DANCING WITH THE STARS : NYLE DIMARCO WINS THE MIRROR BALL TROPHY

America's Next Top Model winner Nyle DiMarco added another champion trophy on his resume. He has won the 22nd season of Dancing with the Stars and got the much coveted mirror ball trophy.

Nyle is partnered with professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd. This is Peta's 2nd win, after winning with NFL player Donald Driver in the show's season 14.

As we all know, Nyle is deaf and cannot hear the music, making it doubly hard to memorize the steps and the dance. Despite this, Nyle and Peta had performed several unforgettable routines this season. The most notable one was their Argentine Tango routine in week 9 (semi-finals) where Nyle danced some of the parts blindfolded.

The pair actually started shaky at the finale, getting a 27 in their quickstep routine, the lowest amongst the 3 first dances:

They got their groove back in the 2nd dance, scoring a perfect 30 in their lyrical freestyle dance which revolved around the struggle of being deaf.

Their last dance was also a perfect 30, with their fusion of tango and cha cha cha.

In the end, the pair beat the pairs of Broadcast meteorologist Ginger Zee and Val Chmerkovskiy and UFC fighter Paige Van Zant and Mark Ballas.

Here is their winning moment from the show's YouTube channel:

THE FIRST MALE WINNER OF AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL IS...

After 21 cycles, America's Next Top Model finally named it's first male winner. The lucky male model is Keith Carlos, a 26 year old model and former professional football player from Connecticut. Keith bested 13 other aspiring models this cycle.

Also for the first time in its history, the final 3 models are all male. Runner up spot went to Will Jardell from Texas and 3rd place went to Adam Smith, a fratboy grad school student from Tennessee.

Fourth place went to Lenox Tillman, who was eliminated before the final runway show. She is the best placed female this cycle.

ANTM allowed male models to compete in Cycle 20 where 2 male models made it to the top 3 but a female, Jourdan Miller won.

But what also struck me is still the strong Philippine connection of ANTM. In the past few cycles, Filipinos were given exposure in previous cycles. These includes Filipino designers Francis Libiran (Hello Kitty chellenge in Cycle 18) and Michael Cinco (Final Runway Show in Cycle 17 - All Stars). Georgina Wilson and the Filipino brand Bench also made its appearance in Cycle 17 in the Greece swimwear photoshoot.

In this episode, ANTM alumna Allison Harvard (Cycle 12 and 17 All Stars) was a guest in the Tyra make up commercial shoot. Harvard has moved to the Philippines to pursue her modelling career here. Her ads with the local clothing store Bench was also shown. Also in the episode is K-Pop group 2NE1, where Star Circle Quest alumna Sandara Park is a member.

Image is a screencap from the finale episode, copyright is still with the owner.

america's next top model cycle 17 cast revealed

the cast of cycle 17 of america's next top model has already been revealed. this season will be an all star season, where former contestants will return will again return and compete for the title. all the contestants did not win in their respective seasons and will be given a chance to win the title this cycle.

the returnees are:

from cycle 1: shannon ratliff (2nd place)

from cycle 2: camille mcdonald (5th place)

from cycle 4: britanny brower (4th place)

from cycle 5: lisa d'amatto (6th place) and brittany scullark (3rd place)

from cycle 9: bianca golden (4th place)

from cycle 10: dominique reighard (4th place)

from cycle 11: isis king (10th place) and sheena sakai (6th place)

from cycle 12: allison harvard (2nd place)

from cycle 13: laura kirkpatrick (2nd place)

from cycle 14: angelea preston (3rd place)

from cycle 15: kayla ferrell (3rd place)

from cycle 16: alexandria everett (4th place)

the judges will still be tyra banks, nigel barker and andre leon talley. the cycle will start on september 14, 2011.

source:

http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/entertainment/blog/2011/05/Americas-Next-Top-Model-All-Stars-The-Cast-Revealed/