Ford Models presents Supermodel of the World Global Model Search

2007 – 2008 Supermodel of the World to be named
in New York City, January 16, 2008

Ford Models announced its finalists in the 2007 - 2008 Ford Models Supermodel of the World global model search. The yearlong contest brings to New York City the world’s most beautiful models. Each are winners who have competed in and won rigorous year-long local competitions from 50 countries and for the first time ever, with recognition to the remarkable power of Internet social networks, a finalist has been selected from the over 20,000 members of the Ford Supermodel community located @ Myspace.com.

Behind the scenes activity of the yearlong contest can be viewed at www.myspace.com/fordsupermodel. The models and their families are brought to New York City as they vie for representation by Ford Models’ legendary women’s division, a guaranteed $250,000 Ford Models contract all during an intensive once in a lifetime opportunities to meet with industry leaders, learn invaluable model skills and be submerged in the New York City fashion culture. The search will culminate in an industry party and runway presentation of the finalists on Wednesday, January 16. The looks will consist of a modern editorial mix of current runway pieces mixed with timeless vintage designs styled by iconic style expert, Tiffany Dubin. In support of Maybelline New York’s efforts in promoting confidence in beauty and Westfield’s strong heritage in the retail and fashion community, the two sponsors will co-host the event at New York’s exclusive event space, Terminal 5, where the 2007 – 2008 Ford Supermodel of the World winner will be announced.

“Every year, hundreds of thousands of models apply to Ford in hopes of joining our agency, and each year, at this event, a star is discovered and her career is launched,” said John Caplan, CEO of Ford Models. “Maybelline New York and Westfield are great partners to the agency and have generously supported the dreams and hopes of our young talent and helped produce a week of events that are fun and informative.”

Ford Models has hosted this global search event for more than 25 years and serves as a launching pad for successful careers of many prominent names. While in New York, the 51 finalists will participate in walking lessons, test shoots, magazine castings, designer go-see’s, a beauty confidence seminar with Maybelline New York, a philanthropic activity oriented trip to Westfield Garden State Plaza and the final runway presentation, on which they will be judged by Ford’s Women’s Division.

Past winners have recently appeared on countless high-end runways such as Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui, Narciso Rodriguez, Balenciaga, Ralph Lauren, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, and Donna Karan while also gracing the glossy pages of Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Numero and W to name a few.

This year’s event is generously underwritten by the Westfield Group, the largest retail property group in the world which also recently entered into an agreement with The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to reacquire an interest in the retail premises at the World Trade Center site. Westfield’s global portfolio of fashion forward retail venues makes it an ideal partner for this year’s event. Among the company’s retail icons are: Westfield Bondi Junction, Sydney, Australia; Westfield San Francisco Centre; Westfield Century City in Los Angeles; Westfield London (opening fall 2008); Westfield Stratford City, also in the United Kingdom and adjacent to the site of the 2012 Olympic Games (opening 2011); and Westfield Sydney City (opening 2011.)

Maybelline New York is the world’s leading cosmetics brand at mass available in over 90 countries. Offering more than 200 products, Maybelline New York combines technologically advanced formulations with on-trend expertise to create accessible cosmetics with a spirited style. Maybelline New York’s team will be giving the models specific tips and tricks on how to prepare their makeup for different situations such as castings or red carpet events, with the end objective of building up their confidence and giving them the tools to make things happen for themselves.

About Ford Models
Ford Models Inc. is the leading management company for models and hair and make-up artists globally, representing talent worldwide for more than 60 years. Legendary fashion industry pioneers Eileen and Jerry Ford founded the company in 1947. The agency’s ongoing vision and ability to recognize talent has launched and managed the careers of stars including: Carmen, Candace Bergen, Cheryl Tiegs, Ali McGraw, Tippi Hedron, Jennifer Connelly, Lindsay Lohan, Kirsten Dunst and Mischa Barton, as well as successfully managed the careers of many others. Currently Ford’s roster includes: Chanel Iman, Brad Kroenig, Flavia de Oliveira, Patricia Velasquez, Nacho Figueras, Crystal Renn, and Tori Praver. The company’s websites can be found at www.fordmodels.com and www.fordartists.com.

Ford Models media creates and syndicates useful and entertaining content featuring Ford talent that provides an insider’s how-to guide to beauty and fashion. Ford Media operates a weekly email newsletter to hundreds of thousands of members of the Ford Models community and has more than 25 distribution partners, representing more than 95 percent of U.S. online traffic. The content can be viewed through numerous distribution partners including: MySpace, Yahoo, MSN, YouTube, iVillage,

Sony Connect, Verizon Vcast, Helio Mobile, Joost, Men’s Health, Vmix, Revver, Mochila, Feedburner, Blip.tv, China Mobile, MTV, and the agency’s own www.fordmodels.tv. Brand advertisers including Elizabeth Arden, Coca Cola, Express Stores, Levis, Nexus, and Precor have all sponsored Ford Models media.

This year, more than 50 countries will participate in Ford Models’ Supermodel of the World scouting events, supported by an exclusive online media partnership with MySpace. Aspiring models from around the globe compete for a $250,000 Ford contract with the international finals scheduled for New York City in mid-January 2008. Behind the scenes activity of the yearlong contest can be viewed at www.myspace.com/fordsupermodel.

Ford Models Inc. is headquartered in New York City with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Scottsdale, Toronto, Paris, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

America's Next Top Model

America's Next Top Model WATCH ON ETV

America's Next Top Model (often shortened to Top Model or abbreviated as ANTM) is a reality television show created and hosted by television personality, former supermodel and talk-show host, Tyra Banks, who also serves as the lead judge and executive producer of the show. The first "cycle" premiered in May 2003 and was one of UPN's highest rated shows. The show's seventh cycle was the first of the shows among regular programming on UPN's successor network, The CW, and thus far is the network's highest rated series.^[2][3] The show will continue until at least the 2

009-10 season.^[4] The opening theme is performed by Tyra Banks and is produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Banks co-produces the show with Ken Mok and Anthony Dominici.^[5] For the 2006-2007 television season, ANTM was the #1 show in average viewers on The CW.^[6]

Contents [hide] 1 Show format 1.1 Cycle summary 1.2 ANTM Crossovers 1.3 ANTM with The CW 1.4 ANTM Writers' Labor Dispute 1.5 Criticism 2 Show Statistics 2.1 Winners 2.2 All Contestants 3 International versions 4 References 5 External links

Show format

Each season of America's Next Top Model has from 9-13 episodes and starts with 10-14 contestants. Each episode, one contestant is eliminated, though in rare cases a double elimination or no elimination was given by consensus of the judging panel. Makeovers are administered to contestants early in the season (usually after the first or second elimination in the finals), and a trip to an international destination is scheduled at about two-thirds of the way through the season (usually with five or six contestants remaining).

Each episode of Top Model covers the events of roughly a week of real time (however, while overseas, an episode roughly covers three to four days, totaling two weeks of filming abroad), and features a fashion challenge, photo shoot or commercial, a critique of each contestant and her performance by the judging panel led by Tyra Banks, and the elimination of one or more contestants. As of Cycle 10, the current panel will include fashion photographer Nigel Barker, runway coach J. Alexander and Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova. ^[7]. Previous judges included fashion icon Twiggy, supermodel Janice Dickinson, fashion stylist Nolé Marin, designer Kimora Lee Simmons and fashion editors Beau Quillian and Eric Nicholson. Photo shoot director Jay Manuel, though not a permanent judge, is featured every episode. Usually, an additional guest judge will sit in on the panel every week. Each episode is usually associated with a theme in the world of modeling, such as dealing with the press in interviews, selling a commercial product, appearing in a runway show or going on "go sees".

An episode usually begins with the contestants receiving training in an area concurrent with the week's theme. For example, contestants may get coached in runway walking, improvisational acting, or applying make-up to suit various occasions. A related challenge soon follows, such as a mock runway show or interview, and a winner is chosen by a judge. She receives some prize, such as clothing, a night out, or an advantage at the next photo shoot, and she is usually allowed to share the benefits with a certain number of other contestants of her choice.

The next segment is a photo shoot, and each contestant's performance will reflect heavily on her judging for that week. Each season features photo shoots such as bikini or lingerie shots, beauty shots, posing nude or semi-nude, posing with a male model, and posing with animal(s). Usually one photo shoot per season (excluding Cycle 4) is replaced with a commercial shoot, though in Cycles 2 and 9, a photo shoot was replaced by a music video for Tyra Banks and Enrique Iglesias respectively.

The final segment of each episode is judging. During judging, contestants are often given a challenge in some area such as posing, selling a product, runway walking, or choosing a representative outfit or make-up to satisfy a given prompt, known as a pre-evaluation task. Each contestant's photo is then shown and evaluated by the judging panel. After all photos have been evaluated, the contestants leave the room as the judges deliberate. The elimination process is ceremonious, as Tyra reveals and hands out the photos of the contestants that have not been eliminated one-by-one, in order of merit, each time saying, "Congratulations. You are still in the running towards becoming America's Next Top Model". The last two contestants who have not received their photos are brought up as "the bottom two", and Tyra critiques each one before revealing which of the two has been eliminated. However, there have been three exceptions, as Cycle 4 had a double elimination, Cycle 5 had a non-elimination, and in Cycle 9, the original eliminee was saved by another contestant's decision to quit.

The format varies slightly when only three contestants remain. With the exception of Cycles 1 and 2 where there were no commercials, the three remaining contestants compete in one last photo shoot and commercial for CoverGirl, followed by a judging session in which the judges eliminate the contestant they feel to be the weakest. The final two then compete in a runway show in front of the judges and a live audience, before both their performances there and during the entire competition is considered when the judges declare a winner.