Oxygen Orders Up Tattoo Competition Series Best Ink

Oxygen is ready to take a chance on a tattoo-related reality competition series. The network announced today that they’ve decided to move forward with the tattoo artistry competition series Best Ink, which will have tattoo artists competing against one another in an effort to win $100,000, cover and feature spread in Tattoo Magazine.

Best Ink will feature ten tattoo artists from across the country who are willing to put their skills to the test by tattooing real tattoos (on real people). While I can definitely understand there being plenty of tattoo artists out there willing to go up against their own in an effort to win some cash and maybe prove they’re better than their peers, I’m wondering what the thought-process is for the people willing to be the canvas on which these tattoo artists will display their work to win a challenge. On one hand, it would be great to get a tattoo done by one of the top tattoo artists in the country. On the other, these competitors might be nervous, or else, making some last-minute artistic decisions based on winning the challenge, as opposed to what the person might want branded on their body. I'll definitely be curious to see what kind of participation the subjects have in the decision-making-process pre-challenge and whether their satisfaction with the work done factors in to what the judges decide each week.

Serving as judges are tattoo artist Joe Capobianco and model/tattoo shop owner Sabina Kelley, along with a rotating guest judge. Following each challenge, they’ll critique the work. The series will also follow the contestants back to their “free-time space” to show us what kind of drama is playing out away from the competition. Given that the series is being produced by Bunim/Murray Productions (The Bad Girls Club, Keeping Up with the Kardashians), we should probably expect a lot of drama.

Set to host the series is Season 2 American Idol contestant and tattoo enthusiast Kimberly Caldwell. Best Ink will premiere this winter on Oxygen.