#auscycle2

[topmodelranking2]

Belinda's situation was pretty shitty but nobody will ever out-unfair Eboni from cycle 2. Belinda missed a shoot but Eboni missed a whole fucking week and received a nice pass to the next week, while everybody else throughout that week was in jeopardy of going home. Madness.

Definitely, Eboni dropping out and then being brought back was frustrating. I understand it must suck from Eboni's perspective, but the show should've done what others do and just offer them a chance to come back for the next Cycle. Much fairer to the other girls. And then I seem to remember Eboni getting treated softly for the rest of the cycle, so judged differently from the rest. I remember being really frustrated at the end of that cycle, and then Simone being robbed before the finale didn't help. Thought I'd at least have my favourite making the end. Really want to see if I can get good quality photos from that cycle, would have a lot to say if I did.

[topmodelranking2]

If AusNTM was capped off with an All-Stars season, who would you cast? Assuming a cast of 12-16 contestants. Also who would pick out of the existing Aus judges for the cycle's panel?

I'll start with the judges. Outside Charlotte Dawson, who was easily one of the best parts of any NTM franchise for me, the judges on AusNTM were always a bit either meh or frustrating, so choosing an All-Star worthy panel is difficult.

Honestly, all of the hosts can go, like none of them ever made an impact with me. I think Megan Gale would've been my choice to take over that position, she was enjoyable enough when she judged and I always enjoyed when she popped up in earlier cycles. Alex Perry of course has to be there, even if I can't say I was always his biggest fan, but he was part of what made the show great. Outside those 2, honestly none of the other judges were good enough to stand out for me. Just give me a rotating guest judge as the additional one

As for the cast, if I was given entirely free ranged, with the assumption of no winners and that everyone would accept, regardless of their post-season success, my choices would probably be:

Sam from Cycle 1, for the TV drama and having Cycle 1 be represented.

Simone and Madeleine from Cycle 2, Simone is one of my favourite early season models, give her a second chance, and Madeleine perfect combo of modelling potential and drama.

Paloma and Jordan from Cycle 3, again both great drama, vibrant personalities, and had their moments modelling wise.

Samantha and Caris from Cycle 4, Caris just deserves a chance to shine without that group hanging over her, and Samantha served some of my all time favourite shots so of course I'd have her back. Maybe also throw in Alamela for some early boot representation, and she deserved a second chance.

Cassi from Cycle 5, while I do think there were a lot of solid people from this Cycle, Cassi is the only one who screams All-Stars, maybe Clare too.

Joanna, Sophie and Kelsey from Cycle 6, Joanna is another personal favourite of mine, loved watching her, great look, so I'd have loved to see her back. Sophie is just an icon. And Kelsey of course would be brought back, and they'd show that finale moment over and over and over, probably even giving a All-Stars 5 Shea style story to the victory.

Simone and Neo from Cycle 7, Simone would be an obvious lock, and then I'd have one of the more underrated models from this cycle, went with Neo but any of her, Yolanda or Jess would work.

Shanali and Duckie from Cycle 8, incredible models, enjoyable people to watch, the best this cycle had to offer.

No one from Cycle 9, flop cycle, and while there were some solid models and good TV personalities, doesn't deserve to have anyone on All-Stars in my opinion. Alex would be the closest though.

Linnea from Cycle 10, close to deserving no one too, but Linnea's look and robbery on Cycle 10 justify a second shot for her.

[topmodelranking2]

Do you still consider Melissa to be the worst Aussie winner?

Hm, good question. Right now my ranking of Aus winners would probably be:

1: Montana is a clear number 1 for me, killed every aspect of her season, even her worst shots were good, and I don't think I'd ever have her below the top half. Her post-show work really does speak for itself.

2 - Alice is only a slight step behind, still such a clear winner, especially on her season since at least Cycle 7 had a few other really strong potential models. Only slight thing holding her back was her confidence, but if she had been more confident then she would be on par with Montana.

3-4: Aleyna and Gemma, I think based on their seasons they are a step behind the top 2 only because they still had competition from other strong models on their seasons in a way Montana/Alice didn't really have. They did both feel like front-runners, but never to the same extent, always felt like others could still win.

5: Amanda I'd then have a step below those 2, brilliant model, but Cycle 6 was a masterclass pretty much all around, there was so much competiton and while Amanda was always a competent model, she really wasn't a clear winner at any point.

6-7: Brittany and Tahnee both were solid winners for me, but I personally perhaps would have chosen someone else, but was still very happy, and felt they deserved to make it as far as they did.

8-9: Eboni and Melissa would then be next for me, and both were winners I was a bit disappointed with. They were nice, and I do get their appeal and look, but both had really clear winners of their seasons for me (Shanali and Simone), and I am not even sure I would have had either make the end to be honest.

10 - Demelza is my choice for last, I am still confused as to how she won, let alone made the end. Plus the whole bullying issue...like yeah, I don't get it. Cycle 4 may have produced my favourite photo of all time, but yeah, was no where close to producing my favourite winner.

So yeah, Melissa is no longer my choice for last, but still not a huge fan of her win, and she is easily bottom 3 for me, and those 3 are a solid step below the other 7.

[topmodelranking]

Ausntm, Louise had one of my favorite looks, but her personality is bugging on rewatch. Lara's photos were great, and I still don't know why she went home over Jessica. I didn't care for the eyebrow thing, but I also didn't care for Hiranthi, so eh. I felt bad when she was trying to move on and Hiranthi kept talking about it. The whole thing with the hair dresser was a mess. It's hard to say if what Caroline said was true (awkward, but I kinda love c2 Caroline), but it was hard to take his side

Yeah, Louise was such a diamond in the rough. I wanted to like her, but I don’t think she really cared. Still, I’d have rather have seen her in the final 5 than Jess.

I loved Lara so much, and I actually liked her photo from the swimsuit week. It wasn’t a great week overall, but Jessica’s was so bad. How she survived is beyond me. I had a slight dislike for her after the eyebrow thing, but I felt she made up for it over time, and I hated that it kept being brought up. It was a stupid mistake, but was blown way out of proportion.

I completely forgot about the whole hair-dresser ordeal. That was so cringe worthy. I personally want to believe Caroline. It was such a stupid thing to make up, and that guy seemed like a real creep.

[topmodelranking]

Maybe I was wrong about the acting photos because I looked them up and yeah, I hate all of them. If Anika was looking at the guy instead of the camera, I would've liked her photo the best. Steph's photo wasn't anything special, but I thought Jordan's was the worst so I would've cut Charlotte's favorite then. Jez voted for Steph? that's so disappointing since I think he's my favorite judge/guest judge. We still have to finish the season but I'm not sure which to watch next. :O

I do think Anika’s is probably the best…until I realise she was meant to be portraying contentment, which I get absolutely none of. But then again that entire acting element was ridiculous: the shoot was nothing compared to Cycle 2′s emotions shoot, Simone’s shot from that is still one of my all time favourites.

Yeah, I was surprised to find out Jez voted for Steph too. Part of me thinks it might be to make the whole thing more suspenseful, but I’m not sure. I can’t remember exactly what his arguments were, all I remember of the finale is Jodhi’s awful mechanical hosting skills. That episode was a complete car crash, so glad Charlotte (RIP) stepped in. She should have been the host for the next few cycles, she would have done so well.

[topmodelranking]

Again, sorry for the awful quality of the shots. Like Cycle 1, there seems to be hardly any good quality shots out there. Here are my instant favourites of Australia’s Next Top Model Cycle 2, in no particular order:

Simone’s Black and White Emotion Shot

Simone’s Beauty Shot

Simone’s Country Shot

Lara’s Country Shot

Lara’s Black and White Emotion Shot

Madeleine’s Circus Shot

I was honestly so surprised by the jump in quality this cycle, there were so many brilliant shots. Simone was my clear favourite, and I thought she was absolutely robbed of the win. Her portfolio from start to finish was stellar. Her black and white emotion shot is easily my favourite shot of the cycle, and is up there as one of my all-time favourites. She just exudes such a flirtatious and seductive air with such ease. The strength in her beauty shot is brilliant too, and I love the simple relaxed stance in her country shot. As for Lara, she came a close runner up for me. Her country shot is just brilliant, and her black and white emotion one has such great movement. No surprise this cycle was called the cycle of the blondes, as our third blonde rounds out my list. Madeleine was such a dramatic character, and she just fit so well in the circus shot. She has this grungy broken down air, but hasn’t lost her looks.

[topmodelranking]

Ausntm: Our ranking is pretty similar ahaha. Montana is probably my favorite winner too. I just feel like there were some photos where Liz was better and some where Simone was, but I preferred Montana overall. I would probably switch Eboni and Melissa on personality since I hated Eboni and I only didn't like Melissa's look (shame because we have the same name so I wanted to be happy but nah Shanali was robbed.) and I prefer D over Tahnee personally after rewatching cycle 5. other than that, yeah

Yeah, I think maybe the reason I hate Melissa so much is because how much I loved Shanali, and similarly I hated Eboni a little bit less because she was friends with Simone. Tahnee and Demelza are really close for me, I think Demelza was maybe a better model, but her personality knocked her down.

I have to say, with minor spoilers for my upcoming rankings included, for me there is only one situation where I thought Liz or Simone did better than Montana. I know it is probably down to my personal bias over her, but she dominated anyone else in the competition for me.

[topmodelranking]

I have a lot of complicated cycle 4 opinions so I'll probably PM or reblog later? I didn't actually watch the season until Fiji though so while I read what had happened, I had come in when she had calmed down. My vote (which probably didn't count) was a pity vote since I figured Alex would sweep it, but I actually did like most of Demelza's photos and I think she's gorgeous, and while I won't defend her on her behavior, I'll take her win over Melissa's and Eboni's tbh. Sam should've won though.

Yeah, once in Fiji the whole thing had calmed down a bit. Demelza was a gorgeous girl, but I just personally found her a bit too plain for my liking. Based on pure natural beauty Rebecca and Sam were my favourite. Her portfolio was solid, and aside from her tragic swimwear shot, which I think we should probably blame on Jodie being insane, she was a consistent model. Totally agree that Eboni’s and Melissa’s wins were worse though. Demelza was still only 16, and I do think had she come in even slightly older and more mature the whole thing would have been different. My ranking of AusNTM winners is probably:

Montana

Alice

Aleyna

Amanda

Gemma

Brittany

Tahnee

Demelza

Eboni

Melissa

The only cycles I actually disagree with the winner firmly are the bottom 3, and Sam definitely should have been the winner of Cycle 3. She was completely saboutaged with her photograph. Simone would have been my choice for Cycle 2 (which I think had easily the worst final 2 of any cycle) and then Shanali for Cycle 8, though Duckie would have been a fine option too.