2009 Cyber Girl of the Year Candidates

With the time we have left before the imminent Cyber Girl of the Year announcement, I've decided to curtail the long, descriptive reviews of each of the girls in the running, and instead give a very short synopsis on what I think about each candidate, along with ratings and a ranking. Sorry for not having made a longer, more in-depth record, but hopefully this will suffice. Needless to say, no matter how I rate these ladies, this CGOY race will be one of the tighter ones of all time, because of just how many extraordinary girls popped up all throughout. Enjoy...

Meghan Allen - January

When I first saw Meghan in her CGOY spread, I had very high expectations. She failed to match them by a mile, as soon as I saw how unpolished her posing was. Although she has a fantastic body, she didn't necessarily start off 2009 with a bang, and she fell off the radar for the year's title as soon as she made her debut.
Consensus...
Posing: B-
Body: A-
Face: B+
Material: B-
Overall: B-

Amanda Hanshaw - February

Amanda's very outrageous proportions are what got her the CGOM nomination in February, but when it came down to it, she couldn't hold her own in terms of professional, interesting posing talent. Even her massive plastic implants couldn't make up for her complete lack of any spark.
Consensus...
Posing: B-
Body: B+
Face: B
Material: C+
Overall: B-

Trina Marie - March

As far as I was concerned, the year could have ended here in March. Trina was extraordinary in terms of her unique beauty and understated sultryness. She had loads of talent, but didn't always seem very comfortable in her role until later on in her apperance. Weeks 3 and 4 were fantastic, and, in my mind, made her a top contender for the CGOY prize. Her cute face would be a joy to see year-round, but I'm still questioning her ability to pose with lots of variety for 12 monthly featurettes.
Consensus...
Posing: B+
Body: B+
Face: A
Material: A
Overall: A

Destiny White - April

Destiny's task of following Trina wasn't a simple one, but she was an interesting girl in this age of curvier bodies and tanner skin. She is a bit of a truer "girl next door" candidate with an adorable sense of spunkiness to her. Although she isn't the best or most interesting poser, and cannot be a serious contender for CGOY, she was cute and worldly enough to be a nice breather for the midway point of the year.
Consensus...
Posing: B
Body: B
Face: B+
Material: B+
Overall: B

Alexandra Penovich - May

A midwestern beauty with a smooth body and an interesting look, fans are generally torn about Alex. Some love her, and some think the total opposite. I personally happen to think she's a very nice pick for CGOM, particularly because she has a cute sense of sensuality that really comes a cross in her posing. She does a great job of getting cuddly with the camera, and sometimes turning on the heat and knowing what looks good in pictures. Her body's also a real tight package, seemingly having all the right moves. One thing that folks take issue with is her face, which might not appeal to everyone. It might be the only fatal flaw that keeps Alex from being in the top three.
Consensus...
Posing: A-
Body: A-
Face: B-
Material: B+
Overall: B+

Amanda English - June

By far the weakest girl in the 2008 Cyber Girl class, Amanda fell completely flat with her pictorials and videos. While she did look promising in her CGOW entry, Amanda is simply a dull model with very little to offer in an age where models have to make a serious impact in order to get noticed. Amanda's short hair and tried-and-boring style just doesn't cut it.
Consensus...
Posing: C
Body: B
Face: B
Material: C
Overall: C

Heidi Wheeler - July

The second half of the year ushered in a string of Cyber Girls that comprise one of the most competitive classes ever. It started with Heidi Wheeler, a Playboy insider who beat out huge fan favorite Dana Dicillo (an issue I still have a bone to pick with Playboy about... probably the biggest mistake of 2008!!). Heidi won, and she put out a performance that showed that she can really contend with the best. The main comment I have with Heidi is that she is on and off in terms of her posing talent, but her body is by far the best of all the girls' in 2008. Look over her videos and pictorials, and compare them with the others, and you'll see why. Heidi is stacked, hard, and has a breathtaking figure. If that was all that was needed, we could give her the crown right away.
Consensus...
Posing: B+
Body: A+
Face: B+
Material: B
Overall: B+

Sharae Spears - August

Sharae is a true summergirl Playboy model with a cute Barbie doll face and a nice, innocent smile. She's also a bigtime fan favorite, and currently leads in many of the major fan polls. This was surprising to me because I felt Sharae had a lot to offer, but lacked the bigtime talent to carry her through to a CGOY nomination, or anywhere close to it. Sharae just wouldn't cut it with such a large load of pictorial material to do... although she's pretty and looks great naked, her photos just don't come out with the sort of pizzazz you'd expect from a truly great model. A middling woman isn't what we're looking for here.
Consensus...
Posing: B
Body: B
Face: B+
Material: B-
Overall: B

Jia Lynn - September

In terms of sheer professionalism and impact on the 2009 race, no girl made a bigger splash than Jia Lynn. Her CGOM debut was anticipated for months ever since she released her hugely popular Cyber Girl of the Week feature, but no one expected her to completely come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Jia is wildly talented, interesting, and has a penchant for being extremely photogenic and likeable. Her body is near perfect, and she moves like an angel in her videos. She has every "it" factor to be CGOY, and is certainly tops in the running.
Consensus...
Posing: A
Body: A
Face: B
Material: A-
Overall: A

Tasha Nicole - October

Tasha was also highly anticipated since her debut in her CGOW pictorial, and for all the right reasons, just like with Jia. It was an excellent one-two punch when they came out consecutively, immediately spicing up an already interesting race toward the end of the year. I personally preferred Tasha's look in her CGOW pictorial, simply because it was so polished and sexual, and didn't have much room for flaws because of its short length. With a full four-week feature, Tasha showed that she is pretty flawed in being able to push a pictorial all the way from beginning to end. There are hits and misses with her photographs, but when it comes down to it, she's got far more raw sexuality than any other girl in 2008, and boy, does she have one heck of a body. It's athletic, long, and golden brown. If she posed more consistently, she'd be a perfect candidate.
Consensus...
Posing: B
Body: A
Face: B+
Material: B+
Overall: A-

Debbie Beal - November

Debbie didn't catch my eye until I started to peruse her material more carefully. I was very pleasantly surprised with what I found -- a simple, straightforward model with a new look and an absolutely adorable face, wrapped in a sexy, trim body and an engaging feel for the camera. She stole my heart for a bit, and... what can I say... I was wooed. But it takes a little exploration, and she's not always a hit. When Debbie does hit, however, with those big eyes and those cute pearly whites, she's hard not to love.
Consensus...
Posing: B+
Body: B
Face: A
Material: B
Overall: B+

Kristina Jarvis - December

The last girl of the year has been getting constant mushy adoration from fans from all over. She's unique, she's feminine, she's a very mature poser with a seductive face... but through it all, I haven't been very impressed by Kristina. She doesn't have the "it" factor, although she is very pretty. None of her material tends to jump out at you, and although she's a beautiful young lady, like so many other girls this year, she just hasn't found a way to stack up well against this fierce competition. It's a tough year to compete for mediocre girls, but they were fun to watch along the way.
Consensus...
Posing: B-
Body: B
Face: B+
Material: B
Overall: B

Final Rankings:
12. Amanda English
11. Amanda Hanshaw
10. Meghan Allen
9. Kristina Jarvis
8. Sharae Spears
7. Destiny White
6. Alexandra Penovich
5. Heidi Wheeler
4. Debbie Beal
3. Tasha Nicole
2. Jia Lynn
1. Trina Marie

One thing I definitely can predict right now is that there are going to be plenty of disagreements when the winner emerges. I suspect that many folks won't agree with my assessment and final ranking, and believe me, it was very, very difficult to put these girls in any particular order. Tasha, Jia, and Trina were simple to rank for me, since I felt these three ladies were head-and-shoulders above all the other ladies in the field. The rest were a muddled mass of girls, some indistinguishable even after four weeks of material to sort through.

I picked Trina to come out on top because of that special something that she brought to the table. Jia was more polished, Tasha was more raunchy, but Trina was a girl that was almost tangible, that you could almost feel. Not to mention, she's incredibly beautiful in so many ways. Won't be long before we find out the winner... this could get nasty.

Best Cyber Girl of the Year Ever?

So here we are, on the cusp of the nomination of a new Cyber Girl of the Year, after the unveiling of the final installment of Jo Garcia's CGOY pictorial series. In recent years, the Cyber Girl of the Year winners have been given the most exposure of any girl in the Playboy realm, with monthly installments of well produced pictorial series for a year after their designations to the position.

So, there's the topic of Jo. Jo is still the only girl I've given an "A+" rating on my blog, after she absolutely floored me with her Cyber Girl of the Month entry way back when. Now, we've seen her entire repertoire unfold, and we have a question to answer: with all the hoopla and praise that's gone on for Jo within the past year or more, you have to wonder... how does she stack up against all the CGOY winners of the past? Arguably, there has never been a dud in the CGOY race, and all the girls have been deserving, so with these amazing gals, how did Jo do?

#7. Breann McGregor (2007)
Breann was a hit because of her incredibly smooth and photogenic body, pure and simple. I never thought she had the talent to truly cut it as CGOY, but she won in a year that was arguably the weakest CGOM lineup ever. Don't get me wrong, Breann is a phenomenally gorgeous girl, but she definitely did not have the talent to follow her five unbelievable predecessors. Still, her voluptuous body was very nicely caught by cameras, often milky and slick in her hum-drum pictorials.

#6. Alicia Burley (2004)
Alicia is a girl that I believe is the most surprising selection for CGOY there's ever been. The Cyber Girl Class of '03 had candidates like Heather McQuaid, Carmella DeCesare, Shamron Moore, and Tiffany Lang, all better choices. I hadn't even thought of Alicia, but I gave her a chance far after her nomination. What I saw surprised me, especially from her videos. Although I'm still unsure as to whether she deserved the win, Alicia's body and moves are spectacular in motion. Although her pictorials were always unimpressive to me, her look is completely different when she goes into motion. Her body is really something, a combination of Latina voluptuousness and a sort of slender sense of substantial height (although she is 5'4"). Just exotic enough to warrant another look, but Alicia is still an odd choice years later.

#5. Erika Michelle Barre (2002)
This is where things get interesting. The very first CGOY ever is an often forgotten model nowadays in the whole context of what's happened since then. Back then, Cyber Girls didn't get a whole lot of exposure or material, and were way in the back seat compared to the Playmates. How things have changed... if Erika was given the kind of pictorial series that's available to the girls today, she would be a real star. Take a look back and see Erika in all her glory, and you'll find a very, very unique model with a buxom body, a face with softly defined features, and a load of interesting posing talent. It was she who set the benchmark for the lengthy pictorial series that we have now, but if only she had that sort of stage, she would really have had a great run. Definitely worth revisiting.

#4. Merritt Cabal (2003)
Merritt took the precedent set by Erika and injected a lot of variety into the mix. Merritt was the kind of girl that was selected, and had a fanbase, but people didn't know what to expect from her. Would she show off a more defined look and a straightforward pictorial type? Instead, Merritt showed off her incredible versatility, with a large number of pictures showing off this mysterious model. Merritt is still tough to describe in words... she's not like most models, but yet she is generic enough for someone to have a tough time to choose something that really stands out about her. But that's a good thing with Merritt, whose talent was endless, and who brought a real sense of importance to the CGOY position. It's tough to describe her, but boy, is it incredible to look at her and her curvy body.

#3. Jo Garcia (2008)
This is where Jo belongs. Yes, we haven't had a lot of CGOY's, but they've all been amazing talents. Jo's ranking as #3 is very high and very well deserved when you consider the girls who made it to this level. We've seen Jo from week to week, and several things set her apart from the other CGOYs of the past, as well as pretty much any girl who's ever appeared in Playboy. The main thing is her sexuality. She has a sly sense of sexual presence that she really exudes throughout every single photo and video, thrusting her hips or pouting her lips. This much is true: Jo Garcia is the hardest working model we've seen Playboy produce in years. She puts each and every effort into everything she does, puts a little sweat into her posing and does some real active movement in every little thing she does. You can see it, you can almost feel her presence throughout. Not to mention, Jo's body is unique in her height and slim profile, while not sacrificing curves. She has the body of a runway model, and the sophistication of one, too. On top of that, she's got that overt sex appeal that is unabashed and uncontained. Jo, you were amazing, and certainly one of the most iconic Playboy models of our generation, if not of all-time.

#2. Monica Leigh (2006)
Monica is even more of an icon of modern Playboy than nearly anyone in recent memory. She is quite possibly the most prolific Playboy model ever, having produced enough material to peruse for hours on end. From the start of her stint as Cyber Girl, traversing the ranks and attaining the title of CGOY, to her appearance as a Playmate, Miss March 2006, Monica really is one of the "most seen" girls ever. Every single inch of her is documented, every possible look is captured. And with all of those photos and videos, one thing is certain: there's a reason for all this adoration. This New York beauty is exotic, stacked, and unbelievably sexy. Her face is the epitome of perfection, her body is just the right amount of curvy, with breasts and nipples that could make you lose your breath. She looks great in just about any costuming, and her videos are extraordinary. The thing that makes Monica great is that her look is timeless, but it isn't really too assuming in any way... like Merritt Cabal, Monica can be the face of the 'generic girl' very easily. She is an "everygirl," a sort of a girl next door, while also having the appearance of a Hollywood starlet. How does she create this female paradox? It's what makes her one of the most amazing girls in Playboy's history.

#1. Amy Sue Cooper (2005)
Amy Sue was an iconic Playboy girl, brought up in small town USA and with an exotic enough mix of Native American genes. She is about as American as apple pie, and audiences truly ate her up when she hit the scene with her CGOW pictorial in April of 2004. Back then, the relatively unassuming and noticeably budding star had much smaller breasts, but still had the innate talent and incomparable beauty that made her a superstar just a year later. That year made all the difference, with a one-of-a-kind campaign for the annual prize, complete with a CGOM pictorial set that set her competition into a tailspin and made her the unanimous winner. The heaps of praise that Amy's garnered since then come as no surprise-- Amy Sue, like several of the other Cyber Girl of the Year winners before and after her, is a true Playboy icon of the modern era. She took the art of the digital Playboy appearance and revolutionized it, and did so with that piercing gaze and a body that wouldn't quit. The result was constant magnetism with the camera and an unrelentingly fierce posing style that make her instantly recognizable in any model lineup. Her versatility was shown off in her excellent CGOY sets, with each pictorial ranging from the subtle to the sexy, giving off a sense of true professionalism that makes Amy Sue the greatest Cyber Girl of all-time.