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'Top Model' down to three

Picking the losers in competition to be next top model

By Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 13, 2008 at 3 p.m.

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Fatima, Whitney and Anya, from left, are the last three standing on America's Next Top Model.

Photo by The CW

Fatima, Whitney and Anya, from left, are the last three standing on America's Next Top Model.

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Sometimes, watching reality television can make you feel a little bad about yourself. But not America's Next Top Model. It's clear that these women want to be models not only for the artistic expression involved in dislocating your shoulder for the camera but also for the opportunity to project to the world the healthy body images for which fashion magazines can take so much credit.

Tonight, Cycle 9,843 comes to a close. OK, it's No. 10, but there have been so many cycles at this point that I'm in a constant state of PMS. It's hard to handicap women who are so good at doing it for themselves, but let's take a look at who may lose the big prize.

We already know who will win: As always, it's Tyra Banks.

Fatima

* In her favor: With Katrzyna gone (because being pleasant and mature is no way to win a reality show), Fatima is unquestionably the great beauty of the competition. She's stately, elegant and has the long, narrow body that fashion designers love to use to humiliate the rest of us.

* Working against her: Fatima began the show by tearfully telling of her genital mutilation as a child in Africa. It can't have been easy to squander the kind of sympathy she aroused, but with her arrogance, trash-talking and selfishness, the lady pulled it off. Kudos!

Whitney

* In her favor: One of the most successful plus-size (read: size 10) models in the history of the show, Whitney shows a confidence with her face and body. She may snipe at the other women, but she also seems to be in possession of a brain.

* Working against her: Whitney likes to use her sex appeal. Tyra expects a lot from her models, but they must not be sexy. The cheap peroxide job Tyra inflicted on her once-striking brunette didn't help matters; neither does her inability to demonstrate authenticity in video shoots.

Anya

* In her favor: She's the one to beat. Not only has Anya risen from near invisibility to consistently take good photos and win challenges, but she doesn't have an enemy. In fact, she seems genuinely sweet, as evidenced by the time she took soup to a sick Fatima in bed. Bland in person, she comes to life on camera. And when the alternative is obnoxious, bland isn't so bad.

* Working against her: She's not just another great mind in a pretty package. The package may be most of it. And while she insists her accent is Hawaiian, it sounds a lot more Russian than surfer girl. Own it, Anya!

* The 10th season of America's Next Top Model concludes at 8 p.m. today on CW2.