America's Next Top Model has crowned its sixteenth-season winner and Brittani Kline is going to have to leave her trailer park behind and welcome a more glamorous life.
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"My mom, when she finds out I won, I don't even know what she'll do. I can't even believe it! It doesn't matter where you're from or how you're raised or what you have to go through," Brittani said in tears after her victory was announced.
"You can do whatever you want if you just put your mind to it. I was really close to giving up, and it just proves don't ever do that, because right when you're about to give up, something really, really great happens. I'm an IMG Model and a CoverGirl, and everything I've done has finally paid off!"
As Top Model's sixteenth-season winner, the 19-year-old student from Beech Creek, PA, won a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl Cosmetics, a contract with IMG Models, a spread in Vogue Italia, and a cover and spread in Vogue Italia's beauty magazine Beauty in Vogue.
Molly O'Connell, a 22-year-old student from Charleston, SC, finished as the runner-up.
"I wanted this really badly, and I failed at the one thing I wanted to do. I'm happy for Brittani. I wish her the best," Molly said following her ouster after Tyra gave her advice on how to be successful and suggested she should continue to pursue a modeling career.
"The first thing I'm going to do when I get home is I'm going to take a nap and then eat a pulled pork sandwich."
The sixteenth-season finale began with IMG Models executive Ivan Bart speaking with the two finalists individually in attempt to learn about them on a more personal level. While the girls discussed their past and hopes for the future, Ivan also reviewed their portfolios.
Later on, Brittani and Molly met Top Model photo shoot director Jay Manuel for their CoverGirl commercials and photo shoots. Shot by fashion photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari, the girls were required to model Lip Perfection lip color.
Molly and Brittani both did a fine job reciting their lines during the filming of their commercials, but they both received mixed feedback on their performances before they could eventually get it right.
"Hey Molly, make yourself feel like you can move in this space. Trust me you look beautiful... Now, the only thing that you're doing is very methodical. If you don't talk with your hands, don't talk with your hands. You need to be you. That's what makes a CoverGirl a CoverGirl," Jay told her during the commercial shoot.
"Molly was just so concerned about being herself versus a model and finding a way to make the two meet, Molly just lost all of her charm," he added afterwards.
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Brittani's anxiety was apparent but she forced through it and acted in a way that impressed Jay in the end.
"I think you're going back to where you were earlier in the day. It's like you're rattling off a laundry list. Pretend you're talking to your three best friends," Jay told Brittani during the filming of her commercial. "I'm really nervous about whether Brittani's got the confidence to kind of flip through and deliver a commercial that's truly genuine."
"Brittani delivered a performance that was quirky, it was fun -- she was just very, very comfortable there," he said following the commercial shoot.
Pierpaolo loved both girls when he shot them for a CoverGirl ad campaign, which featured the girls posing simultaneously for three different cameras at a variety of angles.
"For a beauty shot, Molly was perfect. She had a beautiful mouth and very bright eyes," Pierpaolo explained. "Brittani, she looked a little bit like a model from the past, maybe because the hair was a little bit stronger. I liked it."
The next day, the final two models met with Vogue Italia stylist Valentina Serra and Pierpaolo once again and learned they would be modeling for the competition's Vogue Italia prizes. Brittani and Molly were required to pose in lingerie-type ensembles while sitting on a stone floor and looking at themselves in a mirror.
Valentina explained that Brittani was very professional and obviously enjoyed when she was working, but Molly lost her energy throughout the photo shoot.
"Even if you're tired or cold, inside of you, there needs to be a volcano," Pierpaolo said when it came to Molly's performance.
After the girls wrapped up their Vogue Italia photo shoots, they returned to their house in Morocco and Molly discovered her adoptive parents were waiting for her. Brittani's family, however, was unable to make it because her mother struggled with an anxiety disorder and had back surgery not long before the episode was filmed.
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The following day, Brittani and Molly arrived at the Grenada Palace in Morocco that was built in the sixteenth century, and they knew their next and last order of business was to walk in a real runway show wearing Vivienne Westwood designs. In a salon-style fashion show, they must sell the retro garments while walking in and out of and across multiple rooms.
Brittani and Molly were intermixed with Moroccan models and a few of America's Next Top Model's previously-ousted sixteenth-season finalists Kasia Pilewicz, Alexandria Everett and Hannah Jones. In addition, fifteenth-season Top Model winner Ann Ward also participated in the show.
Both girls had seemingly done a commendable job during the fashion show, but Brittani accidentally fell and hit the wall upon her exit from the visible part of the runway. She claimed she really hurt her ankle, began to cry, and worried that she wouldn't be able to continue on with the show despite Jay's request to repeat her last walk alongside Molly. However, Brittani gathered her strength and composure and finished out the show.
After the runway show, Jay revealed the competition between Brittani and Molly was so close that they were going to receive brand new fresh looks so the judging panel would have another factor to consider when determining America's Next Top Model's winner.
The next day, the girls met with Top Model judges Tyra, Nigel Barker and Andre Leon Talley, as well as Jay -- who had been present at all of Brittani and Molly's photo shoots.
The judges then critiqued both girls' CoverGirl photos and their commercials, as well as their runway walks before deliberating and revealing their decision.
Brittani's runway walk was critiqued first.
"Brittani, one of the things I love is that you strutted on that runway with confidence," Jay told her.
"You did own it. You looked confident and you were having fun. A couple of times you dropped out of character. You got to stay in the moment," Nigel said.
Tyra explained that she didn't like or appreciate the fact that Brittani had burst out laughing during an awkward moment in the runway show. She felt it was unprofessional and that the situation was handled poorly. Andre Leon added that Brittani looked as if she had an urgent walk and was rushing down the street.
But Jay then said he respected how Brittani overcame her fall and kept going despite the unfortunate circumstances.
Then Molly's runway show was evaluated.
"You have a great walk, but there's a little shake that you do. I don't know if it's a signature thing, but it makes it look a little, sort of cheap," Nigel told Molly.
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Andre Leon said she had too much of a "bounce" in her walk, while Tyra noted that she liked Molly's runway walk a lot but she needed to work on her pauses and smooth out the transitions between her walking and posing.
When it came time for the judges to discuss the commercials the girls had starred in, they all came to an agreement that Brittani did a fantastic job but Molly's performance was mediocre.
"Brittani, one of the things I love about you is your unbelievable two profiles. Your smiling with one side of your face, while you're looking sexy and half smirking with the other side of your face," Nigel told her.
"When you stepped onset, you were bubbly and you were perfect. You were so easy to direct because you didn't let anything bother you in the moment, and that's an impressive quality to have," Jay said.
Molly's performance was then addressed.
"Mean girl. I got a mean girl, but I got a gorgeous girl," Tyra said.
"It just isn't CoverGirl. CoverGirl is inviting you. You can all be a CoverGirl. That's the point," Nigel added.
"The thing that the judges don't know, is you read the entire script to me from memory. That's something I look for as a positive quality in a girl. You observed it, and it was so charming," Jay explained.
The judges then ended their critiques by discussing Brittani and Molly's individual CoverGirl photo shoots.
"Stunning. Beautiful," Nigel told Brittani.
"It's absolutely beautiful. The only flaw I see is the hand to the left is a bit too heavy," Andre Leon noted.
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"This picture is very stunning. When you are modeling cosmetics, you need to put every ounce of energy into every body part the product is applied to. I feel like I want that lipstick," Tyra explained.
Molly's photo was equally compelling in the judges' eyes and also got a very positive reaction from the panel.
"The way that light is hitting your face is stunning. You look super beautiful. It's soft; It's gentle," Nigel told her.
"Molly, I love the fact that you committed to it. It really helped to deliver the image," Jay said.
"Molly is wonderful. This is to be framed!" Andre Leon added.
"You have this tigeresque thing. It's kind of this enchanting kind of danger, but not intimidating," Tyra explained.
"Let's get to know her! I want to be her friend," Andre Leon said.
Tyra then revealed Brittani as America's Next Top Model's sixteenth-season winner.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
