THE TRUE BEAUTY - THE BEAUTY THAT CAN BE HELD NEXT TO A VENUS DE MILO OR COMPARED WITH A WILD AFRICAN LEOPARD OR SPOKEN IN THE SAME SENTENCE WITH NAMES LIKE SOPHIA LOREN, IS NIK. NOT Nicole. Nik is this kind of caliber. The judges blew it. Got distracted by Nicole finally giving some pzzaazz on the catwalk - finally, after weeks of Nicole's zig-zaggy performance. Nicole's face, by comparison, is not a face that haunts you.

DISAPPOINTED BEYOND WORDS for Nik's loss. THERE IS NOTHING DISTINCTIVE OR UNBELIEVABLE OR JAW-DROPPING ABOUT NICOLE. REally think the judges messed up on this one. Nicole is bland, unexciting - her face is typical. Nicole evokes the same essence as Rebecca did in the last cycle. Nicole -- like Rebecca but better - is rather conventional in looks and style. Nicole does not have that depth of character and sensitivity of soul to convey what Nik conveys ON THE RUNWAY AND ON THE PAGE. NIK STUNS WITH BEAUTY - she makes me catch my breath (gasp) the same way the Venus de Milo first did to me in the Paris Louvre. Or the way my first site of a wild african lion did. NIK IS IN THAT CALIBER.

Nicole, by comparison, is baseball and home-made apple pie - but with a bit more spice and edge. PLUS I THINK THE JUDGES HAD GOTTEN TOO USED TO NIK HITTING THE COVER OFF THE BALL EVERY SINGLE WEEK - EVERY PHOTOGRAPHER LOVED HER, THE VIEWING PUBLIC LOVED HER AND CHOSE HER AS MODEL OF THE WEEK a few times. She even won challenges for being so on the ball with her sense of style and class and dignity. By comparison, Nicole was bland on several occasions. When she finally stepped it up in the final runway walk, the judges were surprised. BUT NIK HAD BEEN PZZAZZING ALL ALONG.

also THINK THE JUDGES, WHETHER CONSCIOUSLY OR UNCONSCIOUSLY, DECIDED TO GO WITH A MORE GENERIC, GIRL-NEXT-DOOR AMERICAN LOOK AFTER HAVING selected the unconventional and unusual and exotic the last few cycles - Eva (african american), Naima (mexican and african american and irish). This is for COVER GIRL AFTERALL. It's a sad, but probably true, element.

In previous cycles, I wanted Yoanna. I wanted Eva. I wanted Naima. THEY ALL WON. BUT I never got into Nicole. NEVER GOT WHY THE JUDGES WERE SO INTO HER - HER OR JAYLA - SOOO BLAH. Yes, she is tall and thin and she is "pretty" - BUT NOT BEAUTIFUL, NOT STRIKING. NICOLE IS OHHHH SO GENERICALLY PRETTY. VERY BLAND. SHE IS LIKE DOZENS OF FACES OUT THERE.

I know the judges have far more experience than me for assessing model potential. But that doesn't mean they are infallible. I think they got too used to Nik always hitting the ball out of the field and therefore when she was once again fabulous (this time, for the final runway performance), it didn't suprise them. By contrast, Nicole had been as boring as Wonder Bread so when she finally put some pzzazzz into what she was doing, they were surprised and that caught them. It caught them off guard so they were like "wooooo".

So why did Nicole win?
1. Nik didn't have to IMPROVE greatly over the course of the show b/c SHE WAS AMAZING TO BEGIN WITH. SHE WAS FAR SUPERIOR TO NICOLE FROM OUTSET. But the judges place more emphasis on growth so that played in Nicole's favor. Nicole was bland and boring every week when the judges would meet. She wins by turning it up a huge notch at the very last moment and surprises them all. Okay, good for her for turning it up. But then would Nik had been better off if she had just played it safe all those other weeks and then left it to the end to turn it up several notches? Nik was already hitting a zillion home runs, she couldn't go further. By comparison, Nicole was hitting a couple doubles and tripples, but never a home run until they saw her walk at the end. I think the judges got spoiled with Nik - they got too used to her hitting the ball out of the baseball field every week with her being selected time and again by the photographer as the best face, the easiest to work with, the most expressive. She was winning challenges, etc. So when Nicole did something at the end that she hadn't done for the past 13 weeks or whatever, they were like "ooooohhhh'.

2. They decided to go with a more typical and convential kind of pretty instd of exotic and unusual and striking beyond belief. they probably figured they had done the exotic a few yrs in a row so would go with something more traditional (UNFORTUNATELY, ALSO BORING).

There is a depth and mystery and seriousness to Nik that probably didn't work in her favor, unfortunately. These fabulous qualities came out in her pictures - in her eyes, but in person the judges interpreted her as being too shy or removed. In all honesty, I think she was far toO mature and sensitive and deep for the judges to comprehend her - NIGEL in particular should have been more attuned to this. So, by comparison, Nicole, with her simple personality, seemed easier to understand - AND SIMPLICITY SELLS.

DO NOT DESPAIR NIK. YOU WILL BE DAZZLING US FOR YEARS TO COME. YOUR FACE AND STYLE AND DEMEANOR ARE RARE AND SPECIAL. 50 YEARS FROM NOW, YOUR FACE WILL REMEMBERED AND PEOPLE WILL BE HOLDING ONTO MAGAZINE CLIPPIGS OF YOUR MODELING MUCH LIKE WE'VE DONE TODAY WITH THE MOVIE GREATS OF THE 1930/40s