America's Next Top Model

America?s Next Top Model is a reality television show which pits contestants against each other in a variety of competitions to determine who will win a modeling contract with makeup manufacturer Covergirl. Supermodel Tyra Banks hosts and produces the show.

Season 3

The third season of the show debuted in fall 2004 and was criticized by some for focusing far more on "drama" than on modeling ability. Amanda Swafford, who was legally blind, broke ground by making it to the final three due to her stunning photos produced consistently week after week. However, the final two were Yaya Da Costa Johnson and Eva Pigford, who went head-to-head in a very elegant Japanese fashion show. Both women were African-American, while no black contestant had made it to the final two. Eva was declared the winner.

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Season 3 of the popular reality TV series proved to shatter many ANTM records. Among them was for the inclusion of the first blind contestant (as mentioned above to be Amanda), the contestant who survived the most number of eliminations, that is, to be second to last most numerously (Ann, a total of 4 times) and the contestant who won the most number of reward challenges (Yaya, with a total of 5). It also featured the first openly acclaimed plus-sized model in Toccara, a 180 pound model hoping to break the industry. She made it to an impressive seventh place. Finally, it was the first African-American winner and runner-up pair in the show's history.

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Many today still consider Yaya as the better competitor, attributed to her profound determination and her amazing consistency throughout the season. Eva was also notoriously noted for her frequent fighting within the loft that the girls stayed in, particularly with Amanda and her self-dubbed "friend" Ann, although Yaya and fellow contestant Norelle didn't really get along very well too.

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Mid season, they flew off to Tokyo Japan, where Nicole was first axed due to her inability to master basic Japanese. This was soon followed by Norelle, Ann and Amanda, leaving Yaya and Eva in a closely contested final that even Tyra Banks was tearing when she anounced the winner to be Eva.

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