Michelle López has until Friday night.
The 21-year-old from McKinney is a quarterfinalist in Next Runway Star, a national competition decided by public voting, and she needs to finish first in her group to reach the semifinals. Voting in this round closes Friday, Aug. 28, at 10 p.m. Eastern.
The winner of the competition walks the runway at the Rise Fashion Show during New York Fashion Week and receives $20,000.
How the voting works
The competition has a paid element, which is worth setting out plainly.
Anyone can cast one free vote per day after verifying through Facebook. Beyond that, additional votes cost money: $1 per vote with a $10 minimum, and preset packages that run up to $1,000. Those paid votes are sold as charity donations benefiting Rise.
Rise is a 501(c)(3) that works on legal protections for sexual assault survivors, and it is the beneficiary of the competition rather than its operator. The contest itself is run by Elevate, a company that stages voting competitions on behalf of charities. The entrant pages do not break down how the money divides between the charity, the prizes and the operator.
López asked to be linked to her competition page rather than have a placement printed here, since standings shift daily and the page carries the current count. She was second in her group this week.
