ben.katner

That Smarts! Tyra Flunks Brainiac Top Model

Can't say I was stunned that America's Next Top Model (Wednesdays, 8 pm/ET, CW) didn't keep 20-year-old Yale scholar Victoria Marshman to the end. As bright as she is, and as appealingly vulnerable as she was in photos, she freely admitted that only recently had it occurred to her to make a career of sitting around and looking pretty — which, in Tyra Banks' estimation, puts her on par with, say, Satan. She also did the unthinkable and snapped at dear, sweet Twiggy — repeatedly. What was up with that? To find out, TVGuide.com gave her a call and dove in… cautiously.TVGuide.com: How scared should I be to be interviewing you?Victoria Marshman: Why would you feel scared? I'm, like, the least intimidating person ever!TVGuide.com: Come on, if

Wed, Oct 17, 2007

That Smarts! Tyra Flunks Brainiac Top Model

Top Model Dumps Miss Personality

Regular readers of TVGuide.com's America's Next Top Model Q&As know that ordinarily I'm pretty polite. Since the contestants are, by and large, young and naive (translation: um, OK, often kinda dim), I try not to give them too much rougher a time than Tyra Banks and the judges already have. But when Kimberly Leemans was eliminated last week after talking smack about poor, defenseless Heather, I was ready to rumble. Then the bright-eyed sweetheart from small-town Ocala, Florida, actually got on the phone with me, and poof! All my animosity disappeared. Turns out she isn't at all the wannabe I most wanna rake over the coals — she's the girl I'd invite first to any cocktail party: smart and sincere and funny as all get-out. And if Heather's down with her, by god so am I. TVGuide.com: First things first: the

Wed, Oct 10, 2007

Tyra to Mila: You're America's Next Stopped Model

Going into America's Next Top Model, Mila Bouzinova thought she had it all. She was pretty, poised and had an attitude we'd all do well to adopt: If you focus on the positive, the negative just fades away. Unfortunately for her, the judges read her sunny disposition as vacuous, she lost it while playing a chemo patient in a before-and-after photo, and Tyra Banks' criticism... that's a negative that no motto can diminish. Smarting for the 20-year-old Bostonian, TVGuide.com rang her up to feel her out. TVGuide.com: Gotta tell you, I really like your motto.Mila Bouzinova: Thank you! It comes in handy! TVGuide.com: Was it hard to keep it in mind when you became the first girl cut from Cycle 9?Mila: I don't think so. I focus on the positive and on my strengths versus focusing on, "Oh, that's so nuts that I

Wed, Oct 3, 2007

Tyra to Mila: You're America's Next Stopped Model

Who'll Come Out on Top on Next Top Model No. 9?

Maybe it's because I still go on and on about how Cycle 1's Elyse was robbed. Or maybe it's because I can point to at least half a dozen photos that were worse than the Pisces shot of Cycle 4's Lluvy, which was dubbed "Worst Picture Ever." Or maybe it's because I turn red with outrage over the way Tyra Banks told contestants out of one side of her mouth to be proud of what makes them unique, then out the other, warned Cycle 6's Danielle to fix the beloved gap between her front teeth or else. But for some reason — pick whichever one you prefer — I've come to be thought of as something of an expert on America's Next Top Model. As such, I guess I am as qualified as anyone, and perhaps more qualified than most, to weed out from Cycle 9's raw recruits the five who have the best chance of going all the way. Herewith, my picks: Li

Wed, Sep 26, 2007

Who'll Come Out on Top on Next Top Model No. 9?

American Idol's Sad Story Has a Happy Ending

At this point, you may not be able to tell Chris Richardson from Chris Rock, but chances are, you still vividly remember American Idol 6's Sarah Burgess — and she didn't even make the top 20. As soon as she'd tearfully told Ryan Seacrest that she'd lied to her disapproving dad in order to get away long enough to audition, the vocal powerhouse had every teenager who'd ever rebelled in her corner. And now they really have a reason to cheer her on: Although she was cut just shy of the top 20 finalists, she's landed herself a record deal, and this week she's released her first single, a so-catchy-it-oughta-be-criminal R

Thu, Sep 20, 2007

American Idol's Sad Story Has a Happy Ending

Pin-up Ghoul Elvira Wants Clones Busting Out Everywhere!

Inconceivable as it is, given her larger-than-life... um, presence, there just isn't enough of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, to go around. So Cassandra Peterson, who's filled the übervamp's, um, pumps for more than 25 years, has finally hung out the "Help Wanted" sign. This Friday (the 13th, natch) at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, she is holding an open "casket call" as part of her upcoming Fox Reality series The Search for the Next Elvira (which debuts Oct.13). Is this the stuff that Peterson's "unpleasant dreams" are made of? To find out, TVGuide.com simply punched in her figures... er, digits.TVGuide.com: Please, in the name

Tue, Jul 10, 2007

Pin-up Ghoul Elvira Wants Clones Busting Out Everywhere!

Top Model Runner-up Natasha Denies Faking It

Watching America's Next Top Model this season, I often wanted to dislike judges' darling Natasha Galkina as much as her backstabbing rivals did. It wasn't just that her photos were sometimes lacking. (Tyra called Cycle 4's Lluvy's Pisces pic the worst ever, and I loved her.) And it wasn't just that right off the bat she clashed with my personal favorite, Renee. (In the end, even I had to admit that my girl was as nasty as she was hot — and that was before she stood me up for our Monday interview). No, embarrassed as I am to admit it, I think I had a hate-on for the most desirable Russian import since vodka because

Tue, May 22, 2007

Top Model Runner-up Natasha Denies Faking It

Top Model's Dionne: "A Lack of Communication Did Me In"

You had to feel for America's Next Top Model contestant Dionne Walters. First Tyra Banks and her prickly panel of judges didn't like the way the 20-year-old Alabaman dressed. Then they didn't like the way she posed. Then, finally, since they didn't even like the way she smiled, they gave her a reason to frown: They booted her... in favor of bizarre, bubble-headed Natasha, no less. Still, the single mom sees the constant criticism she received almost as a compliment — and not in an "I don't understand what you mean, so I'm just going to smile and nod" Natasha kind of way, either. Here, she explains her reasoning to TVGuide.com.TVGuide.com: Well, I gotta tell you, I lost 20 bucks last night. I had

Wed, May 16, 2007

Top Model's Dionne: "A Lack of Communication Did Me In"

Next Top Model's Brittany: "Tyra Doesn't Want a Model"

Were America's Next Top Model strictly a modeling competition, Brittany Hatch would certainly have walked away with the title this season — the girl didn't take a single dud photo. Unfortunately for her, ANTM is about a whole lot more than walking in a straight line and making eye contact with a photographer; it's about letting Tyra Banks make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — and preferably crying a whole lot along the way. And while the 21-year-old Georgian was able to turn on the waterworks like nobody's business, she started out with too little room for improvement to suit journeywoman Tyra, so she had to go. As another competitor prepares to catwalk into oblivion tonight (at 8 pm/ET on the CW), TVGuide.com rang up "the Brittany," who's only sli

Wed, May 9, 2007

Next Top Model's Brittany: "Tyra Doesn't Want a Model"

Top Model Oddball Jael Returned to Home Planet

Whether you liked laughing with or at America's Next Top Model contestant Jael Strauss, I think we can all agree the show is going to be a lot less interesting now that the trippy hippie has been sent back to her home planet — Detroit. Whether the self-proclaimed spreader of light was vowing to protect the innocent from "the evil ducks of the universe," doffing her bra for a voluntary girl-on-girl photo shoot or delivering a David Lynchian monologue in her trademark marble-mouthed way, she was something else. Naturally, her reaction to her ouster was equally unique. So, as you brace yourself for tonight's episode (airing at 8 pm/ET on the CW), perhaps you'll enjoy spending a few more moments with the 22-year-old who remains weird beyond her years. TVGuide.com: Well, in all honesty, I'm not sure how I'm going to continue watching the show without you on it!Jael:

Wed, Apr 25, 2007

Top Model Oddball Jael Returned to Home Planet

Top Model Subtracts Its Last Plus-size Competitor

I should have known it was too good to be true — a plus-size gal winning America's Next Top Model? Couldn't happen. But darned if Whitney Cunningham didn't make me (and, I suspect, a whole lotta other people) believe that it could. A well-rounded beauty in every sense of the word, the eloquent 21-year-old recently spoke with TVGuide.com about fitting in, standing out and that off-the-cuff remark about giving up her dream. TVGuide.com: I was really rooting for you. It's rare to get a model on that show who is as well-spoken as she is beautiful. Whitney Cunningham: Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! TVGuide.com: Did you know going into panel

Wed, Apr 18, 2007

Top Model Subtracts Its Last Plus-size Competitor

Top Model's Sarah: "I Should Have Stopped Thinking!"

Don't hate booted America's Next Top Model contestant Sarah VonderHaar because she's beautiful. If you're going to hate her, do it because she's beautiful and enviably versatile. Not only is she pursuing careers as a covergirl and a photographer, she's also on the verge of pop-rock stardom. For the skinny, TVGuide.com gave her a call before tonight's episode (airing at 8 pm/ET on the CW). TVGuide.com: When you were next to Whitney in the bottom two, you looked pretty sure you were going home. Is that because you thought they wouldn't get rid of the two plus-size models back-to-back?Sarah VonderHaar: Yeah, kind of. How bad would that look? But I thought it was my time. You kind of know. I'd had an

Wed, Apr 11, 2007

Top Model's Sarah: "I Should Have Stopped Thinking!"

Top Model Subtracts Plus-size Stunner Without Just 'Cause

I knew it was too good to last. America's Next Top Model finally had not one but two real women among its walking hangers, and on top of that they were both articulate and self-aware. So of course, according to the laws of reality television, one of them had to go. Unfortunately for Diana Zalewski, she was the one. But though she's out, don't call her down. If anything, the savvy 21-year-old Jersey girl is way more charming than she even got a chance to be on screen. While you butter your popcorn before tonight's episode (airing at 8 pm/ET on the CW), listen in as I check up on the latest knockout to be KO'd by Tyra Banks.TVGuide.com: I hate to ask this, but I kinda have to: After you were eliminated, how many times have you gone back to that moment when M

Wed, Apr 4, 2007

Top Model Subtracts Plus-size Stunner Without Just 'Cause

Why Did America's Next Top Model Drop "Baby Tyra"?

It seems awfully early in this cycle of the CW's America's Next Top Model (Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET) for the head-scratching to begin, but I suspect I'm not the only one mystified by last week's elimination of Felicia Provost, the 19-year-old Texan whose resemblance to the show's host got her dubbed "Baby Tyra" by her fellow contestants. While even Felicia admits that her "fashion victim" photo was DOA, her other photos were, well, killer. She has the look, she has the moves, she has the personality, and yet she was sent packin'. What's up with that? TVGuide.com rang Felicia just as this week's episode was getting ready to roll.TVGuide.com: So, Felicia, I'm floored. Looking like you look, modeling like you look, I can't believe you're gone.Felicia Provost: Oh, man, that is, like, the quote of the day! I can't believe it, ei

Wed, Mar 28, 2007

Why Did America's Next Top Model Drop "Baby Tyra"?

Next Top Model: Who Will Catwalk Away with the Title?

After watching America's Next Top Model (Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET, on the CW) for nearly 10 cycles, I can spot a winner a catwalk away. Why, just last year in this very column, I singled out eventual victor CariDee English as one to watch. So who are this season's beauties to beat? Read on and see if you agree with my picks! SarahWorking for her: Besides being cute as a button, she's done her homework. Remember how in the boot-camp challenge she was the only gal who could identify Richard Avedon? (He's a photographer: What? You forgot already?) Plus, she has extensive modeling experience already. Working against her: At lea

Wed, Mar 7, 2007

Next Top Model: Who Will Catwalk Away with the Title?

Next Top Model: Now Eugena Comes Out of Her Shell?!

Given the weird season that Tyra Banks had on America's Next Top Model, the last thing I want to do is sound anything like her. But after speaking with Eugena Washington, the third-place finisher in this cycle's contest, I can't help it: Just like Miss Tyra so often did, I have to ask, "Where has this girl been?!" In her audition, the 21-year-old declared herself a bitch and said she'd been bored by her predecessors. It wasn't a pleasant opening, but it got our attention. But as soon as she moved into the House of Tyra, she faded into the woodwork — worst of all, she did it in her photos. Although Tyra kept citing her potential as a reason to keep her around, the California cutie didn't even display any passion when asked if she wanted to model. (It was mor

Wed, Dec 13, 2006

Next Top Model: Now Eugena Comes Out of Her Shell?!

Next Top Model's Melrose: I'm Not Bad, Just Edited That Way

Over the course of this cycle of America's Next Top Model, Melrose Bickerstaff was called every name in the book, and right now, I'm going to call her another one: misunderstood. Sure, the 23-year-old (or, in modeling terms, "Jurassic") San Franciscan is intense and may be a little lacking in the tact department, but she was hardly the villainess whom she was purported to be. A fierce competitor? Yes, absolutely. Driven to the extreme? Yup, that, too. (But Cycle 3 champ "Eva the Diva" Marcille had a much wider mean streak.) As I conducted TVGuide.com's farewell Q&A with Melrose, I couldn't help but feel kind of bad for her. She gave it her all, and all she got was this mere interview, no One Tree Hill gig. The least you can do is read it. (Thanks.) TVGuide.com: Th

Wed, Dec 13, 2006

Next Top Model's Melrose: I'm Not Bad, Just Edited That Way

Next Top Model Champ CariDee Shares Her Blonde Ambitions

Hotter than a summer sidewalk and as bubbly as a bottle of champagne, CariDee English had to win America's Next Top Model — she just had to. Which meant, of course, that we were sure she wouldn't. Face it: Tyra Banks and her panel of judges made a lot of weird decisions this year. (Dumping both twins pre-final three? Keeping Melrose and Eugena?) Thank goodness she got her head out of her butt before making us sit through "My Life as a CoverGirl" segments with another shrill zombie like Cycle 5's Nicole. Twenty-one-year-old Fargo native CariDee is someone whose life we'll actually want updates on. And, as luck would have it, we have one for you now, in the form of her first official TVGuide.com Q&A.TVGuide.com: Just so you know,

Tue, Dec 12, 2006

Next Top Model Champ CariDee Shares Her Blonde Ambitions

America's Next Top Model: Amanda Matches Her Twin's Fate

What the... ?! Two weeks ago on the CW's America's Next Top Model, Miss Tyra gave an impassioned speech about why she was dumping brilliant-but-dispassionate Michelle in favor of her twin sister, Amanda Babin, who talked the talk but too often tripped herself up when she tried to walk the walk. The formula the head judge was using was clearly "(desire + the look) > (talent + the look)." Then last week, she went and dropped Amanda, too — and in favor of whom? Melrose, who rubs everyone, including the panel, the wrong way? Eugena, who has taken, what, one decent photo (and gives off about as much personality as a rhubarb)? CariDee? Well, OK, I would've dumped Amanda for kooky, charismatic CariDee, but still, I'm flummoxed. As we wait for my girl, CD, to be

Wed, Dec 6, 2006

America's Next Top Model: Amanda Matches Her Twin's Fate

America's Next Top Model: Why Was Twin Michelle Singled Out?

We still can't believe that America's Next Top Model eliminated Amanda Babin. Her pictures were pretty good, and gosh darn it, she just wanted it so badly. What were the judges think—    Wait, what's that you say? Amanda didn't get cut, it was her twin sister, Michelle? Oh. Um... in that case, I still can't believe that America's Next Top Model eliminated Michelle Babin. Her pictures were freakin' awesome — so much so that it shouldn't matter whether she was as desperate as the other girls to win the title. But seriously, folks, now that our double vision has been cured, let's focus on one sibling — Michelle — until we find out how the other fares in tonight's episode (airing at 8 pm/ET, on the CW). TVGuide.com: Were you surprised that you were eliminated?Michelle Babin: Going into panel, I didn't think

Wed, Nov 29, 2006

America's Next Top Model: Why Was Twin Michelle Singled Out?

America's Next Top Model: Hair-Obsessed Jaeda Is Finally Snipped

Usually, when I sit down to prepare for a Q&A with an eliminated player from America's Next Top Model, I look forward to finding much dirt to dish. But this week, when I tried to think up questions for Jaeda Young, they all revolved around the same boring topic — her hair. And why wouldn't they? From the moment Tyra Banks gave her that (very chic, I might add) Halle Berry makeover, that's all the 18-year-old Iowan talked about. And cried about. And whined about. And then talked about, cried about and whined about some more. "Enough already!" I finally wanted to say. It turns out, I wasn't alone. Here, to whet your appetite for tonight's episode (8pm/ET on the CW), the self-defeating stunner admits that she worked her own last nerve, to

Wed, Nov 22, 2006

America's Next Top Model: Hair-Obsessed Jaeda Is Finally Snipped

America's Next Top Model: Anchal Plays the Blame Game

Raise your hand if you "got" Anchal Joseph. Both of you? Huh. Interesting. I never did. The America's Next Top Model wannabe seemed to me to be a walking contradiction. Consider: 1) She was a swan-and-a-half but carried herself like the ugliest of ducklings; 2) she was completely uncomfortable in her curvaceous skin, yet she signed up for a modeling competition; and 3) despite her theoretical willingness to take part in said modeling competition, she wussed out on every other challenge. All together now: Huh?! Before tonight's episode (8 pm/ET, on the CW), TVGuide.com rang up the exotic and oh-so-mysterious beauty to try to talk some sense into her. Er, that is, make some sense of her. Read below to see whether the attempt was a success. TVGuide.com: Was it my imagination, or were you more relieved than disappointed when y

Wed, Nov 15, 2006

America's Next Top Model: Anchal Plays the Blame Game