Hysteria free at X Top Model Search Malaysia
Some of the girls who went for the XTMS-M 2012 casting call.
BY STEVEN PATRICK
The hopefuls: 100 aspiring models. The stakes: a chance to be noticed, appear at Beijing Fashion Week, and follow a "top model" around New York or Paris.
That's what X Top Model Search Malaysia 2012 is offering its best hope. Ten girls will battle it out at XTMS-M on 8th September (venue to be confirmed).
Both the winner and runner-up will then join the XTMS Asia 2012 final in Macau that month, where they will compete with eight other girls from Hong Kong, China, Singapore and The Philippines.
The last girl standing gets an appearance at Beijing Fashion Week in October 2013 for three days, perhaps even on the runway, and she'll tag along for seven days with a yet-unnamed "top model" to experience the lifestyle in NYC or Paris.
She'll also get a three-year contract with an "international modelling agency" (also to be confirmed), and there's a cash-prize-and-sponsorship reward of US$20,000 (RM60,000).
Even if the girls don't get to numero uno, getting into the last 10 of XTMS-M has its benefits. They get a six-week course by a "foreign agency" that covers appearances, catwalk and photo shoot training.
With that in mind, 100-plus girls turned up at the XTMS-M cattle call after being selected from almost 400 online applications. Among them was Sharwita Wita, 23, who said the event was a stepping stone in her career and that it was unique for all the opportunities it offered.
Surprisingly, there were no tears of defeat nor cries of jubilation at the casting session a la American Idol. Like that talent show, those considered for the XTMS-M top 10 were given yellow cards. Watch three of them get through to the next round in the video below.
Those who didn't make the cut were given white cards. Those who got through displayed no hysterics while those who didn't took it in their stride. They didn't display any "I'm-great-it's-the-judges-who-suck" attitude. Watch some of the girls handle rejection in the video below.
"It might go either way but I'm trying to be positive," said high school student Louise Hyde. The 18-year-old said that XTMS-M was like nothing she had ever done before. Watch her video below and see if you recognise her from her TV commercial work.
Of the 100 chosen to show up, only 40 were shortlisted to move forward. The girls had to walk for the judges, first in casualwear and then swimwear, before the Q&A portion of the event. Watch Nurafiqah Eishaq deal with the runway in the video below.
The judges were model Natacha Meunier, Production D talent agency owner Daren Lee, Tangerine Models principal Faris Waris and Singaporean model Peter Toong. XTMS is supported by Tourism Malaysia, Hong Kong Tourism Board and Macau Tourism. Watch what Natacha had to say about XTMS in the video below.
XTMS-M invited Malaysian girls aged 18 to 27, with a minimum height of 170cm, to try out for the competition. To watch another video of the casting call, click on the link below.
Images: XTMS
Published: 24th July 2012
Comments (0)