While Bravo's new series Make Me a Supermodel puts control of the show in the hands of the public, that doesn't mean there won't be some guidance from professionals there as well. Hosts Niki Taylor and Tyson Beckford have already compared their roles to those of Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, respectively, of American Idol. Beyond the input of the two hosts, however, there will be two actual judges participating in the process as well.

One will be Jennifer Starr, “most prominent print fashion casting director in the country,” and Cory Bautista, who is pictured at left with Niki and Tyson. So who is Cory Bautista and why should we listen to his input when casting our votes for our faves on Make Me a Supermodel?

Cory has been in the fashion industry for 20 years, including a stint as the youngest Director of any modeling agency early in his career, when he worked for prestigious Ford Model's first Miami branch.

In 1993, he moved to the biggest market in the U.S. for high fashion modeling: New York City. He continued to work with Ford Models, representing big names like Naomi Campbell, Ines Sastre, Kristen McMenamy and Christy Turlington.

In 1995, he moved to another company, and from there, headed to arguably the high-fashion capitol of the world, Paris. He worked with Karin Models and with that organization, supported Ines Rivero, Estelle Warren and Estelle Holliday.

He returned to New York City to open the Karin Models New York offices, and worked alongside with the former President of Ford Models. From there, he then went to the new company, New York Model Management, in 1998 as the Agency Director. Today, Bravo says, he is “still residing at New York Models and still representing superstars…now managing the careers of Valeria Mazza, Elle Macpherson, Jaime Rishar and Sarah O'Hare Murdoch to name a few.”

Will Cory be a kindly avuncular presence on Make Me a Supermodel or another hard-nosed critic like Simon Cowell? Tune in on Thursday to find out.

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Bravo, TheFutonCritic.com
(Image courtesy of Bravo)