My ANTM Casting Experience Pt. I

Yes, you read right. I attended a casting for ANTM. Why, you ask? Well, here are a couple of reasons:

- While they are premiering cycle 12 this week on television, they are currently already casting for cycle 13 (yes, folks, in the TV world even “reality” is prerecorded). The twist with the cycle 13 casting is that ANTM is only looking for girls that are at or under 5’7”. That means cycle 13 is all about petite models!

- Because this has never happened before, I knew it was something that I at least wanted to experience. How often does Tyra take an interest in anyone that is under 5’7”?

- I figured I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

In the eligibility requirements it states that it’s okay if you have modeling experience but they prefer to not have contestants that have appeared in a national or international campaign within the past 5 years. I mostly model locally and the only mainstream thing I’ve done was being the “Beauty of the Week” in JET Magazine but that was back in 2004 and it wasn’t an ad campaign. So if you have experience, don’t worry, that doesn’t necessarily disqualify you from trying out. (You can even have agency or manager representation but if you make it onto the show, you have to be willing to terminate any and all contracts—no exceptions).

Even though I have advised girls in the past to reconsider or at least think deeply before turning to ANTM as a way to hopefully jump off their modeling career, I do believe in doing what you want and exploring such opportunities. I’ve never told someone to not do it. As for myself and pursuing ANTM, I’m fairly confident that I can avoid the pitfalls of reality TV and could come out of the experience fairly unscathed or without being negatively stereotyped. It’s mostly when it comes to people that have no experience whatsoever with modeling and TV that I get nervous in terms of them wanting to do reality television.

I have taken some video and pictures of my experience, which will come in the next post or two. I figure why not chronicle my experience in order to bring it to you, my readers?

If you’re interested in attending the open casting call for ANTM or want to mail your submission, I encourage you to read my eHow.com article that I wrote about How to Apply for America's Next Top Model. It lays out the steps pretty clearly so that you can have a successful audition.