“The Tyra Show” came back for its fifth season yesterday! Perez Hilton (barf) stopped by as the first guest. But the main event was Tyra Banks, who is usually weaved to within an inch of her life, hosting the whole show with her natural hair.

Unforch, Tyra’s real hair is anticlimactic—i.e. she’s not bald. Underneath those weaves and extensions she sashays down the red carpet in, she has regular, boring, shoulder-length brown hair. On yesterday’s show, though, she may have straightened it or had a relaxer in it or something, because it was not kinky in the slightest—which kind of defeats the purpose of her saying “It’s my real hair!” Doesn’t it?

Anyway, during the show, her hairstylist, Oscar, blow-dried and curled her natural ‘do, while she chatted with three women who have some serious issues about their real hair. One of her guests was a biracial woman whose white mom didn’t want people to know she had a black father. This evil mom shaved her daughter’s hair off as a kid because she didn’t want a “nappy-headed baby.”

• Tyra Banks says she isn’t engaged; the ring she’s been wearing on her left ring finger is her 10-karat, diamond-less high school class ring. [Us Weekly]—I think she and boyfriend John Utendahl are going to end up like Oprah and Steadman.
• Hayden Panettiere was all smiles as she walked with boyfriend Harry Morton. [Socialite Life]
• Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr are still going strong. [Just Jared]—They looked so hipster-y dining in New York City’s SoHo yesterday.

Warning: Tyra Banks is listening. A few weeks ago, after Solange Knowles buzzed her hair, we wondered if the recession was killing the weave, and suggested that Ms. Smile With Her Eyes get rid of hers, too. And apparently, she is! Here’s what she Twittered yesterday:

“Guess What! I’m rockin’ my REAL hair on my talk show September 8th. No fake hair at all! Will be the hair coming out of my scalp! 4 all 2 C!”

“No ponytails, no ballet bun head. hair will be out and free! i have had every color weave in the book. even KOOL-AID red!!!”

[People]

Tyra Banks seems to have attended at least one “America’s Next Top Model” acting class because she looks really “natural” as she shoots on location for “The Tyra Banks Show.” [NYC, 8/17/09]

Wanna be on top? Well, these girls certainly do. The CW has released the names and photos of the 14 women who’ll be competing in cycle 13 of “America’s Next Top Model.” At this point, the show has gotten pretty formulaic. We know there’ll be a makeover episode where pounds of mascara will be washed away by tears. We know Tyra will demonstrate to the ladies how to smile with their eyes. We know that some fool will be late back to home base after the go-see challenge. But Tyra is shaking things up a bit this season on her super-popular vanity project modeling show. Only women who are between 5’2” and 5’7” were allowed to audition. In other words, they’re shorties, which is semi-revolutionary, since the fashion industry usually turns their back on anyone under 5’9”. Another big change? Paulina Porizkova won’t be sitting on the judge’s panel. Perhaps Kate Moss will be her replacement?

Bad pose, gaping mouth, ugly shoes, and Tyra isn’t even “smiling with her eyes.” At least I don’t think she is, but I’ve always been confused by that “skill.” [NYC, 7/30/09]

Fascinating topic on “The Tyra Show” today—gay for pay porn actors! In the clip above, Tyra asks a married father of three why he prefers to, ahem, receive presents rather than give them. TyTy has such a knack for making XXX subject matter seem G-rated.

Tyra gives tribute to Michael Jackson at last night’s BET Awards through dress—it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white, ‘cause you can wear both. [Los Angeles, 6/28/09]

Last night, former supermodel Paulina Porizkova revealed that she got booted from her position as judge on “America’s Next Top Model.” Producers told her that she had an ego problem and had to go. They gave Paulina the news on her birthday over the phone. [KansasCity.com] Ego problem? They have met Tyra Banks, right? Paulina is hardly the first supermodel judge to strut her stuff out the “Top Model” door.

Tyra tackled the issue of black women and girls hating their natural hair and examined the lengths they go to straighten it. I found it extremely sad that a six-year-old girl could hate herself so much at such a young age and has already figured out that she doesn’t fit the beauty ideal. I wonder if/when she’ll start hating her skin color, too. The idea that straight, silky hair is better than kinky hair is nothing new in the black community. In fact, Chris Rock’s “Good Hair” documentary examined it, too.

Last week, Tyra Banks said she’s trying to expand the idea of what the fashion industry considers beautiful. According to her, black models with lighter skin are deemed more commercial, whereas darker-skinnned black models are considered more high fashion. We’ve noticed this phenomenon holds true when a woman’s “hotness” is being judged, too.

Over the weekend, Tyra Banks took part in The New York Times’ “Times Talks.” Besides demonstrating to the audience how to do a few of her 275 smiles, Tyra said she wakes up every day to “expand the idea of beauty,” which encompasses trying to change people’s views of what is beautiful. “In the high-fashion world, darker black skin is considered beautiful,” Tyra said. “But on the commercial side, you have girls like myself, Beyoncé, and Halle Berry, with light black skin. I make a point to have beautiful chocolate girls on ‘Top Model’ who are also girls next door.” But this isn’t entirely true. For the most part, black models tend to have lighter skin, whether they appear in advertisements (Beyonce, Selita Ebanks) or walk the runway (Arlenis Sosa, Chanel Iman). There aren’t many darker black women appearing in magazines these days. For years, Alek Wek represented on the pages of Vogue, on runways, and in ads for Clinique and other brands, but even her presence has dwindled. Tyra is trying her best to shift things, at least on “America’s Next Top Model.” Of the four remaining women in this season’s running, two (Teyona and Aminat) are black. While Tyra can’t change the world, she’s doing what she can through ANTM—even if the show’s winners tend not to make much of a mark on the modeling world after their season ends. [NYMag.com, Cutblog/Twitter]

In this, the 12th cycle of “America’s Next Top Model,” 20-year-old Allison Harvard has stolen our hearts with her creepy goth vibe and giant anime eyes. Why? Because she can barely walk in heels and said during casting, “I have a really big fascination with blood—I just think it’s really pretty.” When Tyra confessed she gets nosebleeds, Allison squawked, “Jealous.” Allison is a familiar “Top Model” archetype—the ugly duckling Tyra hopes to turn into a swan. Let’s take a look back at Allison’s sisters in awkward.

TyTy’s hair was a total “DO” as she left court after testifying against the man on trial for stalking her. [New York City, 4/29/09]

Oh damn, Levi Johnston, Bristol Palin’s ex and baby daddy, is on The Tyra Show right now and he and his family are spillin’ the beans! TyTy, of course, wants to assure everyone that this is a legitimate interview—that Levi and his family are not being paid to appear. Duh, you know they picked Tyra to talk to over Oprah or Barbara Walters because Levi’s sister is probably a big fan. Above, Levi says he’s pretty sure that Sarah Palin knew he and Bristol were gettin’ it on, then assures Tyra that he and Bristol were having safe sex. Well, most of the time. Is it weird that I am oddly attracted to the cute dummy? Another clip, after the jump…

Don’t forget! Tonight at 8 pm EST, I’ll be liveblogging yet another episode of that hot mess masquerade they called “America’s Next Top Model.” I need Tyra to do something crazy, and soon. Or I need Mr. Jay to get bitchy with the girls. Everything has been far too nice so far this season. Oh, and will my beloved Cokey last another week? Let us pray!

Y’all, my DVR messed up and I missed last week’s episode! What did I miss? Oh, nothing? Wait, did I miss makeovers? Please tell me I didn’t miss makeovers! Anyhow, check back to this post at 8pm EST, as I dissect Mr. Jay’s latest hideous ensemble, question Ms. Jay’s sanity, and praise the Goddess Of Fierce aka TyTy.