HaDugmaniot

HaDugmaniot presented an Israeli modeling competition modeled on America's Next Top Model. Galit Gutman hosted the series, and its second season was scheduled for broadcast on Channel 10.[1][2] Contestants were assessed through fashion assignments, photo shoots, and public appearances intended to test both talent and temperament.[2]

The program was created and directed by Ravit Lior-Mandel as an Israeli adaptation of the American competition format.[1][2] In describing the transition from the first season to the second, Lior-Mandel emphasized that the newer cast represented a wider range of backgrounds.[2]

The second season was planned as a 10-episode series in which contestants lived together in a shared apartment and were evaluated by a panel of five judges.[2] Identified judges included former international model Yael Reich, journalist and fashion editor Elimor Zilberman, and Betty Rockaway, owner of the Image modeling agency.[2]

The winner was to receive a year-long modeling contract with Israeli underwear-modeling agency GO UNDER, $2,000 worth of clothing, and a trip to Milan, where she would be introduced to figures in the Italian fashion industry.[2] Competitions centered on fashion assignments, photo shoots — including planned settings involving ice and underwater environments — and public appearances intended to assess both talent and temperament.[2]

For the second season, 14 contestants were selected from a pool of 1,500 applicants drawn from across Israel.[2] Lior-Mandel emphasized that the second season's cast came from more diverse backgrounds than the first-season cast.[2]

Among the notable participants was Michelle Lawrie, then 19, who postponed studies in business and law at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center to compete.[2] Lawrie cited Oprah Winfrey as her role model and expressed a desire for viewers to look past surface impressions, saying she hoped they would see her as more than "just some blonde bimbo from Herzliya" and arguing that women should feel confident despite physical imperfections.[2]

Five finalists from the first season later found work in the modeling industry.[2] The season's winner, Victoria, was working with the Look modeling agency at the time of the second-season coverage.[2]

The first season drew criticism from multiple directions. Israel's television watchdog, Reshut HaShnia, objected that contestants' revealing clothing was inappropriate for the program's 9 p.m. time slot; the broadcast was temporarily moved to 9:35 p.m. before eventually returning to its original scheduling position.[2] Conservative viewers debated whether the show should be removed from the air altogether.[2]

Lior-Mandel described the backlash by saying, "People began to realize that not all that glitters is gold," and said the first season's raw behind-the-scenes portrayal of the modeling world was difficult for some audiences to accept.[2] Contestants later complained of dishonest editing and of the program's use of competitors' religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds to create cheap drama.[3]