Citytv Presents "Canada's Next Top Model" With Host Tricia Helfer - Premieres Wednesday, May 31st on Citytv
    Expert Panel of Judges Announced Includes "FT-FashionTelevision's"
    Jeanne Beker, Celebrity Hair and Makeup Stylist Paul Venoit and Model
    Stacey McKenzie
   
    The Winner Receives a Modeling Contract with Sutherland Models and a
    $100,000 Beauty Contract from Procter & Gamble, and will be Featured in
    Fashion Magazine
   
    Details at citytv.com

    TORONTO, March 7 /CNW/ - Citytv Presents "Canada's Next Top Model", CHUM
Television's exciting new Canadian reality series based on the successful
"America's Next Top Model" franchise and hosted by actor and former supermodel
Tricia Helfer. "Canada's Next Top Model" will premiere Wednesday, May 31st on
Citytv stations across Canada.

    The Broadcast Schedule is as follows:
    -------------------------------------

    Citytv Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary - 8:00pm ET/PT/MT
    Citytv Winnipeg - 7:00pm CT

    The show will repeat on A-Channel the following Tuesday at 8:00pm ET/PT,
beginning Tuesday, June 6th.

    After a tremendously successful recruitment process that resulted in over
1,300 applicants, 10 young women have been selected to compete for the title
of "Canada's Next Top Model". Who has what it takes to make it in the high-
stress, high-stakes world of modeling? The participants will compete under
intense pressure to master the skills essential in the world of professional
modeling ... all under the watchful eye of cameras that document their every
move. Each week, one cast member will be eliminated and the last model
standing will win the coveted title of "Canada's Next Top Model".
    Will they be able to stand the pressure and the intense scrutiny? How
intense will the competition get amongst the girls? You'll have to tune-in to
find out!
    Led by Tricia Helfer, the Expert Panel of Judges in the weekly evaluation
of top model participants will be "FT-FashionTelevision's" Jeanne Beker,
Celebrity Hair and Makeup Stylist Paul Venoit and model and runway coach
Stacey McKenzie. In addition, each episode will feature a special "guest
judge", an expert from the fashion industry, who will critique within their
particular area of expertise. Each week, these fashion industry insiders will
provide the frank and expert feedback that will send one model hopeful
packing!

    About the Judges:
    -----------------

    One of Citytv's best known personalities, Jeanne Beker is the
Host/Segment Producer of "FT-FashionTelevision". Now in its 20th season, "FT"
is Citytv's most widely syndicated show, with viewers across Canada and in
over 80 countries around the world. Jeanne is also the Editor-in-Chief for a
Canadian fashion magazine, a regular featured columnist with the Globe and
Mail and she writes a monthly style column for a monthly entertainment
magazine. She is the author of two books; The Big Night Out (2005), a book on
fashion for pre-teen girls and her autobiography, Jeanne Unbottled: Adventures
In High Style (2001). Over the course of her career, Jeanne has been
recognized by numerous organizations for her on-going community involvement
and influence in the fashion industry, including Fashion Group International
for her impact on the fashion industry and the Vantage Women of Originality
Award, awarded to women who are pioneers in their chosen field.
    Celebrity Hair and Make-up Stylist Paul Venoit has generated fashion
industry heat for 17 years, creating images with wit, glamour and style. With
a growing roster of film, music and fashion star clients, he is today's
ultimate style and beauty expert. Whether he's preparing Claudia Schiffer for
a film festival party, Kate Moss for an ad campaign, Tom Hanks to meet the
press, or the housewife in the audience for a makeover, he brings out the
individual's best, adding his own brand of beauty and style. Whatever the
desired image, Paul distills its essence and captures the magic for the stage,
screen, runway, page, event and street. A staple on the Canadian fashion
scene, Paul has amassed numerous credits, including the development and on-air
hosting of "MuchStyl'n" on MuchMusic, regular appearances on lifestyle
television, editorial work for top international magazines including British
Vogue, InStyle and GQ. His wit, style and sass as on air personality can be
seen on Star!'s "Look-a-like", where he regularly transforms people into a
well-known celebrity for the day.
    Kingston, Jamaica born Stacey McKenzie began her career in modeling while
in high school in Toronto. Being told she was "too distinctive" for the
Canadian market, she headed to New York and was quickly picked up by a model
management company. In 1995, she moved to Paris and in her first season worked
with top designers including Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler and Christian
Lacroix, before landing her first campaign for Benetton, with world-renown
photographer Olivier Tuscani. Soon in demand on the international stage,
working in Paris, London, Italy, Austria, US and Japan, Stacey has modeled for
Alexander McQueen, Betsey Johnson, Tommy Hilfiger, Todd Oldham, Michiko
Koshino and graced the covers of Essence, Le Monde and Panache, Vogue (US,
Japan, Korean, British, Spanish), Harper's Bazaar, Interview, Fashion and Vibe
magazines. She landed major campaigns for Calvin Klein CKbe, Jean Paul
Gaultier, Mexx, Reebok, Todd Oldham Jeans, Nordstrom, Barneys and Banana
Republic. Stacey continues her career as a model and actor, while teaching
runway, a pursuit that lead to the development of her own company, Stacey
McKenzie's Walk This Way.
    The winner gets a modeling contract with top agency, Sutherland Models.
They'll be featured in an editorial spread in Fashion Magazine. And Canada's
Next Top Model walks away with a $100,000 beauty contract from Procter &
Gamble.
    "Canada's Next Top Model" is co-produced by Temple Street Productions and
The May Street Group, in association with CHUM Television and CBS Paramount
International TV.
    For more information on "Canada's Next Top Model", please log on to
citytv.com.

Well, I guess it depends if you mean a model that only works in Canada or Canadian models who are "Top Models"--if it's the latter, then there are plenty. We seem to be a breeding ground for famous, successful models such as Daria Werbowy, Jessica Stam, Lisa Cant etc.

Occupation: Background Performer in Film and Television

Occupation: Background Performer in Film and Television
This is an actual occupation?

Occupation: Background Performer in Film and Television
This is an actual occupation?

DMSbornakNo Quebec girls?

Yes it indeed is. More commonly known as Extras.

And ... the one who wins is someone who should win.

They should've picked Shalom Harlow to host it; or better yet, Linda Evangelista.

Vancouver? No offence to any people from B.C., but Vancouver is a fashion wasteland. As far
as being at the center of Canadian high fashion, Toronto's where it's at.

eta-I forgot to add that it is disappointing that the candidates are not representative of the diversity of the country (I'm not talking ethnicity, but rather location). Maybe other seasons (if it makes it) will feature girls from Inuvik or Nunavut, Labrador, PEI, Quebec, small town prairie girls, etc.

I cannot stand Jeanne Beker but I'm looking forward to the show regardless.

They should've picked Shalom Harlow to host it; or better yet, Linda Evangelista.

beker's bombastic style and her constant ass-kissing of designers.

btw, did anyone happen to catch the episode where beker smacks down an insolent fashion newbie who conned her way into a show's backstage using beker and her program's name? she had the audacity to tell beker she's too old for the game and should quit! pure gold! that's exactly when i fell in love with jeanne beker.

In a nutshell why I find Beker grating. My friends and I call her the gush-gush lady.

Maybe they just didn't know about it. If there is a second season, I bet girls will be crawling out of the woodwork to get on the show.

This is an actual occupation?

Personally, I think it was a concession they made to Tricia; in order for her to continue filming "Battlestar Galactica", while hosting "CNTM" at the same time.

Victoria's reality secret
Models keep low profile shooting TV series TV PREVIEW

It was an order as tall as a supermodel in stilettos. . ..The mission: Shoot an entire season of Canada's Next Top Model, CHUM Television's new reality series featuring 10 hottie hopefuls, in less than a month at the end of one of the worst winters on record in Victoria.

Tougher still, the show's contestants couldn't attract attention or shoot their mouths off about what they were up to.

That was the challenge facing the producers of Victoria's secret when the Canadian spinoff of America's Next Top Model rolled here in February.

Secrecy was essential to maintain the element of surprise in the eight-part series that premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on Citytv, but it wasn't an easy task, admits Marcia Martin, vice-president, production, for CHUM Television.

"With the onset of reality shows, confidentiality is a great part of making this successful," Martin says from her Toronto office. "It was the same with VJ Search. It's very important for business and the show's outcome."

Martin, whose network is co-producing with Toronto's Temple Street Productions and Victoria's May Street Group, says everyone from CHUM staffers to those in charge of closed captioning had to sign confidentiality agreements.

"We're in constant touch to make sure it doesn't get leaked," she says. "It's especially important when you have young girls not being able to say anything."

The Canuck version of the American reality TV hit hosted and created by Tyra Banks follows that show's template.

Hosted by Tricia Helfer, the Alberta-born supermodel-turned-actress (Battlestar Galactica), Canada's Next Top Model features 10 finalists who live together in a luxurious waterfront home in Brentwood Bay and learn such model behaviour as media manners, publicity skills, photo shoot essentials and how to glide gracefully down the catwalk without taking a header in ill-fitting high heels.

The Canadian beauties, aged 19 to 23, include a Calgary bartender, a New Westminster Internet fraud security expert, a Kelowna waitress and a Sherwood Park, Alta., Salvation Army supervisor.

Models will be eliminated one-by-one until judges determine who walks away with a $100,000 Procter and Gamble contract and a contract with Sutherland Models.

The judging panel includes Fashion Television's Jeanne Beker; hair and makeup stylist Paul Venoit; and runway coach Stacey McKenzie. The first of the surprise guests -- Toronto-born photo shoot stylist Jay Manuel -- appears on tonight's premiere.

Why was Canada's Next Top Model shot here rather than a couture capital like Montreal, or even Toronto?

Martin says it's because CHUM wants to diversify in different markets and work with producers they know.

"Not everything comes from the Toronto market," she says. "This was an opportunity to do something outside."

She says Victoria's proximity to fashion retailers in Vancouver complemented its obvious benefits.

"I think once you see the show you'll see what a great backdrop it is. It didn't represent a disadvantage."

Martin says they appreciated Victoria's photogenic locations but she lamented the lack of studio space.

They ended up filming inside a building that appears to have a temporary new life as a makeshift movie studio -- the vacant, high-ceilinged former Now Furniture store on Douglas Street.

The building's interior -- which also recently doubled as a police station for the made-for-TV thriller Scare Tactics -- was transformed into the glitzy soundstage where the models are judged.

Other locations featured include the Fairmont Empress, for runway sequences; and Carreiro The Studio, the Broad Street beauty salon where the models underwent their makeovers. Salon staff provided technical backup and handled colour applications as part of the makeover process.

"It was like a movie set. It was a lot of fun," said owner John Carreiro. "We were their support team."

Crews also spent a day in the 1912 James Bay building at the west end of Superior Street near Fisherman's Wharf that houses John Boehme's art and antiques gallery and daughter Lisa's eclectic, bohemian chic Superior Cafe.

The producers were looking for "a Gothic interior," said Boehme, who rented a portion of his gallery furnished with Florentine and Flemish antiques, paintings and furnishings acquired from an 18th-century Italian palazzo.

"It was pretty fabulous-looking," said Boehme, noting the work of the show's set decorators.

Martin says another of the show's assets is having a host as radiant and likable as Helfer. "She's such a natural. We did a photo shoot at the beginning of the season, and she showed there's such a difference between being a model and a supermodel. She comes alive, and she's just beautiful, but you can't be a model forever."

While Helfer is now best known for playing Six on Battlestar Galactica, her availability for Canada's Next Top Model was fortuitous.

"It was the right time for her, and she can pull from her background as a model, which you need," says Martin. "But she has wonderful personality as well and she brings that out."

Helfer's fears that the contestants were so sweet and lovely they might not generate drama proved unfounded.

"You don't know the dynamics of the girls until they unfold," Martin explains. "And they do, in front of your eyes. The dynamics develop as the personalities come out. There's drama, tears, laughter. You'll get hooked. You want the emotion."

With the gruelling shoot behind them, the models have returned to their normal lives, but that's about to change.

Martin says: "Once the show launches, the public is going to know who these girls are. It will be tough for them."

The first of the surprise guests -- Toronto-born photo shoot stylist Jay Manuel -- appears on tonight's premiere.