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ANTM: How Does Cycle 11 Stack Up To The Rest?
Final Rankings by Jacob D.
As of November 20, 2008
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This week's episode of America's Next Top Model brought us the season finale and gave us our eleventh winner.
Before we got to the final three, eleven girls came and went. The first girl to be eliminated was Sharaun when her concerted efforts to stand out and her lackluster photo caused the judges to think she lacked substance as a model. Following her was Nikeysha, whom was too talkative and very awkward as a model, and then there went Brittany when the judges felt she was just a pretty face and not a particularly strong model.
For the first time ever, a girl was eliminated from the competition after a challenge and that unlucky victim was Hannah when the girls were tested on their runway walks. In that same episode, Isis, the series' first ever transgendered contestant, was eliminated when the judges felt her body of work and presence weren't as inspiring as they could've been. After her went Clark when the judges didn't feel any consistency in the quality of her body of work.
Then Lauren Brie was sent home when her posing became one-note and the judges sensed a lack of personality. On a side note, I made a list in my recap of the season premiere consisting of the U.S. states that have not yet been represented by a contestant on this show and crossed, "Alaska," off of that list because of Hannah. Looking over some information on the internet, I just discovered the day before the finale that Lauren is Virginia's first representative, so there's another state you can strike out. For the rest of that list, skim through my article on the two-hour season premiere. It's at the end of the first hour's recap, but before the second hour's recap.
The next girl to be eliminated was Joslyn when the quality of her performance began to slip noticeably from her strong start in the first couple weeks of the competition. The remaining six girls went to the season's foreign destination of Holland and Sheena was eliminated when she couldn't succeed at toning down her sexy side and bringing her model-esque side to the fore. Elina went home when the judges became frustrated with how stiff and controlling she was over everything she did and Marjorie was eliminated after a season-long battle with her nerves.
This left Analeigh, McKey, and Samantha as the final three and their first assignment was, as it always is, to film a commercial and do a photo shoot for CoverGirl. At the judging panel, Analeigh was eliminated and finished the season in third place. Left as the final two, McKey and Samantha then stomped it out on a runway that featured hills and stairs. At the final judging panel of the season, the judges considered each girls' performance throughout the entire competition and made their final arguments as to who should be Cycle 11's winner.
When the dust settled, Samantha had to settle for second place and the judges selected McKey as, "America's Next Top Model."
For my final opinion, I didn't think Cycle 11 was as strong as such past seasons as Cycle 10, 8, or the first cycle. There were some girls I didn't particularly like, Clark and Sharaun being at the top of that list, while others just didn't wow me, like Nikeysha, Hannah, and Brittany, and I was disappointed by the missed potential in Isis. There were also a few girls I really liked at first that I grew disappointed in at some point in their run, like Lauren, Elina, and Marjorie. There were some uninteresting challenges, like the first of the season where the girls posed with bags and jewelry, and some that just didn't work, like the, "Invisible Models," challenge. Plus, not all of the photo shoots were hits, such as the mixed bag that was the voting shoot in week one and the dull, "Embarrassing Awards Show Moments," photo shoot.
However, I didn't think it was as bad as Cycle Four, when the girls didn't know what, "chic," meant or could even pronounce various colors and the names of prominent designers. Basically, they all seemed clueless and many of them, frankly, were boring. There were also many uninteresting challenges, photos, and performances.
Nor did I think it was as dreadfully dull as Cycle Nine, where only Heather, one of my all time favorite contestants, and Jenah, for her incredible photos, really held my interest. Sure, I liked Chantal because she's from my little hometown, Austin, TX, but I think it was more because of that than anything she really did on the show. I did like her look and some of her photos, but overall, she's not a girl I immediately think of when considering my favorite contestants or rave about after the show.
I also don't particularly care for Cycle Seven, which was full of missed potential, clueless girls, and my least favorite winner in the history of the show, Caridee. Sure, a lot of people will point to Saleisha and I'm sure others like Whitney and Nicole have their detractors, but for my personal tastes, I didn't find any of them as obnoxious as I found Caridee.
So in the end, amongst all the seasons of ANTM so far, Cycle 11 falls somewhere in the middle for me. However, it was not without its merits. I absolutely loved Sheena and McKey, who now surely ranks as one of my favorite of all the ANTM winners. I also liked Samantha and Analeigh and there are some real knockout photos that stand out in my mind like McKey and Elina's swimsuit photos, Lauren's ladder picture and her, "Eyes Above Water," photo, and though I ragged on her a number of times throughout the season, I do like quite a few of Marjorie's pictures. It's just a shame about her nerves.
I really liked the swimsuit shoot in week three because it shows that sometimes less really is more. I know Tyra likes to put on a show and over-complicate the themes of these photo shoots, like with the, "Got Milk? Ethnicity Switch," in Cycle Four, the, "Falling Fairytales," shoot in Cycle Six, or that awful, "Meat Packing Industry," shoot from last season. There's also the all-time most ridiculous premise for a photo which was for the Cycle Five phone booth shoot: half-naked girls try to avoid the paparazzi backstage at a fashion show by running away and cramming together in a phone booth with other half-naked girls. What? Sure, I like some of these shoots, but sometimes it's refreshing to just let the models be models without over-thinking the art direction or premise. I also really liked the, "Eyes Above Water," photo shoot and everything the girls did in Holland.
Anyway, with Cycle 11 behind us and McKey our latest winner, there's nothing more to say except that I'm already looking forward to Cycle 12. From what I hear, it will begin airing in February 2009 so I guess I'll see ya there!
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McKey
Winner Cycle 11
In the penultimate scoreboard, where I ranked the final three girls' chances, I had a battle between my head and my heart. My head was leaning towards Analeigh being the winner, but my heart was kicking, screaming, and pulling for McKey. I should've done like Roxette or D.H.T. and listened to my heart because my stunning high-fashion gal McKey took home the title!
She started out in the middle of the pack and grew and grew and grew. I can remember the exact moment when I completely fell in love with McKey and that was during the commercial challenge in the week where Joslyn was eliminated. Sure she didn't so well, but my goodness was I struck by her look. Beyond that, and considering her whole showing in the competition, her look was stunning, her style was strong, her presence was fierce, her spirit was sweet, and her determination was there.
So congratulations McKey! You are the 11th winner of, "America's Next Top Model." You also share a fantastic distinction with Jaslene from Cycle Eight in that you won the show without EVER appearing in the bottom two at ANY judging panel throughout the season. Well done!
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Samantha
Runner-up Cycle 11
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Analeigh
12th Elimination
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Marjorie
11th Elimination
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Lauren Brie
7th Elimination
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Jacob D. is a twenty-something native of Austin Tx who spends his time
listening to music, posting on Austin based messageboards, playing
video games, and watching TV. Jacob also enjoys reading Shonen Jump,
Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes strips, playing Texas Hold 'em, drawing
cartoon chickens, and tending to his neopets. Though shy in real
life, he loves to sound off on his favorite shows and enjoys
interacting with other fans.
You can contact Jacob at Jacob@RealityTVCalendar.com
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