America’s Next Top Model 7: Why Michelle is Not a Top Model

I’m sad to have to write “Why Michelle is Not a Top Model.” I really liked her and wanted to see her go all the way to the final three. Of the twins, I thought Michelle was the more talented, and I never thought Amanda would make it farther than her sister. In many of the Top Model Tip areas, Michelle outshined Amanda. But I won’t spend this whole article comparing the two, as that’s not fair. And there were some areas where Michelle didn’t quite live up to expectations.

The first tip tells the girls to be open and welcome change. Just coming on the show demonstrated that Michelle was open to trying new things. From the very beginning we knew that Amanda wanted this more than Michelle; Michelle was kind of just along for the ride. But as she showed that she was naturally talented, she seemed to get into it more. She was excited for every challenge and showed how versatile she was, something a Top Model needs.

The second tip is to know something about the fashion industry. Michelle herself admitted that she didn’t know anything about the industry. This isn’t surprising, since being a model wasn’t even on her radar before she came on the show. Without the same desire to be a model as the other girls had, she had no reason to study up on the fashion industry. Michelle is lucky that she wasn’t tested on her industry knowledge; otherwise, she might not have made it to fifth place.

The third tip says to practice your walk. Michelle was one of few girls in the house who we saw practicing (she and Megan walked in the second episode), but it didn’t do her any good - we all saw her walk, and we all know she wasn’t very good. Michelle did much better in the still posing challenges than she did in the challenges that required action. I think this is because by standing or sitting still, she only had to focus on her body movements, not on where she was walking or whether or not she would trip. She also knew that she didn’t walk well, and in challenges where she didn’t have to walk, she didn’t need to worry about the judges criticizing her movements.

Tip #4 is that personality counts. I liked Michelle’s personality from the very first week. I thought she was funny and friendly, and that she managed to show how different she was from Amanda with just a few words. I think Michelle’s personality also shined through in her photo shoots, which is where it really needed to be apparent. It’s just too bad that she couldn’t continue to draw on her personality in the later weeks when her photos started to falter.

The fifth tip says to focus on yourself, not the other girls. Michelle did this well, even the week when there was angst in the house because she kind of sort of came out of the closet. Interestingly, it was Amanda who had the harder time with that revelation and whose performance was affected more. Still, Michelle wasn’t as focused on the competition as the other girls, despite her good photo shoots. Since she didn’t want to win as much as the others did, she didn’t focus as much. And yet her photos were still better than many of the other models’!

Tip #6 tells the girls to roll with the punches and not fight with the judges. For the most part, Michelle rolled with the punches well. She adjusted to every challenge well, even though she’d definitely never done anything she was asked to do. When asked to do something, she did it, and as we saw from her walking in the house, she wanted to give a better performance. Michelle may not have wanted to win as much as the other girls did, but she did want to prove that she could model and that she was talented.

Even after everything Michelle did right, it’s easy to see why she’s not a Top Model - she didn’t want it enough. She enjoyed the experience of being on America’s Next Top Model, but the show isn’t just about the experience - it’s about the end result. Yes, Eugena was right that the journey is important, but in the end, the final model standing will be America’s Next Top Model. Michelle didn’t want it enough, and in the end, she seemed almost relieved to be eliminated. I think partly this was because she knew how much Amanda wanted to win, and if Michelle had won, that means Amanda would have to lose. Michelle was a nice person and had the personality and talent to be a model, but she didn’t have the passion. That’s why she’s not a Top Model.

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Jenn Brasler is an Assistant Editor of Reality News Online and an aspiring writer from Falls Church, Virginia. By day she works for a court reporting firm, and by night she’s a spy for a covert branch of the CIA. You can e-mail her at luckyjenn@hotmail.com. She predicts that Amanda will go next, Eugena will come in second, and we’ll have a CariDee/Melrose final two (hopefully with CariDee winning).

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