It's almost finale time for the 12th cycle of America's Next Top Model. Only three girls remain: Allison, Aminat, and Teyona and you couldn't have three more different girls in the finale. Allison is a unique beauty, with oodles of editorial and avant garde potential, Aminat has all the makings of a supermodel but hasn't found how to channel it off the runway, and there's Teyona who has wowed the judges with her consistently strong photos and alien beauty. One lucky model will receive the grand prize, which we can all recite by heart now: a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics, and the cover and six-page fashion spread in Seventeen magazine. Each day leading up to the finale, we'll explore why each finalist could walk away the winner. Today, we take a closer look at Aminat.

* Read: Why Allison Will Win *
* Read: Why Teyona Will Win *


 



If we were just going by raw statistics: Aminat stands at 6'1'', is one of the strongest runway walkers in the history of America's Next Top Model, and has a body that Tyra Banks compared to Naomi Campbell's, Aminat would have this Cycle in the bag. Aminat has all the makings of being the total package: she is beautiful in person and on the runway, with a body and runway strut that designers adore, an accessible exuberance that is perfect for Seventeen magazine, all that paired with a gorgeous complexion and pillowy lips that could sell countless CoverGirl products.

There's just one thing stopping Aminat from fiercely strutting through the finale to a win this Cycle: her portfolio. Just as I predicted before the cycle started, Aminat's strong features haven't translated well on film and she's struggled with the Dani Evans up-the-nose photo dilema. Despite being the most conventionally beautiful girl left in the competition, Aminat has the weakest portfolio of the three remaining finalists. Take Aminat's record at panel: she hasn't had a single winning photo all Cycle, but she has been in the bottom two more than any other girl.
 
But don't count Aminat out just yet. The challenges of the finale play to Aminat's strengths, not her weaknesses. Aminat's strongest photo all Cycle was her beauty shot and the final Cover Girl photo shoot is all about beauty. During this cycle's Cover Girl commercial Aminat struggled with speaking clearly, but that is something she could easily fix with concentration and practice. Even if Aminat garbles her Cover Girl commercial, she's still the best fit for the Cover Girl brand. Simply said, out of the final three, Aminat just looks like a Cover Girl. She's easy breezy and her look isn't challenging or edgy in the way that Allison and Teyona's are. Also playing in Aminat's favor is the fact that Ann Shoket, Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen magazine, loves her. In last week's episode where Ann was a guest judge, she couldn't stop talking about Aminat's Seventeen look and how she doesn't have "a body, she has THE body."

Last, and certainly not least, is the runway factor. The final challenge of America's Next Top Model is a runway challenge and Aminat is the queen of the runway. What Aminat lacks in her portfolio, she makes up for on the catwalk. Considering that the judges will want to have at least one strong walker in the finale, Aminat could get a pass to the final two. If Aminat does make it to the runway, Teyona and Allison better watch out. Aminat will be difficult to beat based on a final runway performance, and downright impossible to beat if your name happens to be Allison.
 
It would certainly be a controversial win among fans, but an Aminat victory would please ANTM's big sponsors tremendously. Considering we have our hands on the remotes, while Cover Girl and Seventeen have their hands on the purse strings -- an Aminat win isn't outside of the scope of possibilities.

Be Sure to Read:
Why Allison Will Win
Why Teyona Will Win




--Abbey Simmons, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image Courtesy of CW)