#antmcycle5

This is when ANTM experienced its first major shift in its tone. Cycle 5 introduced a couple new elements, and unfortunately, the good were accompanied by the bad and the ugly. It’s definitely iconic, but I still haven’t made my mind up as to whether it’s overrated or underrated.

This was the cycle of pageant beauty charm, Jehovah’s lay-away plan, adult-sized diapers and an infamous mystery the likes of which could be covered in an upcoming cinematic Scooby Doo and the Mystery of British Breakfast Bars. I feel like in each of these summaries I keep saying the cycle in question is filled with iconic moments but I think this one is the fullest so far. We got a healthy dose of amazing pictures, but now with the added torture twist of half-baked moronic photoshoots and challenges.

Honestly, there were some absolutely phenomenal concepts within the cycle that were executed spectacularly, but with them came some creative concepts that belong to be buried in the confines of YouTube satirical parodies. Fortunately, the amount of high-end shoots still dominated, so there were still treats to enjoy in between the pointless tomfoolery. The drama this cycle was especially unpredictable. It would abruptly jump for peaceful rivalries to full-blown tirades, some of which even trickled into panel. At least the times we encountered something problematic this instalment weren’t as abominable, even if they certainly should be ashamed of taking advantage of issues which should not be messed with.

There were still vestiges of the original show, but they definitely were setting themselves apart from their roots to an extent, a Neoclassical era so to speak. Some of the changes were quite positive in my opinion- the introduction of fan favourite Miss J to the panel as a judge instead of just guest and runway coach is one of their best executive decisions since they knew how to balance professionalism with humour seamlessly. The addition of the one and only icon, Twiggy, was a welcome change with her kinder approach. The problems stemmed from the signs that we began to get that the show was beginning to take itself too seriously as a competition when it was still solidly within the realm of reality television. In truth, I highly enjoyed this cycle since it was incredibly entertaining both in the domestic and in the modelling, yet this is the first time I found robberies to really irritate me.

I will admit I am apprehensive with Cycle 5 since i feel like it might be the first time my rankings truly deviate from mainstream opinions, and I do not know how they will be received. I am much more confident about how my averages will come and expect less personal surprises as to the result, but as always, who knows? Those who excelled in this cycle really set themselves apart from the rest, and those who fell short did not last that long (bar one wannabe psycho).

Even though I sort of knew how the overall call-out order would play out more or less, I’m actually almost dying of laughter at how some of these average values turned out. Looking at the alternating differences really speaks volumes about which girls dominated and which girls rode the waves behind them.

Top 2? Lisa and Nik. No questions there, no vestiges of doubt, nada. I had both of them pinned as frontrunners from Week 1 and these averages prove it. It’s hilarious how much of a gap there is between them and the rest of the girls (bar Cassandra who is a special case since she was only there for two shoots that she aced before quitting). Lisa has the best personal call-out order I’ve ever had, which is not that surprising if you consider that half of her portfolio was FCOs and she only had one bad picture amongst several glories. Nik isn’t far behind; she had two slips, but made up for those Bottom Twos by consistently being within my Top 3 every single other week. Robbed queens, I humbly salute you.

Bre has a very respectable average in contrast to the judges’ version since panel seemed to always underrate her good work. Nicole’s average suffered substantially since she was closer to the bottom end during the first half of the competition, but she sky-rocketed to the top of the pack with her Secret print ad, and delivered stellar shot after shot, so while reflective of her overall journey, I think it does do a bit of a disservice to her portfolio.

The only real surprise to me is Jayla- the fact that she still clung over the halfway point is nonsensical. How is she relatively unscathed from her continuous streak at the bottom of weekly rankings? I guess since she made it all the way to the Top 4 (travesty) it evened it out for her, but she certainly does not deserve to be over someone like Kyle. Speaking of, she and Kim both ended up with same call-out average funnily enough, but I still stand by my words that Kim should have left either on the first or fourth week, and that Kyle should have made it overseas over Jayla (even though she would have been my personal first boot once they arrived since everyone else was on a different level at that point).

Everything else is as it should be. Diane should have made it farther, Coryn coasted, and everyone else was either filler or dwindled out rapidly.