Last night, Dateline NBC aired its Chris Hanson special on model convention scams, the ones that charge wannabe models thousands of dollars for the "chance" to be looked at by professional model and acting agents. In this particular piece, Hanson followed three aspiring stars -- Alexis Burke, Francesca Trombley, and Averie Schrier -- who went through the Barbizon (har!) modeling and acting program in hopes of getting discovered. Burke's parents, in particular, ended up spending $30,000 on her and her twin sister.

Even worse, these were little girls and their families who had been taken advantage of and the money spent on the bogus convention could have gone towards some kind of college fund. Nonetheless, Elite's Neil Hamil made an appearance to set the record straight about these type of scams: if an agency wants you, they won't make you spend a dime. Just send your pictures out to agencies or attend one of their open calls. It's totally free.

This is startling to me on so many levels. If only because for those who don't follow fashion and modeling closely, they tend to believe the industry works and operates much like America's Next Top Model. And on numerous episodes, Tyra has talked about the dangers of models scams like the one Barbizon was hustling and how to avoid them. Still, these instuitions continue to make millions each year off the backs of their false promises. In this clip, watch Burke's parents talk about the Barbizon fiasco.

Honestly, I've seen stranger things, namely Reebok shamelessly hooking up with Kool-Aid for a collaboration.

Still, this is quite odd nonetheless:

New father Clay Aiken will guest judge on the new season of America's Next Top Model sometime in April. In the episode, the American Idol alum will participate in an acting challenge with the model hopefuls, while R&B singer Ciara will make a brief appearance in the same show.

With Tyra's producer's setting this up, there is no telling what Clay will actually be doing in his episode. But if  I had to take a wild guess or accept Tyra's talk show as prologue, expect this to be one of the most gay and over-the-top hours of television this year. Yay! [SFG]

Australian supermodel Gemma Ward has been m.i.a. from her usual haunts, Italian Vogue editorials and six-figure ad campaigns, since her turn on Hermés' catwalk for the brand's spring '08 show.

This probably has a little something to do with the former Prada girl sporting a healthier body frame (keep in mind she's over 6'0 ft and probably is only a size 4 or 6 now) and no longer being able to fit into the sample sizes like her tiny, er, BFF Lily Donaldson.

But Gemma isn't sweating the new jean size one bit. Rumor has it the baby-faced IMG star will be calling it quits on the modeling career very soon, focusing instead on her budding acting career instead.

Still, it's hard to believe that there will never be another Gemma appearance in a style mag, especially since she is only in her early twenties. But it would be interesting to see how she transitions from supermodel to Hollywood starlet. Stay tuned!

The acting bug has been running rampant as of late in the modeling industry.

Agyness Deyn was seen shooting a film in Central Park last month.

IMG stars Lily Cole and Gemma Ward have both temporarily pulled the brakes on their hugely successful modeling careers to take up acting.

And now it looks as though another beauty from that same impressive NY women's board is trying her hand in movies.

Liye Kebede is starring in a new movie called Desert Flower.

According to TFS, the films is "based on Waris Dirie autobiography of the same name which chronicles her childhood in the Somali desert, her entrance into modeling, and her role as a United Nations spokeswoman against circumcision."

After a side-by-side photo comparison of Liya and Waris, it's eerie how much the two women look like each other. Hopefully, this will make Liya's portrayal of the UN ambassador even more believable. The movie is currently being shot in London and will make its grand debut sometime this year.

So, to review: Actors want to be models, models want to be actors, and somewhere in between the Supers are high-jacking jobs, too.