The Mac Weekly

Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: The Arts

Media Credit: www.cwtv.com The cast of cycle 9 of "America's Next Top Model."

Dear Tyra,

Thank you for keeping Wednesday nights on the CW fierce. It's hard to believe that "America's Next Top Model" (ANTM) has already made it to the ninth season. They seem to just fly by! I'll admit, I wasn't always a fan. I missed the first few seasons, but once I got sucked in, it was impossible to pull away.

I was psyched because ANTM was the first show in my fall tv line up to return, and you didn't let me down. There was the usual mix of crazy girls. This season we have a bikini waxer, an exotic dancer, the token plus size girl (and if she is, where does that leave the rest of us?), and a girl named Spontainaise (no, I don't mean 'spontaneous').

Your dance number, for which there really are no words, was probably a new low for the series… Or was it? How could we forget your flamenco dancing when the girls got to go to Barcelona in cycle seven? Or the kangaroo costume last season, when the girls almost pulled off the bandana you were wearing to hide whatever awful thing it was that happened to your scalp?
Oh the scalp issues. While some people spent last semester consumed with thoughts of insidious American hegemony and such, my friends and I were debating what on earth had happened to make you keep your hairline covered for the entire season. Of course, this is a show that is no stranger to hair issues. From bad weaves (remember Brittany from cycle eight?) to hissy fits and bar fights over injustices to said weaves (Tiffany's bar fight in cycle 3), there's always some quality drama to look forward to.

If this cycle is anything like the others, I can safely look forward to a season full of priceless wisdom from the girls ("I don't control my body, my body controls me." - Tiffany), incredibly realistic and useful challenges (shooting a Cover Girl commercial in Catalan, or taking your own picture while doing a stunt a la the race car shoot in cycle seven), Tyra's imperceptibly tiny corrections ("see the difference between 'this' and 'this'?"), Miss J's ridiculous outfits (remember the "ruffle for each girl eliminated" look?), and, of course the speech at the end of every episode ("One girl the judges feel has a terrible attitude, but takes beautiful pictures. One girl has a great personality, but can't take a picture to save her life. So do we keep the girl with the pretty face that can't be caught on film, or the girl with the miss thang attitude but the gorgeous pictures?").
I'm counting the hours until 7 p.m. on Wednesday night!

Love, Amy

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