Sims' Next Top Model (season 18)

The eighteenth cycle of Sims' Next Top Model premiered on 25 April, 2020. The promotional song was "Polyester" by ANNNA. It cast exclusively for BIPOC models.

This cycle saw the departure of Maicle Gambardella from the judging panel. However, he made several appearances throughout the season as a guest photographer. Meher Sabharwal took his place on the panel, alongside Yachana and Sin Il Hong who had been on the panel since cycle 15.

The winner was Li Meng Yu from China with Taynara Brito from Brazil as the runner-up.

Prizes

 * A cover and spread in Vogue Portugal.
 * An international Maybelline campaign.
 * An online ASOS campaign.
 * A modelling contract with NU女 Models.
 * A cash prize worth € 100,000.

Twists

 * Top Model of the Week: After each episode has been uploaded, a poll is posted accompanying the photo shoot where the viewers vote for who did the best. Whereas the viewers simply picked out 2-5 of their favourite photos, this season the viewers have to rank the photos from best to worst. Each girl then receives points based on the viewers' rankings, following a Eurovision Song Contest-style scoring system (12, 10, 8-1 points). The results are revealed in the following episode and the girl with the most points receives immunity at elimination. With immunity granted, she is automatically safe from the bottom three.
 * BIPOC edition: This season, only models considered BIPOC (black, indigenous or people of colour) were eligible to apply, in order to encourage more diversity and representation.
 * Live walk: Every episode at panel, before the judges begin critiquing the models, they have to walk in a mini runway show.
 * Alumna mentors: Each week, the girls are mentored by a different alumna from a previous season.
 * Replacements: After Ivy and Nicole's decision to both quit the competition in episode 1, which Yachana revealed was supposed to be a non-elimination round, two replacements were brought in the following episode: Kim, who was originally eliminated at the semi-finals, and Pooja, whose application was received past the deadline.
 * Comeback: In episode 6, the eliminated girls were brought back and participated in the photo shoot alongside the top five. At the elimination ceremony, the worst performer of the top five was put up against the best performer of the eliminated five, and whoever of the two had proven themselves more earned the last spot in the top five.

Locations

 * 🇵🇹 Lisbon, Episodes 1–6, 9–11
 * 🇵🇹 Horta, Episode 3
 * 🇮🇸 Reykjavík, Episode 4
 * Tbilisi, Episode 4
 * 🇮🇱 Tel Aviv, Episodes 7–8
 * Bethlehem, Episode 8
 * Rabat, Episode 11

Contestants
(information stated is correct at time of contest)

Alumna mentors

 * Episode 1: Betty Kim, contestant on cycle 16
 * Episode 2: Olivia Xu, contestant on cycle 17
 * Episode 3: Brenda Mutoni, contestant on cycle 15
 * Episode 4: Bea Kaligayahan, winner of Ice Cold Productions' cycle 1 & Ingheiður Fjólardóttir Ogilvie, winner of Sims3MovieNetwork's cycle 9
 * Episode 5: Nina Wiśniewska, contestant on cycle 17
 * Episode 6: Emmanuelle Wenzel, contestant on cycle 16
 * Episode 7: Veronica Pluto, contestant on cycle 15
 * Episode 8: Ola Jedziniak, contestant on cycle 15
 * Episode 11: Steph Makus, winner of cycle 15; Joyce Boussougou, winner of cycle 16 & Gözde Arslan, winner of cycle 17

Other guests
Listed in chronological order:


 * Inês Gonçalves, fashion designer
 * João Amorim, photographer
 * Vénus Soares, photographer
 * Joana de Carvalho, owner of Tesoura e Pente salon
 * Ana Cláudia Simões, hairdresser at Tesoura e Pente salon
 * Catarina Miguel, hairdresser at Tesoura e Pente salon
 * Ana Mária Barreira, photographer
 * Maicle Gambardella, photographer & previous judge
 * Felipe Figueiredo, photographer
 * Yara Maia, Maybelline Portugal representative
 * Nína Sævarsdóttir, Glamour Iceland representative
 * Sverrir Þorsteinsson, photographer
 * Nino Natsvlishvili, Beaumonde (ბომონდი) representative
 * Nika Dzavashvili, photographer
 * Contança Vaz, photographer
 * Felipe Costa, photographer
 * Argyros Sultan Al-Razzaq, contestant on Sims' Next Top Male Model
 * Çıñgız Azizov, contestant on Sims' Next Top Male Model
 * Frančišek Kralj, contestant on Sims' Next Top Male Model
 * Kwoth Chol, winner of Sims' Next Top Male Model and Sims' Next Top Male Model Spin-Off
 * La Guardia Lee, contestant on Sims' Next Top Male Model
 * Stanislav Obradović, winner of Sims' Next Top Male Model
 * Elisheva Ben Dod, Magazina (מגזינה) representative
 * Maor Masarweh, photographer
 * Naama Bar, photographer
 * Hadar Cohen, designer of Zariz (זריז)
 * Liron Garamech, representative of Gottex Swimwear
 * Or Shemesh, representative of Castro (קסטרו)
 * Ruqayya Al-Najjar, designer of TA'IR (ثَائِر)
 * Yaakov Steinberg, designer of STNBRG (שטינברג)
 * Azra Hassan, photographer
 * Luísa Rebelo, photographer
 * Madalena Lourenço, Vogue Portugal representative
 * Neha Gadhavi, Pooja's mother
 * Mpia Kakudji Brito, Taynara's mother
 * Sahondra Razafimandimby, Elyonmi's mother
 * Zhao Hong, Meng Yu's mother
 * Bruna Domingues, photographer
 * Bellamy Nakamura, photographer and creative director of Sims3MovieNetwork
 * Miguel Atoma, photographer and producer of Ice Cold Productions
 * Rui Landim, photographer
 * Beatriz Sharifi, photographer

Call-out order

 * The contestant won the challenge.
 * The contestant was voted Top Model of the Week.
 * The contestant won the challenge and was voted Top Model of the Week.
 * The contestant was immune from elimination.
 * The contestant was eliminated.
 * The contestant quit the competition.
 * The contestant was originally eliminated but was saved.
 * The contestant won entry back into the competition.
 * The contestant failed to return to the competition.
 * The contestant won the competition.

Contestant progress

 * The contestant won the competition.
 * The contestant was the runner-up.
 * The contestant won best photo.
 * The contestant was one of the top performing models.
 * The contestant ranked in the middle.
 * The contestant was the last to be called before the bottom.
 * The contestant won entry back into the competition.
 * The contestant came back for a chance to win re-entry into the competition and lost.
 * The contestant ranked in the bottom.
 * The contestant was originally eliminated but was saved.
 * The contestant was eliminated.
 * The contestant quit the competition.
 * The contestant advanced to the next round.

Bottom two results

 * The contestant was eliminated after their first time in the bottom two.
 * The contestant was eliminated after their second time in the bottom two.
 * The contestant was eliminated after their third time in the bottom two.
 * The contestant was eliminated after their fourth time in the bottom two.
 * The contestant was nominated for elimination.
 * The contestant was eliminated in the first round of the finale.
 * The contestant was the runner-up.

Average call-out order
Finale not included.

Top Model of the Week rankings

 * The contestant received the most points.
 * The contestant received the least points.

Challenge guide

 * Episode 1: Self-styled runway show & Casting with Inês Gonçalves
 * Episode 3: Street style shoot and Cubanas Shoes mock campaign
 * Episode 4: Mock sponsored posts for ASOS
 * Episode 5: Short YouTube videos
 * Episode 6: Style makeovers and lookbook shoot with eliminated models
 * Episode 7: Pandora campaign with SNTMM alumnus & Digital fashion show for Magazina (מגזינה)
 * Episode 8: Go-sees

Photo shoot guide

 * Episode 1: Recreating classic Vogue covers
 * Episode 2: Sapphic relationships in the Ajuda Botanical Gardens
 * Episode 3: Maybelline New York Fit Me Foundation mock campaign
 * Episode 4: Glamour Iceland covers & Beaumonde (ბომონდი) covers
 * Episode 5: Nighttime lights
 * Episode 6: Desert queens
 * Episode 7: Yafo street market
 * Episode 8: Magazina (מגזינה) covers & Group shoots in Bethlehem
 * Episode 9: Portrait with mothers
 * Episode 11: ASOS campaigns, Red Magazine covers, Vogue Portual Festa das Flores editorial, Maybelline New York Lash Sensational Full Fan Effect Mascara campaign & Vogue Portugal covers

Panel style concept

 * Episode 1: Pussy Pink
 * Episode 2: Studio 54
 * Episode 3: Y2K Realness
 * Episode 4: Flower Girls & Futuristic Sailors
 * Episode 5: Reines de Versailles
 * Episode 6: My Flag
 * Episode 7: White Lace
 * Episode 8: Pastels
 * Episode 9: Nudes
 * Episode 11: Pride; My Country in Red; Black, White & Gold

Campaign guide

 * Episode 2: Inês Gonçalves
 * Episode 3: Cubanas
 * Episode 5: Morphe x Nina Wiśniewska
 * Episode 9: Vogue Portugal Modern Dystopia editorial, Inês Gonçalves

Go-sees
In episode 8, the top 5 went on go-sees in Tel Aviv:

Soundtrack
The following is a chronological list of songs played throughout the cycle. The soundtrack is organised as a Spotify playlist here.