Former ANTM Contestant Renee Alway In Standoff With SWAT Team

So, what do you do when you don't finish in first place on ANTM? You turn to a life of crime. Well, that is what Renee Alway has done anyway. She was on cycle 8 and finished third. I don't think I have watched since cycle 2. Nothing ever happens to the winners. They go all through this torture with Tyra Banks and having to be nice to her and nothing ever happens. The only one who has made anything of her life was Adrianne Curry and she has had to become a soft pron star preying on comic book nerds and reality show marriages to make a career. Renee was arrested a few weeks ago in Palm Springs after getting into a standoff with a SWAT team who came out when someone called in a report about a woman with a gun.

Renee had a gun and so much more. She was charged with burglary and possession of drugs and possession of forged bills and fraud and has her bail set at $150K. Earlier last month she had been charged with petty theft and fraud and possession of drugs. When she was arrested on June 28th, that was Renee's third arrest of the year, so congratulations to her on that. She is shooting for that celebrity record of six arrests in one year.

Funny story about Alway. She heard about audition for ANTM the day before it was held in Chicago. She had been in town to get married but went to the audition instead.

Raven-Symone Outed By National Enquirer

The National Enquirer has decided to go ahead and out Raven-Symone. It is not like she has necessarily been hiding what she does but she has always denied being a lesbian. Usually The Enquirer is more subtle about outing someone but they went full bore on this one. It makes me wonder if this is going to be a new policy of theirs. They say that Raven is gay and her girlfriend is AzMarie Livingston who you may remember from ANTM. Apparently the two live in Raven's place in New York. As you know, I am not a fan of outing and feel like it is a decision that each person needs to make individually and not have thrust on them by a tabloid.

I guess Raven's parents would not be happy if she came out as gay and I'm not sure why The Enquirer would bother to do this. It is not like Raven is huge. If you are going to out someone then go and out someone who would sell some editions. You know, someone big. A huge movie star.

ANTM Contestant Wins Miss California USA

Yesterday I wrote about the two openly gay women who were the first to compete for the title of Miss California USA. Neither of them won or even made it to the finals. That was not really a surprise. Although they are both attractive, these contests are all about putting in your dues for years and doing everything right rather than how you look. Anyway, the winner was Natalie Pack who was on America's Next Top Model in Season 12.

In her first lie as Miss California, Natalie says she does not do pageants and this was her first. Umm, what is ANTM? To me that is a nationally televised beauty pageant. She made it seem like she was all new to this and that she would prefer riding motorcycles and did this on a whim to find her feminine side. Well she managed to practice that shocked winning face that is lesson #1.

Jonny Fairplay Has Busy Week

Earlier this week, permanent reality contestant, Jonny Fairplay's wife, Michelle Deighton, who is also a reality star, filed for divorce. Now, it turns out that at some point earlier this month when Jonny was out of town, Michelle went by the family home to get her stuff. You know, things like her autographed picture of Tyra Banks and other stuff. Problem was that Jonny had changed the locks. Well, Jonny's grandmother, who really is not dead despite the hex Jonny put on her in Survivor showed up at the house, saw Michelle's car and blocked her in with her own car. Grandma then called the police. Michelle tried to get out of the driveway by repeatedly ramming her own car into grandma's car. When that did not work, Michelle ran away using her feet. Grandma has filed charges with the police.

Big Changes At ANTM

The good news is that America's Next Top Model is having its lowest ratings ever. Whoo hoo!! The bad news is that the CW has no other shows so Tyra will get to fix it and make it all better. How is she going to do that? Well according to The NY Daily News she is going to demote Miss J back to runway coach from judge. I guess Tyra threw him a bone by letting him come on her talk show and discuss his child and now he his being demoted and being replaced with Andre Leon Talley. Really? Yes, I know Andre (whenever I type or say the word Andre, I just think of Tim Gunn. Anyway.) Talley is a big name but dumping Miss J is a slap in the face. The biggest slap though will happen later. Kimora is going to be a new judge. She will replace all the celebrity judges who like to pretend they know everything. Kimora and Tyra barely can stand each other and when this ends badly and it will end badly there will be some great drama.

Natalie Pack Says Tyra Favors Black Models On ANTM

I don't watch America's Next Top Model. I think I may have seen one episode one time and it has been on for how long? Yeah, so not on my must see television. Therefore, I am coming into this post completely ignorant about how Tyra Banks acts or behaves towards anyone on the show. Natalie Pack I guess was the most recent model eliminated from the show and she says there was editing to make her look like a drama queen. Now that is a shocker huh? A reality show being edited to make people appear to be something they are not. Hey, that is the way reality shows work and I think most people are aware of that before they sign up. Characters need to be created to capture the attention of the audience and so people are put into roles whether they like it or not.

For her part, Natalie says it was shady. "They actually cut and pasted lines to make me sound like I was a spoiled brat because they were so desperate to make me look that way. I felt like they didn't have enough drama since Sandra left, so they chose me," she continues. "I was the lucky one who got chosen to be the drama show."

Natalie didn't stop there though. She said she was eliminated because Tyra has a soft side for Aminat and Teyona because they are black, and that is why she was eliminated rather than Aminat.

"Tyra definitely has a soft spot for Aminat and Teyona. I think she just loves [their] personalities. I feel like they're most relatable to Tyra, since Tyra was a black model struggling. I think she has a hidden emotional connection with the black girls, and I think that's where a lot of favoritism comes from. I'm not accusing her of it, but that's just my opinion."

Umm, your opinion is the same as accusing her of it. You did accuse her of it and it is kind of tough to take it back after you have said it. I haven't seen the show so I can't comment on whether what she says is true or not, but I know many of you have so, is she just a sore loser who went running off at the mouth or does she have a point?

One Year In Jail To Meet Tyra Banks

Most of the time when someone is arrested for stalking or doing some other scary thing towards an actor, they usually just plea bargain it down to no jail time and say stay the hell away from said actor and actress. At that point it is done and the stalker moves on to a new victim usually.

Every once in awhile though, the stalker wants to meet the celebrity they have been stalking and the only way to accomplish that is in a courtroom. The only way to get them in a courtroom is to not accept any of the plea deals, and thus have a trial.

Such is the case of Brady Green who, despite his name is not related to Seth Green, Brian Austin Green, or any of the Brady Bunch. Brady Green has been stalking Tyra Banks for a few months when he got arrested. He had the usual assortment of magazine cutouts he carried of her. Oh, and he went to LA and NYC to try and see her. Oh, and of course there were the flowers and things like that. When he was arrested he told the cops that he was being tracked by satellites at all times.

Yeah, it is kind of like that. Anyway, the prosecutors kept trying to get him to take all these plea deals and he kept saying no. So, today is his trial and Tyra Banks will be there. This will be his chance to meet her, and if he is convicted, he could be spending the next year in jail looking at lots of inmates trying to look just like her. She is a her right? Someone has established that conclusively?

Want Acting Advice? Call Clay Aiken

I just realized this is my second post involving some byproduct of American Idol. I guess that means Carrie Underwood is safe for today, and I wouldn't think Sanjaya would be showing up in Random Photos. Anyway, on America's Next Top Model tonight, Clay Aiken is a guest. Tyra Banks invited him on for this season's acting challenge. Apparently once a year the hopeful models have to show they are as good, if not better than Cindy Crawford in Fair Game.

So, for this year, Tyra decided that Clay Aiken would be the best choice to perform a scene with the models and to judge those scenes later. Well, sure, because when I think of future Academy Award winners, the name that pops into my head is Clay Aiken. He must be at the top of every list when it comes to getting scripts. You know he was offered the roll of Wolverine and turned it down? I know, he decided Spamalot would be much better for his career, and so Hugh Jackman got it.

"Every year [the models] do an acting challenge, and since I had been in Spamalot and was doing the Broadway thing, Tyra called and wanted me to be a part of it. I did a scene with some of the girls and then later on tried to help judge that scene."

Does Tyra really have that few friends that the person she called for an acting challenge and to judge it was Clay Aiken? Doesn't she have anyone come on her talk show who can act or is on there plugging a movie who would give Tyra a day to film the appearance? She is on national television every day. She has tons of money. She could pay an actor to come on and make an appearance. Maybe it is because the acting done by the models is probably of Kathy Ireland in Necessary Roughness caliber, and so what Tyra does is bring in someone who is equally as bad. If the models were to perform a scene with say, anyone with actual acting talent, then it would make all the models look foolish. OK, well welcome to ANTM Clay.

I guess I need To Watch America's Next Top Model

I'm sure by now you have seen the video of the casting call for ANTM over the weekend. Apparently the crowd went nuts and stampeded because they wanted to be first in line to be a model. Or it could have been someone was passing out free samples of a new weight loss pill. Either way, what got to me about the whole mess is that there were a LOT of people at the casting call. Judging from the video, it might not have been American Idol big, but there were way more people than a casting call for say, Paris Hilton's BFF.

Maybe I should start watching ANTM. I have always resisted, because for one you know I dislike Tyra Banks. Anyone who treats her employees as poorly as she does should not be rewarded in life with the opportunity to hire more of them. Second, with the exception of the crazy one who married Peter Brady, have any of them actually been America's Top Model? Even though an Idol winner's career might be very short, they generally do get at least one number one song out of it.

I can't believe that many people showed up to the casting call. Maybe I do need to watch the show this year. Hmmm. See? This little incident is getting me to watch. I wonder if Tyra was behind it. Maybe she dropped a ten dollar bill on the sidewalk and told her employees to fight for it because it was the only bonus they were going to get all year.