Danielle Evans Wins ANTM

It’s been a long and often bumpy ride to the top for ANTM finalists Jade, Joanie, and Danielle.  There have been tears, catfights, painful dental procedures, hospitalization, copycats, delusions of grandeur, and the “axcent” to deal with.  And on last night’s Cycle 6 season finale, the long-awaited event finally happened – Jade was sent home packing.  Oh, and also Danielle wins. 

As we’ve come to expect on ANTM, season finale consisted of the Cover Girl commercial and photo shoot elimination challenge, and the final runway walk-off between two lucky (and fierce) finalists.  For their Cover Girl commercials, the girls were each asked to memorize a different set of lines promoting Cover Girl Lash Exact Mascara.  Danielle struggled with the commercial, trying to remember the lines and simultaneously deliver them without her southern accent showing through.  Joanie, meanwhile, breezed through and made it all look beautiful and effortless.  Jade, who was looking for the chance to redeem herself after her last disastrous CG commercial, assumed that she would be able to “improvise” as she did last time.  Though advised by shoot director Jay Manuel to learn the lines word for word, Jade still ends up with interesting lines and even more interesting ways to put the 3 little words “lash exact mascara” together.  Finally, in desperation, Jay has cue cards held up for Jade, who still wasn’t able to deliver the lines, even with the words right in front of her nose.  Eventually, after many, many tries, Jade gets through those lines, and the blood vessel in my forehead finally bursts.

(Continued after the jump)

At judging, though all the photos from the CG photo shoot turn out well – Danielle and Joanie’s are particularly gorgeous - none of the three commercials are without weaknesses.  Jade tries to defend her commercial by saying that it’s her first (uh, no, it’s not – we still remember the last drag-queen-at-a-party commercial she did) and she hasn’t had the benefit of professional help by an acting coach.  The judges finally lose patience with Jade’s never-ending blame game, and send her home. 

In the final runway walk-off between Danielle and Joanie, the two must traverse a long, long walkway that is essentially a series of bridges linked by different temples, all in the middle of a lake.  In addition, the runway is scattered with flower petals, making it incredibly slippery, particularly in 4-inch model heels.  Each girl takes two passes down the runway.  Joanie, in her first pass, looks a little like she’s walking in the mall (Tyra’s words, though that’s exactly what I thought when I was watching too), but on her second pass brings out all the fierceness and attitude the judges could want.  Danielle, on both her passes, is elegant and very strong.  In final deliberation, the judges declare that this is the hardest decision that has ever faced the panel, and that the finalists’ portfolios of pictures have never been this good before.  Joanie is strong because she is a chameleon, always bringing variety to her photo shoots and in her poses, but the judges still feel that she lacks presence in person.  Danielle had the stronger runway performance and always takes great photos, but often gives the same pose, and is further burdened by an “axcent”.  In the end, Danielle takes the crown, and Joanie graciously concedes “the best girl has won”.

(America’s Next Top Model episode "The Girl Who Walked Through The Ancient City" recap written by Shihrah: Princess of Powertubing.)

YOUR TURN :: If you have any questions to ask Jade or Joanie, please leave a comment below.  We’ll try to have them answered for you at tonight’s press conference.

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Posted to: Americas Next Top Model
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