ANTM has definitely changed and not for the better. The focus on "social media" is about popularity and the number of 'followers' a particular individual has on the internet: these numbers don't necessarily indicate how good a model is and can also be artificially and purposefully jacked up or inflated. The new focus is interesting - I'll give the new angle that much - but unfortunately not an improvement, rather a disappointment!
The judges are not filmed giving much of a critique in which, as they used to do in the earlier seasons/cycles, they would explain how they arrived at a particular view (no pun intended) of a model. It seems mainly to be a "I don't like this picture, something is off about it" or vice versa. Very little helpful advice is given to the models by the judges and where they need guidance they seem to be left to their own devices. This is not helpful to the contestants and even if ATNM is a competition, surely providing some constructive criticism and advice to the contestants would help improve both the models and the show?
We also do not see the discussions between the judges about each contestant, which I always found to be one of the most interesting and revealing aspects of ATNM: this is unfortunately now omitted almost completely.
As one commentator mentioned, the caliber of ATNM has gone downhill over the last few seasons. Recently Season 10 of "Australia's Next Top Model" was concluded and it has not only retained everything that made "America's Next Top Model" compelling viewing but it has actually improved and, unlike ATNM, there is less nasty back-biting behavior and verbal spats that seem to characterize ATNM. A cynical perspective would be to say that ATNM now focuses greatly upon the dramas and tantrums that go on inside the house and between and by the contestants as if it were a soap opera. It seems to be more about cat fights than cat walks. Certainly the focus on sex and sexuality seems to have increased to the point that it is like watching a B-grade version of "Sex and the City" with rather too much of an emphasis upon sex and sexual orientation and identity. Yes, sex "sells" but there is such a thing as too much focus on how 'sexy' and sexual someone is. Together with the intense focus on drama queens and spats between the contestants and it feels like a show clinging on to the TV spot by a thread.
It is also notable that the recent batch of contestants seem overly blasé about having made it to the the house and they're much more informal in their behavior standing in front of the judges, if not actually flippant and disrespectful towards them - a stark contrast to the first couple of seasons. This likely reflects the fact that ATNM is now generally seen as lacking credibility and that the quality and quantity of young women (and, in the past, men) applying to the show has dropped quite dramatically. ATNM used to be highly rated with advertisers clamoring for spots and, of course, the sponsorship by cosmetics companies like Revlon and Sephora. This has ended and if there is no change to ATNM, assuming it is now even possible to fix what seems a worn out format on American TV, perhaps ATNM should end.
Thankfully ATNM did see many international spin-off series that followed the same format as the original ATNM (until Cycle 18 in 2012) and those that are continuing to air are thriving, like "Australia's Next Top Model" which was exhilarating and refreshing to watch with Cycle 10, whose finale was aired late last year, having a top notch both in terms of ratings and the caliber of the young contestants.
With regards to "America's Next Top Model", it appears that Tyra Bank's statement (made when announcing on 'The CW' upfronts in May 2011 that Season 17 would be an "All-Stars" version of ATNM) that there wouldn't be a "normal" season of the show anymore unfortunately really translates to mean that ATNM would, as the title of this thread states, no longer be ATNM anymore. Whilst enjoying Cycle 10 of the Australian version of the show last year I have found the American show, particularly the focus on the importance of social media, disappointing and overrated. Perhaps someone from the Australian version could get called in to overhaul ATNM: ideally ATNM would return to it's previous enjoyable format but, if that is not possible, perhaps it is time for ATNM to end before viewers tune out altogether.
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b73142
8 years ago
I don't want ANTM to end, but I feel that if they went back to the basics and got different judges it will be better.
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christmastiger-16003
8 years ago
Ooh, god, don't even TALK to me about Cycle 10 of Australia's Next Top Model--seriously those girls are easily a head a shoulders above American girls in terms of raw talent and professionalism. The girl who won Cycle 10 was pretty obvious from the get-go, but the fact that there are consistently 16 year olds not even just allowed in the competition but dominating it shows how much better Australia is doing with modeling.
I feel like AusNTM has become for me what ANTM was in the golden years, focus going on the modelling jobs and not on drama in the house. The girls are all insanely nice and are always complimenting each other's pictures, and they tend to have much better pictures overall.
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