I think I might have found a bug.

Here's a fiddle using Angular 1.2.14. The select element shows 'select an option' on load, and the model won't change until an option is selected.

The same fiddle, except using Angular 1.2.15. The first option is selected by default, but the model is not initialised to reflect this. Angular 1.2.16 also has the same behaviour, and it happens in both Chrome and Firefox.

The release notes show that a fix was made in this release, might this have introduced this behaviour?

EDIT: I know there's an easy workaround for this, as shown in this fiddle, by pre-populating the model. I just thought I'd point out the change in behaviour.