I began watching America's Next Top Model in the fourth season and have been an avid fan ever since. With over one hundred diverse women featured on the first ten seasons of the show, it is difficult to pick just one favorite person. However the season six runner up, Joanie Dodds, remains one of my favorite contestants to date.
Tyra Banks selects the contestants for each season, which ensures great talent on the show. It seems that with each passing season the competition is stiffer. Many of the girls successfully move into the worlds of modeling, television, and film. Joanie has been successful since the end of the season, landing with a great agency and modeling for a variety of magazines and companies.
Joanie never took a bad picture, but she still remained humble and gracious throughout the course of the show. Many of the girls get a big head after doing well through a few weeks. Joanie seemed confident in her abilities and self, but not obnoxiously so. She did not resort to the catty behavior that can often come out when so many girls live in such a small house. While there inevitably was some gossip, she stood up for herself in a positive way. Instead, she carried herself with poise and grace.
The beautiful blonde certainly had a painful route to the show's finale. She had a gory dental experience fixing the "snaggle-tooth" that kept her from smiling. I still have to turn away from the screen when they show the small clips of this surgery. Her teeth turned out beautifully, but I can't imagine the pain that she was in.
Joanie was the first contestant to make it all the way to the season finale without ending up in the bottom two girls. Through much of the season it was assumed that she was the sure-fire winner because of how photogenic and likeable she was. However, she was beaten by Danielle Evans who had a stronger personality.
This is one girl who still remains down-to-earth despite her success. She maintains a MySpace page and blog where fans can keep up with what is new in her career and life. There is all kinds of information about who she is and what she loves:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseactio n=user.viewprofile&friendID=55820153
I still watch season six whenever it comes on cable in reruns. The competition between Joanie and Danielle was so strong that the competition was destined to be great. Both women did a wonderful job and became role models for their fans.