Joan Allen wasn’t as sassy as last year’s host, Angela Bassett, but “the thinking woman’s actress” (says Brenda Saget Darling, More’s VP/publisher in this report) had to deal with a raucous crowd that was unafraid to encourage its own.  (Let’s not, of course, forget Bassett’s overall formidable sassiness in this equation.)  Lynn Doyle (51, Newtown, PA) and Julia Jordan (46, Lancaster, NY) both strutted down the catwalk to cheers and catcalls on Wednesday night (2/20) at NYC’s Cipriani for the 8th annual More/Wilhelmina 40+ Model Search.  No matter.  Allen was and is ever the professional.  The show must go on.  And it did.  Jordan’s fan section (comprised of a very enthusiastic husband and hanger on) powered her to a third place finish.  Doyle didn’t mount the podium, but did share in a prize package worth over $90,000 with the rest of the models.

Elizabeth James-Lipscomb (43, West Bend, WI) took second place honors, while the very beautiful Chung Winstanley (45, Short Hills, NJ) took first.  All three winners were signed to Wilhelmina modeling contracts, Winstanley taking home the cherry prize: a $15,000 Wilhelmina contract, a diamond watch from Baume & Mercier, a week-long Princess Cruise on the Mexican Riviera, and plenty of other good loot.

Before the runway show, I caught up with brand new More EIC Lesley Jane Seymour.  A stunning lady over 40 herself, I was surprised that she wasn’t up on stage peacocking: “I’m a total gym rat, but I don’t jog.”  (Me too!)  “I lift weights and I do the bike for 30-60 minutes.”  (Me too!)  “I read a lot on the bike, all kinds of periodicals.”  (Me too!  But what?)  “I need something longer and heavier, like Esquire, or The New Yorker.”  (Well, there you have it: Will you marry me, Jane?)

Later, during the show, Wilhelmina’s chairman, almost stopped the show with a confusing, possibly insulting, and long monologue mostly about I-don’t-know-what.  Here are some nuggets I picked up:

- “I am aging rapidly — every time I come here [To More], the executives are all new.”  Implication: Heavy churn at More.  4 of 10 on the Showstopper scale.

- “I was just talking with Jane Seymour about how many people she was going to fire.”  Implication: New regime, heads will roll.  7.5 of 10 on the Showstopper scale.

- “It is very difficult to keep women happy.”  Implication: I’m not going there.  2 of 10 on the Showstopper scale.  This actually got a little laugh.  More like a rumble.

- “What I see today is inner beauty that must have been polished for a long time because their outer beauty is so great.”  Implication: You’re old.  4 of 10 on the Showstopper scale.  This didn’t come off so poorly because the lead up to this part was long and confusing.  Most people were not listening at this point.

After several more words that nearly stopped the proceedings, Esch and the other emcees saw fit to thank about 1,000,000 people, including sponsors, the designer, the editors, the advertisers, etc, etc, the NYPD, the 101st Airborne Division, and, of course, my man JC.

Enjoy the pics.   And the bonus pics (hit the link and then scroll all the way down).

There was a lunar eclipse last night.  Did anyone catch it?  The moon may have been eclipsed, but these models eclipsed my heart.  (Deduct one point for cheesy, and one point for not making sense.)  Here are one amateur astronomer’s photos: