#cycle8ranking

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Cycle 8

My call-out orders for the eighth cycle, including individual call-out averages for each model.

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1. Jaslene

My call-out average: 3.55

Panel call-out average: 3.45

I’m kind of shocked by how many winners I actually agree with (6/8 so far). Jaslene was definitely the most deserving girl in Cycle 8. Her natural modeling abilities were especially apparent on set, her poses were effortless and she knew how to direct herself well. Her portfolio was pretty stellar as a whole and she delivered some of the best shots of the cycle. I only disliked 2 of her shots (Candy and 4 personalities). She sort of coasted a little bit in the middle of the competition, but picked her game back up in Australia. I think that Jaslene had more versatility than people give her credit for. She adapted to each concept week to week and I thought only two of her shots were facially similar (her first picture and the native Australian dance shot. I guess all 4 of her personalities looked the same in week 6, but whatever) Jaslene’s look was ideal for high fashion modeling and she had a great knowledge of her angles. While I don’t think commercial modeling was necessarily her forte, she was able to perform well enough in that aspect when needed. Jaslene excelled in the final fashion show and I think that she had one of the best walks of the cycle. She was stunning in person and she had a strong personal presence as well. All in all, I thought Jaslene was the best complete package of the cycle and for that she rightfully claimed the top spot in my ranking.

At the beginning, Jaslene was far from my favorite. I was excited to see her back from Cycle 7 at the casting for this cycle and was happy that she made it to the house this time around. However, her personality rubbed me the wrong way at first. She was overly cocky (although I guess it was sort of justified since she kicked ass the first 2 weeks) and yet insecure at the same time. It irritated me that she thought she could do no wrong, especially in the prom fashion show challenge. After the third week, Jaslene seemed to mellow out and she slowly grew on me week to week. I recognized that she was a passionate and driven person and I appreciated her attitude change as the cycle went on. By the end, I was definitely rooting for her to win and I was so glad when her picture came up on the final screen.

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2. Renee

My call-out average: 3.82

Panel call-out average: 3.82

Oh man, Renee was pure evil. I hated this girl’s personality from the start and my opinion of her never improved. Early on, she had the whole pathetic meltdown during the high school photoshoot where she was crying up against a fence, bitching about Jaslene and Jael, and complaining about how she never did well because she was never given fierce concepts. Like Renee, if you’re so much better than the rest of the girls then you should be able to succeed no matter what your concept is. Ugh. Renee also went out of her way to antagonize people. Even though Brittany was annoying as heck, the bitchiness Renee showed towards her just because Brittany was doing well in the competition was unwarranted. Then Renee felt the need to go up to Whitney/Diana for no apparent reason and tell them that she didn’t believe a plus size model could be successful. Who does that? After Tyra’s intervention, Renee did seem to tone down her bad attitude, but I still got a sneaky bitch vibe and I thought she was a little manipulative. Renee spearheaded the campaign against Natasha in the final 4 and turned the other girls against her.

Even though Renee was an awful human being on the show, I truly think that she should’ve made it into the final 2 because she was one of the strongest girls in the competition. She was a bit inconsistent in the first half of the competition, but she had a lot more highs than lows. Then she pretty much dominated once the competition went to Australia. She was proficient in both of her commercials, which made her the best in that area sort of by default. Renee had one of the best walks as well. The only real problem with Renee’s modeling was that she could look too old on occasion, but I never thought it was as bad as some other contestants in past and future cycles of ANTM. I was so confused when she was eliminated at Top 3 despite having the best overall covergirl performance and a stronger body of work than Natasha. If they kept Renee it would’ve added even more drama to the finale. Renee didn’t deserve to win, but I think she was slightly robbed of a place in the final 2.

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3. Brittany

My call-out average: 3.67

Panel call-out average: 3.44

When it came to photos, Brittany was the girl to beat. I think that a lot of fans overrate her portfolio a bit, but she did consistently very well and stood out in a relatively weak cast. Her only real weak shot was the 4 personalities mess that most of the girls struggled with anyway. Brittany had such an editorial look and her features always photographed super well, which was helped by how well she knew her angles. Even with with a dead cat attached to her head for half the cycle she managed to take strong photos week to week. Speaking of that horrible makeover, why did they have to give her a weave? They gave her extensions for the commercial and the swimwear photoshoot and they looked fine, so they should’ve just stuck with that from the beginning. Brittany’s portfolio was easily in the top 2 best for the cycle, but she definitely had shortcomings that prevent me ranking her higher than this. Her runway walk was pretty disastrous, as seen in go sees especially, and I still have no clue how she won that prom fashion show challenge. Brittany also struggled with the commercial quite a bit. Short-term memory loss or not, she was a complete mess. I was never a fan of Brittany’s personality. I felt sorry because she had to deal with that disaster of a weave, but her constant whining got old pretty fast. Her attitude was a major problem. She never took responsibility for her actions or when she did bad, and she shifted the blame to others. This was most evident during the go sees challenge when she was late (which was 100% her own fault). She chose to blame the cab driver and scream at Natasha like a huge sore loser. While I think Brittany’s overall body of work was worthy of a Top 3 spot, I really can’t fault the judges for eliminating her for her inexcusable and unprofessional go sees meltdown.

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4. Natasha

My call-out average: 3.82

Panel call-out average: 4.09

I absolutely adored this girl by the end of the cycle, but based on Natasha’s overall performance this is where I feel like she lands. She showed immense improvement from week to week, but she stumbled at the end. With 2 lackluster weeks to start off and disappointing performances in the final 2 weeks, Natasha’s run was far from perfect. She performed very well from Top 11 to Top 5 and her men’s/women’s magazine swimwear shots were some of my favorite pictures of the cycle, but I can’t really say that any of her other shots were that memorable. Natasha was insanely beautiful and she had one of my favorite looks of the Cycle 8 girls. I can’t figure out what it is, but I sort of disliked her makeover. I’m not sure if it was the haircut or the color, but I liked how she looked before a bit better. I almost ranked Natasha a spot higher because she was close to being a complete package. She had strong in-person appearance, a good portfolio, and a pretty solid runway walk. However, I don’t think she excelled in any area enough to justify her outranking any of the other models above her (particularly her portfolio, the most important aspect in my ranking).

Natasha was someone who I didn’t care for during casting week. She came off a bit clueless about modeling and bit too conceited in a non-charming way. When she made it into the house I remember initially hoping for her to be eliminated early on. To my surprise, Natasha’s personality rapidly grew on me and she became one of my favorites of the cycle. She was such a source of positivity in the house and was super hilarious. “I just want to tell you that some people have war in their countries” is a quote that I use way too often in everyday life. I loved how she was able to take criticism and turn it positive to help better her performance. I was also super impressed with Natasha’s resolve. She was really sad when Dionne and Renee got to see their families and she didn’t, but she was able to suppress her emotions and perform well on set that week. She also handled being ganged up on by the other girls during the usual most/least potential judging test very well. Even though she didn’t land in my Top 2 or 3, I was still glad that she made it to the finale since she was one of my favorites.

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5. Dionne

My call-out average: 4.2

Panel call-out average: 4.7

Dionne may not have had any true standout photos on the show, but her portfolio was remarkably consistent and pretty strong as a whole in my opinion. She almost always placed in the top 3 or 4 of my call-out and only landed in my bottom 2 in her final two weeks on the show (her photos were strong those weeks as well, she was just outperformed). Dionne had massive amounts of modeling potential. She had a great body and stunning face that stood out even more after her awesome makeover. I also thought her walk was very strong based on what we saw in go sees. However, the fact that she had to be coached in a lot of the photoshoots puts a damper on her overall performance and I can’t rank her any higher than this. Dionne was probably my favorite personality of the cycle, tied with Natasha. She was hysterical and her comments made me actually laugh out loud several times, like when her first thought when seeing her daughter was “What the fuck is wrong with my baby’s hair?!” as well as the moment where she was just thrilled to be on the same team as Sarah and Renee during the group challenge. Dionne also cracked me up during go sees where she asked all of the designers if she could keep their clothes. While I think that taking her to the Top 4 was a bit of a stretch, I thought that she earned a place overseas and I was glad that she lasted as long as she did. Wholahay was a wonderful addition to Cycle 8!

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6. Felicia

My call-out average: 5.25

Panel call-out average: 5

Felicia’s elimination was so dumb. She had one of the strongest track records before her elimination week and even though I personally thought that she was the worst in the crime scene photoshoot, there’s absolutely no way she should’ve been sent home. I will note that while her first three photos were very strong, I think she stood out to fans even more due to how weak nearly everyone else performed in those weeks. I think the judges were right that Felicia looked more like a hip-hop star than a model in person (mainly due to her personal style), but I think that she definitely looked like a model in her pictures. Even though she had a dancer background, she didn’t get stuck in the dancer box in front of the camera like many other dancer contestants before and after her. I think Felicia had the potential to go overseas at least based on her body of work and overall look. Felicia really didn’t get much screen time other than when she got into a minor spat with Jaslene and when she taught Jael a dance to keep her mind off her friend passing away. Still, in what little we saw of her, I found her to be a pretty likable person and I wish we could’ve seen more of her personality.

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7. Jael

My call-out average: 5

Panel call-out average: 6

Jael was one of the cycle’s more memorable characters. I enjoyed her fun-loving personality and how she just wanted to bring joy to the universe. Her commentary was often hilarious too (the whole thing where she was proud of Sarah for accidentally exposing herself at the prom fashion show was golden). When it comes to Jael’s modeling, I really don’t think people give her enough credit. While she lacked consistency, her portfolio as a whole was pretty good and she occasionally delivered a couple of stellar shots. Jael also had a pretty strong walk. While her personal presence may not have been the most bookable (due to her poor diction), I admit that she was super memorable and had an interesting and unique look. Even though I have Jael ranked 7th, I really believe that she deserved to make it overseas and I’m glad that she lasted as long as she did.