suddenly I see

Neal and I started watching Ugly Betty (I know, finally, right?) a few nights ago and I couldn't help but notice the similarities to the film The Devil Wears Prada, perhaps in part because we watched that pretty recently, too. And at the end of the pilot episode (I think it was at the end...sometime during that hour) I hear none other than KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" (which I thought was titled "she's a beautiful girl"), also in the film. And it dawned on me that that song has pretty much become the score to the core coming-of-age story from a female perspective, whether it's being told across reality television (as in every time a gal dancer gets booted from my summer fave So You Think You Can Dance) or narrative film. Isn't it strange, though, that SYTYCD plays it when the girl gets booted, as opposed to the way it's typically used in t.v. and film, when the heroine, after a series of trials and tribulations, gets a break and simultaneously figures out what she wants to do with her life? Hmm.

Maybe America's Next Top Model should start using that song in some way - they could borrow the strategy of SYTYCD and play it when a model is eliminated, or save it 'til the end, when, after a series of trials and tribulations, the Top Model of their choosing gets a break that reinforces her chosen path in life. Maybe I should include that tip in what could be a long letter of suggested changes to Cycle 8.

Speaking of ANTM, did you know Yaya DaCosta, runner-up (Eva, the ultimate ANTM winner, in my opinion, won that cycle) from Cycle 2 is an actress now? Watching Take the Lead this weekend, I thought LaRhette looked awfully familiar. Sure enough, listed among her accomplishments on IMDB is ANTM (and an upcoming feature directed by John Sayles).

Anyway, in spite of all the things I disliked about Cycle 7, I'm looking forward to the start of the next cycle on February 28th, which will help fill the void left by the departing O.C., which ends just a few days before. Gosh, couldn't they at least let them finish the season through the spring?