Tyra Banks Talks America's Next Top Model Changes
Tyra Banks weighs in on America's Next Top Model's slew of changes for season 19. The season 19 premiere airs tonight on the CW.
Tyra Banks provided THR with some more details about the overhaul of America's Next Top Model - season 19, which is being called the "college edition."
Tyra says it was a call from her boss that sparked all the changes. Banks says she "panicked" at first, but then took some time to get away from it all and really study the video from the first season and figure out what it was that made the show successful in the first place.
Tyra determined that it was the "girls'" stories that endeared the series to fans and feels in later seasons the show became too much about the challenges and eliminations and not enough about the actual contestants. They plan to spend more time on the model's personal stories in season 19.
Banks says all the changes have thrown her off her comfortable routine that she had settled into over the past ten years of doing the show and she now feels "fresh and uncomfortable, but in a good way."
On the subject of the new element of viewer voting, Tyra explains that they didn't include viewer votes in the beginning, because one of her goals with the show was to "redefine" the public's perception of beauty. She didn't want viewers voting, because she wanted to present "atypical" examples of beauty and was afraid the viewing public would vote the girls out before giving them a chance.
Banks now feels that after ten years of watching the show, the viewers are much more open to different types of beauty and won't vote based on outdated stereotypes.
Banks revealed that season 19 guest stars will include: Tyler Perry, Alicia Keys and Shenae Grimes.
When questioned about the success of past contestants and whether ANTM continues to support the models after they leave the show, Banks indicated that she felt representing past contestants would be a "conflict of interest." She feels that if the show were to represent the winner, they would be torn between choosing the model who "deserves it the most" and the model they feel they could have the most commercial success with.
She also added that some past contestants have booked gigs with international magazines, so their success hasn't been as visible in the United States.
Tyra says that while she's not exactly excited about the move to Friday nights for the show, she's optimistic that the show will have a successful season.
I really like the approach they took to revamping the series. It remains to be seen if the changes will revitalize the show, but I like that they sat down and studied what made the show successful in the past and took a non-panicked approach to revamping the new season. The fan voting should add an interesting new element and the new judges should shake things up a bit. I hope it works out for them!
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