So I figured I might as well review Canada's Next Top Model most recent cycle of greatness. To see any photos I'm talking about, All-CNTM rocks (and that link takes you right to the C3 page). I'll be ranking the photos and offering brief comments on each of them.
PHOTOSHOOT ONE :: POSING WITH EXOTIC ANIMALS
1. Rebeccah
Hello stunning bitch. Ugh, this photo is more or less flawless. It's easily one of the best in CNTM history, IMO. She looks like some high fashion doll. Gorgeous.
2. Meaghan
Wow, her face is so beautiful. She looks just like a china doll, and I love the fact that she looks just slightly harsh, but not enough to throw me off in the photo. Her mouth looks really tight, though. I don't watch, but I heard she had braces, so she was gonna have issues with her mouth, but yeah.
3. Maryam
This photo does have quite a few flaws. Like, for instance, she looks 4'2". But that's made up for in the fact that it's just such a high impact photo. She's just got a stunning face and I love her expression. It makes me pause and look at the photo, and that's what you always want in a photo, IMO.
4. Nikita
She looks a little old and harsh, and the way she's sitting is not the most flattering for her body, frankly. But damn, that FACE. This girl has one of the best faces to ever appear on an NTM show. It's just outstanding.
5. Heather
It's a good photo, but I'm not totally crazy about it. She's hiding the clothes almost completely, and her face looks a little pinched and old. Like I said, though, that's kinda nitpicky. I think this is a strong photo, and she looks confident and glamorous.
6. Jill
I don't understand why she was bottom two. This photo is pretty good. It's a little too... swimsuit modeling for this generally glamorous shoot, but she looks confident and sexy, and that face is great.
7. Linsay
If you're a Linsay fan, you won't like me. I think she's fug, manly, and looks twenty years older, and it comes across in almost every photo she took. Anyway, this photo is okay. Her body language is great. I do have quite a few issues with it, though. Her face looks about as good as it did in any photo, but it's, like Jill's, too overtly sexy. And those hips are just crazy here. She looks like the clothing barely fits her. And that's not a good thing for a model.
8. Tiffany
So I'm tired of Alex Perry's whole ~expensive~ thing being thrown around as the new "OMG this could be straight out of Vogue" as the generic NTM photo comment, at least I understand what Alex means when he says that because this photo is like its opposite. Tiffany just looks so... cheap. She looks long and lean and the dress looks nice on her, but she doesn't look ready for the photo at all; she looks like a car salesman, only she's selling the bird. As Project Runway fans might say, she looks chip in a chip way. Though at least she looks confident, if unready, and it's not as bad as...
9. Ebonie
She just looks so totally freaked out. Every other girl looked extremely confident, at least, and she lost all her glamour in this photo. I don't think it's a usable photo. But hey, she doesn't look as freaked out as...
10. Tara
That's just TERROR. And is she trying to put the snake in her mouth or something? Gross. I totally get an Anchal vibe from this photo, down to the freak out-edness... and that's not necessarily a good thing. Ugh, the fear here is just so unavoidable, it really takes me out of the shoot.
PHOTOSHOOT TWO :: BALANCING ON LADDERS
1. Nikita
Well HELLO CHEEKBONES. This photo is heavenly. I wish her pose was a little less "and now, on Wheel of Fortune..." but she just looks gorgeous and again, HELLO CHEEKBONES.
2. Heather
It's got a really dreamy feel to it. I love that this pose is neither super controlled and stiff/awkward, nor does it look like she's about to fall off the ladder. Really beautiful photo.
3. Meaghan
I'm really not crazy about that dazed look in her eyes/face... but many of these photos were great adventures in mediocrity, so she still emerges as one of the best. It does have a dreamy pose and she shows the hell out of that unflattering clothing without looking bulky.
4. Maryam
It's a little too labored. Like, there's too much effort going into this photo, it's kind of awkward, and I wish she wasn't being kind of blocked by that male model. Yet despite the awkwardness, it does work. That facial expression is just stunning. She's a really beautiful girl.
5. Tara
It's not really any good, but it's better than the rest. Hate the sneer, love the confidence and the fact that she made it sort of an interesting photo.
6. Jill
She doesn't look like she's trying, and that "uhhhh I have a head cold just take the picture uhhhh" face really bothers me. But at least she looks soft and beautiful.
7. Rebeccah
I think she landed B2 this week, supposedly for not being original enough and looking too much like Twiggy/Agyness. That's a BS reason, but this photo is bad. Only Twiggy (and okay, Clare from AusNTM) can do Twiggy; I'd put Rebeccah this low because she looks like a friggin' blow-up doll. Aaaand that's all.
8. Ebonie
That face is just bad, bad, bad, bad. She looks very old here, and in her expression, she just doesn't look ready. I like the way she's showing off the clothes here, though.
9. Linsay
I think it's terrible. The way she's holding herself, it looks like she has a giant ass, and you can barely see her face... but what you can see is pretty atrocious. Her nose and mouth and eyes just don't photograph well. This chick is no model.
PHOTOSHOOT THREE :: JILTED BRIDES
1. Rebeccah
When this girl's on, she's so on. I wish her eyes were open, but it takes my breath away with how gorgeous it is.
2. Heather
It's high impact for sure, and I love how much passion she brought to this photo... but that face is heading a bit too much in the ugly-ugly direction for me, as opposed to ugly-pretty. But it's definitely got that oomph/extra that I always love in photos.
3. Meaghan
Desperation personified, in a good way. Again, she could use a little more ugly-pretty as opposed to ugly-ugly.
4. Linsay
She looks dead, not longing, but I do like this photo. It's definitely one of her best.
5. Maryam
You can definitely tell it was taken in a sound stage or whatever, and I'm actually not that crazy about her face... but this entire photo is just so stunningly wounded. I love that.
6. Nikita
It's pretty ugly, actually, like quite a few of these... but the longing is there. This week was really strong, and most of the girls performed extremely well.
7. Tara
Hey there Anchal. Make yourself look prettier, and a lot less sweaty. K bye.
8. Ebonie
Hahahahaha her EXPRESSION. Was that mean? Yeah, well, I'm tired.
PHOTOSHOOT FOUR :: AVANT-GARDE BEAUTY SHOTS
Amazing photoshoot! One of the best in NTM history, and all the girls did really well.
1. Nikita
Yeah, hi there flawless.
2. Meaghan
Yeah, this is more or less perfect. The only thing that's not? The hand. But it's still an amazing photo!
3. Maryam
She looks weirdly like Teyona here, but it's an amazing photo. It's not easy to pull off that pose and not make it look awkward, but she totally did it. It's only as "low" as it is because of the weirdness in the arm and back.
4. Linsay
This is definitely her best photo. It's divine. The pose is a little too jewelry ad but there's no denying it's gorgeous. And for the first and only time in the cycle, she looks like she has modeling potential... those cheekbones!
5. Heather
I love the dramatics in this photo. It's almost like... a religious experience. Only in a week like this could a photo this strong be called right before the bottom two. However, something in her eyes is... weird or bug-eyed or something. It doesn't totally work, but I love how haunting the photo is.
6. Rebeccah
It's a gorgeous photo, but she looks so startled. And I'm sure, if she had her mouth exposed, it would be open and thus all blow up doll-y. Really, when this is the "second worst" photo of the week, though...
7. Tara
It's beautiful, but pedestrian. I wish she'd pushed it more, but it's still a photo she can be very proud of.
PHOTOSHOOT FIVE :: LG CELL PHONE AD
1. Meaghan
Only two girls did even okay at this shoot, which was as much a miserable failure as the week before was a triumph. I love her body language and the attitude in her face. She looks like a model here, even in this cheap ass shoot
2. Nikita
The other girl that wasn't a laughingstock. Her pose and face strikes me as faker than Meaghan's, but I get this VERY HBIC vibe from this photo, which I love.
3. Rebeccah
I don't understand why she was booted for this, considering that other girls humiliated themselves... but that expression is not at all flattering to her face. She just looks bad, and kind of older than she was, which is never a good thing for fashion.
4. Maryam
I like how she's selling the phone and it looks like she's having fun but unfortunately, she looks really old, ugly, and busted.
5. Heather
She looks extremely pedestrian and broad. Heck, in the face, she even looks ugly. That's not a good thing for a model, at all.
6. Linsay
Linsay wasn't notably awful until this point, where... it emerged. Seriously, that face is just awful. What is she doing? She looks deranged. It's the worst photo of the cycle.
PHOTOSHOOT SIX :: ALTER EGOS
1. Nikita
Whoah, I gave Nikita a whole lot of FCOs, and I don't even consider her the best girl of the cycle (that's Meaghan, and Maryam might have been the second best). Anyway, I'm stunned by how great this photo is. She's really a goddess here.
2. Meaghan
I would like more interaction between these two girls, and the diva alter ego is totally obscuring the plain alter ego, but it's a divine photo. I adore that diva's pose, and how strong she looks.
3. Maryam
I can't give her a FCO because I don't think it's fair, considering she had a totally different photoshoot, but this photo is DIVINE. It really could be in any magazine, and you guys know I hate that comment about good photos. It's just a very fashion photo, and I love the animalistic look in her eyes. I really wish Alexandra hadn't quit at the beginning of the cycle so they could have actually done this photoshoot!!
4. Heather
I think her "plain" alter ego is better than the diva/model one, but she did a pretty good job here. I like this photo, I just think the other girls did better.
5. Linsay
The face of the plain girl is quite ugly (that's not a good face for anyone, Linsay), and the face of the diva or whatever is drag queen-y. I don't see all that much connection between them, either. It's not really awful or anything, though.
PHOTOSHOOT SEVEN :: COVER GIRL
1. Nikita
She looks really pretty and friendly. I wouldn't think she could pull off something like this, but well, there you go.
2. Maryam
She looks hella tired and there's something weird in her hair/forehead but it's a nice photo, if not really Cover Girl.
3. Meaghan
Really the only weak photo in her portfolio, unfortunately. I don't like the smile at all, she looks all twisted and uncomfortable.
4. Linsay
I think it's really bad. No way this deserved FCO. She looks super old and tired. If they'd booted Linsay at the F6 or so, I would have never noticed how much she sucks, but among girls like Meaghan, Maryam, and Nikita, she's laughable.
PHOTOSHOOT EIGHT :: Fashion MAGAZINE
1. Meaghan
I already talked about this photo, sorta. DIVINE GODDESS! I think, even with the beauty shot photos, this might be my favorite photo of the cycle. It's just GORGEOUS.
2. Nikita
I'm surprised at how bad this is. Her face is just dead. Really, the only option for FCO was Meaghan, but Nikita totally should have stayed.
3. Linsay
Her F4 and F3 FCOs were some of the worst FCOs in any NTMs I've seen. It's unbelievably commercial - it belongs on Self or something - but it wouldn't even be usable for that because her face has never looked worse. Old, mannish, flat-out ugly... all the things we've come to, um, love about Linsay are back. Seriously, how did she get FCO over Meaghan's divine-ness this week???
