America's Next Top Model recap
Whoa. For the first time in America's Next Top Model history, my favorite girl won. I am still kind of in shock. To back up a bit, the episode started out with a Cover Girl TV ad and photo shoot, which CariDee rocked and Melrose choked. As for Eugena, well, I think everyone knew it was curtains for her, as I don't think she really even deserved to be in the final three anyway. This, of course, set CariDee and Melrose up for a "battle of the blondes," which might have had more resonance if Melrose were actually a natural blonde. (She's a brunette.) After a Seventeen shoot (I guess they couldn't edit out the now-ousted editor-in-chief, Atoosa Rubenstein), the girls walked in by far the most zany and artificial runway show yet. Staged in one of Gaudi's ka-ray-zy structures, the show involved goth brides, "acting," and torches. The artifice of the whole thing was enhanced by 1) the fact that the only seats in the whole thing were for the ANTM judges, and 2) the totally random, candle-holding locals, who appeared to have been pulled off the streets, were laughing through the whole thing. Um, and Miss Jay "performed" in the show as well. I was cringing the entire time, and not just because CariDee looked possessed. (To her credit, Melrose did a pretty good job, although freaking out because CariDee accidentally stepped on her gown did nothing to help her case.) Runway walks aside, when the judges went through the girls' portfolios, it was obvious that CariDee was the winner. And in the discussion, in which Nigel did everything short of calling Melrose an old bag. So, yay, CariDee is the winner--deservedly so. And for once, I'll be looking forward to her "My life as a Cover Girl" spots during the next "cycle"--which, according to the teaser, looks to be taking place in London. Cheers, mate!

No comments