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After five years and 10 cycles, there are certain elements viewers have grown to expect from ' America's Next Top Model.'

There's the Ivy Leaguer who thinks she's too smart for modeling, the mean girl who'd seemingly rather fight than model, the affable lesbian who acts as a foil to the conservative Christian and the 'issue' girl -- in past cycles we've seen blindness, Asperger's syndrome, female circumcision, homelessness, rage issues and mail-order brides on the show. [Click here to see photos of all 14 contestants on America's Next Top Model cycle 11]

This cycle, of course, the big news is that one of the contestants was born male. Isis Tsunami is a young transgender model who was featured in the background of a photo shoot in a previous cycle. There is an aspect of spectacle to the casting, but Isis is a legitimate contestant, and the show handles her situation with frankness and grace (even while some of her competitors don't).

"One of the things about the fashion industry, is that there have been many transgender models over the years. It's very legitimate in our industry," says "Top Model" judge and "noted fashion photographer" Nigel Barker. "It's a bit shocking for prime-time TV, but it opens peoples' eyes."

And the show is about more than one contestant. It's about the drama of 14 women living together in close quarters and the photos they produce. Though "Top Model" has gone from a low-budget reality show gamble to CW tent-pole programming, that aspect hasn't changed.

"They are an extremely excitable bunch," Barker says of this cycle's contestants. "I don't know whether it was the casting or the time of year or it was something in the water, but they are a particularly feisty bunch of girls."

What has changed, however, is that the show's profile is much higher all over the world. But, of course this is by no means a bad thing. Jay Manuel, the art director of photo shoots, says that an increased budget enabled this cycle's finale to be their most elaborate and expensive to date. However, it also creates some unique problems. When "Top Model" traveled to Amsterdam for its final five episodes, the production was recognized all over the city.

"This time we were really overwhelmed," Manuel says. "I would have to leave out the back door of the hotel, [or I would be] followed by the paparazzi."

Also keeping the crew on their toes is the fact that the contestants get more and more savvy each cycle.

"They've watched the show over the past five years, and we've had to up our ante and raise the bar, so to speak, in order to keep providing new challenges and keep it exciting," Barker says.

And that's what the show is all about: the wacky photo shoots, the melodramatic infighting and host Tyra Banks' well-intentioned megalomania. It's a formula that's worked for 10 cycles so far, and 11 looks to be no different.

Behind the scenes:
Nigel Barker and Jay Manuel have been with "America's Next Top Model" since the beginning, but their roles on the show and interactions with the contestants are very different. Here's what they've had to say about their experience on the show.

Barker:
On being the crush-worthy man of the show: I am, obviously, the only straight male on the show so they don't have anywhere else to deflect their attention. I look at it like this: I'm almost double the age of most of the girls on the show and I'm a father and I just sort of think to myself, if it's a school girl crush that's fine.

On girls who hide their true nastiness in front of the judges: It's quite shocking for me, sometimes, I'll watch the show and I'm like, "Oh my goodness, she was a nightmare. I had no idea she was so mouthy. My god, I thought she was such a sweet girl."

Manuel:
On encouraging the contestants: Some people need their hand held to kind of help them and other girls just need a slap on the wrist. And that's what prompts them to want to do better.

On "unfair editing": "I love when people talk about that they're a victim of editing. If it's on camera, it's on camera. And that's just what happens. I think [the people who] feel like they were portrayed negatively, what they're experiencing is they don't believe that they did that and they're more shocked than anything else. And they feel like they're the victim. But if you did it, that's your own fault. And I say things all the time that I wish I could reel back in, but I can't.

-Click here to see photos of all 14 contestants on America's Next Top Model cycle 11