Asia’s award-winning modeling competition Supermodelme: Femme Fatale is back for its fourth season! Hosted by resident judge supermodel Lisa Selesner, together with E! News Asia presenter Dominic Lau and Singaporean-born, Thai-based model Ase Wang on the judging panel, these experienced models will guide and mentor all the contestants to international stardom.
Taking a break from their duties as judges and mentors of Supermodelme: Femme Fatale, you have a little chat with the judges to discuss top model qualities and the how the modeling industry has evolved.
What do you look for in a supermodel?
Dominic: That’s a great question but first of all I think we should tell you about our roles as judges when it comes to us looking for these models.
Lisa: As judges we all have different roles. Like I am the mother hen – I’m their mother, their father, their friend, their mentor, their everything. I am the one that’s firm but I am only there for support. I am not there to play favourites and I am there to help them take their best photo. Ase Wang is the tell it like it is and no holds barred judge. There is no niceties about it. Dom is the heterosexual male view of the fashion industry and our celebrity judges that come in and out of the show are the fresh eyes because we’ve been with these girls all along the way. So what we look for in a supermodel, for the purpose of the show, is a woman who is an all-rounder who takes great pictures, is a good emcee, a good catalog model, a good runway model and she could possibly be an actress sooner or later. We are looking for someone who can be part of every aspect in the entertainment industry.
Dominic: It’s not just skin deep when we’re looking for that beauty aspect. It’s charisma as well and someone who people can really look up to. The winner of Supermodelme Femme Fatale has to be able to strike believe in other people.
Ase: It’s the same for me. I think it’s all about being able to brand yourself and build a business behind it so I think the sooner these girls realised that, the closer they are to reaching their dream.
Over the past three seasons, what would you say is the most difficult challenge the contestants had to face?
Lisa: That’s a very good question. Some girls I’d say, had a lot of problems in the house. It wasn’t just with the photoshoots or sport activities. Their problem was actually just playing nice with the rest of the kitties. But I’d say each one has their own issues which makes for such an interesting show.
Dominic: I think it’s hard for us to say because we are not the ones facing it. What was great for me on from a personal standpoint is to be able to give them feedback and to see these girls mature. These girls who struggled with that particular task from the beginning of the season end up being the strongest candidate for that particular shoot and/or task.
Ase: I think every girl has a different take — some with lingerie shoots, some with workout bits so I think every girl has a different take on things which is great because some of these girls don’t even know they face this problem until it’s thrown in their face.
The fashion in Western countries have now been criticized for their lack of cultural diversity in the modeling scene. Do you think modeling industry in Asia is more open to diversity than the Western industry?
Lisa: With the way that the fashion industry is today, every runway show has models of every colour and of every kind. For me it doesn’t matter what race you are and I think that the international world stage is now open and ready for diversity. Every single fashion show you now see has every type of girl in it. What’s happening with Asia now is that they are just having this awakening of becoming part of the international fashion scene because they’ve opened the doors to so many different types of models.
How can Supermodelme Femme Fatale compete with other modeling reality TV Shows throughout the world?
Dominic: SupermodelMe was not born out of an already existing format. It is original and I think that’s something that reality TV needs.
Lisa: Easy. First of all we have a different format. We are different from any other fashion programmes. Most of them are solely based on catwalks and photoshoots but we bring a heavy health aspect to it because it’s very, very important for a model to be healthy. Also this year, we’ve shot the show with different cameras, different angles making it more cinematic so it’s not a show you can predict – it’s changed up with a whole new look from the lighting, to the format — everything about it basically.
Ase: I think we can compete because we’re different. We’re different in the sense that we judges are not puppets, we have a say as to what’s going on. We are not told what to do and we do things they way we want, it’s a group effort on every level.
Catch Supermodelme Femme Fatale every Monday at 8pm only on DIVA Universal (Astro CH702)
