America’s Next Top Model 10: Why Allison is Not a Top Model

When I first saw Allison this season, I thought she had the potential to do really well. Yeah, she had a little bit of an attitude, but I always cut the girls some slack for that in the beginning. I mean, look at Eva – she had attitude and took home the prize! Allison had the attitude, but in my opinion, wasn’t able to back it up. Maybe it was her makeover, which I wasn’t feeling. Either way, I think had Allison followed the Top Model Tips, she could have done so much better. Let’s run down the list and see.

As usual, the first tip says that you must be open to and welcome change. Even though Allison acted like she was a fan of her makeover, I don’t think she was. When I interviewed her, she admitted to getting rid of the color shortly after being eliminated, and going back to her original color. That’s not the only way she wasn’t welcome to change. It seemed like she was put off or bothered by the fact that she had to live in the house with the other girls. Well, what did you expect? It was made pretty clear that Allison wasn’t very open-minded, but I wouldn’t say it was the main reason she was sent home. It definitely factored in, though.

Knowing something about the fashion industry is the second tip. I think Allison did really well here, especially considering that she had a considerable amount of experience before being on the show. She has even traveled to other continents to do some modeling, so that must mean that she knows a little something about the industry. I don’t ever recall hearing Allison talk about the industry, other than being in it, but I have to go on a limb and assume that since she has been doing it for a few years, she must have picked up some knowledge along the way. So I’ll give her a passing mark for tip number two.

Now, I’m a bit iffy on Allison when it comes the third tip, which instructs the girls to practice posing, walking, and working on your flaws. The few times we saw her walking, I think she did a pretty good job. We never saw her practicing on her walk, but Ms. J. never really had anything horrible to say about it either.

However, her posing was just not on. I’m not even so sure if I would call it posing. That way it looked to me was that Allison was just standing there and staring into space. Her posing was like the posing of Felicia in Cycle 8, who was sent home when the judges didn’t think she was doing anything special during her “dead model” photo shoot. Same thing ended up happening to Allison. The judges weren’t crazy about her first photo, so it was easy to send her home this week because she didn’t work on her posing, and it still looked so bland. See what happens if you don’t work on your flaws? You get sent packing early!

We all know that Allison had problems with the next tip, which says personality counts. Actually, she failed miserably at it. When it came to the judges, instead of showing off a personality, Allison came across as having an attitude. With the other girls, she was known as being a bit standoffish. As a matter of fact, I remember the first time we met Allison during the semi-finals, she had nothing else to say except for negative things about the other girls, how much experience she herself had, and how she was going to stomp over all the other girls on her way to the top. We’ll get into this more deeply later in the article, but Allison showed nothing of personality, except for showing that she had one that clashed with almost all the other girls.

The next tip says that girls should focus on themselves, not the other girls. I wouldn’t say that Allison was focused on the other girls, but she sure did make it clear that she was better than them at all times. It’s one thing to have the experience, but it’s another to actually know how to soak it in, use, and apply it. Allison didn’t seem to do any of those, and even knew she was going home over Dominique, who the judges felt at least had a personality. So chalk that last sentence right up back into the last tip.

For the most part, Allison didn’t have any huge problems with fighting with the judges and rolling with the punches. She had her moments when she came off a little stale, but I wouldn’t say she fought with them. For being so opinionated, though, I was actually a bit surprised that Allison didn’t do more in front of the judges.

Our next tip says to show the judges you want to win. I can’t really say that there was one time I really got this from Allison. Sure, she SAID that she wanted to win the competition, but I don’t feel like she ever actually showed that to anyone. She never really went out of her way to show the judges that she wanted to be there. When she was eliminated, Allison gave one of the most dramatic cries I’ve ever seen. I was so confused because I never really got that from her during the competition. Who would have thought this hard girl could end up being so vulnerable and real? It was actually a bit endearing, and had I known that really wanted to win so bad and was upset about her elimination that much, maybe I wouldn’t have had my fingers crossed for her to go home when it was her and Dominique left in front of the judges. Who knew?

Show confidence, not cockiness, is the final tip. Here’s another area where Allison had some issues. She made it no secret that she had the experience, all the way to right in front of the judges. If you are going to say that to the judges, you have to back it up since they automatically expect more from you because you have done this before. Allison always talked about how well she was doing, how safe she was, and how she could do no wrong. The judges saw it another way, and smacked her in the face with a tough dose of reality – or should I say, how she was REALLY doing. Allison was way too cocky for her own good..

Most of the time, when I do a Top Model Tip article, I can clearly see the one or two tips that the girl breaks in order to be sent home. When it comes to Allison, though, I find myself looking for the one or two tips that she actually did follow in order to make it to at least the second elimination. Besides the fact that she came off a little full of herself, Allison never really had the posing down and not once did she relay it to the judges that she was in this competition to win. That, combined with the fact that there was never a point where we saw her working on her posing despite the judges commenting on it two episodes in a row, is why Allison is not a Top Model.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent America’s Next Top Model articles on RealityNewsOnline:

Phil Kural is an office manager at a dental office, and graduated from Temple University with a degree in journalism. You can send feedback to him at pkural@gmail.com

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