Even though the obvious winner was snubbed of her win, Angela was not a terrible winner whatsoever. It was clear that the judges were in love with her as soon as she walked in. Just check out the show where she got 3 FCOs back to back, even in strong (and weak) weeks, they always found a way to praise some of her worst (or best) shots. I did say it at the beginning but during the first half of the competition, she was quite underrated by the judges. Her underwater is quite pretty and although her runway was an absolute mess in the beginning of the cycle (check out her video shoot on the 2nd episode), she was able to pull off a decent phone ad. I do kinda like her dance shot but it is easy to admit that it is a pretty weak shot in comparison to the rest of the week and admittedly, one of her worst shots in retrospect. However, after her weak start, she was able to climb slowly up and up in improvement. While I did say that her cat beauty was one of my favorites from her, there are some flaws to it that ruin it for me (mainly her one eye not being fully closed). Still, it’s a great effort considering how much she struggled on set. After that, this is where my biggest issue for her would come along, the judges would start overhyping her to the extreme. Her FCO on the androgynous week still baffles me to this day, it makes no sense how she got the highest score from panel considering Janny’s outstanding performance that week. I could see how her Alter Ego got the FCO considering how the 2 strongest performance were given a B2 placement for no reason and I do love the shot itself, however, there were just better shots that week, you see the pattern yet? The swimwear week was fucking terrible but she got the FCO due to her professional behavior on set, even though Ina and Adela had far better shots. However, I will say that after her awful commercial, she started to really grow for me and I can finally see what the judges saw. Her glow in the dark is stellar as we saw a new side to her that wasn’t either confusion or blank. Her 2 finale shots may have not been my FCOs but they’re still great, especially her avant garde, which I now consider her personal best. She never got a FCO out of me though because as before mentioned, there was always someone else better that the judges overlooked or ignored. Adela, Ina, Aivie, Janny, even Blaise, all of them were much better contenders for a FCO over Angela who often I found forgettable or boring in the vast majority of her photos until the last 2 weeks when she stepped her ass up. Obviously, her improvement is admirable and she had a great personality but there were just stronger girls this cycle. It felt odd that Angela ended up with the win but at the same time, I understood it. The judges fell in love with her look and she had the perfect goose to swan story to them. I, however, never hated or loved her, I just forgot about her a lot whenever it came down to ranking. She’s not a bad winner per say at all, her vast improvement and her dedication to improving is one of the best arc of the cycles and I do think some circles of the internet have underrated her. I think if she wasn’t pushed to the finale, then it would’ve gone down easier for people but as for now, she was a ok winner, but a sour taste to end the cycle with.
