#nzntmcycle2week12

[antmrankingskd]

1. Michaela

I’m basing my rankings on both the photos and the commercials; I don’t have any individual clips, but the commercials can be seen in the full episode on YouTube. Michaela dominated the commercial portion of this week! It was so cool how she nailed her take almost immediately. She sounded very natural and showed her personality as well. Some of her expressions while she was speaking were a little forced, but she was still very telegenic and engaging the entire time. Michaela’s photo is actually my least favorite of the week, but it’s still strong and arguably the one that’s best suited for the CoverGirl brand. Her expression conveys warmth and approachability (even if her eyes are a bit sleepy), and her relaxed demeanor is great. Michaela earns my FCO for having the best commercial by far as well as a lovely photo!

Michaela finished second, and while I generally agree with that decision I believe she could’ve been a worthy winner had the judges gone that way. Her portfolio was a few steps behind Danielle, but still very strong, and she was probably the most well-rounded model and aced the finale tests (CoverGirl and the final runway). Michaela was a fantastic runner-up for the cycle!

[antmrankingskd]

2. Danielle

Danielle’s picture is easily my favorite of the 3 by a lot, it takes my breath away! Her eyes are alluring, her slight pout is perfect, and I adore her freckles. It may be a bit too high fashion for CoverGirl but it still works as a cosmetics ad. So why isn’t Danielle first? Her damn commercial. She didn’t bother to learn her lines at all beforehand and the result was a catastrophe. Even with the generous editing it was rough; she kept losing eye contact, looked defeated and even crazed at times, and sounded on the verge of tears from start to finish. The in-between moments when she wasn’t speaking to camera were good, but it’s not enough to rescue her take. Basically Danielle’s commercial is so bad that I would never give her the FCO for the week, but her photo is so fabulous that I would never put her last either so here she lands in the middle. 

Danielle went on to win the cycle and I felt that she deserved it! The only downside is that she stumbled in the finale. Her commercial is a significant blemish on her track record, and she had multiple slip ups on final runway such as missing her marks and struggling to stay in character. However, her portfolio was insanely strong, her walk improved immensely from the start, and she had the most potential to succeed in the real world. 

[antmrankingskd]

3. Elza

I feel bad for putting Elza in the bottom spot since she did well in both the commercial and the photoshoot (again, the call-out this week doesn’t mean much, the girls are super even), but she lands here because I don’t feel like she stood out in either category. Her commercial was competent. While her delivery was too rehearsed for me, she got through the lines well and had some cute (and occasionally cheesy) moments in between. I love her picture, her face is so interesting straight on and her seductive expression is terrific. However, it comes across more as a jewelry ad or portrait and doesn’t really read as CoverGirl. Elza was eliminated here and ultimately I believe that was the correct decision since the top 2 were a small step above her. She’s been an amazing competitor though!