MMAS: Perry Does Casey

In episode three of Make Me A Supermodel, it was revealed that Dominic Prietto had the least amount of viewers' votes for those in the bottom three, and he left the catwalk stating he would make himself a supermodel. It had been between him, Ben DiChiara, and Katy and my preference was that Katy should leave. One reason is that both Dominic and Ben have been in my top four. The other reason is that the female models have already shown they are bunch of catty bitches. Frankie Godoy has been good at letting the girls know how nasty they are when they were badmouthing Dominic and Frankie himself. The show would be better off by getting rid of all the females as quickly as possible.

Ben got to stay in the house and no one was happier than Ronnie Kroell. Ronnie still absurdly calls Ben his main competition but he wants Ben to stay in the house as long as possible. Ronnie says that he has feelings for the straight, married Ben and that he interprets Ben's polite and restrained response to Ronnie's frequent touching as "mixed signals". Ronnie unfortunately is accelerating down the path of becoming the pathetic, stereotypical creepy gay character that tries constantly to fondle and seduce an unattainable straight guy. He knows that he is on TV and he should be thinking about being a gay role model and not a slutty predator.

The photo segment was focused on showing chemistry between pairs of models. The best pair of the shoot was Perry Ullmann and Casey Skinner. Once again, it is shown that erotic photos with all straight male models are exceptionally smoking. Also, it shows that once straight guys find out that other guys don't have coodies, there's nothing to it.

The catwalk assignment was to use a combination of equestrian and fetish. Considering it was such an interesting theme, the models were incredibly boring with the exception of the combo of Perry and Casey again. Perry has a great acting ability and he seems to be able to inspire Casey to be better than he might otherwise have been. It was an easy task for the judges this week to pick Perry as the week's top model.

Holly, Aryn and Jay were selected as the bottom three. I think the judges have been letting Jay coast along so far, but this week I think he was probably brought down further by his partner who appeared not to be able to feel any chemistry with a black dude. As stated above, I'm rooting for another one of the cats to leave.

MMAS: Up In The Air

In episode two of Make Me A Supermodel, Dominic Prietto survived the first viewer elimination. The announcement of the results took place at the beginning of the show and it's apparent that this ceremony each episode is going to be filled with excruciatingly boring and manufactured drama. The judges talk in slow motion with long pauses in between statements. This is the kind of thing that Tivo is made for. You need to just fast forward and see which model walks off. Besides, that gets you to the unclothed scenes of the models sooner.

Most of the female models were noticeably unhappy about Dominic staying and Casey Skinner actually called him a bitch. Whatever they are talking about, it must be off camera before now because I haven't seen Dominic do anything that would deserve such criticism. However, I believe the combination of his inexperience and the effect of these negative remarks on the viewers are not going to allow him to get much farther in the competition.

After the elimination ceremony, the show takes us to Cutler Salon, where the models get their hair updated. Owner Rodney Cutler, wanting to make Holly's hair unique, asked her, "Do you want to follow fashion or do you want to develop fashion? You don't want to be current. You want to be ahead of the curve." Cory Bautista of New York Model Management, who was standing there listening, had previously complained about Holly's hair not fitting the New York standard. Hopefully, Cory will learn a thing or two from the experts this season and stop trying to fit his models into narrow molds. He shouldn't be trying to copy the current look, he should be creating a new one.

Next the models get their bodies waxed. Wasn't Ronnie Kroell told the previous week that body hair was "in" when it was noticed that he had shaved his chest? Very confusing.

For the photo shoot this week, the models get into an aerial harness. Ronnie was first and during his session it became clear to me how all-important the models' physical facial features are. Skill and attitude are so less significant when it comes to being able to do a good photo. As an example, Ronnie's face is very expressive even when he is in relaxed, casual conversation. His brows, eye folds, the spacing between the eyes, and the mouth lines allow him to make all kinds of expressions with hardly any effort. This gives him a huge advantage over a lot of the other models regardless of any of their intensity or drive to succeed.

Ben DiChiara was next and the photographer sounded so dumb barking commands at him. It showed the human tendency just to shout louder when you realize that you are not being understood. Ben is not experienced so she might have just as well have been screaming in ancient Hebrew at him. She should have just talked to him and explained more clearly for what she was looking.

Perry Ullmann managed to keep his junk from being injured by the wires and produced his usual smoldering, sexy shots, as did Dominic.

Later at dinner the models answer pointed questions that were intended to generate controversy. Ronnie gave a bitchy response that Dominic was the weakest model. That shows you can be a high-class model with a low-class personality. Ronnie also absurdly tried to flatter Ben by saying that Ben was his biggest competition. It was clearly more of a statement reflecting Ronnie's crush on Ben and not one indicating an accurate assessment of the contest. Ronnie should keep in mind that Ben is married and off-limits and so he should keep his public comments cooled down.

Ben said that he thought that compliments from a gay guy were worthwhile. This is of course very valid. Whereas straight women may tell a straight man that he is attractive because they admire his personality, his career, his bank account, or his car, a gay man is judging solely on the exterior view. It is a detailed scoring system that deducts major points for even the slightest defects, so when you get a high grade from a gay man it is high praise indeed.

The runway component for this episode featured costume designs from Heatherette. Frankly, I would rather see drag costumes by Chris from Project Runway. The judges decided that Dominic and Ben (along with Katy) would be in the bottom three subjected to the viewers' votes. I would like to keep both my guys, but it will probably be Dominic discarded next week.

MMAS: The Models Move In

In episode one of Make Me A Supermodel, the fourteen contestants move into their New York apartment, burn their clothes, and parade around in underwear and skimpy swimwear. Lord love kooky reality shows featuring male models.

At the beginning of the show, the models immediately start working by doing a photo shoot in Times Square. Though the temperature was below freezing, photographer Lee Strickland had the models pose in summer wear while being outside on a platform in the middle of it all.

Dominic Prietto was first and I think his photos came out pretty good. He photographs better than he appears on videotape. Ben DiChiara was next and although Lee thought Ben wasn't very versatile because of his close cropped hair, Ben's attitude about it all shows he's up for anything in order to do a good job. He had to wear pink pants and a pink scarf but he looked totally at ease and made it work. Later Perry Ullman went out and Lee loved him even though his hair is just as short as Ben's. I don't like when people's critiques are not consistent. I also don't like when people imitate faggy lisps as Perry did to show how he felt about the flamboyant clothes he had to wear. Of course he's a character and I'm sure he's going to say a lot of crazy things. Ronnie Kroell went out with a smile but not much reason for one since I think he had the ugliest clothes to model. How did the gay model get the dullest outfit?

The models go see the apartment for the first time and Ronnie and Ben decide to be roommates. It looks like Ronnie and I share similar tastes.

The next morning the models are told there are going to a go-see and they all dress up in their best clothes. Instead they are taken to see a burning garbage can and told to throw something they are wearing into the fire to symbolize discarding their old lives. They are encouraged by co-host Tyson Beckford to show how much they want to win by throwing in as much as possible. Anyone who has played these kind of mind games at a corporate retreat would know what a load of crap this is. Unfortunately, most of the models are too naive to see how stupid it is or to tell Tyson to throw his own clothes in the fire if he really believes it is such good therapy. Dominic wisely kept his clothes on and suggested that the people that burned all of their clothes were just tools. He's got a good head on his shoulders.

Afterwards they purposely stand around in standard issue underwear for exhibition before Cory Bautista, Director of New York Model Mangement. Cory tells thin Dominic, who has a 38" chest and 30" waist, that he looks good, while telling Ben, who lost 20 pounds since the casting, that he lost too much. It's a great thing in this country that you can be President of the country or Director of a modeling agency and still be hopelessly wrong about a lot of important things. Bottom line is that Ben looks incredibly fit.

Cory tells one of the female models that her hairstyle won't work in New York. In this election season where "change" is what its all about, I get sick of hearing on these modeling shows how there is only one standard and no one must be allowed to veer from it. Agencies should be on the cutting edge of pushing change in looks and styles and not constantly conforming to the ways things are.

The episode ends with a swimsuit runway featuring parke & ronen. By luck of the draw Ben had to wear a thong, but it really wasn't very revealing. It only showed a slightly saucy set of cheeks. The judges criticized him for looking to much like a prison guard walking on the runway. Uh, prison guard in a thong. What beside everything is wonderfully right about that picture?

Of the favored four (Dominic, Ben, Perry, and Ronnie) Dominic was put in the set of three to be voted on by the public. Its too soon for him to go so I'm sure he will not be voted out.

MMAS: Meet The Models

Bravo's Make Me A Supermodel casting special showed that a lot of critics of Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency and America's Most Smartest Model were wrong. It is possible to cast a worse looking and less qualified group of "models". I had skimmed through the show first on Tivo to get a feel for what the show was like, but when I played it back to watch it in detail, I realized that something was terribly wrong. Even Janice's rejects are light year's beyond this motley crew. It's like the casting people went to an open call for a local amateur production of "South Pacific" and asked the hopefuls if they would rather be on a TV show instead. Host Tyson Beckford said that the odds of taking someone off the street and making them a supermodel would be like winning the lottery. In this case it's more like the odds of the sun going supernova tomorrow. I can't imagine there will be many people that care who wins this show. Somebody at Tiger Aspect Productions screwed up big time.

I give credit to the company for their selection of audition cities. They went to Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and NYC. Chicago was an especially good choice. There is a lot of good looking men there with a range of European ethnicities. Unfortunately, it looks like the casting people only selected from the actual applicants. If you follow reality TV at all, you know that many of the best characters don't apply on their own; they are recruited. Somebody should went into the Loop at lunchtime and over to Boystown at night and beat the bushes for some really good choices.

In Chicago they did find Ronnie Kroell and Igor Galijasevic. Ronnie said that a former boyfriend was an adult video star who had been escorting on the side. Many people have to do two jobs to make ends meet, but Ronnie didn't indicate if the amount of time spent at work contributed to their breakup.

In L.A., there was Dominic Prietto and Perry Ullmann. I think they are both good looking, but in Los Angeles of all places, this is all they could find? Why didn't the producers just go the Beverly Center for an hour with a net and capture several seasons worth of qualified wannabes at one time?

In Miami there was Frankie Godoy. I don't like men with long hair. End of story.

In New York City, Ben DiChiara, the deputy sheriff from Nashville, was discovered. He had been married for four months at the time of his interview. He's only 22 and I think that's too young to be married. People need more time to mature before they make that kind of committment.

From all the applicants, 35 were selected to go to the next stage of the audition in New York. There they were interviewed and looked over by the judges. The first cut took out six of them, including Cuban-American Yenier Leyva. That really sucked because he seemed pretty interesting and because all modeling shows need a sexilicious Cuban.

The show finally got to bare skin section when the models subjected themselves to be examined wearing only swimsuits. The models took turns doing poses with partner on a chair. Ronnie did a puppy style pose with his hair being pulled back. He said he liked being dominated that way. I just wish he didn't also like furrowing his brow and putting on a fake orange tan. I thought there was something wrong with the tint on my TV until the judges confirmed he was artificially colored.

In the end, the field was narrowed down to 12 with 2 more to be selected by the public through an online vote. Dominic, Ronnie, and Perry were selected to be in the twelve, while Igor and Ben were turned over to the whims of whoever stumbled across the web site. The final decision was that the online community selected Ben as the final participant. I think I may watch the show for awhile just to see how Ben fares. His initial photos look pretty hot and I think the public will buy into the newly married, law enforcement backstory.

Make Me A Supermodel

On January 2, 2008, Bravo will air the casting special for Make Me A Supermodel, another in the current riches of reality television shows to feature male models. Can I handle getting involved with another one? Hell, yeah! This season there was America's Most Smartest Model and then The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency and now this one. The beauty of the genre is a lot of shots of the guys in next to nothing (or just nothing on JDMA). My preference would be for all reality shows to adopt this characteristic. Wouldn't Amazing Race be even more interesting with teams of male models running through airports in bikini briefs? And surely the boardroom would be spiced up on The Apprentice if the male contestants lined up at the table exposing all of their qualifications in smart looking birthday suits.

From BravoTv.com: "In a casting special, the 24 finalists will be whittled down to the 14 models that will ultimately compete for $100,000 and a modeling contract with New York Model Management. During the run of the series, Bravo viewers will vote each week to determine who stays to walk the 'Supermodel' catwalk again and who goes home. Over a 12-week period, 14 hopefuls will live together in a New York City loft and explore friendships, romance and naked ambition while undergoing a series of creative challenges designed to test their professional modeling potential."

My favorites are Ben DiChiara, Perry Ullmann, and Ronnie Kroell, Jr. (whose former boyfriend was an adult film star). I had also liked Dominic Prietto and Igor Galijasevic. I hope all of them make it through the casting special.

Ben DiChiara: