The divas emerged on Feb. 7 and 8, when a fierce competition was set into motion as 23 young women auditioned to be part of “Campus’ Next Top Model.”
Although the audition was made for both sexes, only young ladies came to the auditions. Each contestant came to face off and prove their eligibility as a model to a mock panel of judges, inspired by Tyra Banks’ reality-show competition, “America’s Next Top Model.”
The auditions, which lasted two days, consisted of a cast of nine judges who are all Resident Assistants on the Queens campus. For Day One, the judges were seniors Jennifer Daniel and Thurmeka Ward, sophomore Allison McClain and junior Joshua Swann. Day Two’s judges were seniors Kyle Ishmael and Christine Mathew and juniors Maudel Ramos, James Frier and Vanessa DuPoux.
The auditions consisted of an interview by the judges, followed by a chance for the contestants to showcase their best strut down the catwalk, portraying the qualities they exposed in the interview. Directors of the competition, juniors Faith Lawson and Joshua Swann, were contestants that exuded confidence and determination.
“We envisioned a well rounded finalist who possessed unique personality, spunk, class and model potential,” said co-director Lawson. “We were looking for someone who already knew they were ‘Campus’ Next Top Model’ and was here to let us and all of campus know so. We were looking for someone who would ‘bring it.’ We were looking for someone who could walk that walk, flip that hair, sway those hips.”
“There are a number of fashion shows on campus and we wanted to add competition to that fashion flare,” Lawson added. “There are many people on campus who think they have model potential or fashion sense and we wanted to put them to the test.”
Swann was inspired to make this competition a campus-wide program after having conversations with his residents about the fall 2006 “Century Hall’s Next Top Model,” introduced by its Resident Assistants Ward and Jeanette Awai.
The young ladies who tried out came to the audition with the same ambition: to introduce themselves to the St. John’s community in hopes to compete for the title of spokesperson for the student body.
“Students should want to be [the] face of St. John’s University because it is a great opportunity for them to represent the student body in a positive light,” said Lawson.
The 10 finalists will each compete for the opportunity to have a photo shoot with Glamour Shots, shot by photographer Robert Alexander. Other prizes include the chance to win a $100 gift certificate to MAC makeup, the chance to model clothes created by designer Sailey Williams, and a feature story in The Torch. The show premieres in Montgoris Dining Hall on Wed. Feb. 21, doors open at 9 p.m.
