Sunday, August 31, 2008

McKey


19 year old McKey comes from Lake Forest, Illinois and is a student. Why did she audition for ANTM? According to her, some of her friends told her she should audition because she's good looking. She confessed in her video that she wasn't really into the show until she started her auditions. I guess it's harsh to judge someone before you've really seen them perform, but I alreaedy don't like her. Being a huge fan of the show and watching every single cycle, it always makes me a little bit angry when some girl gets on the show who has never modeled, never really seen the show, and just wants to go on it for the "experience". I would much rather see someone who has passion for modeling on the show.

Okay, so with that rant out of the way, let's talk about McKey's advantages in the competition. She certainly has a lot of confidence. She claims that her best asset will be her personality, because she is outgoing, friendly, and extremely competitive. Hmm... often friendly and competitive don't go hand in hand, so it will be interesting to see how those character traits work together for her. She even said she's so competitive, she's not afraid to get down and dirty, which to me sounds like she's willing to stab some people in the back or hurt their feelings to get what she wants.

This has definitely been an extremely biased opinion about McKey, so please comment if you see some redeeming quality here that I have missed. I will say that her portfolio pic is pretty good, and she is showing a bit of attitude, but the scrunched up lips just makes it look like she's smelling something funky. Also, her hippie pic is the worst of the bunch. She looks pretty drugged up and almost like she is about to squat to go to the bathroom. Who knows? Maybe after the first few episodes, I will love McKey, but for now... not so much.

Marjorie


Marjorie is a 19 year old student living in San Francisco, California. She spent her childhood years in Marseilles, France, and then moved to America when she was 9 years old. It is also interesting to note that Marjorie did not apply to Top Model on her own... she was approached in a book store by a representative of the show who asked her to audition. Let's hope that doesn't go to her head too much and leave her thinking that she is better than everyone else because they saw her first.

You can see right away that Marjorie is a bit off-beat. I think she seems intelligent, but it's possible that she will turn out to be extremely annoying as well. For one thing, she rambles endlessly in her video, skipping from topic to topic. Another thing I could see being annoying is if she mentions her French background and cultural depth a million times.

As for her look, Marjorie is so incredibly thin. She has a cute pixie haircut, so it will be interesting to see what the makeover will bring for her, but her face in the portfolio pic is stunning. In the hippie pic.. not so much. She is looking away from the camera too much and you can barely see her face at all. Maybe she was going for a wistful look, but to me she just looks bored.

I expect Marjorie to be the one who stands out in this cycle as the "weird" one. I have a feeling that even though she preaches tolerance and cultural adaptability, she will end up talking down to people and pissing them off. I guess we'll see!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Lauren Brie

Wow, isn't that one of the best hippie pics so far?? I think Lauren Brie has something really special about her. Sure, she's a token blonde girl in some ways, but there's a uniqueness to her eyes and lips that makes her stand out. She is a 20 year old from Charlottesville, VA, who has always had a burning desire to model.

Lauren claims to be very competitive, which could either work for her or against her. Competitive is good, but bitchy is bad. As long as she knows how to balance friendship with competition, she'll be fine. Also, on this show, you have to know how to accept criticism and defeat, and still pick yourself up and perform.

In her video, Lauren Brie seems to slouch a little bit, so I'm curious to see her do some runway. In her jeans pic down here on the right side, she also has a slightly awkward pose, so hopefully she's got some better moves. Something else that stands out to me about her in the video is that she actually sounds pretty smart. I know, a smart blonde??? Just kidding. She is very articulate and seemingly intelligent, so she might be a really good competitor this season.

I think she definitely has a rocking body and will look good in a variety of different kinds of shoots. The question is, can she only do pretty, sweet shots? Or can she pull out edgy and high fashion as well?? I can't wait to find out. First out, Lauren Brie is one of my top pics this cycle.

Joslyn

Joslyn is a 23 year old student living in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her hometown is Lucky, Louisiana and she is very lucky to have finally made it on to the show.

She has auditioned, like, 30 times and like, Tyra is her role model, so she's like, really excited. Joslyn definitely has a hurdle to overcome with her very southern accent, but it's nothing new to ANTM. Danielle won (what season was that? 6? I am not sure) despite her accent. Of course, Danielle was exceptionally beautiful. I'm not sure about Joslyn yet.

She is definitely looking forward to the makeover, but she had some advice from her mother... no dye. If she puts dye in her new weave, it's gonna fall out. That made me laugh. It sounds like solid advice though.

Joslyn seems very bubbly and excited, and she definitely should be cheered for her determination and her confidence in herself, believing that even though they didn't want her the first 29 times, she still knew that she was good enough to compete. Now, either they saw something in her this time that they did not see before... or this year's models at tryouts just weren't as good as previous years. I think they just finally sat up and took notice of her.

I hope that she does well this season. She certainly has some of the shapeliest legs out of the girls this season. Her hippie chic photo isn't the best though, so she's going to have to turn out some better photos if she wants me to start cheering for her.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Isis

And now we come to the number one person everyone is talking about this season, 22 year old Isis. She is originally from Prince George's Island, Maryland, but is living in New York, NY. From her video, it sounded like she has some experience modeling already and is comfortable on the runway.

But why is everyone talking about her? If you haven't heard yet, Isis is the first transgender finalist on ANTM. Isis herself has said she is a "woman who was born physically male." I couldn't find any specific information about when Isis made the switch from male to female, but I think this is a more common occurrence than a lot of people realize. Many children are born without a distinctive sex and parents have to choose the sex for their child. Also, some children are born with male anatomy, but female hormones and other tendencies. No matter what Isis' reasons for transforming herself, I hope that people will not judge her just from the fact that she used to have a penis. She should be given the same chance that any of the other girls have. I think it's great that Isis has the courage to go on TV and be honest about who she is.

As for her look, she has a good portfolio pic (if you ignore the poor shoe choice, that is), but this Hippie pic has her with a very strange expression on her face. I think she is really beautiful, though, and has a beautiful skin color. In her video, she presents herself with extreme confidence. It is also good to hear someone say on their video that this is really want they want with all of their heart. That lets you know right from the start that she will give it 100%.

Hannah

Perky 19 year old Hannah is from Fairbanks, Alaska, and you can tell from her video on cwtv.com that she doesn't get out much. She is super cute, even if she does come off a tad bit naive (or ditzy perhaps.)

She claims that she is used to wearing tons of layers when it comes to clothing, but you can tell from her Hippie pic that she seems to be totally comfortable out of her clothes as well. I think this whole experience will be totally new for her, and it will be fun to watch her. The only annoying thing will be if she won't shut up about how she grew up in Alaska and had no running water and shit... I mean, there's only so many times you can hear that before you want to punch a baby.

When she went to audition, she said she almost didn't go because she was doing laundry (uh huh, sounds like she's completely invested in wanting to be a model), but she decided to go to the casting call anyway. She was taken aback when she got there and most people had gone all out in their new weaves and their cocktail dresses, but she just wore her old cowboy boots. I think that's a cute story, as long as she proves that she really wants to be a model. It will just turn out to be a sad story if she didn't want to model and all of these other girls had wanted it so so much. Like Kimberly from last season... I really was pissed at her for quitting.

I like Hannah's look in general, though. She seems unique and can have many different looks, already from just the two pics and the video. Let's hope she's ready to bring it.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Elina

Elina is 19 (although in her video she says she just turned 18, so maybe she just barely was 19 by the time the show filmed) and lives in Seattle, Washington. Her CW profiles says her hometown is Berdichieve, Ukraine, but from her accent and video, I would imagine that she did not live in the Ukraine during her formative years. Maybe she was just born there and her parents are from there.

No matter what the situation is there, it's obvious just looking at her that she has a very different look. Right away, my fiance claimed her as his favorite, which usually means they end up too sexy for the judges and get voted off early. Last season he was nuts about Katarzyna, and she actually stayed around for a while, but unfortunately did not make the top 3. Wait... should I be worried that my fiance is into all these Eastern European girls?

Elina says she is most looking forward to traveling to a different country with top model. Most girls so far have said they are looking forward to the makeover, which doesn't put them aiming too high, since that usually happens by episode 2. (I hope they don't chop off Elina's hair, it's too pretty.) Traveling, however, is usually only reserved for the top 5 or so girls, so Elina has high hopes. She is by far the most confident model so far, saying that she knows she has a strong look and a good voice, and she believes she has more potential than the rest of the girls. I will say that from her video, I'm pretty damn impressed. Her confidence is not lacking, I'll give her that, and she seems to have the goods to back it up. I just hope she doesn't get too sexy with those full lips and ruin her chances for high fashion.

Clark

Clark is from Pawley's Island, South Carolina and is currently a student in Columbia, SC.

Watching her video, the first thing that stuck out to me was that she didn't seem to be very comfortable in front of the camera talking about herself. She looks confident in her pictures though, so maybe I'm just reading her wrong.

She said she is looking forward to the makeover, which to me just screams that she's in for disappointment. Also, she's wanted to be a model ever since she was five, which is a BIG shocker.

When she sent in her audition tape, she says she was trying to get it in at the last minute, and describes it as a "hassle". She does sort of redeem herself by saying that it turned out to be worth it, but I didn't like that comment coming from her right at the start of the competition. I mean, if you know you are making a video that will be America's first impression of you, why would you say that it's been a hassle to audition?

Other than a poor video, I like Clark's pictures, and I think she is definitely a pretty girl with a nice body. Is it just me or does she have an uncanny resemblance to Bridget Fonda? She has some beautifully shaped eyes and I like her high cheekbones. I don't think I would put Clark at the top of my list just yet, but she's certainly not at the bottom. I think she will be around a while.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Brittany

Brittany is also just 19 years old and she comes from Henderson, Nevada. She applied the regular way, and was chosen by Tyra. She has a self-proclaimed "exotic" look, but I am just not buying it. She looks pretty normal black girl to me. Beautiful, but normal.

After watching her video online, I can tell that she's doing everything to make you know that she "LOVES" modeling. Of course, she just started modeling like, yesterday, but she thinks she's really good at it and she loves it. Did I mention that she loves modeling??? It sounded to me like she was trying to give herself a pep talk on camera to convince her that she's where she needs to be.


My prediction with Brittany is that she will be the type of girl who just tries way too hard. She has a little bit of modeling under her belt, and she already thinks she is great. She will probably brag to the other girls about her experience, and then feel the pressure to perform when it comes to the photo shoots. Her occupation online is listed as Customer Service, so whatever modeling experience she has so far, it's not enough for it to be a career, so she should act a little bit more humble and admit that she's got a lot to learn.

As far as her look is concerned, she has really nice legs, and she looks a little bit athletic in her build. Her arms seem way too small for the rest of her body though. She's pretty, but I think that she's a closet insecure, and that is definitely going to play out in the coming weeks of competition.

Analeigh

Analeigh is a 19 year old from Sacramento, CA, currently living in LA as a student. She was found through a website and asked to come audition for ANTM.

My first impression of Analeigh is that she's tall and lanky, which could be very good for high fashion modeling. Unfortunately, the girl is basically devoid of all curves. Just look at her legs in the picture at the bottom, which, even in high heels cannot manage to create a single sexy curve.

I really like how she looks in this hippie chick picture, though. She's kind of got that Denise Richards style of beauty in her face, and the way she's got her body angled, she's at least creating the illusion of more curves. It's possible that Analeigh could be a versatile model.

On her video, she says that she is eccentric. I am curious to find out what that really means in her eyes. She also claims that her "interesting story" will help her in the competition. I wonder what that story is. Other than that, all I can say is that she talks with her hands a lot, saying things like "I am going to send out the positive energy." Oh, and girl needs a haircut. Sure, her hair looks pretty nice in the hippie pic, but on the video you can really tell that it's too long for her. I can't wait to see what they do to her in the makeover episode. I bet she totally freaks if they cut it short.

The Models of Cycle 11

The 2 hour cycle premiere is just a week away, and it's time to look over the 14 finalists and give them a "first photo impression" critique. I will post two a day until next Wednesday, so if you don't want to know who the finalists will be, leave now! I'm so excited to get the season started. Rumor has it that they are going to Amsterdam this year, but I don't have that info nailed down yet. I can't wait to see what crazy things we are in for this season! (Oops... I mean CYCLE)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Cycle 11 Begins September 3rd!!

The new Cycle of America's Next Top Model, my favorite guilty pleasure, is going to begin on September 3rd. As a countdown to the show next week, I will be posting opinions about the new girls and will make a prediction about this year's winner! I am never right, but it's fun to guess anyway! Check back soon for all of your Cycle 11 news and recaps!!!
 
Header Image by Colorpiano Illustration