ANTM cycle 17: Episode 1 recap - Examiner

Americas Top Model is back with a new season. This year, it's All-Stars. From past seasons, host Tyra Banks and fans have selected favorites they want to come back and have a second chance at being America's Next Top Model.

The contestants list follows with the season they were from.

• Shannon Stewart, runner-up (Cycle 1)
• Camille McDonald, 5th place (Cycle 2)
• Brittany Brower, 4th place (Cycle 4)
• Lisa D'Amato, 6th place (Cycle 5)
• Brittany "Bre" Scullark, 3rd place (Cycle 5)
• Bianca Golden, 4th place (Cycle 9)
• Dominique Reighard,4th place (Cycle 10)
• Isis King, 10th place (Cycle 11)
• Sheena Sakai, 6th place (Cycle 11)
• Allison Harvard, runner-up (Cycle 12)
• Laura Kirkpatrick, runner-up (Cycle 13)
• Angelea Preston, 3rd place (Cycle 14)
• Kayla Ferrel, 3rd place (Cycle 15)
• Alexandria Everett, 4th place (Cycle 16)

Some of these contestants I remember; others I have no recollection of at all.

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The show opens with Tyra in bed 'dreaming' about past contestants wanting to be All-Stars. As regular viewers of the program know, this show is less about the models and all about Tyra. To prove this point, in her dream, Tyra appears as the past contestants giving her a chance to play the ham.

Tyra announces to the audience that she's not just looking for America's Next Top Model but someone who has the potential to be a star. She also is having live judging ceremonies and bringing in 'celebrity mentors'. And from the previews of upcoming episodes, it will be a very Tyra-centric season.

The girls start to come into the house, and the viewers get to see some of the work the girls have been doing since their show. Of course, the drama starts early as the girls try to out attention-seek each other. Bianca and Bre are now roommates in Chicago, but Bre didn't tell Bianca she was going to be on the show so she's not happy. Brittany is back and still trying to be the party girl although she's obviously too old. The most interesting return is Isis who was a transgendered model during her season. Since her season, she's had her sexual reassignment surgery. Shannon from season one is back. She was notable in her season for refusing to take part in the nude shoot. Alexandria returns from last season to reinvent herself (she was a bit of a....let's say...a prickly personality). One thing is for sure. There will be drama as all of these girls are tried and true drama queens.

Mr. Jay pops in to welcome the girls and announces they're having their first photo shoot...now. Theh girls are supposed to by playing larger-than-life versions of the characters they were in their original seasons.

Considering most of these girls are working models, some of the girls seem pretty unprofessional. Shannon immediately creates drama by refusing to where the lace bottoms to her costume even though they look more like shorts. She opts instead for a very tiny bikini bottom that leaves little to the imagination. This feels like fake controversy to me since she's actually posing in a more revealing outfit by refusing to wear the bottoms.

After the shoot, Jay tells them that the panel will be live. The panel remains the same as the past several season - Tyra, photographer Nigel Barker (he looks much better with without hair) Andre Leon Talley. The guest judge this week is rapper Nicki Minaj. Miss Jay appears to be relegated to announcer.

The girls go through the judging cycle. Nicki proves to be a decent judge; she seems to know what she's talking about. The girls all get decent reactions. They call out Shannon about refusing to wear the costume and actually appearing in less. Alexandria gets booed and shouted at by the fans. I guess sometimes it doesn't pay to be the most recently remembered contestant.

The judges go to choose who's going home. Through deliberations, it's apparent that audience reaction is going to be a factor. All of the girls got some sort of response with the exception of Brittany. Tyra comes back out and announces who has top photo and who is going home.

• Top Photo: Isis
• #2 Allison
• #3 Camille
• #4 Lisa
• #5 Angelique
• #6 Laura
• #7 Bre
• #8 Bianca
• #9 Shannon
• #10 Dominique
• #11 Sheena
• #12 Kayla

The final two are Brittany and Alexandria. Both girls had weak photos. Brittany just has a hard look to her that I don't think would work well for modeling. Alexandria gets the last photo as her negative response was still a greater response than the indifference response Brittany had. Tyra tells Alexandra that she needs to try to win over some fans.

Previews for next week show more drama as someone requires a call to 911.

In Central Iowa, America's Next Top Model can be found on CW affiliate, KCWI-Channel 23. It airs at 8:00 pm CST on Wednesday nights.