Malta's Top Model

Malta's Top Model
250px Cycle 1 cast
Genre	Reality television
Presented by	Claire Amato
Judges	Claire Amato Alan J. Darmanin Jeff Francalanza
Country of origin	Malta
No. of episodes	12
Release
Original network	Favourite Channel
Original release	September 29, 2009 (2009-09-29) - December 15, 2009 (2009-12-15)
External links
Website

Malta's Top Model was Maltese reality documentary based on Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model and was aired on Favourite Channel. The show placed contestants against each other in a variety tests to determine who would win title of the new Maltese Top Model as well as a modeling contract with Standout Model Management in London and the front cover of a local magazine in hopes of a promising career start in the modeling industry.

Claire Amato equaled the role of Tyra Banks in the original series as the head of the search, and mentor for the chosen finalists during the competition. Other judges included casting director Alan J. Darmanin and challenge organizer Jeff Francalanza.

The show started with a casting recap after which fourteen girls were chosen. Contestant, and former Miss Earth Malta 2008, Maria Elena Galea immediately withdrew after the competition started. Each week the thirteen remaining girls lived together on the island facing challenges and a weekly photo shoot whereupon the judges chose to eliminate one girl per episode. In addition to this, the viewers could vote for their favorite girl every week per SMS. Maltese model Tiffany Pisani applied for the show, but was turned down because she was too modelseque. She later went on to become a contestant in the sixth cycle of Britain's Next Top Model, where she was crowned the winner.

This version of the show is the second installment worldwide to feature a trans woman among its finalists, Denise Dalton, after America's Next Top Model cycle 11 alumna Isis King. Seventeen-year-old Audrienne Thaipend won the competition over 25-year-old old Sanaa Rizgalla.

Series summary

Cycle	Premiere date	Winner	Runner-up	Other contestants in order of elimination	Number of contestants
1	September 29, 2009	Audrienne Thaipend	Sanaa Rizgalla	Maria Elena Galea (quit), Roweida Lazumi, Wilhelmina Farrugia, Joanne Cutajar, Adryana Azzopardi, Allison Attard, Alexia Fenech, Denise Dalton, Kristine Mifsud, Charleen Buttigieg, Thays Araujo Buhagiar, Zerry Zerafa	14

Episode summaries

Episode 1

Original airdate: 29 September 2009

Maria drops out of the program. From the auditions, 14 finalists were chosen instead of 13. This was a surprise for the 20 semi-finalists. In fact, the three judges during the auditions, Claire, Demaris and Alan J, saw a lot of potential in the girls and decided to allow 14 into the program. But soon after, Maria dropped out of the program due to some personal reasons. Now the girls are back to 13.

• Quit: Maria Elena Galea

Episode 2

Original airdate: 6 October 2009

Clothes reflect fashion, which is the main issue in Malta's Top Model. The first challenge, which took place in Kenvelo Fashion Outlet, was a 'style yourself' game. Altogether the models had ten minutes to dress up in any outfit from the shop and were judged by Jeff. The winner was Thays who was awarded with fifteen extra shots for the photo shoot. She chose Alexia and Audrienne to benefit with her in these extra shots.

The first photo shoot, photographed by Bernard Polidano, took place in the Ivory&Co. textile outlet. The models had to pose as mannequins and were styled by Josef Gauci.

For personal reasons, Sanaa was absent from the first elimination ceremony. The girl called first, who had the best photo of the week, was Joanne. The judging panel for this week, formed by Claire, Alan J, Jeff and guest judges Lorna and Bernard did not see as much potential in her as in the other twelve models. First eliminated out of the program was half Libyan, half Maltese model Roweida.

• Fist call-out: Joanne Cutajar
• Bottom two: Allison Attard & Roweida Lazumi
• Eliminated: Roweida Lazumi

Episode 3

Original airdate: 13 October 2009

Charleen was disqualified from the first challenge. She came one hour late and thus she could not compete for the 15 extra photo shots. She defended herself saying that she has got a very busy life but still the judges were not satisfied with her explanation and was disqualified from the challenge. The contestants were divided in 6 groups and each group was given a different music genre:

Contestants	Music genre
Adryana & Wilhelmina	Country
Alexia & Sanaa	R&B
Allison & Denise	Pop
Audrienne & Charleen	Heavy metal
Joanne & Zerry	Rock
Kristine & Thays	Soul

Each group had to dress up themselves in the most proper way to reflect these music types that they were associated with. The winner was Charleen. She was awarded with fifteen extra shots. She also had to choose another girl that got 10 extra shots and Charleen chose Audrienne.

Wilhelmina was eliminated at panel. This week's judges, Claire, Jeff, Alan J and guest judges Rene and Charles, were disappointed with Wilhelmina's performance throughout the photo shoot and with her final photo. They also wanted to see more personality, as models have to have an outstanding personality especially when travelling for jobs abroad. Wilhelmina lost over Kristine as the latter was in the bottom two of this week but the judges saw more model potential in Kristine.

• Fist call-out: Charleen Buttigieg
• Bottom two: Kristine Mifsud & Wilhelmina Farrugia
• Eliminated: Wilhelmina Farrugia

Episode 4

Original airdate: 20 October 2009

A model's punctuality is extremely important. This point raised a debated argument between Jeff, Charleen, Allison and Sanaa. For both the photo shoot and for the judging, Charleen arrived late again. She had already been disqualified from one challenge for being really late. Jeff's voice was raised during the discussion as his temper reached its peak. He couldn't stand anymore the fact that Charleen was always late. He tried to make her realize that time costs money in the fashion industry. Jeff told Charleen that he wanted her to learn something from this experience and that if he didn't even care about her he would not have started this argument in the first place.

Meanwhile, Charleen accused Allison for lying to her. Charleen said that when she had realized that she was going to be late, she phoned Allison to ask her if the judging had already started or not. Charleen said that Allison told her to take it easy as she was not late. But in fact everyone was waiting for Charleen in order for the judging to start. Later Charleen also accused Sanaa for not being present for the first judging. Sanaa had not been present for very serious personal reasons. During the debate, Charleen announced that she was going to quit the program but later on, when everyone had calmed down she changed her mind and continued in this competition.

Joanne, the blue eyed beauty was eliminated. The model went downhill from the first week where she was called first as she had the best photo of the week. Last week in the music themed photo shoot she gave blank expressions as happened also this week where it was a more close up beauty shot. This showed the judges that Joanne was one dimensional thus lacked in giving various expressions in different photo shoot. Forming the bottom two was Adryana but was saved by the judges.

• Fist call-out: Sanaa Rizgalla
• Bottom two: Adryana Azzopardi & Joanne Cutajar
• Eliminated: Joanne Cutajar

Episode 5

Original airdate: 27 October 2009

Time for Make-overs: The day that all models feared of finally arrived. A professional model should be ready for any make-over that they can do to her in the fashion industry. Jeff, Charles, Claire and Alan J greeted the models as they walked into Avantgarde Unisex Salon. They explained to each model the new hairstyles that they were going to be given. The most drastic changes were those done to Allison and Audrienne. Allison's long black hair was turned into a stylish bob whilst Audrienne was turned into a blonde. All of the models were given a more edgy look to work with in their photo shoot.

Adryana disappointed the judges again. Fourth one out is Adryana. Claire, Jeff, Alan J. and guest judges Rene and Irina Munz, an international professional stylist, were disappointed that although Adryana had the figure and height of a model, she did not use them to the utmost and lacked in giving a striking photo for the third week in a row. Ending in bottom two with her was Charleen who disappointed the photographer during her photo shoot by saying a lot of times that she didn't know what poses she could possibly do in the water thus not giving a very good photo.

• Fist call-out: Audrienne Thaipend
• Bottom two: Adryana Azzopardi & Charleen Buttigieg
• Eliminated: Adryana Azzopardi

Episode 6

Original airdate: 3 November 2009

Before starting the photo shoot, Alan J. had to announce who the challenge winner for the best make-over was. The winner was supposed to be Allison as she accepted her make-over immediately and did not complain but her win was taken away from her as the production team caught her in a lie. For the make-over day she had told them that she couldn't make it on that day so the day was changed but it was all a lie. Instead Audrienne was named as the new challenge winner and was awarded with extra photo shots.

The girls were given a surprise by Claire. They were all dining out at Hardrock Cafe in Valletta Waterfront and Claire surprised them by joining them for a chat. She asked them various questions as to how they felt that they were doing in the competition and the photo shoots. Some admitted that they were finding the competition much harder than they expected and some admitted that they were beginning to feel much more confident in front of the photo camera. Claire gave them some useful tips to use them in challenges, photo shoots and judging in order to do better in the competition.

This week's photo shoot was somewhat different. The 9 remaining contestants were taken to a playground where they had to depict childhood with their facial expressions and poses. They had to climb slides, swings and ladders to give their utmost in depicting happy young children. The photo shoot was shot by Rene Rossignaud. The contestants were dressed in very bright and colorful clothes from RockaBilly, Mosta. Best photo of the week was Zerry's where she was really great in giving different types of poses by also hanging upside down from some steel rings.

Bottom two this week were Allison and Alexia. Allison had survived the first elimination when she was bottom two with Roweida whilst Alexia was in bottom two for the first time after she lacked in giving a good shot for the second week in a row. The judges decision was to eliminate Allison as they saw more model potential in Alexia between the two of them. During the previous judging, the judges had pointed out to Allison that she had to gain more height in the way she posed in photos and not make herself look shorter but she did not take note of this and again this week she gave a hunched pose, ignoring the judge's tips. Now 8 girls remain in the competition.

• Fist call-out: Kristine Mifsud
• Bottom two: Alexia Fenech & Allison Attard
• Eliminated: Allison Attard

Episode 7

Original airdate: 10 November 2009

This week the photo shoot and challenge were combined together. The photo shoot took the remaining 8 finalists in different rooms of an apartment were each girl was given a different location. They had to give their best poses not only for the photos but also for the challenge as together with the photo shoot they had the posing challenge. The girls were judged by Jeff as to how they were posing in front of the photographer and his camera. The winner was then announced during the judging panel. The best two were Denise and Thays but Jeff chose Thays as the winner who was awarded with a voucher from New Generation clothing.

Unfortunately, Alexia did not manage to impress the judges for the third time in a row. Last week she was in bottom two with Allison but she was saved. This time she gave the same looks all over again. Alexia got to bottom to with Zerry but Zerry's photos from the beginning of the program were stronger thus she managed not to be eliminated. Alexia disappointment was that she felt that she had worked harder this week but still she did not manage to do better than the remaining 7 contestants.

Toughest judging till now. As the competition goes along, the judging are becoming much tougher as to decide who should be eliminated. In fact this week's judges, Claire, Alan J, Jeff and guest judge Charles Falzon from Avantgarde, took a long time to decide who was going to be eliminated next. Whilst the girls were outside waiting for the verdict, Alexia let out that she feared that she was going to be eliminated. Zerry was also preoccupied that her final photo outcome was not one of the best as well. Back in the judging room, before Alexia was eliminated, the judges cried because of this decision whilst the other girls cried for Alexia's elimination.

• Fist call-out: Sanaa Rizgalla
• Bottom two: Alexia Fenech & Zerry Zerafa
• Eliminated: Alexia Fenech

Episode 8

Original airdate: 17 November 2009

• Fist call-out: Charleen Buttigieg
• Bottom two: Audrienne Thaipend & Denise Dalton
• Eliminated: Denise Dalton

Episode 9

Original airdate: 24 November 2009

• Fist call-out: Sanaa Rizgalla
• Bottom two: Charleen Buttigieg & Kristine Mifsud
• Eliminated: Kristine Mifsud

Episode 10

Original airdate: 1 December 2009

• Fist call-out: Thays Araujo Buhagiar
• Bottom two: Audrienne Thaipend & Charleen Buttigieg
• Eliminated: Charleen Buttigieg

Episode 11

Original airdate: 8 December 2009

• Fist call-out: Zerry Zerafa
• Bottom two: Sanaa Rizgalla & Thays Araujo Buhagiar
• Eliminated: Thays Araujo Buhagiar

Episode 12

Original airdate: 15 December 2009

• Fist call-out: Audrienne Thaipend
• Bottom two: Sanaa Rizgalla & Zerry Zerafa
• Eliminated: None

• Final three: Audrienne Thaipend, Sanaa Rizgalla & Zerry Zerafa
• Eliminated: Zerry Zerafa
• Final two: Audrienne Thaipend & Sanaa Rizgalla
• Malta's Top Model: Audrienne Thaipend

Contestants

(ages stated are at time of contest)

Contestant	Age	Height	Hometown	Finish
Maria Elena Galea	20		Naxxar	Quit in Episode 1
Roweida Lazumi	19		Birkirkara	Eliminated in Episode 2
Wilhelmina Farrugia	15		Birżebbuġa	Eliminated in Episode 3
Joanne Cutajar	21		Safi	Eliminated in Episode 4
Adryana Azzopardi	21		Birkirkara	Eliminated in Episode 5
Allison Attard	17		Naxxar	Eliminated in Episode 6
Alexia Fenech	21		Sliema	Eliminated in Episode 7
Denise Dalton	17		Cospicua	Eliminated in Episode 8
Kristine Mifsud	17		Fgura	Eliminated in Episode 9
Charleen Buttigieg	23		Naxxar	Eliminated in Episode 10
Thays Araujo Buhagiar	19		Żabbar	Eliminated in Episode 11
Claire "Zerry" Zerafa	18		St. Paul's Bay	Eliminated in Episode 12
Sanaa Rizgalla	25		Msida (Originally from South Sudan)	Runner-Up
Audrienne Thaipend	17		Birżebbuġa	Winner

Summaries

Call-out order

Claire's call-out order

Order	Episodes
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1	N/A	Joanne	Charleen	Sanaa	Audrienne	Kristine	Sanaa	Charleen	Sanaa	Thays	Zerry	Audrienne	Audrienne
2	N/A	Thays	Zerry	Charleen	Kristine	Zerry	Audrienne	Zerry	Thays	Sanaa	Audrienne	Sanaa	Sanaa
3	N/A	Denise	Denise	Kristine	Sanaa	Audrienne	Thays	Thays	Zerry	Zerry	Sanaa	Zerry	Zerry
4	N/A	Zerry	Alexia	Alexia	Allison	Sanaa	Charleen	Kristine	Audrienne	Audrienne	Thays
5	N/A	Audrienne	Allison	Thays	Denise	Thays	Kristine	Sanaa	Charleen	Charleen
6	N/A	Adryana	Audrienne	Allison	Zerry	Denise	Denise	Audrienne	Kristine
7	N/A	Wilhelmina	Sanaa	Zerry	Thays	Charleen	Zerry	Denise
8	N/A	Alexia	Thays	Audrienne	Alexia	Alexia	Alexia
9	N/A	Kristine	Joanne	Denise	Charleen	Allison
10	N/A	Charleen	Adryana	Adryana	Adryana
11	N/A	Allison	Kristine	Joanne
12	N/A	Roweida	Wilhelmina
13	N/A
14	Maria

     The contestant quit the competition

     The contestant was eliminated

     The contestant was part of a non-elimination bottom two

     The contestant won the competition

• Episode 1 was the casting episode, and Maria quit the competition, bringing the number of contestants down to thirteen models.
• In episode 2, Sanaa was absent from panel due to personal reasons.
• The first part of episode 12 featured a non-elimination bottom two.

Photo shoot guide

• Episode 1 photo shoot: Posing in bikinis (casting)
• Episode 2 photo shoot: Trannyquins in drag
• Episode 3 photo shoot: Different music genres
• Episode 4 photo shoot: Beauty shots with color
• Episode 5 photo shoot: Maltese beach vixens
• Episode 6 photo shoot: Pedophile dream girls on the playground
• Episode 7 photo shoot: Toilet queens
• Episode 8 photo shoot: Embodying emotions
• Episode 9 photo shoot: Night club sluts
• Episode 10 photo shoot: Hail Romania whilst jumping over a cliff
• Episode 11 photo shoot: My big fat Maltese wedding
• Episode 12 photo & video shoot: Ripoff of Covergirl

Makeovers

• Adryana: Trimmed and curled
• Alexia: Trimmed and layered wavy hair
• Allison: Bob cut
• Audrienne: Bleached blonde mohawk
• Charleen: Dyed auburn and layered
• Denise: Cut shorter, manscaping
• Kristine: Shoulder cut with fringes
• Sanaa: Kinky twist braids
• Thays: Wavy shoulder length hair
• Zerry: Dyed platinum blonde with fringes

Post Top Model careers

• Alexia Fenech: is the current Maltese representative for the Miss Earth 2015 pageant after being crowned Miss Earth Malta 2015.
• Denise Dalton: Began working in the adult film industry under the name "Holly Harlow" and did not undergo SRS.
• Kristine Mifsud: was the Maltese representative in the Miss Earth 2010 pageant after being crowned Miss Earth Malta 2010.
• Sanaa Rizgalla: Worked as a freelance model and did local jobs before working for various high profile labels and designers, including Chanel and Ells accessories. Rizgalla also made an appearance in Malta's Eurovision Song for 2011 "One Life" by Glen Vella. She landed the covers of Style A1 Magazine and Vogue Beauty and walked for the Malta Fashion Awards during Malta Fashion Week in 2012. In April 2012 she took part in The Face of Malta competition, where she was placed as the runner-up once again. She was also photo shopped into Joslyn's voting is fierce photo from the eleventh season of America's Next Top Model.

External links

• Official site (defunct)
• Archiving of the show's photos