Austria's Next Topmodel

History

For the first four cycles, the show was hosted by Lena Gercke, the winner of the first cycle of Germany's Next Topmodel. Gercke is the first Top Model winner to become the host of a Top Model series. The judging panel for the show's first cycle consisted of the head of Vienna-based modelling agency Wiener Models, Andrea Weidler, and runway coach Alamande Belfor. It aired from January to February 2009 and was won by Larissa Marolt. As part of her prize package for winning the contest, Marolt won a place on the fourth cycle of Germany's Next Topmodel, where she placed eighth.

In mid-2009, Puls4 aired a spin-off of the show, Die Model WG, which featured six of cycle one's contestants. The show was won by Kordula Stöckl.

The second cycle aired from November 2009 to February 2010. Its catchphrase was "More girls, more jet set, more glamour". Former model and photographer Andreas Ortner joined the judging panel, replacing Alamande Belfor. Beauty expert Sabine Landl, who was the models' stylist in cycle 1, also joined the panel. The winner of the cycle was Aylin Kösetürk.

The third cycle premiered in January 2011 and introduced new judges; designer Atil Kutoglu and runway coach Elvyra Geyer with Gercke remaining as the host. The cycle featured a significant change in the cast, and that one girl per federal state plus five wildcards made the cut. Additionally, there was an international destination in every episode, however only the contestants who won the casting were allowed to travel to that destination.

Gercke did not return to host the fifth cycle in order to concentrate on her own modelling career. Austrian model Melanie Scheriau is currently hosting the new cycle that began to air in January 2013. The sixth cycle will also feature male contestants for the first time and is set to air in late 2014.

Males were introduced to the competition in the sixth cycle of the show. In addition to that, the social media scoring system used in the American version of the show was also implemented. In contrast to the American adaptation, each voter is required to cast their votes via Facebook. Furthermore, there is no grading scale. Each Facebook account is allotted three votes, which can be spent on any combination of contestants. The contestant with the highest number of votes each round is granted immunity, while the contestant with the lowest amount is automatically nominated for elimination along with three other contestants chosen by the judges.

Show title

Before the show began, it caused controversy because of another modeling contest named Österreichs (German for "Austria's") Next Topmodel, which was established in 2007. Dominik Wachta, founder of what can be described as a mix between a model casting and a beauty pageant, accused the TV channel Puls 4 for stealing his idea. Further steps to change the name of the show have been unsuccessful as it was already licensed by CBS as the role-model version created by Tyra Banks.

Racism controversy

During the third cycle, Magalie Berghahn was disqualified from the competition following the emergence of racist remarks she made in a phone call with her boyfriend. She used derogatory Austrian slang to describe Lydia Nnenna Obute as "neger oide" (a pejorative term for "black woman") and referred to Vanessa Lotz as "Deitsche" (slang for a German woman). Both Obute and Lotz had secured a win in a go-see challenge in the same episode. The conversation was recorded in its entirety and broadcast during the program. She was confronted by host Lena Gercke with the video material in front of the other two girls. Gercke then told her that she was expelled from the show because the competition had no room for racist ideas and thoughts. Puls 4 was later accused of using the controversy for promotional purposes as Berghahns comments had already shown in the preview for the episode and had not censored when the episode aired. Berghahn was not invited to the final runway show during the cycles finale. She later stated that the scandal had ruined her life.

Death of Sabrina Rauch

In January 2012, 21-year-old Sabrina Angelika Rauch (a cycle 4 contestant) died in a car crash after spinning out of control on her way home from a party. Her vehicle collided with a concrete mast with Rauch being killed at the scene of the accident instantly. Her co-driver, a 26-year-old male friend, survived the accident. Only three days before the episode featuring Rauch's elimination was aired, a nude photo shoot she did prior to her participation on the show was exposed. She was confronted by the judges for having taken the photos, and they stated that it was 'too low for a top model' while the other contestants witnessed the scene. A friend of Rauch criticized the program for the editing of that certain scene. At the beginning of the next episode of the show, the broadcast station expressed their condolences to Rauch's relatives and friends on a silent screen.