Nicole is America's Next Top Model!

Last night's finale episode was certainly one to remember. For the first time in such a long time, I was truly rooting for BOTH models at the end. Nicole has proven over and over that she deserves to be in the final two. With her ability to inspire photographers and her determination to learn and grow as a model throughout the competition, she earned her spot. Laura, though, deserved to be in the top two just as much as Nicole. I fell in love with Laura's sweet and innocent personality, and what I love most is that she didn't ever reveal herself to be something else. Usually when you meet someone like that on a reality TV show, they eventually turn out to be devious or sneaky, but not Laura. She was pure sunshine the whole season, and I was so happy for her to be in the final two.

The final tasks for this petite cycle of ANTM involved a Covergirl commercial, photo shoot, and finally the stomp to the death fashion show. Laura's dyslexia held her back from doing her best at the last Covergirl shoot, but not this time. Not only did she look stunning, she also did a fantastic job. Nicole nailed her lines, but Mr. Jay was disappointed in her delivery, saying that she came off sounding snobby. What I love about Nicole is that instead of getting defensive and being upset, she did her best to make it better. She's aware of the fact that she comes off awkward and unapproachable, but she works to fix it. As for the photo shoot with Nigel for the Cover Girl ad, Nicole rocked it. From the beginning, she has made a good impression on every single photographer she was worked with. I think Laura disappointed him a little with her inability to find inspiration that was deeper than "milkshakes".

As for the stomp to the death, it was the first time in Top Model history that eliminated models from the same season were called back to walk the show. Erin, Jennifer, Brittany, and Sundai joined Nicole and Laura on the runway. Nicole definitely brought her own signature walk that made her stand out. She really makes her awkwardness work for her by being so confident in herself that you just have to like her. Also, her face looked amazing. Laura did an awesome job in the runway, though. I would have to put her above Nicole in the runway portion simply because she looked like a true model who already had a lot of experience. All in all, it wasn't the most exciting show, but the dresses were gorgeous and the lighting was beautiful.

At the final judging panel, they looked at the commercial and the CG print ad, as well as the entire cycle portfolio. To me, there was no contest on who had consistently delivered the best photographs. Did Nicole even have a single so-so or bad photo? Not one! While Laura's personality is so lovable and I will always be rooting for her to succeed in the modeling business, I agree with the judges pick for Cycle 13's winner: Nicole! She was truly at the top of the pack early on and just never let go. She never quit trying, despite some mean comments from the other girls in the house who didn't "get" her. It was a great cycle overall, proving that petite girls are just as capable of modeling as their taller counterparts. Good luck Nicole, and congratulations. Laura, don't give up girl. You've got what it takes!

Can't wait for Cycle 14 already !

America's Next Top Model Recap: Cycle 13, Episode 8

Cover Girl Commercial time came early this season! This week, the remaining 7 models were tested on their ability to perform in front of a video camera instead of a still camera. As usual, some were naturals while others simply fell apart.

For this week's challenge, the models were sent to the set of The Insider, with host Lara and her crew. They were taught some basics about interviewing techniques and then thrown in front of the cameras to do an interview with 90210's Jessica Lowndes. As a trick to see how well the contestants think on their feet, their teleprompter was blanked out after a question or two, leaving them to rely on their own quick thinking to keep the 2 minute interview going.

Jennifer and Erin were memorable as the two that really knew the actress and were able to keep her talking naturally without any dead air time. On the other side of the spectrum, there was poor dyslexic Laura. She started to panic when the teleprompter blanked. She has a hard enough time reading and when they blanked out the prompter, they had a bunch of random letters, and she couldn't tell if she was just having trouble reading or what. I truly felt for her, but she really didn't get over it and find her rhythm. Instead, she did the one thing you can't do on TV, she cursed. Ouch. Of course, that was nothing compared to Nicoles faux-pas of asking the young actress if she'd ever had children before. Awkward! The rest of the group was just so-so.

The challenge winner got a highly coveted reward: A beauty shoot for Seventeen Magazine. Erin was declared the winner and she chose Rae and Jennifer to go with her. High on her win, Erin thought she was the bomb, apparently getting a bit too cocky, which came back to bite her on the ass during the Cover Girl Shoot.

After the challenge, the girls returned home to find a set of boxes waiting for them. In each box was a set of Exact Eye Lights Mascara and shadow along with a stopwatch and a pad and pen. Their instructions were to write their own 25 second script, memorize it, and be ready to do a commercial the following day. Erin, feeling over-confident, was finished in minutes, happily calling out "Done!" and going to bed without much work on memorizing. Others like Nicole and Jennifer stayed up for a long time working on their scripts. You have to wonder why everyone wouldn't take such an important step in the competition more seriously. Everyone who's ever watched the show knows that the commercial is one of the most difficult shoots of the entire competition. It's easy to get rattled or nervous or tongue-tied.

And for Erin, that's exactly what happened. Even though she was happily saying during makeup that she was a winner, she walked onto the set and fell apart. Nigel, who was directing the shoot, was extremely disappointed. He had to call for makeup to fix her face FOUR times because she was crying so much. She never got it together, and I was honestly just rolling my eyes. She should have never acted so cocky, trying to intimidate everyone else, when she wasn't willing to put the time in that was required in order to do a good job.

At the top of the pack was Jennifer, who came across approachable and charming. Nicole also did a great job, finally showing the judges that she is able to put inflection in her voice. She also looked stunning! Brittany, though somewhat robotic, pulled off her lines flawlessly. Sundai had a good script, but geez, the girl had a hard time sounding serious. Her commercial was uncomfortable to watch! And not just in my opinion. Guest judge Kim Kardashian (who is not technically a model but has certainly become comfortable in front of a camera - and is famous for a sex tape she did so needless to say, she's comfortable in front of the video camera), also said Sundai was hard to watch.

The bottom two this week were Erin and Rae. Rae didn't mess up quite as badly on the commercial as Erin did, but in both the challenge and the shoot, she just wasn't memorable. She didn't seem to have any kind of spark or intense desire to be there. In the end, the panel chose to send Rae home. I don't think she minded terribly much either. She was mostly just happy to be going home to see her daughter again. That gives Erin another shot. Let's hope she can find an true inner confidence instead of just that fake mask she tries to put on to intimidate everyone else.

Next week: The model's house is condemned for being a mess! Tyra tells them it's so bad they can't live there any more. Does this mean they are heading out to a foreign country? I wonder where they'll go this time!

America's Next Top Model Recap: Cycle 13, Episode 7

GO-SEE's! I love watching the go-sees, and trying to guess which models are going to be dumb enough to show up late. I understand the temptation to go to one more go-see, I really do, but if you're only 30 or 40 minutes away from the deadline, you're not going to make it back in time unless the go-see is next door. The cycle's go-see losers? Sundai and Rae. The funny thing is that Rae actually let Sundai talk her into going to one more when they so obviously didn't have time.

The winner of the go-see's was: NICOLE! I can't help but love her! She's got a style about her that just seems cool and calm, and she has, by far, the best look in the group this year. I just don't understand all the Nicole-hating that's going on in the house. Is it jealousy? Sure, she says some strange things from time to time, but for the most part, it seems that she just stays out of everyone's way and keeps to herself. What's the harm in that? Kara had me sitting, mouth open in shock, in front of the TV when she said, "She has the social graces of a fetus." Wow, that is seriously mean! Karma's a bitch, though, isn't Kara? Not only did Neil Lane call her a "disaster" for not having pierced ears when she showed up to model his jewelry, but the casting director of the ad agency said she was greasy and another designer called her 'scruffy'. Ouch, ouch ouch. Not one person liked Kara this week. Rough.

As the winner of the go-see challenge, Nicole won a piece from all of the go-see casting people, including Neil Lane diamond earrings and some awesome outfits. The eye-rolling and hater looks from most of the other girls had me fuming. Erin actually had the audacity to say, "well, you haven't won anything yet, so they might have just wanted you to win." I was literally cheering when Nicole bounced back with, "No, I earned it." And she damn well did earn it. Erin went down 10 points in my book for saying something like that out loud.

Crouching Tiger-Hidden Model
The photo shoot this week was awesome. Each model was dressed in a colorful and flowing frock, then given a choice of traditional asian weapons. Numchucks (no idea how to spell that word), swords, everything. THen, they were taught by a professional how to use their weapon and how to move with a harness on their bodies. This was a great shoot for middle of the season, because it truly tested how much the models have learned. They had to be thinking about their modeling and their faces, but also the length of their bodies, the sleeves on their outfits, and the way they were moving on the harness.

Kara and Sundai stood out as the worst this week during the shoot. Sundai, though cute, was called "Abysmal" by Jay, as she wasn't able to get past the distractions of the weapons and the harness to focus on her modeling. Kara bombed it big time, and honestly I'm not surprised. Anytime a model starts obsessing over the success of someone else in the house, it's only a matter of time before they are booted. Not because Tyra knows about it or disapproves, but because their focus is on someone else instead of themselves. If Kara truly wanted to model, she would be thinking about her own issues and how to improve rather than constantly bitching about Nicole's success.

Some of the best and most impressive on the harness this week were Laura, who really used her weapons to elongate and lengthen her body; Nicole, who looked fierce and in control the entire time; and Jennifer, who just looked natural and amazing in that red outfit.

PANEL
Guest judge this week was "supermodel" Jessica White. While beautiful, I doubt the use of the term 'supermodel' here. Okay so she's posed for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition 7 times, does that make her super? I don't know, but anyway, she's successful and that's what is important. Also, I like her because she said Nicole is "my absolutely favorite." With each week that passes, I agree more and more.

The highlight of this week's panel for me was Nigel Smeyezing. It was awesome. He looked like he had something stuck in his eye.

The best photo of the week is: NICOLE. As the winner of yet another thing this week, Nicole has quickly shot to the top of the pack. Nigel still wants to see more personality and inflection in her tone of voice, but she's modeling at the top of the crowd and I think she'll go far.

• Laura (second place and still on top for me. she needs to step it up though if she wants to truly stand out in this competition)
• Brittany
• Erin
• Jennifer
• Rae
• And the bottom two: Kara vs. Sundai.

I just knew Kara was going to be in the bottom 2 this week when they opened the episode with her dissing on Nicole. She should have spent more time worrying about her own problems and less time thinking she was better than everyone else. Sundai was given another week in the competiton and Kara, much to her own surprise, was booted out.

I almost felt sorry for her until she said, "What's the point of being in the competition if I had to go home in the middle? If I didn't win?" I hate that attitude! The point is that you were on an extremely successful TV show where you got tons of exposure. The point is that you got some priceless modeling experience and (hopefully) learned a lot in a short period of time. What a terrible attitude to have. Think about all the girls who didn't make it on to the show. You should be grateful you had the chance, and sad that you wasted your opportunity by letting yourself become distracted. Peace out, Kara. Nicole rules.