America's Next Top Model

Last night, Cycle 10 of America's Next Top Model came to a close, and with it, we have our first plus-size modelette as a winner, Whitney Thompson. Of course, plus-size, as many readers have pointed out, is relative, since she's not actually a true plus-size in the real world. But it's still something that many viewers take encouragement from, and that's definitely something good to come from the show.

And beyond the meaning of a plus-size win, Whitney has also brought to her time on the show the kind of All-American outgoing personality that fits well with the Cover Girl style.

That said, though, from a pure photography standpoint, she hasn't necessarily always delivered in the photo shoots. Did she finally make it into the Best category at the last minute?

Actually, yes.


This photograph is simply Whitney's best in the entire competition, and the only one – to me – where she both looks beautiful AND accomplishes the task of the shot. It's completely Cover Girl and really represents all she has to offer.



And so that's put Anya Kop in the Worst category, but in this case, I am saying this is worst in the sense of they HAD to have had a better shot to choose. As the judges said, Anya has angles for days, but because of her slightly off nose, within her broad range, this happens to be one that does not work. The shadow her nose is casting makes the space between her nose and her upper lip appear oddly shortened, while the bridge of her nose is accentuated. You can see her beauty in there, but it looks like Uma Thurman in a funhouse mirror.

However, despite this one bad shot, I am sure she will do well in whatever she does next, which I hope is continuing to model. I wound up being a total Anya fan. I found her sweet and charming. And while I felt like Lauren Utter was the most exciting girl to see in photographs (in that her transformation was always pretty big), Anya was right up in consistently producing interesting and beautiful photographs.

Going into the finale, I was rooting for her. I realized, though, that while she might be my favorite, within the logic of the America's Next Top Model universe, I think it does actually make more sense for the show that she was not the winner and Whitney was.

I completely agree with Paulina Porizkova, who said that Anya is the one women will buy dresses from.  However, the fact is that the most high-fashion face doesn't often actually win America's Next Top Model. The Seventeen cover and Cover Girl contract mean that the winning contestant needs to be a bit more on the commercial side, even though the show says it's striving for the total package.

Commercial means girl-next-door, and Anya was a little too almost otherworldly/lovable oddball to fall into that category. Here's hoping she sticks with the high fashion, works on that runway walk a little bit, and is able to continue pursuing modeling as a career because like they say every two and a half minutes on America's Next Top Model: the camera loves her!

As for Whitney, I think she has the potential to build on this more commercial career. I can't wait to see what her My Life as a Cover Girl commercials will be like next cycle

Check Out:
Whitney Thompson's Cycle 10 Photo Gallery

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Images courtesy of CW)