The recession has clearly hit ANTM. While there still appears to be ample money for Tyrant's weaves and drag ensembles, the rest of the show appears to be done on the cheap.
Exhibit A: The loss of Paulina Porizkova (or any 5th judge for that matter)
Paulina was that great combination of bitch and sage. She was, as Tyra would say, "fierce" but old enough that Tyra wasn't threatened. Little clue: when Tyra says "legendary" she means "much older than me."
Now there are only 4 judges with a guest judge - who often seems pretty bargain basement (e.g. Lauren Conrad) or is a FOT (friend of Tyra).
Exhibit B: The prizes seem to be less extravagant
Rather than giving the winning girl and 3 friends jewelry or any of them expensive shoes/clothes (and yes, I do know that one challenge winner did get a boat load of free designer duds), most of the prizes are advertorials in Seventeen, extra frames at photo shoots, or Wal-Mart gift cards.
Exhibit C: The trip to Hawaii
Each season the final six girls head to a "fashion capital" to finish out the competition. Well, this year's fashion capital is Hawaii. Now, I've been a little suspect as to whether or not previous destinations constituted fashion capitals (Johannesburg, I am looking at you), but Tyra didn't even pretend Hawaii is a place for fashion. Sure, they shoot plenty of swimsuit catalogues and Victoria's Secret crap there, but flip flops and swimwear do not a fashion destination make.
Exhibit D: The discount contestants
It's almost like Tyra went with short girls because she couldn't afford full-sized ones this year.
Not to mention the choice to go from four models to two. Are they cutting out the Cover Girl commercial challenge? Because I'm sure that cuts some serious budget.
ReplyDeleteAlso, is there any doubt about the winner at this point? Just call it over.