This season of Australia's Next Top Model has seen them adopt a scoring system similar to that of the American franchise. The girls are given a combined score out of 40 for their challenge and photo shoot performances, with the lowest scoring model eliminated each week. Simple, no?
Well, no, it's not, and this has been my major issue with this season.
Unlike scoring in sports like gymnastics or diving, where scores are dictated by difficulty and execution, the scoring on the show is purely subjective, and more often than not, completely inconsistent. I'm not talking about comparing one judge to another - the way Alex Perry views a photo, as a designer, is completely different to the way Jennifer Hawkins will, as a model. One is the client, one is the clotheshorse, and these experiences influence the way a photo appears (and appeals) to them. OK, no argument here.
The inconsistency I struggle with, is the way in which each individual judge scores. Alex is normally pretty good at saying "I scored her a 7 and her photo is better than yours, therefore I can't score this one higher than a 6.5." Awesome, I have no problem with that. Jennifer, on the other hand, seems to have no method to her madness, outside of just pulling numbers out of thin air. She will rave about a photo and then score it a 7, whilst a different model will receive criticism and an 8.5. (This is an issue I have with Tyra's scoring as well, but that's for another post...)
"But Jess!" you might be raving at your screen, "How do you know things haven't been cut out in the editing process, and those scores were truly warranted?" You're right, and I'm willing to give Jen the benefit of the doubt on that, since all we have to go on is what we see on the screen.
But in Episode 6, this is what we saw on the screen: The girls had posed at the Sydney Speedway, with various fast and noisy things, designed to make them "face their fears" or whatever. Izi and Lucy were in the bottom two, based on the following photographs which were, admittedly, not great:
When judging Lucy's photograph, the panel were unanimous in their disappointment. Guest judge, supermodel Alexandra Agoston said that Lucy's natural elegance did not translate in the shot at all, and scored her a 6. Alex said "it's enough if you want to be Australia's Next Top Catalogue Model" and that he was tired of her failure to deliver in pictures, so scored her a 5. When it was time for her to reveal her score, Jennifer announced "I've given you an 8, because I see potential in you."
And herein lies my issue. The judging is not meant to be based on their potential, or their past performance, or their beauty, or what lovely little poppets they may be. They all have potential, which is why they made it through in the first place.
Had Jen scored Lucy on par with Alexandra & Alex - which was to be expected, since she had been in agreeance with all of their criticisms - and given a 5 or 6, Lucy would have been eliminated and we could have ended up with a very different final two, instead of going to a "tie-break" which consisted of the judges having to pick which girl they thought had a better chance of success in the industry.
Honestly, I am surprised that they seem so enamoured of young Lucy. She is clearly a beautiful girl with a great body, but am I the only one who has noticed that she really only has two looks?
Look #1: "This is so funny tee hee hee aren't I adorable?"
Look #2: "I have completely forgotten that I have a face. God I hope you're paying attention to how good my body looks."
Honestly, I believe that Brittany Beattie is more deserving of the win tonight: She's been far more consistent, has a much greater range, has delivered shots that could run in the pages of high fashion glossies, and has walked the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier for crying out loud.
GET IT GURL.
That, and she hasn't sailed through on the back of a judges bias. OOH WAY HARSH TAI.
#TeamBritt
The season finale of Australia's Next Top Model airs tonight at 7:30pm AEST on FOX8
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