Move over Tyra Banks and UPN, NBC and Sports Illustrated have announced that they are teaming together to create a modeling reality competition of their own, The Sports Illustrated Fresh Faces Competition.

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Similar to UPN's America's Next Top Model series which became a breakout hit during last spring's second edition of the program, NBC's Fresh Faces Competition will be feature a nationwide search for a female model. However in NBC's version, the focus will be more specific -- a search for a swimsuit supermodel -- and the prize something for which Tyra herself once competed -- an appearance in the magazine's famed annual Swimsuit Issue.

"The success of the SI Swimsuit Issue has always been in the combination of beauty, athleticism and personality of the models we choose," said Sports Illustrated Managing Editor Terry McDonell. "Those are exactly the things we'll be looking for in our next Fresh Faces winner."

"The competition was such a huge success for Sports Illustrated last year, and so many amazing stories came from the aspiring models, we knew instantly that it would make a great reality show," said co-producer Jonathan Frank. "Our goal every step of the way was to make a show that would focus on the young women's personalities and stories, and really illustrate how the chance to be in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue could change their entire lives."

During Sports Illustrated's search for an undiscovered model for the popular Swimsuit Issue, the six-episode series will focus on what it takes to become the a successful swimsuit model. Selected finalists will live in Los Angeles where they will compete for the chance to appear in the best selling issues of any magazine in the world and win a million-dollar modeling contract from NEXT Model Management.

Scheduled to premiere in January 2005, the series and competition will culminate with the final two contestants who will be flown to an exotic location to shoot a photo spread for Sports Illustrated. No one will know who the winner will be until America votes as part of the series finale in February.

Upcoming casting call cities will include such cities as New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles (exact dates, times and locations will be available on NBC.com). Interested applicants can also download an application form from the website with instruction on how to try out.

The Sports Illustrated Fresh Faces Competition is produced by Pariah, PB & J Television and Sports Illustrated. Executive producers are Gavin Polone, Patty Ivins, Julie Pizzi, Terry McDonell and Sports Illustrated's Roy S. Johnson. Jessika Borsiczky serves as producer along with co-producer Frank for Pariah.

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