#cycle18

I will start by saying although this is my second call out it was incredibly close, and if I was actually ranking these on the show AzMarie would take the top spot since she excelled in managing her team. But these rankings are based solely on the photos, so AzMarie takes silver. Still, this shot is incredible. AzMarie’s edgy androgyny is just working, in fact AzMarie is the only person on this show who has truly rocked the androgynous role in her photos. This shot is casual yet dramatic, and the clothes pop. I adore the contrast of the red blazer with the full black set. It is just so editorial.

AzMarie was a fascinating ANTM contestant. She was clearly a natural model, with such a defined brand. A brand that was never going to evolve well on ANTM. This was the shining moment for me. A beautiful, casual photo, that was clearly a success because she was in charge. From head to toe AzMarie is just rocking her style. The tattoos, the colour combinations. Everything is killer.

Outside of that the main thing I always seem to misremember is a bunch of FCO. Like I was sure Alexandra got it for her beauty shot in Cycle 14, or Mike getting the FCO instead of Jourdan in the second photoshoot of Cycle 20.

Final Runway

Coming right off one girl with beautiful round features, we move onto another stunner featuring the same. Candace is such a frustrating beauty. During her confessionals on the show she looked incredible; easily the most stunning girl on the cast. She had everything going for her, and I was blown away by her beauty every time she appeared on my screen. Facially she was unmatched by the rest of the cast. Each of her facial features were slightly exaggerated, very full and plump. To be honest, she almost had a doll like vibe going on. Candace’s features did give her a more commercial look, but the type that would still make her stand out. Just as Kasia proved high fashion didn’t require definition, Candace proved commercial doesn’t need to be boring. Faces can still be unique. Candace’s body was definitely one of the strongest as well. She had a bit more competition with girls like Kyle and Alisha, but she still held her own. On paper she definitely seemed like one of the front runners. Somehow though all of that beauty failed to translate into her portfolio. Aside from her toddlers shot, none of her photos were noteworthy. The same gorgeous features instead photographed puffy and shapeless, with her body just looking ordinary. Candace ended up seeming like a telegenic beauty, who just would never be able to consistently deliver the incredible photos I’d hoped she would.

I’m inclined to agree with you that Laura deserved the win, but I personally think it was incredibly close. Along with Cycle 6, it was probably the closest top 2: each one’s strengths were the others weaknesses, and both did have major flaws. I think as a whole Cycle 18 was kind of messed up: so many great models went early, so while the final 2 became the strongest, there were other candidates who could have been stand outs had they gotten to grow for as long.

Nina Burns

Cycle 18 is probably not remembered for its array of incredible photographs; a problem mainly caused by most of the strongest models being eliminated for a mix of potential and vibrant personalities. Honestly, before ranking it I was willing to write it off as the cycle that would be absent from this list, but luckily those early outs took some beautiful shots, and Laura was the one model who consistently performed, and survived. Despite a pedestrian look, she was incredible photogenic. She brought her odd sexual energies, to create a perplexingly stunning photograph. The pose here is perfection, and her face looks incredible. Everyone else this week took catalogue worthy shots, but this is high fashion eleganza.