"I'm a model who's never, ever been nervous about doing a fashion show, even when I was a horrible walker," Banks says. "While I'm not nervous about this one, the creative people at Victoria's Secret come up with something new every year and always top themselves.
"It's very interesting to go to the rehearsal and find out, 'Oh, OK, angels are going to drop out of the sky' or 'Hey, I'm going to be flamenco dancing! Cool!' I had to do that dancing in last year's show, and I had only one day of practice."
Not that Banks minded. "Victoria's Secret knows I like to push the envelope and not do the norm," she says. "They're like, 'What should we give Tyra this year so she won't be bored?'"
Before the show was taped, Banks anticipated extra excitement from having Sting on the premises. "I probably met him years ago, but not where he would remember. Maybe when I meet him this time, he'll remember it, because he'll be on our turf," she says.
Red-carpet interviews and backstage footage also are elements of the CBS special, but Banks most enjoys being in the thrust of the action once the lights go up, the music starts and the models strut their stuff.
"It's really interesting to see the audience," she says. "I used to do a lot of fashion shows, though this is the only one I do now, and you usually can't see who's there. However the Victoria Secret's people light this one, you're able to see the reactions of people like Lenny Kravitz or P. Diddy or Martha Stewart or whoever is there. I see walking down a runway as entertainment and fun."
The first black model to make the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, Banks is a member of a rather exclusive club, ranking with Klum and Bundchen among today's most internationally famous models.
"It does feel really good," Banks admits, "especially when you're around other people who are in that group. Models usually have to work by themselves, but when Gisele and Heidi are there, it's nice to be with other 'starters.' We're from different eras; Gisele's the newest, Heidi is second, and I guess I'm the mama. I love that, 'cause Mama still looks good ... you know what I'm sayin'?"
In doing the latest Victoria's Secret show, Banks has more of a behind-the-scenes sensibility than ever before, having had her first success as a television producer. "America's Next Top Model" proved a ratings bonanza for UPN last season, and Banks -- who also created the show and served as a judge on it -- is readying a second round.
"I think it would be different if I was a retired model," she reasons. "But with me still working, it is a little odd for me to be judging what is hot and what I think can make a star. I mean, people are still looking at my picture at board meetings to decide why they want to use me for a campaign or why they don't."
However, Banks is ready to move ahead on the series' sophmore year. "I think we're really going to be on the pulse this season," she forecasts. "Plus, my modeling agency is going to represent the girl who wins this time, so I think she's really going to skyrocket. It's been an education for me to share my knowledge, not just in fashion, but in film and television.
"I actually was accepted by five universities (for media studies)," Banks reveals, "so the way I handled being an executive producer was a shock to the network and the crew. They thought that I was just going to come in, do my on-camera stuff and just leave and take the producing credit. But, I was there right through the budgeting and the lighting and the editing.
"Even the music cues you hear on the show were either approved or changed by me. If I say I want the girls to wear clown noses, everybody will look at me like I'm crazy, but they'll do it."
Banks isn't drunk with such power, though. The administrator of a scholarship that gives young women an education at her alma mater, Immaculate Heart High, the Los Angeles native claims that being guided by others on "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" helps keep her humble.
"I have to put on these clothes and sell them, regardless of whether I want to or not," she concludes. "It's as nice to be the talent as it is to be the person in charge."
