It's time for the final showdown between Chelsey and Ann! Things begin with a shoot for Vogue Italia with the very un-Italian sounding photographer Vincent Peters. There are lots of haute bugs flying about. Vincent says that Ann is very high-end and high-fashion, while Chelsey gets on set and works. Then it's on to the traditional Cover Girl commercial and print ad with Jay Manuel. Once again, there's gorgeous scenery that finds its contrast in Ann's chin pimples. The girls don't have to memorize lines for this commercial. Rather, they're first shot silently frolicking about a quaint vacation town -- having lunch, getting gelato, applying Lash Blast Fusion Mascara. Then, Jay directs each girl separately in a voice-over. Jay is very impressed by both in the actual commercial shoot and says that they had good synergy. The voiceovers are so-so. The girls also have the shoot for their print ad with photographer Federico de Angelis. He tells us that Chelsey was easy, and commercial. While Federico loves Ann and thinks she's an incredible editorial girl, it was difficult to get a convincing beauty shot. A surprise comes to set in the form of the girls' families -- Chelsey's parents, and Ann's parents and brother. Both sets are very sweet, and very proud of their daughters.
Before their runway show, the girls get a meet-and-greet with Ivan Bart of IMG models, the agency that the winner will sign with. Ivan thinks that Chelsey has a great personality. Although Ann made the clothes look really good in her portfolio, Ivan would like to work with her personality. He says that his mind isn't made up at all. Does he even get a vote?
And then it's the moment we've all been waiting for: Roberto Cavalli fashion show! Liz, Chris, Jane and Kayla, along with last cycle's winner Krista, are on hand to participate in the Just Cavalli show, as well. Chelsey and Ann have cheering squads in the form of their families sitting in the front row, and Ann nearly hyperventilates from happiness in some of her interviews. Krista opens the show, giving us a little bit of Naomi. When Ann takes her pass, she unfortunately adopts the crazy eyes of famed runway model Ramona Singer of The Real Housewives of New York. Chelsey's walk is certainly better than Ann's, but still not completely fab. Ann's second pass has a mercifully lower crazy-eyes quotient, and she thinks she did a lot better. She walks with her signature "permanently bent knees" strut. Chelsey looks okay, and certainly is leggy. Both are proud and both would very much like to win.
Roberto Cavalli himself and Jay Manuel join the final panel. The judges don't seem impressed with either walk. Both get some kudos on the commercial, though Tyra says that it looked like an ad for gelato. Chelsey's Cover Girl photo is very strong, and she has great eyes. It's probably the best picture we've seen of her. Ann's shot is interesting, if not particularly Cover Girl. However, her shoot was awkward and Tyra thinks that she doesn't understand commercial modeling. The judges deliberate whether to choose the more professional Chelsey, or the naïve and maybe not-quite-ready Ann. In the end, they make what is really the only possible choice and announce that Ann is America's Next Top Model! Chelsey feels cheated, while Ann fundamentally tells all the haters to suck it. Hooray!
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Cycle 15, as you may have heard, was all about high-fashion. Fourteen unique beauties arrived in Los Angeles, ready to compete for the career-making opportunity of a lifetime. Italian Vogue and a contract with IMG were at stake. The girls had to endure a litany of humiliations, including treadmill runways, a commercial shoot on roller skates, and screaming at Mexican wrestlers. They also had the opportunity to shoot with big-shot photographers Patrick Demarchelier and Matthew Rolston, and walk for designers Missoni and Zac Posen. In last week's double elimination, Kayla and Jane got the boot. This left two lovely ladies in the running to be America's Next Top Model. Will our victor be Chelsey, the girl who came into the competition with the most experience? Her hard work and determination began to pay off as she won multiple challenges. But can Chelsey prove to the judges that she's their high fashion winner? Or will it be Ann, the self-proclaimed nerd who was awkward everywhere -- and we mean everywhere -- except in front of the camera? Ann has a notable high-fashion look, but can she come to life for Cover Girl and not be a total disaster on the runway? We shall soon find out!
Milan! Chelsey and Ann ride in their bus, and Chelsey requests a high-five to celebrate their status as the top two. Ann leaves her hanging for a second before cracking up and slapping some skin. Chelsey squeaks like a mouse, which actually makes her look more rodentine. She confessionalizes that she's wanted to be a supermodel since she was three years old. Unwisely, she reminds us that that means it's been her goal for twenty years, which forces us to reflect on the fact that her supermodel half-life is well over. Chelsey's very confident, feeling like she's stepped it up and done very well the past few weeks. Ann mentions that she really wants to call her mom and dad, and then tells us that she's so proud of herself. She's been working her butt off to try to correct her flaws. This is the biggest thing that Ann's ever done in her life, much bigger than high school graduation or growing three feet in the fourth grade.
Ann and Chelsey split a pizza and further ruminate on their top two status. Chelsey mentions that ever since she's started modeling, there's been more criticism than positive feedback. Well, that should tell you something. She confessionalizes that she's worked so hard, and taken so much shit over the years - she's too pale, too freckly, too gap-toothed. Only Tyra would say, "You're not gap-toothed enough." Chelsey says that the people who have put her down are going to regret it, because she's about to do amazing things with her career. This is the first but not only "Suck it, haters," speech of the episode. Ann notes that shooting for Italian Vogue is going to be so fricking cool. She realizes that she says "cool" a lot, but then tells us that she really means it. Ann says that she never thought she'd make it this far when she sent in her audition tape. At first when she grew taller and taller she thought it was fun, but then when she hit her teen years and assholes started making fun of her it wasn't such good times. She got really self-conscious about everything. Being on America's Next Top Model and having her uniqueness be her advantage is a great thing. It really is pretty awesome to see Ann blossom over the course of the season. Awesome Blossom! I bet Ann has three of those for lunch every day with a fried Oreo chaser.
Television Without Pity • © 2013 Bravo Media LLC • A Division of NBCUniversal •
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