By Amy Wilkinson

Tyra Bank's long-running runway competition series, "America's Next Top Model," sashays back to The CW for its 17th cycle tomorrow night (9/8 C), and in a juicy twist, this season reunites some of the show's most-talked about contestants for an all-star stomp out. Who will be runway road kill? You'll just have to tune in to find out!

But when we caught up with Ms. Banks recently to talk about "ANTM"'s latest iteration, we couldn't help but wonder—if given the opportunity—which starlets she'd like to see strut their stuff on her series.

Read on and watch the video above to find out who! Read More...

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By Elizabeth Lancaster

Eight years ago, you could not watch TV or listen to the radio, without being confronted by Justin Timberlake's blond curls and killer vocal range. After leaving one of the most popular boy bands of all time, he went on to release a solo album, which of course dominated charts and earned him six Grammy Awards. But it was no surprise to anyone who's been paying attention to his career since then that Timberlake told Entertainment Weekly he doesn't feel pressure to return to music anytime soon. With his new film, "The Social Network," being discussed for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and two Emmy Awards already in his pocket, Justin's acting career might finally be taking off. He's definitely not the first wildly successful musician turned actor. And he brings to mind some other artists who have successfully switched careers midstream.

A surefire example of the musician-turned-actor gone right is Will Smith. Innovative and popular in his rap career, Will took that success and exponentially increased it with his acting career. When he was starting his TV show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" he explained that he wanted to be "the biggest movie star in the world," and now, he kind of is.

Another rapper turned actor, Mark Wahlberg, had similar luck. He went from bad boy Marky Mark to underwear model to an actor with serious roles and prestigious award nominations.

There are other models who've left behind their mannequin days for speaking roles. Remember when Tyra Banks used to be known as the model on page 28 of latest Victoria's Secret catalog? And before he hung out in "That '70s" basement or "Punk'd" his pals on MTV, Ashton Kutcher could be found working it up and down the runways as a fashion model.

What is it that provokes these changes? Sometimes the need for a lifestyle change could be the answer. We think that's why Lauryn Hill went on hiatus to become a full-time mom until her latest return to the stage.

When they grew up, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen managed to say goodbye to their childhood legacy of mystery books and straight-to-video movies and hello to a fashion career.

But sometimes, as with Arnold Schwarzenegger's career change from the Terminator to governor of California, we can't even tell what inspired celebs to quit their day jobs.

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It can be difficult to keep track of all the celebrity tweeting that happens during any given week. It's one thing to obsessively refresh Miley Cyrus' feed to get updates on what Elton John songs she's grooving out to, but how can anybody be expected to know all of the memes John Mayer is trying to start or which former "American Idol" contestant thinks P.F. Chang's is delicious? You can't. But MTV News correspondent Jim Cantiello can, and every week he does in the Tweet Beat.

In this week's episode, Jason Castro weighs in on the nation's airport eateries, Tyra Banks types something crazy about plastic surgery, Yoko Ono fantasizes about dolphins (featuring the secret bonus "The Beatles: Rock Band" level!) and Pink lashes out at Kanye West for his VMA actions. Check out the full report below, and be sure to stay alert for the special cameo from Mr. West himself!

Who is your favorite celebrity Twitter addict? Do you obsessively check in on Katy Perry or are you more of a Taylor Swift fan? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard! And be sure to follow @mtvnews and @jambajim for the latest news and opinion care of the Twitterverse!

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Kim Stolz

Oh no she didn't!!!

On Tuesday, my old friend Tyra Banks gave me a little shout-out on her talk show. When I heard that I'd been mentioned, I thought, Could this be about successful "America's Next Top Model" alums? News reporters? MTV on-air correspondents? Modeling? Why is Tyra talking about me again?!

And then it came to me with a rush of "shockingly predictable": The show was called "Straight Girl, Gay Crush" and asked the question, "Is everybody a little bit gay?"

On my season of "ANTM," I had a somewhat brief (depending on how much you know) fling with a girl named Sarah Rhoades, a self-proclaimed straight girl. So, naturally, Tyra was using our notorious limo kiss as an example of a straight girl getting involved with a gay girl — so surprising, considering the three times I was on the Tyra show were centered around my apparently very exciting sexuality. Oh great!

Still, though. I'm a sucker for Tyra, so I'll bite.
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Miley CyrusThe trailer for the "Hannah Montana" movie has been released. And it features Hannah Montana dancing on the beach and getting in a catfight with Tyra Banks over a pair of shoes. This "shoe fight" causes the whole Stewart clan to head home to Tennessee so Hannah, a.k.a. Miley Stewart, can find herself. In the process, it also seems like she finds romance with a cute cowboy.

All in all, the experience leaves Miley wondering if she can continue living a double-life as Hannah and Miley. What world will she pick? Fans can find out when the movie hits theaters in April 10.

Head to our Movies Blog to check out screenshots from the "Hannah Montana" sneak peek.

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Tyra BanksCall off the troops and put away the bayonets. Today, a feud was ended, and a friendship commenced.

Tyra and I are kindred spirits again.

I have to admit, making the "elimination room" spoof was a blast. It made me feel exhilarated, renewed, refreshed and, yes, avenged in a certain manner. But such fleeting feelings were soon overtaken by a need to put down my arms, be the bigger (metaphorically speaking) person and make things right with TyTy once more.

I saw the new film she executive-produced, "The Clique," as the perfect opportunity. So, pride and confidence in hand, I went to interview Tyra this morning with three goals in mind.

1. To call for a cease-fire
2. To find out if, after all, the photo shoot with Analeigh (theme: the reporter with an attitude) was, in fact, inspired by my antics at the Fiercee Awards
3. To ask, if it wasn't about me, who was Tyra talking about? Who deserves to take Naomi Campbell's place?

Who is Tyra feuding with?

All three goals were completed. Take a look:


Joan. It's on. Godspeed and may the best woman win.

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Dear Tyra,

I want to express my deepest condolences over my ex-friend Jim Cantiello disrespecting you in his blog entry yesterday. I especially want to express sympathy for his apparent mocking of your music career. Keep with it, girl! Fierce!

Now, I'm not self-centered. Maybe you weren't even referencing me in Analeigh's photo shoot. Maybe you were talking about some other potentially bitchy red-carpet moment that you had with another interviewer ... Could it be Joan or Melissa Rivers, or even Oprah?? OK, probably not Oprah. She's perfect and everyone's fave. (Does that hurt?) But does THIS

look like Melissa Rivers? Certainly doesn't look like Joan ... in fact ... WAIT! It resembles me more than most photos taken of me — I gotta agree with Jim on that one.

But hey, that's water under the bridge. Let's get to the real issue at hand.
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Tyra Banks and Kim Stolz
The photo shoot on last night's episode of "America's Next Top Model" started innocently enough. Queen Tyra had the girls act out awkward, unscripted scenarios at a fictional awards show. The photos ranged from tripping onstage to not being able to pee in a fancy dress. (Classy!) And then there was this scenario: "The Interviewer With an Attitude."

That's an odd awards-show scenario, isn't it? I don't really think that particular situation would pop into most people's heads when they hear "unscripted awards-show moment." But whatevs, just last week Tyra called traffic a "natural disaster," so I'm used to this show making my brain hurt.
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[Editor's note: MTV News correspondent Kim Stolz was a finalist on "America's Next Top Model" in 2005.]

IsisSix cycles and three years after Nigel Barker nicknamed me "Tim" (like, I get it — he thinks I'm too gay), "America's Next Top Model" has announced that one of the contestants of Cycle 11 is transgender. This, no doubt, is quite a historic move for the show, which previously had a sort of unspoken "must be born a woman" clause. However, from scrolling through the photographs of the Cycle 11 girls, Isis looks just as — if not more — qualified than the rest. She's more model-esque than most of her competitors, with long, skinny legs, and it's clear that she's had top surgery (her boobs are bigger and prettier than almost all of the girls' — oh my!). Plus, I'd bet my "ANTM" earnings (OK, fine, a lot more than that) that she's got the best walk of the bunch.
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whitneywalking

This in from MTV News intern, "Gossip Girl" expert, and "Top Model" obsessive Rya:

So it seems that some of you really ran with my story about Whitney’s magical triumph as the winner of this cycle of “America’s Next Top Model.” There were enough, um, passionate comments that it seems necessary to get analytical.

Let’s start with the positive. Whitney, if you’re out there in cyberspace reading this: you’ve got a helluva fan base. Many have taken a shine to the idea that a toothpick with limbs didn’t win big. “Real Girls are not anorexic...Real Girls have meat…Whitney’s got that, thank you,” wrote Mawlo. Reader Wendy was especially happy with the show’s results because “She will be a positive role model for MANY girls/women in America. It’s great that she will be representing the average woman in the international modeling world!”

Others interpreted the win as a kind of patriotic statement. Georgetown Hoya got even loftier, attributing Whitney’s win to a political shift happening in America: “This is the era of change! We can see this in politics as we have Obama and Hillary running. America is finally being mobilized in a positive way, and I'm hoping the same mobility happens in the fashion industry. Stop hating on Whitney!” Hope! While Lacey Cloverdale made me want to wrap myself in the American flag when she declared, “Anya was nowhere NEAR being an American -- unless she just took her citizenship test. No American has that kind of accent. She could barely speak ENGLISH, and this is ‘America's Next Top Model.’ Whitney was the only one left. Good for her.” Hmm. Lacey, sweetheart, have you not noticed how Eastern Europeans, Russians, and Dutchwomen are dominating the pages of Vogue these days? Larger conversation!

But there were worlds more comments that were negative... Read More...

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