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I am pleased, I will go ahead and admit that upfront.

I enjoy these episodes since they basically have to squeeze two into one (cheers to the CW for not doing the reality show standard in such situations and prolonging — I mean extending — the finale into two hours).  First, the top 3 gals do their Cover Girl commercial.  We all know that poor Anya is going to blow it because of that bizarre accent — and let’s be honest, it’s not just her accent but the timbre of her voice.  Last week she told us the presence of Dominique was causing her to melt, but I wonder if she’s just fading away.  Her commercial was dreadful, but she got the gift of a perfect gust of wind right at the end of her “best” take.  Inexplicably, the judges said that although as a whole it was a train wreck, when you broke it down it was easily the best of the three.  I’m going to need them to explain that to me a few more times.

Fatima got the words right and looked beautiful, but talked like a robot.  Jay Manuel said with those perfect looks and the robot-talk, she was coming across as if she weren’t a real person.  (Perhaps that’s why ANTM has a history of crowning models who sound awful when they speak — it makes them seem real!)  She was indeed stunning, but not the least bit personable.

Whitney’s ad went well, as it should have.  She has the most girl-next-door looks and the most poised live persona, but again the judges thought it was pageant-y.

All three had beautiful photos, but Paulina thought Anya’s shot made her look stupid.  Anya seems like a sweet girl, but I’m not sure it was the picture that made her appear that way.

 Fatima went home, and it was actually a little sad.  She started off so cocky and prickly, but she was really worn down and what was left seemed to be a vulnerable, lovely young woman. 

The final runway show looked oddly like… a real runway show.  What has become of America’s Next Top Model?  It was quite refreshing, in fact.  No stilts, no bizarre ceremony surrounding Tyra’s entrance, no strobe lights or horror/sexy acting required.  A real Versace show.  I did get a little choked up when I thought about how rare it was for one of Versace’s designs to be built for a size 10 in a major show.  Anya was a little stiff in both of her walks (and Miss J explained at panel that there are ways to adapt a walk for a constricting dress), but looked totally committed.  Whitney came out with serious hip-sashay, but with a lot of healthy confidence to back it up.  During the judging, Paulina thought it was too much and that she was being a ham, but Tyra likened it to her own early work.  Too much, but the good kind?

 After pretending to deliberate over who should win (I’m perpetually convinced that the third-place model is always asked to leave so that they can appropriately position the winner they want by getting rid of the biggest competition — I mean did anyone really think Chantal was going to beat Saleisha in the last cycle, which Jena absolutely could have?), and editing out the part where they discussed how “bold” it would be to have a full-figured model win, how good it would be for ratings, and how it means that it’s out of the way and they never, never have to do it again; they then sent home the front-runner of the past couple of months and crowned Whitney Thompson, size 10, America’s Next Top Model.  Whitney got good and choked up and talked about how she wants to be a role model for girls who eat, and it was… well, I’m a little ashamed of how excited I was.  And I’ll leave it at that.

Do you think she deserved it?  Were you a little confused by Fatima’s elimination?  Did you agree with the judges about the runway walks?  Do you think Paulina was a dissenting vote on the panel?  Do you think ANTM will ever crown another plus-size model?  Which girl will have a legitimate career?

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