Cheryl Shops

Sayonara, Yaya
So, tonight was the not-at-all-awaited season finale of America's Next Top Model, and as a reader posted here a few weeks ago, I was basically watching just to make sure Yack Yack didn't win. It was close (she was the runner-up), but as I predicted at least a month ago, Eva won. Big whoop-de-doo. This season was the worst so far, because with the exception of Norelle and maybe Toccara, none of the girls were likeable. Also, they all had some major flaw that, in the real world, wouldn't fly. Granted, this is a TV show, so it's more important for them to have interesting people than contestants who would actually make the best models. Has anyone seen Adrienne Curry since her spread in Marie Claire? I saw Yoanna in a toothpaste commercial--hardly the high-fashion work they touted on the show. Eva is cute and has personality, so she'll most likely end up being an actress of some sort. Yaya will probably be a UN translator or something equally obnoxious (no offense if any readers are UN translators; Yaya will be obnoxious doing it--the job, and the respectable people performing it, is not). I'm guessing Amanda will become some sort of spokesperson for the blind. And let's all hope Toccara has a successful career as a plus-size model, because after all she went through, she certainly deserves it.

One more note: I thought all the episodes in Japan were, in a word, dumb. I think the producers just wanted to go to Tokyo and shoot all the Harajuku girls. And I have a feeling that real-life top models like Gisele or Daria aren't strapping on the kimonos and performing tea ceremonies for cranky Japanese businessmen. (Seriously, what was that?) I know Japan is a "fashion capital," but I feel like no one in the U.S. cares. Paris, yes. Milan, yes. New York, of course. Tokyo? Not so much. (Disclaimer: I went to Japan in 2002 and had a blast. The clothes are awesome, but I didn't buy any because a large in Japan is a size 6 here, and no shoe is bigger than a 37.) Let's stay more mainstream next season, okay?

There's a new season of ANTM coming in spring 2005, so in the meantime, I'll be watching Project Runway, my new favorite show. I won't be doing weekly updates (unless everyone really wants me to), but I will do a little reporting during the spring 2003 fashion shows, when the three finalists will present their collections. Keep an eye out for it.