Africa's Next Top Model started on AfricaMagic Entertainment last night (10 November) and it was as fun as I imagined it would be. The trailer for it's been enticing and the show delivered on it's promise with a satisfying mix of glam, humour and 12 mad schmodels.
Oluchi Orlandi makes a perfect scout and mentor - she doesn't try to be Tyra Banks and turned out to be more interesting as a result. The show looks good, the contestant house in Camps Bay is the ideal catfight location, with a high balcony for maximum plunge should one of them decide to chuck the other over the edge.
There were a couple of iffy sound moments in the house itself when some of the contestants sounded tinny but it wasn't too much of a distraction. Ultimately the most distracting thing was how many issues there are between the schmodels already - which is how it should be.
The premiere started with Oluchi and scout/producer
Maria Arrington searching for the Top 12 round Africa and wrapped with the 12 finalists sitting in the lounge of their new home, claws out, getting their first assignment.
Each of the 12 were introduced in between and all of them have that "Ah, I see why you're a schmodel" factor. That factor where you can't understand why they're a model one moment but then the next, when you see them from particular angles, you can see why they are.
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| Omowunmi, Safira, Cheandre |
Three of them stood out specifically and
not because of their looks. Omowunmi from Nigeria's
definitely going to be a problem. Her overconfidence and confrontational attitude's going to annoy the bejeezus out of everyone.
Safira from Mozambique's notable for a different reason. The fact that she only speaks Portuguese will either sink or save her. As everyone mentioned, it's a big problem that she can't speak English because of the catwalks in Paris, Milan, London, New York.
She also can't understand a word the rest of them say. Which could very well be to her advantage because it'll save her from any huge confrontations. Everyone will also see her as less of a threat because they'll think she'll never win because of it.
Another notable is slugbrow South African Cheandre who's got the gift of the gab but who's brows are just too much like wildlife. It's gonna be curious to see how she manages to pull off a challenge in them.
Which is what will be happening next. Next week the 12 will be trying to land a spot in the title sequence of the show and only 10 will make it. From the looks of all the bawling and meltdowns in the trailer the successful 10 will be those who don't end up institutionalised.