The Tyra Banks Top Model for Success: America's Next Top Model and Beyond

Whether you love the newly-svelte diva, Tyra Banks, or you hate her, you gotta admit that there's something compelling about the America's Next Top Model Phenomenon. With 13 spectacular cycles already under her belt, and Cycle 14 set to premiere on March 3, 2010, Ms. Banks has found a great formula for success with ANTM: 13 young model hopefuls forced to perform in front of cameras and under intense pressure and live together in one house for the duration = loads of entertainment.

Some formulas have emerged during the cycles: first, there's always the bitch who makes everyone in the house miserable; luckily, the bitch never wins. There's always the girl that everyone assumes is going to win, but doesn't, and there's the dark horse, the girl who starts off in the bottom two and works her way steadily up to win. There's the girl who's too old looking. The girl who completely chokes for the CoverGirl commercial. There's the wild and crazy girl who kind of scares everyone. And, of course, there's always the girl who says, "I'm not here to make friends," and she never wins either.

[This particular formula is not unique to ANTM. Check out this I'm Not Here to Make Friends montage on YouTube by pop-culture blogger, Rich Juzwiak. Then listen to Ira Glass and This American Life episode Frenemies #389 to learn more. And, if you ever happen to find yourself on a reality television show, never jinx your chances by uttering this phrase!]

All of these things together result in the ultimate formula for success, Tyra Banks style. The viewers are fascinated, thousands of girls audition for the show, and each cycle manages to step it up a notch from the last. But do these shows actually result in successful models with real careers?

Although it was reported on Chron: Style on January 26 that Nicole Fox, the winner of Cycle 13, Le Shorties, had been named as the new face of Alexander McQueen for his 2011 Spring / Summer Collection (as blogged by Rich Juzwiak); other sources like Modelinia report that this allegation is simply not true. Too bad for that hippy-stoner-esque Nicole, who is super cute and great in photos. Maybe McQueen will see all the fuss about this rumor and hire her anyway. Though considering it's only Spring/Summer 2010, I don't see how or why a designer would book a model for his new campaign that far in advance.

So the answer is: Not really.

But, the Top Model franchise to so big, with a whooping SEVENTEEN Top Models around the world, that girls can have careers within its boundaries, so even if a model doesn't get a lot of success outside of the Top Model name, the stars will be invited back to other episodes and shoots, so they have some guaranteed work. And though none of the America's Next Top Model girls have become superstars* (yet!), I bet a lot of them are finding more modeling work than they might have otherwise if they hadn't been on the show. (* But Australia's Next Top Model Alice Burdeu is having worldwide success after her AusNTM win on cycle 3.)

ANTM has definitely had its share of craziness, too. Perhaps the most watched clip of America's Next Top Model is the one with Tyra Banks Going Crazy, a clip which has nearly two million (!) views on YouTube and over 7,000 comments. The episode certainly inspired the Family Guy episode where Tyra Banks turned into a Lizard. One contestant, Teyona, ripped out her weave to attach another contestant during a mud fight. Another contestant, Shandi, slept with a male model while on location and then had agonizingly long confessional phone call with her boyfriend. (Ugh. And yet, so fascinating to watch!) Many of the models have influenced young girls by swearing and smoking on the show, which prompted the Cycle 9 smoke-free season, and the models en masse have even (allegedly) destroyed homes Top Model lawsuit.]

Still, Tyra Banks has certainly found a model for success. With seventeen licensed Top Model shows around the world, she's got to be making, um, bank! The show is so popular that there's a demand for information on contestants from past cycles, which is what led to the creation of the Top Model Tracker on Tyra's website. The success of the show also prompted the creation of The ANTM Fiercee Awards, which had former contestants giving awards in categories such as Ugliest Crier, Most Dramatic Exit, and _____. The successful show even had a spin-off show that aired within Tyra Banks' talk show called Modelville, in which five former ANTM contestants competed for $50,000.

Cycle 14 of America's Next Top Model, ANTM 14, is set to air March 3, 2010.