Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Messing With Perfection

As this year's Cyber Girl of the Month class has been far less than stellar, one hopeful that I and many others had pinpointed from the very start, Hillary Fisher, just had her time in the spotlight. After having a stellar showing as CGOW months ago, Hillary looked to be the one to steal the year's final prize and take it to the house with ease.

After a month of Hillary's features, I can safely say that there is no doubt she will be a force this year in the running for CGOY 2010. I mean, there really is no competition from anyone else -- except, of course, fo
r Jamie Graham, whose CGOM performance was second to none. Surely, Hillary, with all of her outstanding sexiness and awesome talent could surely sweep everyone and dominate the year? Well, let's take a look first.

While it's true that Hillary is head and shoulders above almost all of the girls so far this year, in other years she would be in a bit of trouble. With an uninspired and flat performance in her pictorials, the ever-so-sexy Miss Fisher was unimpressive. Even in her first pictorial, things just didn't transpire right, and the production value suffered. Her best photo was a bit of an oddity, and needed a gimmick pose to be sexy. Although ultimately Hillary's cut, toned body was very attractive, it just seemed to not go anywhere.

Things only got worse in Week 2, with some amateurish posing and horrid photography. It just seemed to not go anywhere, and only seemed to waste the talent that she had. The curls in the hair just made it seem frizzy and unkempt. Her body wasn't lit right, and so it seemed to not have the dynamic curvature and volume that it did before.

Admittedly, Hillary is, in the end, the best looking girl of 2009. She is just drop dead sexy, and in Week 3 she picked up the slack and delivered some very good shots. Taking on a more nuanced and subtle posing style, she did a great job with innocent photos like this one, and this excellent full body shot showing off her great look in natural lighting. As I mentioned, Hillary looks so good when lighting is used sparingly, and when she's allowed to move around with lighter, more natural gestures. When the photographers ruin her pictorials with overproduction and overdirection, you get the problems seen in her other weeks.

When you look at her and take a step back, you see the same awesome model as in her CGOW pictorial: strong, sexy, forceful and dynamic in her posing. She takes charge in front of the camera, and when she is comfortable in her own skin, she shines. When Playboy gets in the way and tries to do too much (overdoing her hair, her set, her posing direction), things go wrong. I'm sure that she could do more, but ultimately, the best showing of the year is still in the hands of Jamie Graham, who show
ed near-perfect posing talents and an even sexier body than Hillary.

Consensus...
Facial: A
Hillary's greatest strength is her bright smile and gorgeous natural looks that set her far apart from the rest of the 2009 class.
Body: B+
Hillary keeps her body very toned and has awesome proportions. However, a questionable set of breast implants and skin that's not always flawless in front of the cameras sets her back.
Talent: B+
We all know what Hillary has the capability of doing, but she takes too much direction from photographers and producers. When she gets into a natural groove, she soars.
Pictorials: B-
Again, Hillary has loads of potential. However, her showing in her CGOM set was extremely mediocre, and at times below average. She has to concentrate more on being natural and using her acute presence.
Videos: B
Hillary doesn't look great in motion, often seeming robotic and unnatural. Again, it might be a product of her being out of her comfort zone, but she looks far better in photos.
Overall: B+
While offering a better showing than almost all of the other entrants in 2009, Hillary fell far short of expectations. Her pictorials are some of the bigger disappointments in 2009, but I can still root for her chance to win CGOY 2010, because of her massive potential. If she has several months to offer retribution and to show off what she can really do, I'll take them in a heartbeat. Still, she was outshone by fellow CGOM Jamie Graham this year, since Jamie's overall performance was far stronger.

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Plot Thickens

There's no secret that this 2009 Playmate class is shaping up to be what is possibly one of the best ever. It certainly has become one of the best we've seen in several years, possibly since the Golden Era years of the late 90's and early 2000's, when Playmates were refreshing, innovative, and uniquely awe-inspiring. We saw a lull in the creative engines over at Playboy for a few years, but that all seems to have come to an end with the recent entries in the race for PMOY 2010. The class has been deep and gorgeous, and just when it seemed like it couldn't get any better, they gave us Kimberly Phillips in September, who was a knockout and easily in the Top 3.

This month, they didn't make it any easier.

They stuck to their guns of delivering quality models by introducing Lindsey Gayle Evans, a blond young bombshell from Louisiana bayou country. She has every bit of the southern belle look that we crave in wholesome blond Playmates, and then some. She is unique, built like a sex machine, and is incredibly, deeply talented. So much so, that she again rattles the discussion of who the top prize should go to. Should she sneak into the top 3 with her stellar performance?

Let's take a look at Lindsey's high-quality work that really makes her significant. You'll notice that even with clothes on, Lindsey's charm and presence are unmistakable. And when she sheds those clothes, the combination of her movements and her eyes perched upon that beautiful face make for some great entertainment. Not to mention her body, whose incredible 5'10" frame makes for some serious model-like posing, like with this one, showing off her long legs and proportionate butt.

As you go through her pictorial, you start to notice that there truly is a lot to this girl's talent. Not only is she physically a great woman because of her proportions despite being so tall, but she knows how to use those measurements wonderfully. This photo is a very intriguing shot of her, with a bottomless view of her hips that draws attention with lighting and a mysterious facial expression. Because her frame is so long, often she makes good use of her legs, but it's also often best used when she curls up and gets close in on the shot, instead of going lengthwise. The photographers did a great job of capturing Lindsey's legginess, with an an amazing upside down picture and a nice view of her curled up on the couch. Lindsay's makeup was also done perfectly, accentuating her amazing eyes.

The great material doesn't stop, with the pictorial ending out with this sexy silhouette again capturing that look, and this artsy picture taking an intimate look at her personal glow in the natural light.


Consensus...
Facial: A
Lindsey's face is wholesome and cute, with luscious, deep eyes and beautiful, smooth facial structure with understated cheekbones.
Body: A-
Her body is very lean, although not entirely toned. Her legs are very long and her height comes across well in photos, lending to excellent proportions because of her gorgeous backside.
Talent: A
It may be more due to her photogenicity, but Lindsey is as good a poser as any this year, which certainly puts her over the top in the Playmate race. She makes excellent use of her tall frame, using her legs better than any 2009 Playmate.
Pictorial: A+
A rich, wondrous pictorial full of various themes and picture-perfect production value.
Centerfold: B
Videos: B+
The videos captured Lindsey's playful and active posing style, but often didn't show enough solid material to make them truly engaging.
Overall: A
Lindsay is just the latest Playmate of 2009 to get an extremely high score for being a complete model with loads of depth and talent. She offers even deeper competition in the field, and where she ranks in the bunch all comes from her performance in her stellar pictorial, which may very well be the best pictorial of the year. A definite contender for PMOY, she needs to tango with the other top girls of the year for the crown. The plot thickens...
Best Photo: #14 | Worst Photo: #16