Canada's Next Top Model

Toronto's Jay Manuel To Host Second Season Of Canada's Next Top Model Tuesday October 31, 2006 Jay Manuel, the Canadian photographer and celebrity makeup artist who shot to fame as the photo shoot director on America's Next Top Model, has returned home to host the second season of Canada's Next Top Model. The 34-year-old Toronto native takes over from Canadian supermodel Tricia Helfer, who hosted the first season but reportedly left to focus on her role on acclaimed sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica.

"I ran the fashion show club and we actually did the best kind of fashion shows at the time," Manuel says of his high school days at Scarborough's Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute.

"You know how all the high schools do them but they're just kind of rinky-dink? Well, ours was actually broadcast on Scarborough cable and the proceeds benefited the (Toronto) Hospital for Sick Children."

The platinum-haired Manuel, who was born in Illinois before moving to Toronto at age two, says he'll still be a part of the American show.

"I really wanted to kind of raise the production quality of the show," said Manuel, of the opportunity to host season two. He'll also executive produce the Canadian series, which like its American counterpart features modeling hopefuls competing for a contract.

Both versions air on Citytv and FT-Fashion Television host Jeanne Beker is reportedly set to return as a judge on the Canadian version.

The show was opened up to contestants Tuesday and applications are available by clicking here.

Whitby, Ont.'s Andrea Muizelaar won the first season. Season 2 will air in the spring of 2007.

I know this is Canada's first attempt at top model, but you would think after 6 seasons of ANTM they would have taken some notes. The first mistake they made was making Tricia Helfer the host. Yeah, she is gorgeous, but i had never even heard of her, when you think Canadian supermodel, you automatically think of Linda Evangelista. I heard she wasn't able to do it, so Tricia it is.

First off, the girls are just SO ordinary looking. I've seen much more prettier girls at the mall and at school. They also seem so disinterested in modeling, except for maybe one or two, the rest of them seem so unsure. The majority of them had no clue how to walk on a runway, or even take a decent photo.

The probably only exciting thing about the show is that Jay Manuel is in it, (photo shoot director from ANTM). He is Canadian, and you can tell by his facial expressions in the Canadian version, he must have been thinking "These girls really suck". I know they need a lot of practise and training, but the girls they picked are pretty awful. I would say the best picture of the bunch would be equivalent to the worst photo in the American version.

Other than that, the background music will put you to sleep, the house is nice, but they could have added some colours to it instead of just making the entire decorations made out of wood. And Tricia? My, my, she needs A LOT of work, she has to be the most dullest, boring-est host i'v e ever seen. Don't bother watching it!

Right now, as February 2009, I feel like America's Next Top Model is running out of ideas. I'm getting sick of fake Tyra Banks and mediocre elimination kicking off some good contestant. Usually, you don't have this on Canada's Next Top Model. I feel like the real modeling part of the show is way more serious. The judges are actually genuinely critical, and professional. I prefer much more Jay Manuel (He's so cute) because it seems like he cares more about the girls. If I stop comparing it to ANTM, CNTM brings a new fresh face of reality T.V. Yes there ARE cat fights, but the entertainment is not all about it. The photo shoots are so cool, the photographers are much more featured and the panel session shows much more natural talents! Way to go CNTM!

Canada's Next Top Model is an incredible useless show with zero entertainment value at all. At least America's Next Top Model has Tyra Banks who is a little bit interesting. The hosts on Canada's version of the show are just uninteresting and awful. The worst is "Next Top Model" Princess Extraordinaire Jay Manuel who is the most annoying idiot I've ever seen on TV. How does such an ugly, full of himself MAN get to be an "expert" on beauty? He is pointless and I want him off my TV. I watched two seasons to give this show enough of a chance and more but they always bump off the only models who have any real talent or potential and go with some REALLY questionable calls including the winners over all each year. Plus on top of that the show and the people on it don't have enough power in the industry to actually help the contestants make anything of their award anyway. What's the last time you saw them in a magazine, on the cover or even in an advertisement? Can you even remember more than two or three names? This show is pointless and needs to be put out of its misery.

I don't think you can all trash this show just yet. First of all, BC is beautiful, and you can bet that in coming episodes they will travel around to Toronto and Montreal, if not somewhere international. I love the fact that the girls are very Canadian. I agree that they could have taken some creative license in the format of the show and made it different than ANTM, but then again I always hated the repetitive scripted parts of ANTM as well.

So much incredible talent comes out of Canada (more than most people ever realize) and I love the fact that these girls are given a chance to make their mark here in Canada. We can only hope that it will help them having some faint memory of their roots when they get shipped off, trimmed down, and slammed into the little American Shoe Box with a pretty little red white and blue ribbon around it.