Rankings and Commentary by RTVC Senior Staff Writer Jacob D.
May 16, 2010


Previously on America"s Next Top Model, 13 new girls entered the competition in the hopes of becoming the next top model. Here"s who was eliminated before the finale and why:

Gabrielle- for leaving an underwhelming first impression
Naduah- for being confused about how to sell her edgy look
Ren- when she admitted that her desire to be in the competition was waning
Simone- for being flat in photo shoots
Tatianna- when her good photos came as a result of luck rather than skill
Brenda- when the judges felt she didn"t know how to be edgy
Anslee- for not having enough versatility as a model
Alasia- for losing her focus in her modeling
Jessica- for being too safe and commercial

This left us with four girls going into the finale: Alexandra, Angelea, Krista, and Raina. The girls had a photo shoot where they had to portray "Ugly-Pretty" in couture garments. They then learned that two of them would be going home and those two girls ended up being Alexandra and Angelea, leaving Krista and Raina as the final two. They filmed a Cover Girl commercial and shot a print ad before stomping it out in an Anna Sui fashion show.

At the final judging panel of the season, Krista was named America"s Next Top Model. I have to say this cycle was a bit up-and-down for me. The first half was mostly uninteresting with lots of missed potential and odd photo shoots. I mean, the nude shoot was good, but what was up with the overwrought set up of the second shoot, wherein the girls had to take beauty shots on top of building in pouring rain for a perfume that leaves a big purple stain on them when sprayed? Then there was the vampire shoot, which I thought was unnecessary, and the faux fashion shoot which I thought missed the mark.

I mean, the point of that shoot, according to Mr. Jay, was to show the dangers that consumers buying fake fashion poses for the fashion industry, but where was that sense of urgency? All I saw was a bunch of broads in tacky ensembles. Plus at that point, very few of the girls were really impressing. I feel like Gabrielle was underrated because her nude photo wasn"t nearly as bad as the judges thought.

I absolutely loved Naduah for her voice, her composure, and her edgy look, but she too ended up being underrated. Ren was a bright spot in the first photo shoot, but she quickly let the competition get to her and almost became pathetic with how quickly she wanted to throw in the towel. Then we come to find out she was only there in an effort to get her mother to like her. Why bother?

I thought Simone was beautiful and had the potential for high glamour, but she was not the most exciting contestant and neither was Tatianna, despite her beauty and potential. Anslee wasn"t as interesting a model as the judges made her out to be and I was continually fed up with Alasia"s loud immaturity.

However, there were some bright spots and the cycle started to take for the better, for me, around the time of the first Cover Girl shoot. That shoot produced a number of gorgeous photos and every shoot from there on was great. I loved the shoot with the hair outfits because it too produced a number of great photos and everything the girls did in New Zealand interested me, especially the light and shadows photo shoot. It was like the second half was a whole new competition.

Some girls also seemed to be upping their game from that point on. Even though she didn"t get very far in the competition, I"d have to say that looking back on the season and all of the pictures, I"ve really fallen in love with Brenda"s look and many of her photos. She had such a gorgeous face, made for glamour, and I now feel that what the judges tried to do with her, in regards to her makeover and trying to make her edgy, was a mistake. I mean, look at her in the nude shoot, that face in the purple perfume shoot, her underrated dance photo, the subtle strength in her faux fashion photo, and her high class Cover Girl shot. I really wish the judges hadn"t tried so hard to pigeonhole her and put her into some niche where she didn"t belong.

Even though I didn"t like her, Angelea took a number of stunning photos in the first half of the competition, most notably her Cover Girl shot and her nude photo. Heck, I"ve even started to appreciate her hair suit photo and I hated that one at first! Alexandra was a beautiful relatable girl who went far and perked up towards the end with her light and shadows shot being one of the standout photos of the season. Raina had such a gorgeous look that carried her far and a wonderful personality to go with it.

Then of course, there was Krista, who ended up dominating the competition the way no other girl in ANTM history had. She seemed to win every other challenge, drew immense praise from the judges at every opportunity, was on point in her presence/modeling know-how, and ended up being called first at the end of judging panel an unprecedented four times in a row! While that doesn"t break the record for highest number of first call-outs, it is a record for most consecutive first call outs and one I don"t expect to see broken for a long time, if at all. She also became the fourth girl in ANTM history to win the competition without ever being in the bottom two.

So in the end, I"m splitting the difference and calling this an okay season, definitely not one of the weakest, but definitely not one of the strongest. I do feel like it was a step up from the previous season which is a step in the right direction.
Anyway, see ya at Cycle 15!

Source

http://www.realitytvcalendar.com/shows/antm14/sb/ep10-p1.html