America's Next Top Recap: The Winner Is...

Last night's "Top Model" finale pretty much redeemed what had mostly been a lackluster cycle with a thrilling, too-close-to-call finish.

Just think how much more exciting it would've been for me and my girl Erica watching at home if my local CW affiliate hadn't run an ad during the first break saying, "Congratulations to Clearwater's Whitney Thompson, you're America's Next Top Model!"

Arrrrrrgggghhhhh!!!

To my surprise, the fact that my TV told me who was going to win about 45 minutes before it actually happened didn't reduce my enjoyment of this final episode, which probably had the strongest final two pairing since Danielle and Joanie of Cycle 6.

The only real negative I could find was that, as with last week's episode, the producers appeared content to run a continuous loop of the girl spouting the same clichés about how much being America's Next Top Model" means for them and how bad they want it. Then again, listening to Anya talk in that accented, eternally-airy way of hers IS pretty hilarious (even if she doesn't realize it). She also had a sort of out-of-leftfield breakdown during her makeup session for the commercial.

The final three — Anya, Fatima and Whitney — received the script for their (thankfully in English) Cover Girl commercial script and headed for the shoot the next day. They were greeted by Mr. Jay who I thought was finally wearing a normal outfit at a photo shoot before it was revealed that his otherwise stylish and normal coat had a skull on the back of it. Oh well.

Fatima went first, looked terrific and showed that she memorized her lines. Unfortunately, that appears to be all she did as she rapidly and robotically said her words without any thought about what she was saying, resulting in a commercial Ms. J rightly called out as "not human." Whitney sort of reverted back to her Miss America tendencies from a few weeks back, but definitely delivered the most competent commercial.

Then there was Anya, whose commercial was sort of a train wreck, but (as she did in the paparazzi photo challenge) lucked out when the wind caught her hair just right. Additionally, Anya's carefree, appealing personality made her blunders all the more palatable, although I don't agree in any way with Tyra or Paulina who said (in certain portions of her commercial) that Anya's spot was the best. Then again, I didn't have the benefit of watching and re-watching the commercial in portions as they did, so the one I saw was pretty terrible.

The girls also took photos for the accompanying Cover Girl print ad and Whitney found the right time to deliver her best photo to date.

Fatima and Anya didn't fare quite as well. Paulina busted Fatima for looking straight into the light (It's like "I've sighted God"), while her critique of Anya ("You look stupid") was a little more direct. I disagreed with her about Anya's photo and I wondered why it is I can still enjoy Paulina even when she says incredibly mean things. (Oh yeah, it's because she's 2 billion times more interesting than her predecessor, Twiggy.) Mostly though, I was glad Anya and Fatima's pictures, led Tyra to bring back and demonstrate her "open squint" technique (I was afraid we'd go a whole cycle before she busted that out.)

Anyway, (somewhat surprisingly for me) made it through to the finals, leaving Whitney and Fatima to sweat it out. Tyra chided Fatima for her apparent overconfidence and inability to follow instructions, while she criticized Whitney for not opening up and being afraid to show her real personality (hence the "fake" accusations).

When Tyra revealed Whitney would be going to the finals, Whitney broke down and cried, and I think I saw slight delight in Tyra's eyes. Let's be honest here: there's nothing Tyra loves more than setting a girl on a journey. And by "setting a girl on a journey", I mean "making them cry."

After an incredibly brief pit stop for a Seventeen magazine cover shoot (maybe we could've seen more of this shoot, if they'd spent less time on the "I want this so bad"s) the girls got ready to join cycle 9 winner Saleisha for a Versace runway show.

Anya and Whitney (pictured, right) each modeled two looks down the runway, with Whitney's fierce (maybe overly so) CLEARLY outperforming Anya (who had to walk in a ridiculously restraining dress her second time down the aisle). Whitney, who faced an obstacle of her own with her second garment, was a bit over the top, but not as much as Tyra in that footage they showed from '92 (nor as Tyra when she walked down the Versace runway when the judges were introduced).

During the final panel, the judges compared Whitney and Anya's past photos, dissected their personalities and seemed equally divided. I agreed with my girl Erica's assessment that Nigel and Paulina seemed to favor Anya, while Tyra and Ms. J probably voted for Whitney. Since I like to think that Tyra's vote counts for two, that's how Whitney got the win.

Here's my take: I agree that the two competitors were VERY close, and each embodied the characteristics needed to win the competition. Anya is more high fashion (which is what the judges always claim they want in a "Top Model"), while Whitney is probably more commercial (which is important since Cover Girl AND Seventeen magazine are two of the show's major sponsors).

In my opinion, Whitney outperformed Anya in the final runway show, but Anya had the strongest overall body of work and deserved to win. Then again, if you think the show would miss out on crowning its first plus-size, excuse me, FULL-FIGURED winner to commemorate its 10th cycle and grab some headlines, then you don't know Tyra and Co. (or any self-respecting TV producer). Still, I like Whitney and I have no problem with her winning.

Also, I was thoroughly delighted to see two likable, deserving and evenly matched finalists (a rare breed in the reality show genre) battling it out for the crown.

So what'd you think of this episode? Since he was there for all their photo shoots, should Mr. Jay have gotten a voice in the final panel? Finally, do you think Whitney deserved to win?