America’s Next Top Model 9: Ranking the Models – The Top 4

1. Saleisha (2): Saleisha smoked all of her competition this week. It wasn’t even close. For the second week in a row, Saleisha is the only girl who is getting better. She finally had something done with her hair that made her look great, but her body language, confidence, and intensity merited her photo a perfect score. Saleisha’s got the most momentum and will likely be one of the two models in the final fashion show. She knows how to be competitive without being downright mean, like Bianca. The judges all love her, which is critical to success on the show. (Go-Sees: 8, Photo: 10, Misc: 9, Tyra’s rank: 1st, Episode score: 9.5, Cumulative score: 8.0)

2. Jenah (1): Jenah needs to wake up and fix her attitude fast. She has one of the best records going into the finals, but her abrasiveness may get her sent home before she should be. Perhaps giving up smoking has made this more difficult for her than we’ve gotten to see. Jenah’s photo was very good, as usual, but her go-sees were lackluster. I can’t believe she didn’t see the importance of pleasing the designers. I used to think she was going to win this season, but now I’m not sure she can overcome the negative perception, especially after offending Nigel. (Go-Sees: 4, Photo: 8, Misc: 5, Tyra’s rank: 4th, Episode score: 5.9, Cumulative score: 7.4)

3. Chantal (3): Chantal is still in the middle of the pack. Ms. J couldn’t put his finger on what is wrong, and I can’t either. It may be lack of self-confidence, but I think there may be other factors also. Chantal did a reasonable job at everything, but nothing was amazing. She may just make the top two with Saleisha because of Bianca’s poor record and Jenah’s personality disorder. (Go-Sees: 6, Photo: 7, Misc: 6, Tyra’s rank: 3rd, Episode score: 6.8, Cumulative score: 7.0)

4. Bianca (5): Bianca’s lies, backstabbing, and perfidy won’t go unpunished. Although Heather had a better cumulative score, Bianca should’ve been eliminated if it weren’t for the unraveling of Jenah and Heather. Her photo was blah, and she was lucky to win the go-see challenge. I think more of her ugly personality will be revealed next week. No matter how many eliminated models sing her praises, you can’t edit in what she didn’t say. Her confessionals show just how much she doesn’t deserve to win this season. (Go-Sees: 7, Photo: 5, Misc: 3, Tyra’s rank: 2nd, Episode score: 5.4, Cumulative score: 6.0)

Eliminated: Heather (4): It was a mercy killing. Heather is a horrible communicator who just isn’t cut out to be America’s Next Top Model. I think she will make an excellent model for print ads, but she will never book runway shows or commercials. I was surprised and sad to see her leave (especially before Bianca), but it was her time. (Go-Sees: 2, Photo: 8, Misc: 6, Tyra’s rank: Last, Episode score: 5.4, Cumulative score: 6.6)

Asher Streets is a food engineer and musician who lives in Madison, WI. He has a love for all things Italian, most especially gelato, wine, espresso, and cheese. Asher appreciates your opinions too and can be reached via email:asher.streets@gmail.com.