Snap Judgements: A Model Life

So Petra Nemcova's hosting a new show on TLC. The premise? She mentors young models who have the opportunity to win a modeling contract and get a foot hold in the industry. Sound familiar? Yeah, I'm hoping Tyra invites her to come on her talk show, where she'll go all Naomi Campbell and make that whole Tsunami thing seem like a picnic. That said, Petra's show (for better and worse) seems a lot more realistic, which makes for compelling TV.

British beauty Abigail is one of my favorites so far. Mostly because she doesn't seem like a bitch. The modeling agents aren't sure if she's a model or just a 16 year old kid. I was impressed when she shyly admitted that music's her passion and that she plays clarinet, saxophone, flugelhorn, and piano. That's so adorable.

Angelika's a douchebag. A California girl who doesn't really want to model, just make a "difference," she equates depth with dressing like a hobo and being rude and distant. My favorite moment? When a friendly makeup artist asked who her favorite models were and her response, dripping with disdain was "It's more about who my favorite PEOPLE are."

Beatrice is Brazilian and kind of dumb. At first I thought it was a lost in translation thing, but now I'm thinking it's an "I dropped out of school at 14 to model" thing. The most real moment of the episode came when she was told by one of the agents that she was too heavy to do an upcoming show and she'd need to lose weight. Instead of crying and talking about how unfair that was Top Model-style, she nodded and said "In the hips? Okay." Wow. On so many levels.

Lucia's Slovakian and I kind of love her. She's giggly and fun and has big blue eyes. She's quite friendly and her perfect English is a result of wanting so badly to make it as a model. As a person who flubbed college French, I have to give her props on that one.

Michelle’s one of those totally awkward weird models. When she arrived in New York, her hair was BAD. Apparently it’s very curly and she’s had two not-so successful straightening perms. Issues with curly hair? I feel ya, girl, but that short cut? Yikes. The agents try to fix it, but just make her look more alien, which could just be her thing. She kind of reminds me of early Twiggy.

Aussie Valeria’s favorite actor is Seann William Scott. If I didn’t love her before that admission, I do now. She’s the prettiest without makeup, very fresh and sweet, but in their first photo shoot, she was quite bland. I'm still rooting for her, cause damned if I don't love an underdog.

Will I watch A Model Life next week? Maybe if I have another sad Friday night of watching What Not to Wear and catching whatever's on afterward. If not, I'll probably end up spending a future Sunday being sucked into one of those marathons that make the world stop and to-do lists disappear. Hmmm. Marathons...