#antmcycle2commentary

[jaytopmodelrankings]

April Wilkner

Place: 4th

Panel Call-out Average: 3.33

Personal Call-out Average: 2.89

Favourite Performance: Garden of Eden

Least Favourite Performance: Shake Your Body Music Video

Eligibility to Win/Place Higher:

April had the strongest portfolio of the lot, and certainly would have been a deserved and beloved winner. She deserved to at least compete in the finale, I would have been fine with Runner-up but fourth place is straight-up robbery!

Thoughts:

I always remembered April as a strong contender, and rewatching this cycle I realised how amazing she truly was as a model. There is only one shot of hers that I actually dislike, and even then, it’s still far from edging into “bad” territory. April had such a unique and sophisticated beauty and I loved how she could bring out her Asian heritage into the equation, which always created intriguing narratives to her photos. Her walk was decent, and she was incredibly versatile in front of the camera, though her weakness was coming across as stiff and robotic in person or in motion (as we can see from her music video performance). However, it was a flaw that could be overcome, and despite declining in her final two weeks, her elimination was so incredibly unfair.  I really liked April as a person. She was quite funny in her confessionals, and came across as sweet and friendly. The Top 4 as a whole seemed to share a really endearing friendship, but the fact that April was the first of them to be kicked off is utter rubbish!

[jaytopmodelrankings]

Yoanna House

Place: Winner

Panel Call-out Average: 3.3

Personal Call-out Average: 3

Favourite Performance: High Fashion Beauty Shot

Least Favourite Performance: Shake Your Body Music Video

Eligibility to Win/Place Higher:

I do think Yoanna earned her win, and was quite happy for her, but as I think I’ve made clear, I would have been fine with anyone in the Top 4 winning.

Thoughts:

Yoanna had a flair for dramatics, I’ll acknowledge, but I couldn’t help adoring her for the moments when her heart shined and how she breathed and relished in the world of fashion. She was obviously more knowledgeable than the other girls on fashion topics at the time, and she had a consistent and strong portfolio to add to that. I will never be over how incredible her final shot was! Her walk was atrocious in the beginning, but really improved and was decent enough for the final runway. Yoanna to me was the first winner to exemplify the notion of both deserving it, and needing it. Her storyline fit in nicely with that, how she worked hard to lose weight to be able to work in the part of the industry that she loved most, and her determination to succeed (though I’m obviously quite triggered whenever her weight was put into question because goodness knows how unrealistic the standards of beauty are). I thought she was a nice girl, and was really pleased to see her have a steady, fruitful career after Top Model.

[jaytopmodelrankings]

Mercedes Scelba-Shorte

Place: Runner-up

Panel Call-out Average: 2.9

Personal Call-out Average: 3.4

Favourite Performance: Celebrity Icon

Least Favourite Performance: Quench Underwater Nymph

Eligibility to Win/Place Higher:

Mercedes could have placed anywhere within the Top 3 and I would have been happy with it.

Thoughts:

Upon my rewatch, it really dawned on me how adorable Mercedes was on the show. She truly was the first bubbly, happy archetype, and it made it really enjoyable to watch her (plus, her debating over whether sex or going to Milan was better makes me howl). I also really admired her for disclosing her struggle with lupus, and how she generally stayed positive and supportive of the girls, even acting as mediator for Camille and Yoanna, but standing her ground for what she thought was right insted of being a silent bystander. Model-wise, Mercedes was a phenomenal competitor, both in pictures and catwalk. She was generally consistent, and produced some wonderful work in the process. At times she struggled to stand out from the pack, delivering solid but unmemorable performances, but she really grew to become a threat by the finale. The judges always critiqued Mercedes for being commercial, but she never made me doubt her ability for high fashion. Mercedes might have been runner-up in the cycle, but she won over our hearts easily.

[jaytopmodelrankings]

Shandi Sullivan

Place: 3rd

Panel Call-out Average: 3.3

Personal Call-out Average: 3.8

Favourite Performance: Solstice Sunglasses

Least Favourite Performance: Quench Underwater Nymph

Eligibility to Win/Place Higher:

I honestly believe Shandi was being set up as the eventual winner, and while I would have been fine with her victory, I do think other girls outperformed her overall, which makes her bronze quite fair to me ultimately.

Thoughts:

I really cared about Shandi. She came in and she was just so cute and endearing to watch, especially as she grew as a model and as a person. It was heartbreaking to hear how she was ostracised by her family, which is something I can relate to so much, and it was lovely to see everyone support her for that. Shandi really did things her own way, and everything from her humour to her walk was so unique to her and special, I adored her. Plus, Shandi was possibly the strongest competitor based solely on high fashion potential. She was not as consistent as some of the other girls, but when she nailed a shot, boy did she nail it! Shandi truly had the biggest transformation both on the outside and the inside during the cycle, and as our first ANTM Cinderella, I will always have a soft spot for her.

[jaytopmodelrankings]

Camille McDonald

Place: 5th

Panel Call-out Average: 4.75

Personal Call-out Average: 5.75

Favourite Performance: Garden of Eden

Least Favourite Performance: Laundry by Shelli Segal

Eligibility to Win/Place Higher:

Camille’s portfolio made her ineligible to win, and I’d personally have sent her home a week or two early.

Thoughts:

Okay, I’ll admit, I have been quite harsh on Camille, so I’ll start with the positives. Camille was quite proud of her walk, and she certainly deserved to be because she was arguably the best walker, and her runway was distinct and her own. While her portfolio was a steady downward trajectory, she managed to take a couple of very strong shots that proved she wasn’t a lost cause. I’m sure a lot of you have been watching the Jays on Instagram live every Friday talking about each cycle, and they recently defended Camille as a black woman who had to work three times harder than someone who was white before the world started to slowly (and too slowly mind you) get its shit together about diversity. While I wholeheartedly agree that Camille had a focus and her tough persona was built to protect her from an unforgiving world who would put her down easily, I stand by my word that I will not defend certain actions Camille took in the house. My heart goes out to her fro any hardships due to things she can’t change, but they don’t excuse all her questionable behaviour that has continued even after her own cycle.

Camille was selected for All-Stars, and while I’ll go into more detail when I get to ranking it, I can tell you I wasn’t what you called thrilled by her time there (thought it made sense, because like her or not, Camille was the first true villain edit, and she will forever be iconic for that and her signature walk).

[jaytopmodelrankings]

Sara Racey-Tabrizi

Place: 6th

Panel Call-out Average: 4.86

Personal Call-out Average: 4.29

Favourite Performance: Music Video

Least Favourite Performance: Garden of Eden (still like it, though)

Eligibility to Win/Place Higher:

Definitely should have gone overseas at the very least.

Thoughts:

I know I’ve defended Sara’s right to have made it overseas, but I also have to admit that despite her consistency, she never had a true standout moment in her portfolio, so she might have been the first or second to go in Italy unless she suddenly produce something magical. I personally loved her look, since it was kind of sexy but still glamorous enough to pass in a more editorial shoot. She had her moments of dry wit in confessionals that do bring a smile to my face and she was generally a nice, down-to-earth girl. Her elimination interview always breaks my heart, since it’s clear she was devastated.

[jaytopmodelrankings]

Catie Anderson

Place: 7th

Panel Call-out Average: 5.67

Personal Call-out Average: 6

Favourite Performance: Quench Underwater Nymph

Least Favourite Performance: Celebrity Icon

Eligibility to Win/Place Higher:

Perhaps another week, but her time was pretty much up anyway.

Thoughts:

When the cycle first began, I thought I would like Catie but Jesus, did she prove me wrong. She was so whiny and seemed to cry at the drop of a button. Her look was nice for fashion, and her makeover was amazing despite her weeping, but she never really produced great pictures- apart from her Marilyn Monroe disappointment, she was consistent in giving satisfactory-grade pictures, that while not bad, were not fawn-worthy. Even though I said I’d give her another week, she would have left then anyway so it wouldn’t be that much of a difference. Her walk was pretty good, though, I’ll acknowledge that.

[jaytopmodelrankings]

Xiomara Frans

Place: 8th

Panel Call-out Average: 7.2

Personal Call-out Average: 7.8

Favourite Performance: Celebrity Icons

Least Favourite Performance: Quench Underwater Nymph

Eligibility to Win/Place Higher:

A snowflake’s chance in hell. 

Thoughts:

Xiomara was a nice girl. I’ve been outspoken in my criticism of her photos on the show, but as a person she always seemed like a good person to have as your friend. Xiomara had a lot of potential based on her look, but she failed to live up to it save for that one time, which to me sounds more like luck rather than actual ability, because everything else in her portfolio was either terrible or average.