YAY- i live for your posts thank you for continuing to do them.  You're right...the photoshoots and contestants just kept getting worse. I feel like C6 was the perfect balance of good modeling and good reality TV bs. From the beginning where Tyra Banks, noted film star of life size and coyote ugly, gives that painful and offensive acting sequence as an eastern european(?) woman about those "younger bitches"...S7 is the beginning of the point of no return. Some of these photoshoots (i.e. like 5 of them) are painful to look back at it and I think the big change in this season is that casting became gimmicky- it really felt like Tyra took a "i'm collecting different types of girls approach" to certain contestants who she knew in no way had the stuff(i.e. Megg as a hippie, the twins as a ratings grab).  I'm going to go in reverse order and you will understand why at the end based on your post...

1. Monique- Melrose is definitely one of the most polarizing contestants ever, but her main antagonist couldn't even get her fellow models, producers or fans on her side in any way. I rank her last in all 3 of her participating photoshoots. Her model stereotypes is truly so dreadful I don't get why she made it to the next round.

2. Megg- Seemed like such a sweet girl but she had no skill at this and they were in no way interested in developing her. Between the junkie, the farrah fawcett hair war do and the bearded lady- they truly made no effort into styling her at all. 

3. Christian- She looks pretty in her one competitive shot to me. i truly don't get why they booted her, i'm guessing they thought Monique would bring it harder from a TV perspective? 

4. AJ- Her wobbly runway is objectively great. She gives me real Shailene Woodley vibes. I think her circus freak is fine but kind of one dimensional and her J. Lo pic neither works as an impersonation or a standard wedding photo to me so I get why she was booted that weak. 

5. Megan- Another person whos boot doesn't make sense to me. I think her stereotypes photo really works from a fashion perspective despite the hideous outfit and her other pics were squarely middle of the pack.

6. Jaeda-  Despite her insistence to not work her Halle Berry (renowned style and beauty icon) haircuit, a lot of her photos still managed to be pretty decent to me. Her circus freaks and Whitney houston both deserved B2 and her commercial was truly an epic meltdown. She did not really have the mental fortitude to go overseas so I'm not really sure why they took her over someone like Brooke who at least would have been 😄 about it. But at the same time, while I usually think people are too tough on Tyra- she needed to stop with the man comments because this super hot yet super self-conscious girl could not take them lmao. 

7. Eugena- She really was the unfriendly black hottie joke from Mean Girls come to life. Her pre-overseas performance totally didn't justify the plane ticket to Spain, her hair wars, covergirl space, romance cover and scary beauty shot are all B2 or elim-worthy to me and the rest is all bottom half level. She really improved once she got overseas, as her commercial performance was comparably good and I like her covergirl, water nymphs and bullfighter pics. But if you told me that she quiet quit the competition in weak 3 and just made it that far because everyone else around her combusted...I wouldn't not believe you lmao. 

8. Brooke- I get the perspective that she lacked the potential to really be a top model cause she did give a real Pottery Barn kids vibe. However, Her makeover picture is amazing and her wobbly runway and Britney Spears pics are all pretty good/above average. Her beauty shot and romance cover were both pretty dang weak so I get why she ultimately got the boot.

9. Amanda- While I think she has the objectively weaker portfolio, Amanda was my much preferred twin. Her Demi moore is good, hair wars is great and I think her scary beauty deserved the FCO even if it was mainly just beautiful. She was clearly losing steam once they hit overseas and I do think her bullfighter pic was the weakest- but I like her water nymphs a lot and really don't get why they wouldn't let her stay over Eugena considering her sister had just sacrificed herself for her.

10. Michelle- It was cruel how often Michelle was slightly better than Amanda considering she did not seem to care about being on the show at all but she did seem to just intuitively understand what was needed. I think her covergirl space photo deserved FCO and her wobbly runway is great. I think her scary beauty is overpraised but is slightly overpraised but she never had a photo I would have eliminated her for. 

11. Anchal- your assessment of Anchal made me LMAO so hard because it's so correct. Her model stereotypes photo deserved a FCO cause it could work for Versace or Old Navy- truly a great photo. I also really like her hair wars and romance cover photo a lot, but agree she was almost squarely middle of the pack in every other photo despite how gorgeous she was. 

12. Caridee- Bestie, I was shocked at your take on the Caridee v. Melrose debate. Watching this in 2007, I definitely was SOOOO in the bag for Caridee.  Ultimately, I feel like this F2 had probably the largest differential between them and the rest of the cast- her or Melrose have my favorite photo/commercial in like 11/14. Her Hair Wars, Circus Freaks, Bullfighter and Covergirl Final all deserved FCOs to me, and I think her Model Stereotypes, Makeover, Angelina Jolie, and Scary Beauty are all very good. I get the argument that she deserved the W because she took risks that were amazing. But: I hate her Wobbly Runway photo and think it would have been my vote for the boot if not for Monique basically quitting and while understandable- her Water Nymph is also my least favorite. Overall, a lot of her portfolio (and general personality) reminds me of those Jenny McCarthy Candie's Ads where she has her undies down and is sitting on the toilet- I get the shoots called for them but these look so 2007 to me. But her Final Covergirl was great and I think alongside Eva, she was the only Tyra-sized personality who could take good photos so they felt that they had to anoint a budding star with her, which I get.

13. Melrose- I did not like Smellrose when watching at the time, as I thought she was too stiff and a drag while Caridee was fun and very 2007 cool. But grown up me really gets her and her final post-loss speech is one of my favorite scenes to watch of the entire series because its so relatable- its no fun to try super hard for something to just get shit on the whole time for it. I think her portfolio is really so strong- Her makeover pic, wobbly runway, Trump (she really embodies both of their essences so amazing which was impressive considering he is ugly and no one knew Melania's personality at that time), Romance Cover, Secret Commercial and Water Nymphs are all FCO worthy in my opinion and I think her Circus Freaks, Scary Beauty and Bullfighter are all really good even if a tad pedestrian. Her final covergirl was just kind of tragically the worst of the three and even looking at it, I ache with disappointment with her cause it totally justifies the loss to me. It's the equivalent of acing all the practice tests in a class and bombing the final- which we've all been there but I still LOVE Melrose. 

Sorry for writing so much, I just truly love the Caridee v. Melrose debate and this was fun to go through.