Worst: Molly (Cycle 16)
Credit: Troy Jensen/The CW
We have to give Molly credit for not crying, complaining, or stomping her way out of this totally disastrous weave. As you could obviously tell, we were all thinking, What is this? What is going on? Manuel admits. We brought in a special weave person [and even they] couldnt do the type of weave that Tyra was looking for because of [Mollys] scalp and bone-straight hair. Tyra said, Let them finish it, and well address it. They addressed it the following episode by redoing her weave, but it still looked like a hot model mess.
With the edit she was given, along with the work that she produced, I found it shocking that Norelle would make it all the way to the top 5. I’m glad she did, because she most definitely would have been lower in the ranking had she not made it to Japan. Japan is definitely her market, and she really shone there. It was strange that the judges suddenly decided to cut her the second she started showing promise, though. Why would they bring her to Japan if nothing she did would convince them she deserved to make it that far? Given her lackluster performance pre-Japan and her shaky runway walk, I think this spot in the ranking is right for Norelle.
I feel as though Norelle was casted to be the relatable girl of the cycle, but I found myself completely unable to relate to her for the majority of it. In fact, her edit wound up becoming the joke of the cycle for me. They repeatedly showed her speaking about wanting to become a model to be like Paris Hilton (a very questionable statement on many fronts). They also highlighted her obsession with Hello Kitty, which in combination with her youthful appearance and attitude, made her come off very childish in an unappealing way for me. This isn’t to say that I disliked Norelle. I didn’t love her, but she seemed fairly likable overall. I just couldn’t relate to her, and couldn’t bring myself to take her edit on the show seriously.
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The soft-spoken Naima — who ended up winning her cycle — kicked her delicate side to the curb with an edgy mohawk. We were trying to find a way to make her a lot more editorial-looking, Manuel says. The contestants are responsible for presenting themselves at judging, and she worked that mohawk.
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The jarring orange hue of Fatimas locks wasnt the only problem. The frizzy, short style only accentuated her slight height. [The long hair] helped cheat her proportions and make her look a little taller, Manuel says. People say, How thin do you have to be? Fashion is about proportions.
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Credit: The CW/Jim De Yonker/Landov; The CW/James Wade/Landov
Forget smizing — a pair of scissors proved to be the most powerful tool during Samanthas stint on the show. Samantha looked so much like the really cute girl at the mall, Manuel says. She needed something more drastic. She became far more editorial-looking, and a lot less commercial-looking.