2019: Who won?
Who knows!
Apparently
voting has closed, but I can’t find anything about a winner. Maybe it has to do with SI being
sold, but there’s not a real concerted effort to promote the magazine this year. There were a lot of whistles and bells, but not a lot of effective hype for the actual product.
Swim Daily is pretty much on autopilot.
It feels a bit like the swimsuit issue might be dissolving before our eyes. Does that sound too melodramatic?
There’s the fact that this year the issue was delayed from its standard mid-February release, with no real explanation. There’s the gimmicks, which could, depending on how on-board and good-faith you are, be seen as desperate. There’s the hugely popular 2018 Rookie of the Year
not coming back for 2019.
Then this year’s hype, such as it was, has just kind of sputtered out.
Maybe what everyone says is turning out to be true. In a world where titillation of any intensity is available for free through your nearest screen, the swimsuit issue is a relic. There aren’t enough people like me who have the brand loyalty.
(And for what it’s worth, I haven’t bought a physical copy of the magazine for over a decade. I collect the
desk calendars and occasionally grab a commemorative
coffee table book. But that’s the only money they get from even me, a superfan.)
So assuming they actually announce a Rookie of the Year for 2019, and assuming there’s a 2020 issue for her to return to …
Who should win?
I am intrigued by Kelsey Merritt. She’s absolutely beautiful. I don’t remember hearing anything about her in the hype (such as it was) leading up to 2019.
I know nothing about her, but those eyes are intoxicating.
 |
| The freckles. The freckles are good. |
The rest of her? Also lovely.
I’m impressed by
Camille and
Haley, the two contest winners who’ve had their official coming-out.
But Kelsey is the one who’s stuck in my mind. ’Til we meet again, Kelsey?
