This will probably be the only time where I had no idea about how the averages would turn out since I’m not as familiar with this cycle. And as for the results, this was certainly unexpected! Unlike other cycles, there isn’t a wide gap between averages. Each spot decreases steadily, although I am shocked at the order of most of these, partly because it’s the first time I’ve seen them assembled together.
First of all, Christina. Upon rewatch, I fancied her as the dark horse of the competition, but I had no clue she would end up with the best average from the whole cast! Kahlen being a close runner-up is pretty accurate, and not surprising since apart from a few duds, she was consistently at the top of the pack. However, I am flabbergasted by how high Michelle made it- she could have easily placed 4th or 5th, but 3rd was something that came out of nowhere! The fact that she beat out Brittany is shocking, but obviously her first three weeks dragged her down even though by the mid-point she was rarely out of my Top 2.
Tiffany ending up with the fifth best average just goes to show that she had legitimate credentials for the grand prize had she kept going (even if she was a pet project, she was pretty solid overall and grabbed two of my FCOs) but obviously she felt happier walking away after being so sadly disillusioned. Naima certainly is low despite being the winner- she is the first of the ANTM champs to fall out of the Top 2 in terms of my call-out averages. But then again, as I remarked during the Wonderbra shoot, Naima was (in hindsight) not as consistent as most of her overseas contestants despite producing several gems.
Tatiana’s average is seriously low despite having made it to Top 7, and I half-expected to see Rebecca overcome Keenyah since she tragically spiralled out of control from Week 5 onwards. In a way, it proves my point that both Tiffany and Rebecca could have replaced her overseas, the former due to her track record, and the latter due to obvious potential.
Everything else feels rather fair honestly. I would have preferred Noelle and Lluvy to be switched, but obviously tampering with the averages is out of the question.
I’m honestly glad I gave Cycle 4 another chance because even though it will never be among my favourites, it had some really great moments, some iconic, some heartwarming, and some legendary. This is the end of the OG era- which reminds me I still have twenty other seasons to tackle. Classical ANTM is another iconic period; Cycle 5 is in the works!
