America's Next Top Model: Cycle 14 Winner Announced

Krista, the 25-year old beauty from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was named America's Next Top Model for Cycle 14 after a runway competition and Covergirl challenge against runner-up Raina. The cycle finale began with the final four contestants-Krista, Raina, Alex and Angelea-still in gorgeous New Zealand. After a stunning "ugly pretty" photo shoot in Queenstown, the quartet faced a grueling double elimination to reach the final two.

Cycle 13 winner Nicole Fox, the first petite model winner, also made an appearance to lend her support-and Covergirl spokesmanship-for the final two contestants. During the Covergirl challenge, both Krista and Raina struggled with their performance, and Krista had to resort to cue cards to deliver her lines. Afterwards, the girls were surprised with a "family photo shoot" with their families; Krista's step mother and father, and Raina's father participated in a simple, elegant shoot with Tyra Banks herself as photographer.

The final runway challenge featured the whimsical, circus-inspired spring designs of Anna Sui, with each girl strutting her stuff with a jovial, playful demeanor-and obvious advantage for Raina, who had been criticized by Panel for the last several weeks for only performing during "pretty" and "glamorous" photo shoots. After her weak delivery in the "ugly pretty" shoot, Raina seemed to manage a strong enough performance to ensure a real deliberation between judges as to who the ANTM winner would be.

One of the most popular elements of Cycle 14 among fan discussions wasn't the contestants, the challenges and prizes, or even the photos: it was Tyra's wardrobe. A vast array of unusual cat suit-inspired ensembles greeted viewers each week at panel; the final of which was a purple one piece number with a shelf-like neckline. Tyra seems to have added the redefinition of "flattering" to her objective of redefining "beauty" in the fashion industry. See a photo of the final outfit here on CW's website.

In my review of the premiere, I named contestants Krista and Jessica-the latter going home as number 5-for my top picks among contestants. I'm pleased to see that for the second cycle in a row one of my favorite girls has been named the ANTM winner; last cycle, Nicole and Laura were my favorites, both of whom were featured during Cycle 14 as either a guest or commentator. Ultimately, I am once again completely hooked on the show, and I can't wait to see what antics Cycle 15 will bring.

Sources:
ANTM, "Cast" CWTV