Canada’s Next Top Model

So I got sucked in to watching Canada’s Next Top Model tonight. I doubt anyone in the states will have heard of this, even if they do watch the US version. Basically I heard that it was hosted by the very hot Tricia Helfer (who of course plays Number 6 on Battlestar Galactica) and also be filmed in BC, so I really had no choice except to watch.

I thought that if they could do it right, it could be interesting (hot girls, catfights, and all that fun), and also show off the whole Canadian side of it. If they could showcase the gorgeous scenery we have here, maybe have Canadian cosmetics companies as the sponsers… it could be great.

I’m not going to say it got that, and I’m not going to say it didn’t… I reserve judgement for a few episodes. First, what was wrong:

• The sets felt like a ghetto version of ANTM. In the judging room you could see discoloration in the wall behind Tricia. In one shot you had the girls walking past a mailbox full of grafitti in downtown Victoria, the first photo shoot it looked like they rented the local grungy club for the afternoon. Not everything’s going to be new york glitz of course, but I thought they could have given it a bit more glamor.
  
• Tricia didn’t seem 100% comfortable in the role. I’m not sure if it was because she wasn’t being herself because they had to make it feel like the US version. Could have been just my impression of her though, this is the first time I’ve seen her being something other than a hot Cylon killer.
  
• A $domain.yahoo.ca domain for your show? Kinda lame isn’t that? The real domain is taken by some bastard domain squatter though 🙁

Of course, they did a lot of things right as well.

• Local content, local content, and local content. I cheered with a “Go Vancouver!” and “Go Kelowna!” and “Go Edmonton!” whenever they flashed the girls hometowns on the screen. The attachment to the show changes for me when I know that these are potential models that grew up an hour down the road. Ditto goes for seeing the sights of Victoria and the like. I really hope they do things like “for our challenge this week, we’ll go to [insert local sight here]. Come to think of it, it also gives me ideas for my own photography, seeing how the pros do it locally.
  
• Gorgeous scenery. Really an awesome showcase of the pacific northwest, and Vancouver Island / Victoria especially.
  
• Making it enough like the format and plot of the original that it’s easy to get into. I personally would like to see Jay Manual for the whole season cause I like him, but I have a feeling he’s just there to ease the transition.
  
• Gorgeous girls. Course that’s a given.
  
• Gorgeous girls who don’t mind wandering around with no tops on. Damned censors and their blurry lines!

So I’m going to keep with it.

Hmm…. did I just reveal I watch top model reality shows? No, this isn’t published. This is my inside voice.