Cycle 12 caught my attention because of one contestant, Allison Harvard. As soon as I saw her for the first time, I noticed how different she was and how awesome this season would be because of such an edgy, different contestant. I felt the same way about Melrose back in cycle 7. Some might say Allison is awkward, weird and not America’s Next Top Model material, but it’s what makes her so unique. Her look is so striking for such a young girl, and it’s this mixture of awkwardness, beauty and cuteness that caught my eye, she’s not like the other contestants. Her most remarkable feature are her eyes, that are so big and blue and how she looks like a porcelain doll, according to Tyra and the judges. The weirdest thing about her, though, is her obsession over nosebleeds. When the competition began, she was the creepy girl who looked like a porcelain doll obsessed with nose bleeds, but as the competition progressed, she proved that this doll has personality and edge to get where she wants. Unfortunately, like Melrose, she got to the top 2, but didn’t come back with the title of America’s Next Top Model.
When it was announced that the top models were coming to Brazil, I got worried, because Brazil is portrayed as a country of sex appeal and Allison is the sweet, quiet girl of the group, but she impressed me. She kept getting really positive critique from the judges, being that before she came to Brazil she was the girl with one look. She kept growing as a model, but her worst fear was the runway. She was really awkward, and even though she wasn’t disastrous, she wasn’t stellar at all either, she was just walking. On the last episode, though, Allison brought her top game and rocked the runway. She did mention she had practiced, and it showed, because the quirky girl from previous runway challenged was nowhere to be found. She brought it all while Teyona looked like a stripper waving her weave into the air. Allison brought sexy, cuteness and beauty to all her movements and made her quirky personality a special, different quality that was hers only.
I think that her most impressive shots are of the later episodes, when she came to Brazil, my favorites being from the Carmen Miranda shoot and the Cover Girl shoot. Before she came to Brazil, though, she did take a really impressive shot with Ciara! She looks a bit feline, I’m not a big fan of the lion-like hair, but her lips, eyes and cheekbones look so impressive! She’s like an angry cat.
I was really surprised when she wasn’t the winner, because she caught so many people’s attention and I’m such a big fan of hers. She used to take amateur pictures before America’s Next Top Model, and was nicknamed Creepy-chan because of the peculiar pictures she took, but she earned many fans this way.
Both, Melrose and Allison have caught my attention since day one of cycles 7 and 12, and it’s really unfortunate that they haven’t won, but I feel really proud that they came this far, since both were finalists!
Cycling through fake hopes,
one after the other they disappear in a distance,
and the joy of another temporarily appears
before it’s wilted by reality.
Flirting with my melancholy,
the smell of tears and alcohol lingers in the air.
Tell me where we stand,
so I can move over and you can walk away.
Flashbacks frame memories of you.
That’s what I get for living the yesterday.
Feel me, my point of view,
did it ever cross your mind that I’m in pain?
I just want to hear you say okay.
But what I need is to run away,
from your embrace,
and comfort myself with the death of my love.
Finding myself is hard
when you have so many pieces of me.
But I like it that way,
and I’m complete as long as they’re yours.
The barrier between us shares your name.
I wanted to bring it down with my defenses,
to kiss you goodbye.
Signed, Alvy.
This poem is almost old school me. I used to write pretty disturbing poetry a few years back, only none of my past poems were published and now I don’t have them anymore. But this one has more romantic touches than my previous attempt at poetry, Mute. I really don’t know which is better!
I tried giving Flashes a more personal touch at the end because it took me a while to get this poem right and I was figuring out the words for two days. I hope it was worth it, though! It took me a long time to feel inspired, lots of listening to music and resting, coming back to routine and experiencing many different feelings since I came back to Brazil. I was impressed by the number of musical references for this poem, I really didn’t intend it to have so many quotes by various different songs, I wanted it to be more personal to me, but I couldn’t help it. Despite that, I think that if you know me personally this poem would be very characteristic of who I am, actually, so I feel better about this one than Mute. As a matter of fact, (I think only one person knows this about me, though) whenever I say or think about the word “melancholy”, I feel the scent of tears and alcohol, so that’s how that part got into the poem.
I hope you enjoy it! I’m quite satisfied with it, and please tell me if I’m going down the right path or if I should have sticked to a more Mute-like style!
