''Top Model po-russki'' (''Топ-модель по-русски''; ) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show and the second Russian adaptation of

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15 and was the first Black A ...

' ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

'', after '' You are a Supermodel'', which aired from 2004 to 2007. The show saw a number of aspiring models competing against each other in a variety of challenges and photo shoots to win the title of the next Russian top model, along with lucrative modelling and cosmetic contracts among other prizes, in the hope of a successful career in the modeling industry. The series aired five seasons from 2011 until its conclusion in 2014.

History and background

In mid 2010,

Muz-TV Muz-TV (, from Музыкальное телевидение - Music Television) is a Russian music TV channel, broadcasting since 1996. It is largely modelled after western MTV and predates launching of MTV Russia in 1998. Muz-TV was founded by ...

published a press release announcing that it was working on producing a new Russian adaptation of the ''Top Model'' franchise. This followed the first, earlier adaptation of the show, which had been hosted by

Fyodor Bondarchuk Fyodor Sergeyevich Bondarchuk ( ; born 9 May 1967) is a Russian film director, actor, producer and TV host. He is also the founder of Art Pictures Studio, a production company. He specializes in action movies, war movies, and science fiction ...

. The first season of the show premiered in April of 2011, and saw seventeen contestants vying for the title. The winner of this first season was 21 year-old Mariya Lesovaya from

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

. The network aired two episodes of the show back to back each week, so that each season aired for an average of only about 6 to 8 weeks. The following three seasons of the show aired biannually into the end of 2012. After the conclusion of season three it was announced that the series would be switching channels from Muz-TV to Yu-TV in an effort to reach a higher share of female viewers. Both channels have since become a part of Russia's Media1 group of companies. The move also came along with an increased budget for the show's fourth season, which was filmed entirely in France, and featured a fully revamped panel of judges. Season four began airing in the fall of 2012 with single weekly episodes released over a period of twelve weeks. On November of that year, it was announced that the show would be cancelled following the season finale. The project was shelved for two years, until the show made a comeback with a fifth and final season in 2014. This final season of the show featured an international cast with contestants from around the world, including cross-overs with contestants Kristine Smirnova and Juste Juozapaityte from the

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...

and

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adaptations of the show, respectively. In addition to Lesovaya, the show produced four additional winners: Katya Bagrova, Tatyana Kozuto, Yulya Farkhutdinova, and Evgeniya Nekrasova. It also helped springboard the career of

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

Katya Grigoryeva, who signed with host Irina Shayk's agency The Lions Management shortly after her time on the show, leading to her debut at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

in 2014. The show maintained sponsorship deals with brands like Blend-A-Med,

Bruno Banani Bruno Banani is a German fashion company with headquarters in Chemnitz. On 11 March 2009, Bruno Banani launched a product range using the eco-friendly fiber Biophyl from Advansa with class 1 Oeko-tex standard rating. The marketing rights for t ...

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, Centro, ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', '' Glamour'',

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, Orsoten Slim,

s.Oliver s.Oliver, legally ''s.Oliver Bernd Freier GmbH & Co. KG'', is a German fashion company headquartered in Rottendorf that sells apparel, shoes, accessories, jewellery, fragrances and eyewear worldwide. History The company was founded in 1969 ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, and

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throughout the entirety of its run.

Judges

For the first three seasons the competition was hosted by

Ksenia Sobchak Ksenia Anatolyevna Sobchak (, ; born 5 November 1981) is a Russian public figure, TV anchor, journalist, socialite and actress who also holds Israeli citizenship. She is the younger daughter of the first democratically elected mayor of Saint P ...

. The judging panel of the first season were Sobchak, model

Inna Zobova Inna Zobova (Russian language, Russian: Инна Зобова; 1 October 1976) is a Russian actress, fashion model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Russia 1994. Pageantry In 1994 she went on to compete in the Miss Universe p ...

, fashion designer Elena Suprun and photographer Mikhail Korolev. For season two 2, Suprun and Korolev left the show and were replaced by model Danila Polyakov and stylist, fashion designer & TV presenter Vlad Lisovets. The entire panel was revamped after season three. Model

Irina Shayk Irina Valeryevna Shaykhlislamova (; ; born 6 January 1986), also known as Irina Shayk (), is a Russian fashion model. She received international recognition when she appeared as the first Russian model on the cover of the 2011 ''Sports Illust ...

took over the hosting duties. The other members of the judging panel were J. Alexander, Tess Feuilhade, and Vincent McDoom. None of them returned for the following season. For the fifth and final season, Lisovets and Sobchak returned to the show as judges. They were joined by new judge Denis Simachev. Model, actress, and TV presenter Natasha Stefanenko became the show's new host after Irina Shayk decided to step away from the program, citing discomfort over the role. Stefanenko had previously been the host of ''

Italia's Next Top Model ''Italia's Next Top Model'' (; abbreviated as ''INTM'') is an Italian reality television show hosted by Natasha Stefanenko and based on Tyra Banks' ''America's Next Top Model''. It is broadcast on SKY Uno, a channel of the Italian Pay Television ...

'' for the duration of its run from 2007 to 2011. In addition to the regular panel of judges the show also featured an additional guest judge each episode, periodically hosting guest appearances from the American adaptation of the show such as

Janice Dickinson Janice Doreen Dickinson (born February 16, 1955)As per Dickinson in NNDB aJanice Dickinson profilegives February 15, 1955, noting, "Although Dickinson has maintained in several interviews and her autobiography ''No Lifeguard on Duty'' that she ...

Jay Manuel Jay Manuel (born August 14, 1972) is a Canadian TV host, creative director, make-up artist, and author. He is most recognizable as the creative director on the popular reality television show ''America's Next Top Model'' for the first eighteen se ...

, Nigel Barker, and

Seasons

Notes

References

External links

Season 1-3 Official WebsiteSeason 4-5 Official Website
* {{Top Model Top Model series (Russia) 2011 Russian television series debuts 2012 Russian television series endings Russian television series based on American television series