Jump to content
Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Semi-final 1 Starting at 3 p.m. ET

ANTM Rankdown: The Top 20 Countdown

*Amanda

By *Amanda
in Rankdowns

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 775
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

*Amanda

*Amanda

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
11. MERCEDES SCELBA-SHORTE (CYCLE 2, 2ND PLACE)

IPB Image

10.44

Wally: 1/20
Denise: 4/20
Diana: 8/20
Richard: 9/20
Victoria: 10/20
IDF: 12/20
Chris: 16/20
Dee: 16/20
Alex: 18/20

IPB Image

MERCEDES! :wub: It was a realllyyy tough task and journey in and throughout this game but i am super glad and happy that Mercedes Scelba-Shorte made it to the Final 20! :wub: Mercedes is one of my ultimate top favorite ANTM models ever! She’s the model I am ranking at #1, but she’s my 2nd all-time favorite model after Nik Pace. Plus my #1 ranking got to make up for Alex’s super low ranking of her which I know is coming. :) Although I do got to thank him for at least not cutting Mercedes which I did fear all throughout the Top 100 portion of the game….. and especially that time he changed his cut, so I do thank Alex for that! :teehee: I believe Mercedes was nominated twice throughout this game and I am so thankful I was able to save her both times.

Back to Mercedes, ahhh I believe Cycle 2 was the first season of ANTM I watched (and did so in live time). Mercedes was THAT model that really got me invested into and loving ANTM. She had all of the makings of an ANTM model that I look for and really love. Mercedes is an absolute sweetheart, she’s adorable/sweet/fun personality wise, she’s absolutely beautiful - and can pull off a sweet innocent girl image, high fashion look, fierce look, hot and sexy looks and everything in between. She proved to be an extremely versatile model that could literally do anything thrown at her. And she did all of this while battling and going through Lupus. Ugh it was so heartbreaking hearing her talk about and going through having lupus but at the same time, she was very inspirational to watch. :bye2:

Mercedes was such an amazing model during her time on Cycle 2. I think I legit loved all of her photos. I’ll try my hardest not to post them all but we’ll see what I do. Here’s my favorite photos of hers:

IPB Image
IPB Image
IPB Image
IPB Image
IPB Image
IPB Image
IPB Image

All such stunning photos. My absolute favorite photos here are her Garden of Eden nude shot, her Billie Holiday shot, her Top 5 Haute couture shot, her black & white photo, her photo with April and her Final 3 high fashion shot.

And since Mercedes and April were my Top 2 of Cycle 2, I got to post this gif here too.

IPB Image

Also omggg she absolutely KILLED that fashion runway on the finale! :omg: I was sooo ticked when she did’t win the show because I thought she absolutely slayed the runway. :dead: Here’s video proof of that!

YkdALVne1K8

Sooo not gonna lie, I was really invested and loved Mercedes’ run on the show, that I was really bitter when Yoanna won over Mercedes and that bitterness kinda sticked with me for quite awhile. :ph34rwave: But oh well, life goes on.

I LOVE Mercedes a ton and am sooo very happy that she made it to the Top 20 of this game. I hope she can ranked and get a great ranking in the Top 20 of this game. I’ll be really super happy with a Top 10 ranking but even if she doesn’t, I am glad she made it this far! Here’s one more final video of her best ANTM moments!

ohAZ0rL5Xxo

IPB Image
Mercedes is such a beautiful and sweet girl. I feel like she always had this positive energy about her that I really liked. Ah, I remember her struggling with some health issues during the competition, as she has Lupus. :( She always overcame any obstacles though. I think the criticism of her modeling was that she was too commercial, and I do think she was great at that, but I also think she was a great well-rounded model. Nothing commercial about that gif I see. I loved some of her friendships with the other girls and how she brought peace to the drama. <3 I felt like she was the full package and would have been happy with her winning. My favorite photos of hers are the Egyptian Eve, Billie Holiday, black & white beauty shot, and that final high-fashion shot she had. She's super likeable, a great model, and beautiful girl. And Wally loves her! <3 :*


Who? She is only ranked this high because I feel bad about the whole Nik situation and know Wallace is a fan so this is my olive branch to him. I don’t think she deserves my time with a write up though.


#009

Mercedes Scelba-Shorte (Cycle 2, 2nd Place)

IPB Image

People don’t really bring up Mercedes that often in discussions about the show. I feel like she’s sometimes forgotten about, which is a shame, since I think she was a great character and a solid model.

One thing I appreciated about Mercedes was how multifaceted a character she was. We saw her be fun, sassy, sarcastic, sweet, and vulnerable. For me, the most memorable part of her journey was her struggles with Lupus. She handled it maturely, not wanting to use it as a crutch, but instead waiting for the right moment to reveal what she was going through. Janice saw in her exactly what I do -- a beautiful, vivacious girl with an “overcomer” mentality.

Mercedes’ body of work on the show was very solid. The top 4 that season still to this day holds up as arguably the strongest top 4 in ANTM history, and she definitely earned her spot within it. Her pictures were generally good to great, and she was also a strong runway walker and a solid actress. I probably would have sent her home in 4th place myself since I don’t think her body of work measured up to the other three. However, in the top two against Yoanna, I may have given her the win since I found her to be more compelling and likeable.

Mercedes overall was a great contestant who I think gets overlooked far too often. I’m glad she made it into the top 20, and I think if nothing else, that speaks to how good a character she was.


Mercedes making the Top 20 is shocking to me; she may need to thank some of her fans for having deals or something because yeah. Also giving her a low placement as I know someone else may give her a low placement which should be enough to prevent her to get a decent placement.

I am not denying Mercedes’ potential during her time on ANTM as I really enjoyed her Adam & Eve bodypaint shoot as well as the celebrity icon portrayal where she took on Billie Holiday. But she didn’t give us enough iconic pictures to justify a win in the rankdown so she falls here.


16. Mercedes Scelba-Shorte (Cycle 2)

IPB Image

IPB Image

IPB Image

IPB Image

IPB Image

IPB Image

IPB Image

IPB Image

ohAZ0rL5Xxo

fPrVXOcyNY4

zMGcLwmQwiA

Mercedes - a truly timeless beauty. Such an elegant force of strength, positivity, perseverance, and compassion. Mercedes is the first contestant from ANTM that I ever loved, considering I started watching the show during Cycle 2. For that reason alone, Mercedes will always hold a special place in my heart. I am so glad Wally did all the work in bringing her to the end of the cycle, since I really did not want to reveal my love for her while the pettiness of the game ensued. Since I really feel that Mercedes is a pivotal character in the success of the series, lending to the series the first emotionally gripping story and quite frankly representing the first hero character of the franchise.

The show owes a lot to the strength displayed by Mercedes in revealing her recent diagnosis with lupus, and voicing her concerns for her health and her absolute refusal to admit her diagnosis to the other women and judges, out of fear of being given free passes or shown favoritism. Mercedes delivered a compelling story that the second season of the show so desperately needed in order to transition away from its status as a show that does not yet know its place in the world of television to a bonafide reality television show complete with multifaceted characters that not only want to model, but to share their personal stories. While certainly not the first person to go on television and discuss their fight against chronic illness, Mercedes was able to tell the story of an individual not victimized or stigmatized by her disease. Instead, Mercedes was privileged to tell the story of a fighter, whose dream to become a model will not be deterred by this recent setback in life. I still so vividly remember the scene where Mercedes takes her pills in the bathroom, revealing in her confessional that she just received the diagnosis one year prior to the competition. Her fear that she will begin to lose her hair due to the disease But most of all, I remember Mercedes vowing to stand tall until the end of the competition, and she did just that. The drive and determination of Mercedes in the face of such a terrible circumstance is truly remarkable, especially considering that she was only 21 years old at the time! Just a baby!

ANTM really skyrocketed due to the personal stories of disease, body image struggles, social isolation, anxiety + perfectionism, and parental judgment that permeated the episodes of the iconic and nearly perfect second season. While Mercedes is only one key player in the success of the show, her crucial role as the earliest hero of the show cannot be underestimated. Not to mention Mercedes is probably tied for the most amazing personality ever to appear on the show. Infectiously charming. Funny as hell. Relatable. Passionate. Mercedes is the complete package as a reality television contestant, and fifteen years later still remains one of the greatest contestants to ever appear on the show.

Point in case: the moment where she finally reveals to the judges and her competitors that she lupus during the tricky interview challenge with Janice Dickinson. Mind still blown. Mercedes waited until an opportune moment presented itself, and then used her lupus to her advantage. Mercedes figuratively made lupus her b*tch and decided that she would only use that disease to fuel her fire. Such a poignant and beautiful moment.

Second point in case: her Billie Holliday photoshoot. Where she uses her own pain from lupus in order to portray the struggles faced by Billie Holliday. Then producing one of the most beautiful and haunting pictures in ANTM history. UGH. Mercedes is too good.

Despite her own personal fight with lupus, Mercedes' main storyline as a competitor was her constant fight to look the part of a high-fashion model. Mercedes has beauty in abundance, but the judges felt that she was too commercial, despite her strong photographs. Mercedes decided to take on this criticism and prove the judges wrong, transforming into a full-blown model by the end of the season. The progression from her casting photo to the high-fashion final beauty shot is nothing short of admirable. By the end of the competition, Mercedes developed a really strong portfolio, including her Garden of Eden photo, Billie Holliday photo, nude pairs photo, and beauty shot. Though her journey included a few bumps in the road, including two consecutive bottom two appearances during the overseas portion of the competition, Mercedes really proved that she had all of the materials necessary for a stellar career. Lovable personality. Resonating story. Insane beauty. Commercial appeal.

In her final moment of pure greatness, Mercedes delivered the greatest final runway performance in ANTM history. Back in Cycle 2. Imagine that. I truly cannot think of a more exhilarating final runway performance, and watching her completely convert the weary Janice Dickinson into a total fan is still an awesome moment. In that moment, I really felt like Mercedes had accomplished her final goal. Only to come up so short in the end to Yoanna. Now, I love Yoanna. But Mercedes earned that win in my opinion. Though it took me some time to realize, Mercedes did accomplish her final goal in the end. My younger self thought winning was the ultimate victory, but putting a face to a devastating chronic illness that receives such little attention, displaying grace, beauty, and strength in handling the diseases, and still chasing her dreams successfully. Now that was the true victory for Mercedes. <3

I anticipate her ranking pretty low, and that is fine. I just love Mercedes and hope that everybody can recognize her importance to the franchise.


8. Mercedes Scelba-Shorte
Yeahhhhh idk why she’s here. She’s the clear weak link of the top 20. She’s an average model and average personality. She would’ve made a good like 75th placer in this game or something though…? I think the early seasons of ANTM have done so well because they have the more thorough and complex characters. Mercedes kind of missed that though. Everyone around her that went overseas in cycle two is just so interesting, and Mercedes was just kind of the sweet narrator on the side.
Mercedes is most notable for her lupus, making her the first ANTM girl with a disease. I usually hate the “disease girl” because the editors/the contestant try shoving it down our throats every second they get. That definitely wasn’t the case with Mercedes though. Mercedes kept it hidden from the viewers and the other girls/judges during the beginning of the season. However, she openly talked about it on the phone to her family so obviously Tyra knew :haha:. So they try to force it out of her. First Tyra goes to the house to do those one-on-one talks she used to do and she’s like “You were kinda bitchy on set the other day :*” and Mercedes is like “IDK I was just sick ^_^” and Tyra was not having it! Next they do this personality thing where they’re supposed to ~open up~ but Mercedes is still not giving the show the heartwrenching reveal they want <3. Then they bring a damn “psychic” in to talk to the girls who’s going in on Mercedes about how she’s physically struggling and she’s being burdened and Mercedes is like “IDK ^_^”. Then Janice comes in for an interview challenge and Mercedes uses this as the opportunity to finally drop her secret and win the challenge. Scamming queen :wub:.
Outside of #LupusGate I really have no memories of Mercedes. I think she was really nice, but also kinda bitchy about Camille at times and naturally I was #TeamCamille :*. Mercedes follows Shannon as the “too commercial” runner-up. Meh I don’t really care about the modeling aspect of the show, but she was easily the weakest of the final four and it’s a crime that she beat Shandi and April. Hopefully they’ll be able to beat her in this game.

Edited by gabegir45
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...