#vntm8

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#1 Kim Dung

I really feel like there was no other options for the winner this cycle. This girl came in with this star quality no one else really had (in my opinion), and kept it the whole cycle. Considering she was an early out in her original cycle, this was a huge improvement. I just knew she was going to win the second I saw her first shot, hanging upside down, which I gave her her first FCO for. This one was later joined by 2 more, one for the silk motion video - showing her ability to excel in the multiple aspects of modeling, and one for the finale shoot - which gave her that final boost needed for her to win against the girl she tied with in my averages, Thuy Duong. I don’t even think I dislike a single shot of hers! Not only was she a great photo model, but a great runway model as well. She really has the IT-factor, and will go down as one of the best winners of any NTM. However, she did have one downside; her facial variety - which was about nonexistent. She’s really lucky that she has a stunning face (which I think beats Thuy Duong for me) so that I never had a problem with it.

Post show, she has been called the lookbook queen of VNTM by the fandom. She has shot lookbooks for Huu La La, MYM, Mn, Happy Clothing, DECOS and more. Of course, not only lookbooks, but also various magazine covers and editorials; including L’Officiel Vietnam, Elite Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam, Dep Magazine and Heritage Magazine. She has also had success on the runway, walking for Do Manh Cuong, Mimi Tran, Soe Jakarta, Samira Ebrahimi, INIFD-LST, Cong Tri, Canifa, and more (during London FW as well). I’m expecting even more from her, as she’s still going strong a year after her win.

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#2 Thùy Dương

So, like on the show, Thuy Duong ends as my runner-up. Definitely a placement she should be proud of after placing 9th in her original cycle. I must say, she was the break-out start this cycle. Not only did she consistently produce amazing photographs, she also emerged as the GIF queen of the cycle for being a straight up savage. I just love this girl, and she would’ve been my personal pick to win if I’m honest, but since her and Kim have the same call-out average, I can’t be mad. What I love about her portfolio, is her improvement. She started off good, don’t get me wrong (receiving 2 VERY close SCO’s for her music video and snake shoot) and consistently placing in my top 5 - but then, around week 9, something just clicked for her; as she went on a FCO streak, landing her in the finale. Now you might ask why I have her as number 2 when I love her this much? Well, I just slightly prefer Kim Dung’s look, that’s all. Anyways, let’s get back to something I mentioned earlier; her being the GIF queen. Yes, this girl was hilarious. From forcing the other girls to give her foot massages and running the house, to literally smashing a huge book in a Nguyen Hop’s face (which she surprisingly did not get disqualified for), she was hilarious. A great portfolio and personality lands her at number 2.

Post show she’s been doing well for herself, not as well as Kim Dung or Cha Mi, but well. She’s done various lookbooks for M, and other unspecified brands. She’s also shot a cover for Dep magazine, which is gorgeous as always. Her biggest accomplishment, though, would be her work for IVY Moda. IVY Moda was actually the sponsor for the show, and the client for multiple shoots - so her walking for the brand multiple times and appearing in it’s SS18 ad post show, means they must’ve loved her. However, I think she is past her prime at this point, being 27, so I’m not expecting much work in the future.

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#3 Chà Mi

Well, there we have it: the top 3. Since my top 3 is the same as the actual top 3, I think it’s safe to say the judges did a great job this year. Coming in at 3rd place for me is Chà Mi. This was quite a hard decision for me, seeing as I did give her 3 FCO’s while Thuy Duong only had 2. What made me place her below her, however, was her not improving throughout the cycle. She started off strong, and stayed consistently good until week 8. After that, she consistently stayed in the bottom 3 for the remaining 4 weeks. I feel like that left a sour taste in my mouth for the finale, as it’s the last thing you remember. Her good weeks were amazing though! She was the ultimate fan favorite, and produced amazing shots week after week. From what I can tell, she was also a decent to good runway walker. Overall, a solid performance this seaon lands her at number 3. What I didn’t love, was her attitude. She consistantly whined and complained, and sabotaged another girl in the running wheel shoot. I don’t take that into consideration for my ranking here, but it sure makes me dislike her a bit.

Post show, she’s worked quite a bit, as I expected. She immediately signed to PARS management in Germany, among others in Vietnam. She’s been featured in Elle Vietnam and Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam, and does lots of test shoots and lookbooks. She’s been most succesful on the runway though, landing jobs everywhere - including Do Manh Cuong, Do Long, Adrian Anh Tuan, Cory Tran, Thao Nguyen, 21six, and like a dozen more. 

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#4 Thiên Trang

I think it was pretty clear through-out my rankings that the top 3 of this cycle would also be the top 3 in my model ranking, and that leaves Thien Trang as 4th place. That is not to say that she did bad in any way though, just that she had more misses in her portfolio. About that, she was very inconsistent photo-wise; I gave her 2 FCO’s and 2 bottom two’s - but at least she brought some good photo’s, unlike others this cycle. Another thing that held her back this cycle was her attitude.. I remember her throwing a total tantrum during the water splashing shoot, and from what I believe, that wasn’t a one time thing. Anyways, her look was one that I was not fond of at first, but now, after the cycle, I’m totally in love with her. Her face is really one that is not often seen in fashion. She is also pretty tall, about 5′8′’, so of course that helps.

Post show she’s been working quite a bit, though I had expected her to do more just based on potential alone. Runway wise, she’s walked for Vo Cong Khanh, Adrian Anh Tuan and Do Manh Cuong. She’s also shot for Her Vietnam, The Warrior, and has been signed with Nomad Management in Vietnam. She is also trying to get into Asia’s Next Top Model, which would most definitely give her a huge publicity boost.

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#5 Cao Ngân

I have such a love-hate relationship with Cao Ngân; I truly did not get her look in the beginning of the cycle, and I gradually started to love her and she eventually became my favorite. Sadly, her early inconsistent shoots were the nail in her coffin and it ended up placing her 9th in my call-out averages. Just because of that, she probably deserves to be ranked below Nguyen Hop, Kikki Le and Thuy Tram, but there’s just something so special about her. Her look is so mature and graceful, and it obviously takes some getting used to, but once I got it, I couldn’t get enough of those cheekbones! A common critique I see for Cao Ngan’s pictures is that she’s too skinny, but honestly, (1. (not including post show) - she has great runway proportions actually and she slayed the runway this season like no other, and (2. she actually has an illness that prevents her from gaining weight after a terrible accident a year prior to shooting (crushed her ribs + lungs). The latter is why I refuse to critique her on her body. Next to her amazing runway and look, she is just adorable! She has the cutest voice and is honestly hilarious, especially her interaction during panel! All that, + the fact that she produced some great shots, places her fifth in my ranking.

Post show she has been working the runway regularly, as I expected from her, and just looks incredible now that she’s getting better. In only 3 months since the show’s ended, she’s walked for Vo Cong Kanh, Chung Thanh Phong twice and Do Manh Cuong twice. Since she’s signed to beU models she’s also been on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Jewelry, and she’s had an editorial in the same magazine. She’s also done lots of lookbooks including Ly Giam Tien and N.G.

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#7 Nguyễn Hợp

Nguyen Hop was certainly a controversial character this cycle, and in her original cycle. Most fans have branded her as the villain of both her cycles, and that’s exactly what this cycle needed! She brought the drama that made this cycle ten times better! The first incident of the major two fights, was when she started throwing objects around the house, getting herself involved in a screaming match and actual physical altercation with Thuy Duong. The next fight is the one that actually got her eliminated in the middle of panel, which was when she decided to take on the judges when they critiqued her for not listening during the videoshoot the week before. These incidents would normally make fans hate her, but I tend to root for the villains, as they make the cycle more entertaining. She would’ve likely been my actual favorite if it wasn’t for the fact that her performance in photoshoots was lacking. After all, she was in my bottom two 3 times, and that’s what kept her from also placing higher in my final ranking. I do however love her runway walk and look!

Post show she has been one of the most successful contestants out of the whole franchise, to my surprise actually! She’s been working as a freelance model for the last years and is doing very well! Just this year she’s been featured in an editorial for Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam along with tens of other editorials, and walked for Ntk Huy Vo and Do Manh Cuong this fashion week. Her test shots are just GORGEOUS as well! I’d definitely recommend checking them out!

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#8 Kikki Lê

This is where the cuts get hard.. Even though she placed 6th in my averages, I’ve decided to place Kikki Lê 8th in the final ranking; the reason being that she never really had a stand out shot to me. At least Cao Ngân and Nguyen Hop (the two with lower averages) both each had a shining moment like the seesaw shoot and the ladder shoot. It’s actually weird that this girl doesn’t stick out to me, as she has a very unique look. One thing I can, however, praise her for, is her ability to look youthful at all times. This girl is 28 years old (ancient for the industry), and manages to look about 18 in all of her shots! I also like her runway walk and personality! I just don’t know if she’s an all star to me..

Post show Kikki Lê has been walking for lots of designers! Runway definitely seems to be her thing. She’s walked for Adrian Anh Tuan, Do Manh Cuong, Lam Ghia Khang, Truong Thanh Hai, Betty Tran, Thuy Nguyen and Le Thanh Hoa just in 2017 only! She also booked the most shows in the whole Vietnam Fashion Week last year! She is signed to Nomad Management Vietnam at the moment and lives in Sweden, where’s she’s working as well. Her English is incredible by the way, so I don’t think any language barriers will hinder her!

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#9 Thanh Hương

So Thanh Huong was one of the contestants who came into this cycle, not necessarily as an all star, but for redemption. She was actually the first contestant ever eliminated in the first cycle of Vietnam’s Next Top Model, so I was honestly expecting a train wreck, which wasn’t the case at all actually! She most definitely proved herself in photoshoots, with her snake photo being very high up in my ranking, and I feel like we finally had the chance to see her personality as well! She even was my favorite for the weeks nearing her elimination! You might be questioning why I ranked her 9th with all of that though.. First of all she didn’t have my favorite look, and her height tended to hold her back in photos (keep in mind she was only 1.70, which was probably bumped by the show). However, if the shoots were more commercial this season, I have no doubt that she could’ve reached the final 6 at least.

Post show she’s walked in a couple of shows including Chung Thanh Phong, and has been a runway model for Project Runway Vietnam! She seems to do a lot of tests/print work as well, and they look great! She also seems to be a DJ now and recently hosted an event for nike!