America's Next Top Model, Cycle 1

America's Next Top Model (now retroactively known as America's Next Top Model, Cycle 1) is a reality show hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, which aims to find the next top fashion model. This season's catch-phrase was: "One Girl has what it takes."

This was the only season to feature a cast of 10 contestants. All later cycles have featured at least 2 more contestants. The international destination for the cycle was Paris, France. The prizes for this cycle was a contract with Revlon cosmetics, a contract for representation with Wilhelmina Models and a spread within Marie Claire magazine.

20 year old Adrianne Curry from Joliet, Illinois won the competition, but has claimed that she did not receive all of her prizes, leading to a feud with Tyra Banks.

Twenty semi-finalists arrived to casting and were told that only ten would move on to the finals. After the auditions however, Tyra revealed that she and the producers only could agree on eight. The eight contestants selected arrived in New York City and were escorted to the loft apartment in the Flatotel. In one room, they discovered pullout mattresses underneath their beds. Two additional contestants, Giselle and Tessa, were soon added to the group after being scouted at a separate audition, filling in for the missing two finalists.

After Brazilian bikini waxes were administered to the contestants, and initial weights were recorded, the contestants headed to their first photo shoot; modeling JLO by Jennifer Lopez swimwear atop a Manhattan skyscraper in frigid weather. At the first judging session, the judges felt that Elyse was too thin, and that Tessa had been taught how to pose incorrectly. They also remarked that Shannon looked much better in her pictures than in front of the panel, and perhaps she has tanned too much. Finally, the judges decide to eliminate Tessa, because even though she had a strong high fashion look, they thought that she lacked the personality to be a model.

Tensions erupted in the loft between the Christians - Robin and Shannon - and several other contestants, especially concerning Elyse's atheism and Ebony's homosexuality. After a runway lesson with J. Alexander, Giselle won the reward for doing the best on the runway. She got to meet Wyclef Jean, and she picked Adrianne, Nicole and Katie to accompany her much to Ebony's dismay. When Ebony decided not tell them about the Tyra Mail which arrived while they were out, the Christians went down to the hotel's lobby and told the other girls about the Tyra Mail. The next day Robin, to ease the tension among the girls, decided to make a group prayer, irritating Elyse, who went to the confessional and vent about her anger towards other contestants.

The second photo shoot was another bikini shoot, but this time for Stuff magazine. At panel, the girls were challenged to walk while removing their coats. Katie's photo was again criticized for being pornographic, while Kesse became very emotional while critiqued. This landed them into the Bottom Two. Ultimately, it was Katie's overt sexual appeal sent her home.

All eight remaining contestants were given makeovers. Giselle irritated her roommates because she overacted during it, while both Robin and Ebony were dissatisfied with the way their hair was handled. After a lesson on how to achieve a clean look, the reward challenge involved doing the best job picking out and putting on makeup, which Elyse won, and got to meet some famous fashion people, including Max Tucci. She picked Adrianne and Nicole to thank them for help and wound up picking Robin by draw. Nicole decided not to go because she was "sick", but it was really because she wanted to talk to her boyfriend.

Later it was announced that each contestant would be posing with a guest model in the week's shoot — a snake. Robin, especially, was terrified by the snake, but most of the girls managed to take strong pictures. The day after the shoot, Adrianne was rushed to the hospital with severe food poisoning, and she later forced her way out of the hospital and back to the competition so as not to be automatically eliminated, impressing the judges. At panel, Ebony was criticized for the texture of her skin, and Nicole was ousted as she was deemed not committed enough to the competition.

The seven remaining contestants were challenged to polish their acting skills. The reward challenge, a line-reading challenge, was won by Robin, who took Kesse and Shannon to get a spa treatment. The other girls were left to clean the apartment while the spa experts came to them and gave them their spa treatments in the apartment. Ebony was angry with Giselle after she exhibited laziness by not helping the others clean, and asked the masseur for an impromptu massage instead. Ebony's girlfriend, Ka visited her and although most of the girls were polite and introduced themselves, Shannon and Robin chose to stay in their room and read the Bible, which Ebony took offense to and felt that they were being hypocritical and homophobic. Shannon later apologized to Ebony for coming across as bigoted and even herself admited that she needed to become more tolerant of people with different sexual orientations if she planned on pursuing a modeling career in the fashion industry.

The commercial was for Fresh Look contact lenses. At panel, while Kesse excelled, several girls were given harsh criticism for their performances. Adrianne was told that her accent was too strong, and that the judges barely heard her and Shannon was admonished for her awkward smile and lack of sexiness. However, she was safe from the bottom two, where Giselle and Ebony found themselves. The panel said that although she had amazing model potential, Giselle needed to become more self-confident. However in a shocking elimination, Ebony, the early frontrunner to many of the girls, was eliminated due to her awkward performance in the commercial and that the judges felt she had a chip on her shoulder.

The girls were taught how to answer interview questions in this episode, and they had one-on-ones with a coach. While Elyse was being interviewed, the other girls gossiped about her weight and talked about incidents which they believed proved that she had an eating disorder. At the challenge, the contestants tried to impress a tough interviewer, and Elyse's candid and outspoken remarks won her the opportunity to invite one of her loved ones to New York for a brief visit. She selected Adrianne to share her prize, who broke down into tears, stating that her mother had never been to New York and that her family never had enough money to travel.

At the photo shoot, to which Elyse's boyfriend Martin Crandall and Adrianne's mother showed up, each model was pictured in Reebok shoes with NFL Rookie of the Year Clinton Portis. At panel, Elyse was criticized for being too thin and being a know-it-all, and Giselle was sent home at panel because she was not able to overcome her self-confidence issues, despite her modeling talent and phenomenal photo for this week.

The five remaining contestants - Kesse, Robin, Elyse, Shannon, and Adrianne - were told that they would be flying to Paris, the fashion capital of the world. In their hotel, Robin was picked by draw to sleep on the floor, much to her dismay. They had a lingerie shoot for Wonder Bra with male model (Brad Pinkert from Buffalo, NY) whom Shannon had a crush on, and each girl was given the opportunity to go on several "go-sees" to impress Parisian designers.

Adrianne was fazed after an unwanted encounter with a man who tried to reach up her skirt while asking him for a directions and had difficulty collecting herself. Kesse spent a little too much time visiting Paris, making her miss one go-see and Robin paid someone to accompany her, for which she was admonished by the judges. At panel, Elyse was praised for her go-sees while Kesse and Adrianne found themselves in the bottom two for not attending all of their "go-sees", and Kesse was cut for not demonstrating enough desire to continue in the competition, despite her high likeability, which brought most of the judges and contestants to tears.

This week, the remaining four girls had their pictures taken by Tyra in an impromptu black and white photo shoot. Then, they traveled to the House of Carven, the oldest couture house in Paris. They learned how to embody couture gowns with an alluring attitude. Back in the house, the girls received Tyra mail saying that they would have some free time the following day. When Adrianne said she wanted to visit Jim Morrison’s grave, it ignited a conflict among them, specifically with Robin who wanted to go shopping. Eventually the girls would split in groups of two (Shannon with Robin and Elyse with Adrianne).

For the week’s challenge, the girls went to Fouquet’s Restaurant and met four gentlemen, who judged them in their ability to carry themselves in a couture situation. Adrianne’s shining personality charmed the gentlemen and she was chosen as the winner. She picked Elyse to join in her reward which was a one night stay at the Presidential Suite in Le Méridien Hotel. The next day, the girls arrived at Buddha Bar for a nude photo shoot for Merit Diamond Jewelry. However, this did not go well with Robin and Shannon as it was against their belief, and decided not to participate, despite being offered to pose in flesh-toned lingerie.

The girls returned to New York and shared the Milan Room. At panel, Elyse was called first for her versatility and followed by Adrianne who took a stellar photograph. Robin was accused for shaking her breast at Jay Manuel making her decision not to participate in the nude photo shoot seem fake while Shannon was criticized for her inability to follow advice, although she as well did not take part in the nude photo shoot. In the end, Shannon’s outgoing personality saved her and Robin was sent home.

The three finalists were evaluated by Kimora Lee Simmons and again by the judging panel to get booked for the finale runway show. Shannon was called first while Elyse and Adrianne - a pair that had become close friends through the competition - were placed in the bottom two, and Elyse, the front-runner, was ousted because the judges felt her speech sometimes came across as careless and that she had not taken to heart the judges' credence in modeling being a profession that required both brains and beauty.

Soon after this, Adrianne and Shannon faced off on the runway modeling Baby Phat fashions, and finally both girls faced the panel one last time. During evaluation Shannon was praised for her runway walk, receiving Janice Dickinson's support, and her eloquence but was criticized for being too commercial and safe. On the other hand, Tyra revealed that she was pleasantly surprised Adrianne made it that far and she was also praised for her edge and character, although her speech was criticized. After evaluating, Tyra said that America's Next Top Model would be revealed on a large cover of fictional ANTM Magazine behind the judges' panel. The sheet draped over the picture fell down as Adrianne was declared the first winner of America's Next Top Model.