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Tube Talk:
Comparing the "Models"...
A couple of months ago, we took a look at past “American Idol” winners to see what, if any, successes were to be had from winning one of the biggest shows in American network history. The result, as it turns out, was not much.Another reality show that purports to find talent is the CW’s “America’s Next Top Model,” which has been going strong for a whopping ten seasons. But as we’ve all come to see, the winners of “Top Model” rarely achieve the success that the show’s host and creator, Tyra Banks, purports will bestow upon them after lasting through the show’s vigorous cycle of in-house drama, offensive photo shoots, bone-crushing self-esteem panels, and Bank’s occasional bursts of egomaniacal tyranny.
Nevertheless, let’s take a look at the show’s past winners, and what has happened since they’ve been thrust into the real world. ¤ C.Ho.
Season One: Adrienne Curry
Adrienne’s Highlights: Looking back, the first season of “ANTM” was a time of fresh innocence, unpretentious photo shoots, and a prelude to the walking corpse that would later become Janice Dickinson. Sets were a little cheaper, housing was a little less glamorous, and panel seemed to be held in someone’s basement. By the time the show was over, trashy-turned-model Adrienne Curry was crowned the season’s winner, impressing judges by showing up to panel despite suffering from a case of food poisoning.
Agency: Wilhelmina Models
Post-“ANTM” Career: Curry is perhaps known as the winner that never was. Thanks to her post-show interviews, where she repeatedly slammed Tyra Banks, the show’s process, and her dashed dreams, she has all but been obliterated from the show. After a failed campaign with Revlon (which was promised to the show’s winner), Curry went the reality show route by appearing on VH1’s “The Surreal Life” and its spin-off, “My Fair Brady,” where she eventually married “The Brady Bunch” alum Christopher Knight. In between Playboy spreads and reality-show pandering, she still occasionally models, landing gigs for Maxim, Marie Claire, Macy's, Ed Hardy, Merit Diamonds, and as of late, graphics chip manufacturer Nvidia.
Should She Have Won? No. Adrienne made a passable winner, but runners-up Shannon Stewart and Elyse Sewell held the most potential.
Most Successful Model from the Season: Third-place finalist Sewell, who was kicked off for being too analytical about her beauty, went on to publish a book based on her LiveJournal blog (and also landed in jail for a public altercation with her ex-rocker boyfriend). She is currently a successful model in Asia and Europe and is repped by Wilhelmina Models, M4 Models, Dreamodels, and Studio KLRP.
Season Two: Yoanna House
Yoanna’s Highlights: If there’s one thing that this show likes to drill in our heads, it’s that you have to suffer for your goals (and occasionally pander to Tyra Banks’ enormous ego). And no one knows sacrifice and hard work more than Yoanna House, who emerged as the show’s second season winner. House lost an astonishing fifty (or sixty, depending on the source) pounds in two years, dropping four dress sizes, before competing on the show. Although she was occasionally criticized for her boxy body shape, she was deemed the best of the bunch.
Agency: IMG Models
Post-“ANTM” Career: House currently hosts the Style network’s “The Look for Less,” and was also named "the face" of The CW network in 2006. Most notably, she’s landed contracts with Israeli-based cosmetics company Careline, and, along with runner-up Mercedes Scelba-Shorte, models for Leeza Gibbon’s make-up line, Sheer Cover.
Should She Have Won? Sure.
Most Successful Model from the Season: It’s a tie between House and Scelba-Shorte, who is a spokesperson for the National Lupus Foundation of America. Scelba-Shorte has also appeared in Wedding Dresses, Teen Vogue, and has worked on campaigns for Hewlett Packard, Sears, Payless Shoes, Old Navy, Wal-Mart, Macy's, and Chili's. Not surprisingly, both working models have had more luck with commercial endeavours than the high-fashion world that the show purports to hold the key to.
Season Three: Eva Pigford
Eva’s Highlights: Eva Pigford, who is fortunate enough to have a first name that rhymes with something cool like “diva,” was billed as the bitch of the house, but it didn’t take long for Tyra to plot her redemption arc. Pigford went from uber-bitch and house bully to misunderstood girl with anger issues. Just as her persona softened, runner-up Yaya Da Costa emerged as the new villain, which tipped the scales in Pigford’s favour when she was crowned the winner of the show.
Agency: L. A. Models
Post-“ANTM” Career: Pigford has appeared in Essence and Cosmopolitan, as well as half of the shows on the now-defunct WB network. She’s also made cameos in music videos for Angie Stone, 50 Cent, and Jamie Foxx, as well I Think I Love My Wife. Previously managed by Benny Medina and Tyra Banks, Pigford is now repped by Über-Warning Models and L.A. Models, and has wisely dropped her last name. She now goes by Eva Marcille.
Should She Have Won? Sure, even if she really is four feet tall and bears a striking resemblance to Terrence Howard.
Most Successful Model from the Season: Pigford has done surprisingly well for an “ANTM” winner, and her cycle has produced several working models, including Yaya Da Costa, Toccara Jones, Amanda Swafford, and Pigford’s reality show object of affection, Ann Markley. Da Costa is notable for branching out into films, appearing in Take The Lead and the upcoming The Shanghai Hotel.
Season Four: Naima Mora
Naima’s Highlights: Despite an attitude that judges deemed too guarded, Naima Mora’s eleventh hour breakdown was just what Tyra needed to ultimately award Mora with the win over runner-up Kahlen Rondot.
Agency: Ford Models
Post-“ANTM” Career: Mora won the usual “ANTM” prizes and then some when she was a co-trophy girl at the 2005 Emmy Awards and a judge at the 2005 Miss Teen USA pageant. Angling to be the most boring triple threat ever, she’s also appeared a handful of movies (two, to be exact) and fronts indie band Chewing Pics, where she’s their self-appointed “Throat Projecktor.”
Should She Have Won? No. With a middling portfolio and drug-inspired speech patterns, Mora made for a lackluster winner.
Most Successful Model from the Season: Cycle four has perhaps unleashed the least successful models into the world, with only a scattering of names appearing in post-show gigs. Brittany Bower, the sexpot deemed too kittenish to be a model, has landed jobs with Von Dutch, Carlos Santana Shoes, and GQ, but she’s also participated in something called “Battle of the Network Reality Stars.” Michelle Deighton, who some might remember as the girl who caused mass hysteria and a near model meltdown with a case of impetigo, has the distinction of being the only person in the world who would ever sleep with Jonny Fairplay.
Season Five: Nicole Linkletter
Nicole’s Highlights: Cherub faced Nicole Linkletter may have won the show’s fifth season, but she still had to endure a Chapstick controversy, a Ramen noodles debacle, and a catfight with fellow contestant Bree Scullark over Red Bulls and granola bars to get there.
Agency: Nous Model Management
Post-“ANTM” Career: Linkletter has scored ads for Covergirl, Milk Boutique, Secret Deodorant, and Yank Clothing. She’s also appeared on the covers of Elle Girl (as stipulated in the show’s grand prize) and Women's Health and Fitness, and served as a judge in the 2006 Miss USA pageant. She’s currently splitting her time between modeling and school, which, considering her time on the show, she sorely needs.
Should She Have Won? Sure. But then again, the same could be said about runner-up Nik Pace.
Most Successful Model from the Season: Most model wannabes from this cycle have had better luck on television than actual modeling. Cassandra Whitehead, who quit the show when she refused to shorten her already barely there pixie haircut, is still involved in beauty pageants, and has roles in "Las Vegas," “Hannah Montana,” and “CSI: Miami.” Lisa D’Amato, the cycle’s resident nut job and occasional diaper-wetter, has moved on to Old Navy commercials and a career as a budding rap artist (her single, “Ace of Spades,” can be found on YouTube). Skullard, on the other hand, has graduated from Old Navy commercials to Ruben Studdard videos. Heartbreaker Kim Stoltz is now employed by MTV. But Linkletter’s blandly fresh face is still steadily booking jobs and runway shows, as is Pace under Fusion Model Management.
Season Six: Danielle Evans
Danielle’s Highlights: On season six, Danielle Evans performed a rarity: she not only won judges over, but was well liked by her fellow contestants as well as the viewing public. Evans overcame an accent and a tooth gap to become the show’s sixth winner.
Agency: Click Model Management
Post-“ANTM” Career: Not only has Evans modeled for Elle, Elle Girl, Jewel Magazine, Essence, and Seventeen, but she’s also landed ads with the likes of Sephora, Akademiks, and CoverGirl (in fact, CoverGirl has opted to renew her contract, which is a rarity for any “ANTM” winner). She’s also one of the few “ANTM” graduates to command the catwalk, scoring a showcard for Fashion Week and strutting her stuff for Victorio & Lucchino, Baby Phat, and Zang Toi.
Should She Have Won? Sure.
Most Successful Model from the Season: Ninth place contestant Mollie Sue Steenis-Gondi, booted for being too “boring,” is signed to several agencies, including Elite Model Management, Ace Models, Storm Models, and Success Models. By contrast, fifth place winner Furonda Brasfield, fourth place winner Sara Albert, and third place winner Jade Cole have had little to no action since filming the show (with the slight exception of Cole, who landed a cameo in Jay-Z’s 2003 music video for “Change Clothes”).
Season Seven: CariDee English
CariDee’s Highlights: In what was perhaps the most boring cycle ever, CariDee English’s crazy eyes ultimately triumphed over Melrose Bickerstaff’s aging face, and she was awarded the show’s seventh win in a rather dull finale.
Agency: Elite Model Management
Post-“ANTM” Career: English has appeared in photo spreads for InTouch, Seventeen, Social Life, Wedding Style, JC Penney, and Matrix Professional Colors. As the winner of the show’s acting challenge, she also scored a guest spot on “One Tree Hill.” She’s also a spokesperson for the National Psoriasis Foundation, of which she suffers from as revealed on the show. Currently living in New York, she’s just a small town girl tryin’ to make it in a big, big world.
Should She Have Won? No. In a season of barely passable models, anyone – from crazy-assed Monique Calhoun to awkward twins Amanda and Michelle Babin to uninspiring Eugenia Washington – would have made for a more credible winner.
Most Successful Model from the Season: English, Bickerstaff, and Washington, the show’s top three contestants, are all signed with modeling agencies and appear to be working. Everyone else…not so much.
Season Eight: Jaslene Gonzalez
Jaslene’s Highlights: Jaslene Gonzalez seems to live by a simple life philosophy: if at first you don’t succeed, you should try again – or at least until you wear Tyra Banks down. Gonzalez was invited back after being eliminated during semi-finals in the previous season (you know CariDee is breathing a huge sign of relief after dodging that bullet), and went on to win it all. As “Top Model”’s first Puerto Rican winner, Gonzalez was edited as the ugly duckling who blossomed into a beautiful model, which, of course, couldn’t have been done without Tyra Bank’s god-like guidance.
Agency: Elite Model Management
Post-“ANTM” Career: Gonzalez has been one of the most successful winners to date, gracing us with her presence on the covers of Seventeen, Latina, Hombre, 6 Degrees, FN, Urban Latino, Bleu, and Time Out. She’s also featured in a New York Times Square billboard modeling for Lot29, and has walked the runway for the likes of Sass and Bide, Armani Exchange, Ashley Paige, Gen Art, and Jillian Lewis, in addition to receiving a New York Fashion Week showcard from Elite. Gonzalez was also nominated for Choice TV Female Reality Star at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards, but lost out to Lauren Conrad of “The Hills.”
Should She Have Won? Sure.
Most Successful Model from the Season: Gonzalez has it, but kooky runner-up Natasha Galkina is also enjoying the post-show model life, and is currently signed with Beatrice Models and Management First. Sarah VonderHaar and third-place contestant and resident bitch Renee Alway are also repped by agencies. Brittany Hatch, the girl who caused a stir when she lost her temper at a go-see challenge, is signed with Beatrice Models, New York Model Management, and Bloom Models Management, and appeared in an ad campaign for Kohler.
Season Nine: Saleisha Stowers
Saleisha’s Highlights: Dubbed the cycle’s “mini-Tyra,” Saleisha Stowers averaged her way to the win, but not before causing a controversy over her pre-show ties to Tyra Banks, as well as previous commercial and modeling experience that some challenged as going against the show’s rules. Stowers’ win, however, did provide tons of fond memories for Tootie’s haircuit from “The Facts of Life.”
Agency: Elite Model Management
Post-“ANTM” Career: With the win, Stowers scored the obligatory Seventeen cover, and has appeared in a campaign for Metro Style along with Dani(elle) Evans and Jaslene Gonzalez.
Should She Have Won? No. With an average portfolio and an all too commercial look, Stowers’ win is almost as baffling as Mr. Jay’s tan.
Most Successful Model from the Season: You’d think this would be Stowers, but eighth-place finalist Lisa Jackson, the stripper with a heart of gold, and fourth-place contestant Bianca Golden, one of the cycle’s most outspoken model-wannabes (you might remember her fight with Stowers, which led to her infamously telling Stowers to check her thighs in the mirror), markedly hold more potential than Stowers. Both are enjoying some time in the limelight. Golden, most notably, is signed with Major Model Management and has appeared on an episode of "Project Runway" during Fashion Week. She will also appear in upcoming issues of The Source Magazine and Essence.
