“Give me fierce,” coached freshman in LAS Candace Williams during the first “cycle” of Illini Union Board’s Next Top Homecoming Model competition. Williams, who has her own modeling contract with Elite Model Management, served as the University’s own Tyra Banks for Saturday’s audition.

The Traditional Programs Area of IUB sponsored the model search to find a confident and diverse cast of students to pose in promotional materials for Homecoming 2009 activities, including the Fashion Show, Pageant, Step Show and Homecoming Party.

“Usually for the African-American Homecoming events we draw a predominantly African-American crowd because it is usually publicized only within the African-American community,” said Williams, who chaired the event. “We hoped that by showing some really diverse models in our publicity materials we could create a more welcoming environment to everyone.”

The applicant pool included 70 students of all shapes, sizes, genders and ethnicities, which the Next Top Homecoming Model committee eventually narrowed to around 45 for call-backs. On Saturday at 3 p.m., the contestants gathered for a series of four challenges — the compressed version of Tyra’s season-long competition.

“We started with the walking challenge, basically trying to see that they had confidence,” Williams said. After the walking challenge the judges eliminated 11 contestants.

The panel consisted of five judges with varying degrees of experience with the modeling industry. A make-up artist, print model, professional male model and a student pursuing a career in fashion sat alongside Williams to critique competitors.

The second round of competition was posing.

“We had them do different poses individually and then model with each other to see how well they could interact,” Williams said.

The field was narrowed again and models were tested on their movement ability, which Williams said would be important for the Homecoming Party photo shoot. The judges looked for a model who was “aware of their body and face at the same time,” she said.

After the movement round, a final 11 contestants remained for the question session.

“They are the spokesmodels for the event so it was important to see how they would speak in front of people,” said Williams, who asked each model two questions with the help of the other judges.

The contest was scheduled to end at 9 p.m. but deliberations took longer than expected.

“We ended up with a great mix of models. They were energetic and outgoing and no two of them look alike,” William said of the three men and six women who were declared Next Top Homecoming Models.

Photographing for the promotional materials took place on Sunday. All the models were treated to a professional make-up artist and shot by a professional photographer.

The Top Models will appear in promotional materials for Homecoming next fall.