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MTV News intern and resident “Gossip Girl” expert Rya has expanded her overly personal obsessions to include “America’s Next Top Model” — and just in time for the finale:
So last night’s episode of “Top Model” was the grand finale, which I watched with the sincere hope that the show is actually aware of its all-consuming campiness. I mean, Tyra knows, right? Anyway!
If you didn’t know (how would that be possible?), the glorious final three was composed of Fatima, a gorgeous Somalian; Anya, a Russian/Hawaiian goddess; and (hold onto your chairs) Whitney, a pretty normal-sized, beautiful woman we at MTV News have totally been rooting for.
There were so many amazing, hilarious, and amazingly hilarious moments in the “Top Model” finale. (Like Miss J’s rhinestone eyebrows. Note to whoever thought up such a facial accoutrement: I’ll have what you’re having.) My rundown after the jump.
· The episode began with a Cover Girl mascara shoot in front of the Coliseum in Rome. I took a shine to Anya, because her mind-melting amount of practice reminded me of how my immigrant mother sometimes repeats phrases in English until she gets them totally right. Aww. Otherwise, Anya and Whitney kind of sounded like weather women. Weather women who were on a mission to attain voluminous, separated, and curly lashes! Fatima, though — her enthusiasm was akin to a woman who would host an episode of the E! channel’s “Wild On” series. It’s also worth throwing in that nobody on the shoot was having fun. Like, not even slightly. This is perhaps because eyelashes are so serious…?
· In fact, I’d like to take a second to address the Cover Girl crew, and say that next time you have a shoot being filmed for TV, it’d be in your best interest to act even more disinterested. I’d also like to shout out to Jay Manuel: if your look was inspired by my darling, pancake-faced, and lip-lined aunt, you totally succeeded. And Anya: when you wore that furry black hat and striped shirt, you looked exactly like Sarah from “Real World: Miami.” Not sure where that places you in the haute-couture ranks, but it kind of warmed my heart.
· While I won’t say anything negative about The Tyra (because I fear her?), I will say that I wish she’d perhaps…take her enthusiasm…to a safer level. Again, I am too afraid to get more specific here. Actually, forget it! Tyra, you’re perfect, don’t change!
· During judging, the great ex-supermodel (and Mrs. Ric Ocasek!) Paulina Porizkova looked at Anya’s black-and-white shot and exclaimed, “Here, you look stupid!” As bad as this kind of makes us feel, is it OK to admit that we enjoyed this moment? Don’t cry, Sarah from “Real World: Miami”!
· You know what’s truly great about this show? It’s the way Tyra (hi, Tyra, don’t hurt us!) is soooo understanding of the pain of being judged for physical beauty on national TV. Like, when Fatima got the boot, did Tyra just let her walk out of the room? No! The Diva soothed Fatima’s significant grief with the words “I’m so proud of you, you learned a lot!” I think I would learn a lot as a contestant on “Top Model”…Is it possible to intern there?
· The blonde-on-blonde final competition was a runway show styled by Versace, which is not a tacky and over-the-top brand. The show looked exactly like you thought it would -– but with a few added bonuses: The catwalk was covered in glitter! Like the title of that Mariah Carey movie! Do you know how much joy this brought me? Do you realize how badly I wanted to head to the nearest 24-hour craft store and drench my floors in the stuff? A truly magical touch. Also, the footage was divided between crisp shots of the women working it, and gritty, presumably handheld shots of the models and stylists flippin’ out backstage. If I edited this show, I would’ve used that “Here Comes the Hotsteppa” tune as the soundtrack, as this whole scene was totally reminiscent of the 1995 Isaac Mizrahi tour de force “Unzipped” — without the actual famous people.
· Then, it was back to the judges’ table, and long story short: WHITNEY WON! In addition to her Cover Girl contract, her face on a billboard mere steps away from MTV’s Times Square HQ, a contract with Elite, and the cover of Seventeen, she now joins the ranks of such luminaries as Eva Pigford, Yoanna House, Danielle Evans, and that girl who smokes a lot of weed, married Peter Brady, and wants a boob job. Wait, isn’t this competition supposed to make you successful and famous? Hmmm…
So now that this, um, “cycle” is over, what to make of Whitney’s triumph?
Tyra is a smart (albeit animated) cookie. She’s well aware that, while the winners of this competition aren’t necessarily runway material, they do have Cover Girl cover girl potential. “Full-figured” Whitney, more wholesome than a slice of apple pie that’s resting on top of a Bible that’s leaning on a baseball bat, is America’s Next Top Model for that very reason: she’s kind of the representative, very beautiful, face of our country. I cannot wait to see her face on a billboard. And I double-couldn’t-agree-more with Paulina when I say in regards to Whitney’s controversial figure that “This isn’t plus-size. This is beautiful.”
Filed Under: ANTM, Television
I totally disagree with Ms.Shevonne's post above...
Real Girls are not anorexic...Real Girls have meat..Whitneys got that thank you.
It's unfortunate the belief that all woman should be a size 2 has poisoned our societies view of how woman should look. The reality is that women come in all shapes and sizes. Lets keep that in mind. For those of you who are going to be negative and bitchy…check your self-esteem!
I've been a 6 and all the way up to 14 and although I considered myself heavy once I got beyond a 12, I have never been HEAVY when I was in my size 10 jeans!
You're sick if you have convinced yourself that diet and exercise resulted in you getting to a size 2. A lot of factors are involved, including genetics, not that genetics excuse over-eating. So keep your deluded "truth" to yourself. It's people like you that cause young women to starve themselves for approval!
Exercise and healthy diet won't turn everyone into a size 2, but it WILL make them look attractive for the size they are. I know plenty of girls with a whole LOTTA curves who exercise and eat healthy and are RADIANT. I personally think curvy girls are SUPER attractive.
But. Whitney. Is. NOT.
She's just not attractive. I don't hate her look because she has curves, I hate her look because she looks like trailer trash to me, and that's got nothing to do with weight. There are PLENTY of skinny trailer trash girls (Britney anyone?). Whitney's face just screams redneck trailer trash pageant princess Hooters waitress pole dancer to me, and seriously, it's not her size.
That, and her personality, as I said before, is LOUSY. What a negative person. Not a good role model for ANYONE. She's saying "hey big girls, not only can you win ANTM, it's also okay to hate on people who are skinnier than you!" and that's so not cool. Everyone needs to take the sheer weight of the girl off the table and consider her totally redneck look and crappy personality and then tell me if that's really who we want to be ANTM.
I won't hate on her for her weight. I like curvy girls. BUT there are SO MANY CURVY GIRLS SO MUCH PRETTIER THAN HER. SERIOUSLY. She is NOT an attractive curvy girl. And I would never buy anything being sold by a girl with such a trailer-worthy face. I've hated her look from day oen and it's just a shame, a crying shame, that out of all the gorgeous curvy girls out there they picked an ugly one like Whitney. She's ugly inside and out. Ugh. She has a seriously unsophisticated look. If redneck is in this season, I'm out.
I so wish someone else would have been the first regular-size top model. Someone who actually makes their weight look gorgeous and isn't delusional about their breast size. The fact that she thinks she has breasts is utterly ridiculous.
The reality of the reflection of the women in our society is that most people don't measure to the prescribed idea of beauty. You can sit at any public place in America and people watch all day and you will only see a small handful of women, if any, that are 5'10, size 2, and very attractive. Those are the bare minimum standards that the industry looks for and require. That is all before they take any extraordinary beauty, sexy appeal or personality that separate the run of the mill model from the elite. My wife is huge fan and so by default I watch the show more than I would chose to. It is very cool that a young woman that represents a greater portion of American women won. She all so more attractive than 85% of people, including those who are sizes 0-2. Does it mean that there is pendulum swing towards thick (plus size) women, no. So, congrats to the winner and on to the next season.
First, I didn't say that everyone should be a size 2. But for my height, this is the size that I feel healthy at. For taller girls healthy eating and exercise will bring them to size 4 or 6 perhaps and it would still look at the proportions of my height at size two.
And yes, I expected most of you to be quite angry with the truthful perception. But that is why America is known to have 3/4 of people overweight.
Kamakari, great point!!! Modeling is not for everyone. So it is not about being a role model only. People like Whitney need to be in motivational speaking or volunteers if they want to be role models. And yes, there is place for plus size models, with the other plus size models. Most of the couture designers were, are, and will be casting girls who are skinny. Clothes look better on fit people. And most of the celebrities are fit.
As far as fr Whitney, I agree-her proportions are out of balance. Besides She needs to get fit!!! Not necessary to loose all the weight, she is afterall a plus size model, but get her jiggly parts harder. Being plus size doesn't mean to be cellulite-rich. You can be plus size and be harder, as far as tone and definition.
And you all can be hating or not, it doesn't really matter. People in Europe are mostly fit. They are not starving themselves, they are healthy and beautiful. Not all, but most. And Whitney is a role model for average girls, but since when you tell your children to aim for average. I want my kids to be the best they can.
As far as genetics, as a med student, I agree that some things are hard to fix, but bone structure has nothing to do with being fat. Thyroid condition can be mainained through proper medication and treatment. I am not pointing out to everyone to be size 2, but if you lay off fast food and take time to cook for yourself some salmon or salad or something healthy and eat regularly, while exercising, swimming, playing sport and be active, you will see what a healthy body looks like.
Afterall, all your excuses are only bad for you. Make more of those and feel sorry for yourself, while eating comfort foods and see where you get. But if you take your anger towards this lifestyle and direct it towards improving yourself-you will be the winner in the end.
And to top it of, that is why they don't call girls like Whitney "models", but rather "plus-size models" ...hmmm....I wonder why??? Think about it....
Congrats to Whitney, who is the first full figured model.
But you people and your bi-ist opinions.
Just Stop.
Models come in ALL SORTS of different shapes and sizes.
Different colours of hair, eyes, and skin.
Who cares what one has and what the other doesn't.
Calling women fat is just as bad as calling a woman anorexic.
So stop being rude and grow up!
My mother and sister are models, and I see first hand what critisim they go through!
Modeling is a tough industry, so stop making it more difficult for these young women.
These are their dreams, and yet people can take 10 minutes to trash talk them.
Keep those negative thoughts to yourself,
it's sad enough that you post them here.
If you have something else to say to me, talk to me on Msn.
Chelsea.dram@hotmail.com
.GOOD LUCK WHITNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you look at this from medical perspective, while you are exercising your brain produces high levels of serotonin. Exercise psychologist Andrea Dunn, Ph.D., of The Cooper Institute in Dallas, says exercise is a viable treatment for depression. "It affects the biology in the brain in the same way that anti-depressant drugs do," she says. So exercise makes you a happier person and you do not have to take Prozac or Paxil for your depression.
And this is to Mr.BRIAN: are you serious about Adriane??? She is size 0 or 2. Aparently you were not watching any TV at all. She was all naked in Surreal Life and My fair Brady and if you think that she is plus-sized, you, my friend, need a visit to optometrist.
Anya was so much more fitting to become ANTM. But I guess the show needs ratings, so here is to Whitney!
You're absolutely right, people who are "overweight" do struggle with depression and lack of self-confidence. Perhaps that has more to do with the way they are treated by others. For some reason, there are people out there who seem to think they are perfectly within their rights to criticize others for not ascribing to a very limited and rigid standard of beauty. Anyone you know, MOT?
You seem to be quite fond of making sweeping generalizations: "People in Europe are mostly fit. They are not starving themselves, they are healthy and beautiful. Not all, but most."
"Clothes look better on fit people."
Whose a** are you pulling this information from? I don't care what your medical background is, stating that clothes look better on fit people is an opinion, not a fact. In my opinion, the clothes modelled on the final episode looked a thousand times better on Whitney than on the other models. Who's right?
You say that most people in Europe are fit? http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/health.php
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/oct/10/politics.health
There are also several articles on eating disorders in Europe, just to remind you that there are indeed people all over the world who starve themselves and they are just as much at risk as those people who are considered morbidly obese. Perhaps they haven't covered that yet in med school.
Anyway, let's get real here. Whitney could hardly be described as morbidly obese, so why the discussion has gotten to this point is beyond me.
She won a reality show that is notorious for favouring certain contestants over others and giving them an edge. It happens all the time in TV land and any time a precedent is set, as in this case, it generates a ton of discussion and media coverage. I'm sure Anya and Fatima will go on to achieve the same luke warm success as previous ANTM.
Btw, MOT, I'm sorry to hear that you were so miserable before you lost all of that weight. Isn't it interesting that there are oodles of "overweight" individuals out there who don't feel like they have "settled" for anything. They love their curves and they are truly comfortable in their own skin. Maybe they think there's more to life than worrying about who's not wearing the latest fashion or trying to attain the perfect body.
...hmmm....I wonder why??? Think about it....
To make my first point, maybe you should read a bit better, so you can see that I have never said I was miserable at size 12. I was determined to make myself healthy, because all things aside, I was not as healthy as I would want to be. Perhaps you, my friend, are projecting about the whole "feeling miserable" thing.
And yes, clothes look better on fit people is indeed an opinion of mine, so is of the majority of people, that's why the runways of the world look the way they do. And you can argue and flaunt your opinion all you want, but as it is said "dog barks, wind blows"
And as far as comparing Europeans with US, there's problems with maintaining the healthy weight in both, but I can provide you with thousands of links on problems with weight in US. And I never claimed that 100 % of Europeans are fit, but nevertheless, being fortunate to travel to almost all of the European governments, I have seen the difference with my own eyes. And I am not talking about extremes, like being anorexic or morbidly obese, I am saying that the average woman in US is size 12-14, and that compared to other countries is a big difference.
Look at Asian counries, they are very very fit. Why? Because they are disciplined as hell. Lesson to all of you....!!!...and myself of course.
And you, Chaplin, are so fast to give great speech about " there is more to life....". But please bite a piece of truth in life- life is composed of little things like that. You settle for being overweight and think it's ok, you settle to have a certain job, although you might be deserving of a better one. You settle to have achieved only a level of what you could have. Well, my dear, may be that is the difference between us.- I DO NOT SETTLE!
And i know that I moght not achieve evrything I strive for, but I have anought character to try, untill there's breath in me. And I will not apologize for saying people are overweight, because I know the majority can get heathier. I have been a personal trainer pro bono, just to help people and let them see how much power they have inside. I think by Whitney becoming ANTM, it just another way of settling. But you will see, she will get trim-the modeling industry is tough.
But even then, she is very "mall model". To see the true models that stand the test of time and fashion changes, look it up.
Christy Turlington
Linda Evangelista
Cindy Crawford
Esther Canadas
Claudia Shiffer
Eva Herzigova
...or you can go here and see the top 50 best models, from all over the world.
http://models.com/model_culture/50topmodels/top50.cfm?fnumber=5&lnumber=1
see how many plus size you can count?...hmm..
...and then, please....think about it.....:)
There should be a limit like 500 words or something like that
I LOVE WHITNEY! It took 10 seasons but we finally got a plus sized model, I mean come on you whitney haters, this was a much overdo win!
SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!
I LOVE WHITNEY! She was amazing and like come on you whitney haters, she is the first plus-size model in 10 seasons, this is a much overdo win!
SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!
i also want to congratulate whitney 4 winnig and hope she has alot of success w/ this
I am smaller than most people I know and I am the one with the HBP. Go figure. Perhaps it's not always about what you look like on the outside that dictates health.
And maybe, Deegirl, you should read carefully, I have years of pre-med and med school behind me, not just claiming to be an expert because I lost weight. But hey, may be you should read some med studies on weight, might learn a thing or two.
And regarding "And I wouldn't want my kids becoming bulimic to look like everyone else" Everyone else, a.k.a. the majority, a.k.a. more than 50% of people in US are overweight.So exactly, may be you shouldn't tel your kids to be like everyone else. You should encourage them to be healthy, educated and dedicated. Good qualities to have. And may be you should take time to cook something home that is more natural or teach them how to cook better. I do not cook with any fat free or sugar free things-everything I can find that is closest to natural.
But I bet you will come up with a whole bunch of excuses for that too...
....you making them for you, not for me, you know.....
I'm looking forward to seeing Whitney's Seventeen spread.