In honor of the America’s Next Top Model Cycle 12 finale this Wednesday, BellaSugar has put together a slideshow of what lots of Top Model alums are up to now.

They do look at the careers of a lot of earlier eliminees, which is nice, but there’s nothing surprising in the pack if you’re a close follower of ANTMers. However, if you’re just a casual fan, it’s a worthwhile read to see how many girls are actually working and what they are doing.

I think it’s safe to say that this cycle of America’s Next Top Model has been pretty underwhelming. Sure, there’s been a few moments of promise (can we say Celia and Tahlia showdown?) but overall, the girls have been meh, their photos have been meh and the drama has been meh. Hopefully now that Sandra’s gone, the drama will be amped up a notch or two.

Thankfully, a couple websites have taken it upon themselves to offer advice to the contestants on the show and to the show itself.

E! Online offers wannabe top models five major tips to make them stand out in a crowd, including taking up a cause, owning your makeover, being evil, dressing like a model and fighting through your illness.

Entertainment Weekly goes straight to the source and offers up Tyra and her production crew five suggestions as to how to improve the show. They think photo shoots with real prizes, having the girls choose their own best and worst photos, getting rid of Miss J and amping up the Paulina factor are keys to saving the show.

What do you think of each of these lists? What would you tell the contestants - or Tyra - if you could give one piece of advice to improve the show?

Image: The CW © 2009 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

On Saturday, at the New York casting call for Cycle 13 of America’s Next Top Model, chaos erupted in the crowd. Thousands of girls had come out to audition for the first petite cycle of ANTM, and the disorganized auditions, long line, and confusion resulted in a stampede. People were trampled, clothing was lost and six people were injured and three others being arrests for disorderly conduct. You can read more about the events of that day at this post. There are several first-hand accounts in the comments.

No one knows for certain what caused the stampede. Tyra Banks and ANTM’s executive producer Ken Mok released an official statement commenting on the events that occurred.

“We are concerned by the events that occurred Saturday afternoon in the vicinity of the New York City casting call for the next cycle of America’s Next Top Model,” they said in an official email statement. “At this time, we still don’t know all the details of what happened or what triggered the incident. We appreciate the efforts of the NYPD and will assist them in any way possible in this matter.”

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is insistent that the incident have bene avoided, if only the orgnizaers requested more security from the city.

“You’ve just got to, in advance, arrange for security,” he said.

I’m saddened by the events too. Based on the many commenters and news reports, it sound as though Tyra and co are, in part, to blame for the incident. Their lack of organization, lack of communication and lax security seemed to have triggered a mob mentality. However, it is far too soon to tell exactly what happened. The NYPD are investigating and hopefully some light will be shed on the matter soon.

Tyra has released a second statement, promising that those who missed auditioning because of the NYC circumstances will be offered a second chance.

“To all the Top Model hopefuls who were affected by the New York casting, we are doing everything we can to make sure that ALL the girls who weren’t seen, get an opportunity to audition – we’ll update you on our plans very soon,” she writes in an email statement. “It is so important to me to redefine beauty, and make sure that everyone gets a fair chance to pursue their dream. I am beyond excited for Cycle 13; for the first time ever, young women 5′7″ and under have a shot at becoming America’s Next Top Model! I encourage each girl to come out ready to rock the runway and show off their fiercest pose. I’m rooting for all of you!”

I’m glad Tyra is giving these girls another opportunity. I can only hope it’s a better organized one!

Image graciously provided by reader Shirley

The New York casting calls for Cycle 13 of America’s Next Top Model were cancelled today, as chaos broke out. Three people were arrested and six others were hurt as the line for auditions broke down outside the Park Central New York Hotel.

Thousands of ANTM hopefuls had come out that day, with many girls camping overnight in hopes of trying out early. Shirley was one of the many people who were there early and she was kind enough to send me a photo of the long, dense line.

The line at the NYC ANTM casting call | Image by Shirley

Here’s a video of the casting call. It shows the crowd panicking and breaking up.

Two of those injured were taken to the hospital and the four others declined further treatment after being taken care of by the fire department. Several people who were auditioning were trampled on, according to 1010wins.

“People were pushing, screaming, yelling at each other,” Lauren Musacchio said to the New York Times. “It was chaos.”

According to 1010wins, there was just an “enthusiastic” crowd that was aggressive, but manageable until someone yelled “fire!” That resulted in the stampede that lead to the trampling.

“Everyone got thrown everywhere,” Annina Manttari told the New York Times. “People were getting run over.”

There have been no details released by the New York Fire Department or the New York Police Department. I’ll keep you updated as more news is released.

In honor of tonight’s makeover episode, Entertainment Weekly has put together what they think are the 15 worst makeovers in America’s Next Top Model history.

Those who make the list include Cassandra (Cycle 5) for her Mia Farrow cut, Michelle (Cycle 4) for her terrible blonde dye job, Michelle and Amanda’s (Cycle 7) unremarkable transformations, Brittany (Cycle for that horrendous red weave, Jaeda’s (Cycle 7) crop, Jade (Cycle 6) for her short blonde ‘do, Sara’s (Cycle 6) blonde faux hawk, Amanda’s (Cycle 3) platinum blonde look, Megg’s (Cycle 7) overpowering weave, Jenah’s (Cycle 9) bleach blonde look, Saleisha’s (Cycle 9) bowl cut disaster, Lisa’s (Cycle 9) cropped cut, Stacy Ann’s (Cycle 10) cropped cut, Dominique’s (Cycle 10) soccer mom cut and Elina’s (Cycle 11) “racially ambiguous” curly red mop.

I think EW included the girls’ reactions to their cuts as part of their assessment. Some of these aren’t the worst, but their overly dramatic reactions to them certainly made it memorable. They also weren’t fans of nearly every short do, some which I loved!

My pick for worst makeover? I’m torn between Dominique’s soccer mom ‘do and Elina’s horrid sherry hair. Which makeover in ANTM history do you hate the most?
Click here to see the slideshow and the reasons behind each selection.

CWTV has greenlit production for the thirteenth cycle of America’s Next Top Model, according to Contact Music. I’m not surprised, the show is a ratings winner.

Interestingly, the CW is slashing Tyra’s budget for her talk show and cutting production down from 34 weeks to 26. They are claiming this is to counteract the economic recession, but I think part of it is because the CW is unsure how The Tyra Banks Show is going to do on their network.

For those of you interested in auditioning for Cycle 13, audition information won’t become available until Cycle 12 airs. Cycle 12 is expected to air in March of 2009.

As always, MTV wll be having a marathon of all the cycle 11 episodes of America’s Next Top Model in preparation of the finale next Wednesday! The marathon will begin at 9am EST and continue until all eleven episodes have aired, ending at 8pm.

The CW. © 2008 The CW Network LLC. All Rights Reserved

Their schedule says cycle 10, but I’m pretty sure that’s a mistake.

I’m going to tune in! I like to leave the television on and pop in and out all day as I’m doing other things. Not the most energy-saving practice, I know. But I’m super-excited for the finale next week!

This is the last time MTV will be able to air an ANTM marathon. Oxygen has acquired the exclusive cable rights to the show for all past, present and future cycles after the current cycle completes it run.

Welcome to the liveblog of the eighth episode of America’s Next Top Model. Tonight’s episode is a clip episode, but I’m hoping some exciting things go down tonight!

Episode: 11.08 Top Model 11 Confidential
Original Air Date: October 15, 2008

Below the cut are the full recap and discussion questions!

Read more

America’s Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker will play himself on the October 21 episode of the CW’s new show Privileged. The show is about two spoiled brat filthy-rich teenage twins, Rose and Sage Baker who need a tutor to get into Duke.

Image used with permission from Newscom

Nigel will play himself, and based on the preview photos, he’s hired to shoot the Baker family portrait!

Has anyone been watching Privileged? Is it any good?

Reuters is reporting that CW has finally put an America’s Next Top Model spin-off in the works. The show, called Operation Fabulous stars J Alexander and Jay Manuel and will follow them as they travel the country looking for women in desperate need of makeovers.

Image used with permission from Newscom

At each location, the Js will select five lucky ladies who will receive “Top Model style overhauls” and will learn everything from how to dress, how to talk, how to walk and more. It sounds a lot like beauty school.

CW has only approved a pilot, but it seems like Operation Fabulous will fit in well with ANTM and CW’s new reality show Stylista.

The only downside to this concept is that if we are introduced to five new girls every episode, it’s going to be hard to relate to and grow with the girls as they become fabulous. The success of this show entirely hinges on the Js.

Want to be on Operation Fabulous? Unlike ANTM, there’s no height limit! Get all the details here.