Danielle Evans, a 20-year-old baby sitter from Little Rock, Arkansas, was crowned America's Next Top Model during last night's finale of the sixth cycle of the popular UPN (and soon-to-be The CW) "dramality" series.
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The next day, the three finalists faced the judges for the Top Model 6's eleventh elimination. The judges felt that while all three girls looked beautiful both on camera and in their photographs, Jade was still continuing to come up with an endless list of excuses for her photo shoot performances. As a result, the judges decided to eliminate her from the competition -- leaving only Joanie and Danielle (who had been the other girl alongside Jade in the ceremony's bottom two) to compete for Top Model's sixth season crown.
After her elimination, Jade -- who had began the competition trying to understand why she wasn't already a supermodel -- remained confident in her abilities and, in a sign that typically accompanies self-delusion, began referring to herself in the third person. "The regrets would probably be in that I think they made a wrong choice in who they'll select to be America's Next Top Model," she explained. "The judges overlooked my ability and my confidence was definitely mistaken for arrogance. I have what it takes -- it's just that my look is in a different realm and people don't know how to handle it. This face will definitely be hard to forget. Jade will be hard to forget."
The day after Jade's elimination, Danielle and Joanie met Jay Manuel at the site of the Roj Singhakul runway show that would serve as their final challenge. Once there, they discovered that runway wasn't a conventional runway but instead a winding set of wooden walkways that connected a series of temples that had been erected over freshwater pond. During the show, Danielle impressed the judges with her powerful walk and improvised poses, while Joanie performed well but showed less stage presence.
During the final elimination, the judges considered the runway performances from the final runway challenge, as well as each girl's photos throughout the competition. As they deliberated, the judges agreed that the two represented the show's strongest finalist pair ever. "This is the toughest one we've ever had, I don't think the [final two] girls' portfolios have ever looked this good at this stage before," judge Nigel Barker remarked. "I agree," responded Tyra Banks.
In the end, while the judges agreed that Joanie had many versatile looks, they felt that Danielle had the "signature look" idealistic of a top model. "This has been such a long journey that will soon come to an end, but for one of you, it's just the beginning," Tyra told the girls before announcing Danielle as America's Next Top Model 6's winner.
"Oh my, thank you so much," a tearful Danielle sobbed after Tyra revealed her victory. "I am the winner of America's Next Top Model, my life has officially changed," she later gushed. "My mother's going to be so happy right now... right now it kinda doesn't seem real to me because I've had so many struggles and I've had a hard knock life... we don't have to struggle anymore. I'm a CoverGirl Mommy!"
As the show's winner, Danielle will receive a contract with Ford Models, a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl, and a fashion spread in Elle magazine.
