Naomi Campbell is the latest big name from the modelling world to try her hand at reality TV, launching Sky Living's latest attempt at a 'Supermodel X Factor'.Model reality shows in the UK have a patchy record and that's probably putting it politely. They can never truly compete with their US counterparts when it comes to hideously mean judges, catty contestants and ludicrous melodrama over having to get your hair cut a couple of inches shorter.
Sky Living's signing of Campbell, modelling's most notorious and intriguing character, is probably the last roll of the dice for the format. If Campbell can't make a show about models interesting then I seriously doubt anybody can.
There are some promising early signs that The Face can be more than Next Top Model-lite.
Firstly, its format takes on the classic Voice twist and encourages the judges - Campbell, Erin O'Connor and Caroline Winberg - to fight it out for the girls they want on their team. This spices up the usual judges' chit chat about the girls' looks, which is frankly a bit tedious, and turns the show into a much more entertaining bragging competition between the three super-cocky mentors.
Secondly, it's quickly realised that having beautiful girls taking part is only half the deal with a TV show. They've also included some hideous individuals (think Katie Waissel to the power of Jedward and you'll have the irritation levels of one of the aspiring models) who will make hate-watching every week incredibly easy.
The biggest stumbling block for any TV show about modelling is the puzzle of taking the job - standing, walking, pouting - and making it something that viewers will give a flying one about.
Watching a gaggle of wannabe models bitch and moan for 10 weeks provides a relative amount of amusement, but The Face will need to find a way to spruce up the stereotypical model show challenges.
Take your make-up off and have a photo. Take your clothes off and pose. Have a picture with an animal. And repeat.
If The Face can't figure out a way of dealing with that problem then it will require more than a bit of 'mad Naomi' to save it from the telly trash can.
Naomi Campbell, Erin O’Connor and Caroline Winberg form an elegant triumvirate of judges-come-mentors in ‘The Face’, Sky Living’s new modelling reality series. This opening episode pitches us straight into the eliminations. There are no car-crash TV auditions to sit through in this new breed of streamlined reality – we don’t have time to get to know these contestants!
Twenty-four gazelle-like girls are picked in advance of the programme, reduced to 12 by the end of the show. Similar to BBC1’s ‘The Voice’, in that Campbell, O’Connor and Winberg may choose the girl they want for their team, but the final decision is taken by the contestants themselves: the faux fur will surely fly at some point.
This is clearly Naomi Campbell’s showcase but, refreshingly, she seems to have no desire to turn into the sanguine Tyra Banks of ‘America’s Next Top Model’. Her catwalk demonstration is the highlight of the show and proves why, at 43, she still doesn’t need to get out of bed for just anything.
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