Janice = out, Twiggy = in

NEW YORK (AP) – Janice Dickinson is no longer in the running to judge who will become “America’s Next Top Model.” The loudmouth supermodel and author has left the UPN reality show and will be replaced by Twiggy Lawson on the upcoming fifth season.

“We would like to thank Janice for bringing her talents to the show and for everything she did to help us build “America’s Next Top Model’ into its current success,” executive producer Ken Mok said in a statement Thursday. “We wish her well in all of her future endeavors.”

Dickinson, author of “No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World’s First Supermodel” and “Everything About Me Is Fake … and I’m Perfect,” was the most outspoken member of the model hunt’s judging panel, dishing harsher-than-harsh critiques to contestants and getting into spats with fellow judges since the first season.

Also gone as a judge is stylist Nole Marin. He’ll be replaced by runway expert J. Alexander, a former model who’s taught catwalk technique and guest judged in previous seasons – or “cycles,” the show’s term for each installment.

Lawson rose to fame in the 1960s with her doe eyes and pixie hairdo, appearing on the covers of magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, McCall’s, Seventeen and Newsweek.

Dickinson will star in the next season of VH1’s “The Surreal Life” with the likes of Jose Canseco and Bronson Pinchot. According to UPN, Dickinson also has a television production deal and is working on a new book.

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On the Net:

http://www.upn.com/shows/top-model/index.shtml

‘Grind’ gets double duty

Film genius Quentin Tarantino and his bud Robert Rodriguez, who hit serious paydirt with “Sin City,” will team up to make “Grind House” for the Weinstein Co., the new company formed by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, cofounders of the indie and indie-esque film haven, Miramax Films.

Due out next spring, the horror flick will be a two-parter: Each auteur will contribute his own 60-minute flickette.

The fledgling Weinstein Co. has also announced release dates for 13 other features.

– Knight Ridder Newspapers