flashbacks I will be having to the horrendous ”Sex and the City” movie sequel. You think that’s where Tyra got the idea to go there from?

I’m not sure how I feel about this new cycle yet. True I can’t have a completely formed opinion until I see it but I just don’t know about this “high fashion” angle they are working towards now. I’m happy for Tyra and her effort to make this show mean something and her desire to be taken seriously but she’s losing her kooky, fun, and sometimes questionable sanity side of herself that we have all come to know and love. She sometimes irked the devil out of me while all of the unnecessary weirdness but without it the show just doesn’t seem the same. We can only wait and see how this season pans out. I’m going to make an early prediction based off of what I have read about the contestants. I’m going to guess that it is the girl Nicole. I’m only guessing this based on her picture. They haven’t had a blond win a while so they are due. So if it’s not Nicole then it’s one of the other blonds.

Obviously since I haven't seen any of the season yet I can't give out any frames. But I'm sure this season will be worth many a frame to come. I have included a very funny clip of Tyra mocking the stereotypes of contestants that we see on the show. Enjoy!



Until next time kids, this has been Hava!

RECAP!!!

So I thought it was time to give you guys a little update on what I have been watching lately. Now I may not be watching the most sophisticated of programming but I’m addicted. The first thing that I’m catching you up on is Gossip Girl. Yeah, I know. But I have been hooked since the first season and now must continue to watch it. Now I’m not going to tell you everything that has been happening for the past two and half seasons but I will go over the last episode that aired this past Monday. Apparently Serena is torn between her desire to have an affair with married new Congressman and old crush Tripp Van der bilt and not being a slut. So she turns to her friend Nate, Tripp’s cousin, who has extensive knowledge in this department, for help. His solution is to keep her away from him by going on a bar crawl. Genius! Jenny decides to help Chuck by giving some foreign ambassador’s son a tour of NYC and finds out that he sells drugs in the park. Chuck comes to her rescue when she gets into an awkward drug deal in a bar. What a wonderful step brother he is. Blair continues her quest to become queen of NYU by trying to get in with the Tisch crowd and their cabaret. She does this by going through Olivia, who is a big movie star attending NYU with her. Olivia just so happens to be in a relationship with Dan and roommates with Vanessa, who has been lifelong friends with Dan. The tension with those three can be cut with a cleaver since in the last episode they all had a threesome because they thought Olivia would be leaving to shoot a movie, which of course it fell through. Olivia suspects that Vanessa has a thing for Dan, which she does, and that Dan might have that same thing for her. Well in the end the cabaret performance with their little group goes off pretty well considering it’s a musical version of Snow White set to Lady Gaga songs. But it’s the end of Olivia on the show because it has been confirmed that Dan does like Vanessa by a kiss and a look that he gave her during the threesome. So in the end Serena’s slutty ways win out and she goes off with Tripp when she finds out his wife did a not so good thing and she makes out with him. Jenny is lured by the “dangerous” ways of the foreign kid who looks like a 35 year old man. Blair shows up the snotty Tisch kids by getting them in to see a private Lady Gaga concert that they couldn’t get themselves. Dan realizes that Olivia is done with him and that he really does like Vanessa, but maybe she’s moved on to someone else. Just think, that’s not even the tip of the iceberg for these tangled stories. This is a clip from the next episode that is unfortunately two weeks away.



The next show I have been following is America’s Next Top Model: Cycle Short Girls. It ended last night with the predictable winner of Nicole. Now I waxed poetic earlier in the season about how Tyra is out of control with her whole stereotypes and craziness and how the season just felt hypocritical to me. Well I still feel that way. Yeah Nicole is gorgeous and she takes great pictures. My beef is not with that. Even though I would have preferred Laura to win, I’m okay with Nicole winning. I just can’t get over Tyra and her letting out her inner crazy person. Now, my day job is as a mental health case manager so I work with crazy people on a regular basis so I feel comfortable enough saying that I think Tyra has the DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder, or split personality). She’s all over the place with her accents and characters and general weirdness. I can’t get over it. I’m sorry. But yeah, Nicole won. Woo hoo! Looking forward to the next season Tyra. Still waiting for the all plus sized model cycle. Here is a clip from the season.



Lastly one of the shows I follow is the new show Vampire Diaries. Now I’m not big on this whole vampire craze sweeping the world. I cannot stand any part of the Twilight crap that is out there or any of the other vampire based books. This show however caught my attention. It’s not the best show out there or even has the best acting or story lines but I’m kind of hooked. It follows Elena, whose world has been turned upside down by the death of her parents, and Stefan, who is new to town and has the bruiting good looks that all vampires have. To mix it up Stefan has a brother, Damon, who is also a vampire that is pretty evil and is out to do something which we haven’t figured out yet. Elena’s best friend, Bonnie, just so happens to come from a long line of witches and she is starting to get visions and feelings. On this last episode Bonnie’s visions of an old relative are increasing due to an old necklace that once belonged to her. It shows us a little into what Damon has planned. It is revealed that there was an arrangement between him and Bonnie’s relative in order to save a woman that both he and Stefan loved (who coincidentally looks just like, you guessed it, Elena) from a fire that killed the whole town over a century ago. In the end things settle a little but Stefan has just reinforced for himself that he needs to stay away from Elena so she is safe. He’s going to leave town. Sucks for him and her since she actually likes him even though he is a vampire. Please tell me you caught the use of the word sucks going with the theme of vampires. Okay, moving on. I’m enjoying seeing where this is going. I’m not quite sure what Damon is up to or who this new vampire guy is that seems to be interested in Elena’s aunt, who she now lives with, but I want to know. So I’m going to keep watching. Here is a clip for the next episode. (Just so you know, there is a bit of Elena in her underwear in this clip cause she and Stefan will probably have sex in this episode. Lucky girl!)




Well kids, you can follow what I'm watching or find "crap" of your own to watch. Either way head over to the forum and talk about my shows or your shows, or just shows.

Until next time kids, this has been Hava!

Info for all of the shows listed above can be found the CW's website.

America's Next Top Model: Showing the world that Tyra Banks is crazy no matter how tall you are

"America's Next Top Model"
Channel: The CW (Check local listings)
Time: 8pm EST, Wednesdays

The models on this cycle of America’s Next Top Model may be short, but they are not short on attitude or bitchiness. Of course we are going to find cattiness with a house full of girls all vying for the same prize. These girls however are amping it up just a bit I think. Another thing that has been amped up is Tyra Banks’ craziness. It seems that with every new cycle she has been showing her real side or should I say her other personality. I’m waiting for her to name it a la Beyonce and her alter ego Sasha freaking Fierce. We are into the fourth show of the cycle and already I’m getting frustrated. We get that these girls are all 5’7 and under. You don’t have to keep telling us!

There are some glaring obvious things in these past three shows. There is some hypocriticalness to it. Tyra keeps preaching about how beautiful their shortness is and to be proud of it, but in the next breath says that the modeling world still isn’t ready for it and to make themselves look longer. Every chance that Tyra gets she throws in some stupid skit about some photographer or agent making fun of short girls who want to model and she steps in with some crazy accent or costume to save the day. She reinforces their shortness by making them wear flats to judging. If any of the tall girls in previous cycles were to wear flats to panel they would have been berated. You would think that of all the girls who were ever on Top Model, the short ones should be wearing 10 inch heels. That’s if we are to believe that they have to keep looking tall to be hired. Also, the stage height makes them look that much shorter. The step that Tyra stands on at panel is significantly higher than ever before. It makes her look like a giant compared to the aspiring models. Frankly Tyra, I’m confused.

The challenges and photo shoots have been typical for Top Model; nothing new and inventive because they have short girls. The only thing that is different is that they say to look longer more. Hopefully as this cycle goes on they will stop stressing the fact that because they are short people won’t want to hire them and will focus on the fact that these are gorgeous girls who actually have some talent for modeling. True they are still green and wet behind the ears, but that’s no different than any of the tall girls before them. Tyra, give us a chance to think to ourselves, “Wow, that girl is only 5’5? She looks 5’10.” Stop shoving down my throat that they are shorter than me. (FYI, I’m 5’9.) Of course I will continue to watch this cycle through to the end to see who wins. I will be properly outraged every week if the wrong girl goes home just to keep drama on the show. And since all of the shows have been taped and the winner of the show has already been chosen I will most likely have to suffer through all of the horrendous short talk. But I beseech you Tyra, stop trying to make yourself look like a pioneer when you are only making yourself like a jerk with all of your hysterics. It’s getting old.

I'm giving this cycle so far 3 frames. The glaring hypocriticalness of it all is dragging my opinion of it down.






Head over to the forum to discuss this cycle of Top Model, or any of the previous cycles.

Until next time kids, this has been Hava.