The Real CGOY

Robbed. Robbed! That's the best way to describe the nomination of Sharae Spears as 2009's Cyber Girl of the Year. I've recapped the years of CGOY's since 2002, and marveled at how the past choices have all been from the cream of the crop as far as Cyber Girls go. Past CGOYs, like Monica Leigh, Amy Sue Cooper, and this past year's Jo Garcia are all some of the most beautiful women ever to become part of the Playboy family. This year's upsetting result broke that tradition, picking a majority favorite without any real identity at all.

So who should have been CGOY 2009? The luscious Tasha Nicole? Buxom Jia Lynn? Cute-as-a-button Trina Marie? Not a single one... the real winner only made it to the first round, and not any further.

Dana Dicillo was a little piece of heaven from Las Vegas, Cyber Girl of the Week for March 17th, 2008. She lost to Heidi Wheeler, a relative Playboy insider with connections as a bunny in the industry. The loss was plain unfair, because Dana was, bar-none, the sexiest girl of 2008. Dana deserved to win CGOM in July, and to move on to become CGOY for this year. Why? Because Dana has the "it" factor to be an enduring Playboy symbol.

Dana proved it to me with her "Good Fortune" pictorial this New Years, 2009. Dana absolutely floored me in what was one of the very best pictorials I'd ever seen. Dana's body was shining in a brilliant glowing light provided by the production crew, with this initial shot making my jaw drop. As Dana spreads her petite 4'11" frame along those white sheets in a classic, gorgeous, tried and true theme, she looks visually stunning. As Dana continues to strip off her undies in every little flowing move, she looks like a girl with years of modeling experience.

The key to Dana is her angelic appearance. With those eyes, which very well might be some of the greatest eyes to appear in Playboy EVER, Dana is radiant and devastatingly pretty. One look from those eyes and with that slim, sleek body to back it up, and it's hard to argue that Dana has any equals in the Playboy scene. Those sexual hands and lips take it to another level, as well, as Dana really does a great job going from scene to scene with flawless sensuality. As Dana finishes off the pictorial with that amazing stare, it's hard not to have to hold your breath and take her in. This girl is absolutely one-of-a-kind, and might be a girl for the ages.

It was a plain injustice for Dana not to take it all for 2008. It's she who should be popping up on our screens when we click on our monthly "Cyber Girl of the Year" feature on the Club. Dana is a thing of beauty, an almost heavenly goddess who certainly deserves a chance to show all her glory in additional material as soon as she can. What was everyone thinking???


One parallel I can draw is that of Hillary Fisher, a Cyber Girl of the Week earlier this month, and someone who I gave an "A" rating earlier. Hillary should be on the fast track to CGOM, and possibly after that to CGOY stardom, but this is all too familiar. Granted, she has the existing fame coming in from doing Special Editions material, but this had better not go awry. Hillary has met her toughest competition of the month this week, in the emergence of the very beautiful Markesa Yeager. However, Miss Yeager is only a pushover compared to Hillary, who is in many cases the model of a lifetime. We can only wait and hope that the past doesn't repeat itself...

2009 Playmate of the Year

After an overall weak year of competitors for Playmate of the Year and a tougher, deeper class for Cyber Girl of the Year, we've gotten our answers for both, and they've been surprising in the oddest ways. With a deep class of CGOY candidates, we were left with an oddball choice that befuddled fans in Sharae Spears, and one which will go down as one of the bigger upsets in Playboy's history. The PMOY choice for 2009, however, is one that is a pleasant surprise that might just be one of the best ever.

The choice of Ida Ljungqvist for Playmate of the Year was leaked quite a while ago with Playboy-sponsored hints and rumors, but it's been recently announced in the Cyber Club, making it official to the Playboy world. It's being lauded as a fantastic choice by fans all over, and for very good reason. Ida is a fascinating choice for PMOY, and one that few expected, considering the powerful following behind Juliette Frette. People were sure Juliette would be a shoo-in. And even if it wasn't her, Laura Croft or Kelly Carrington looked like surefire contenders to take the crown.

Why did people doubt Ida's chances? Why should they have? In a year where diversity has been celebrated in the USA and around the world? In an era where things are turning around and "exotic" is the word in terms of modeling? Surely, a Swedish/African living in America would be the ideal choice for our times, but somehow we all didn't see it coming. Maybe we weren't ready before, but Ida has brought real change to the way we see Playmates.

Gone are the busty blonde bombshells with cookie-cutter looks and blank stares. Gone is the pasty white skin and ruby lipstick. Ida Ljungqvist may go down as one of the most important Playmates of the Year ever, but not just for her ethnicity or her position, but for her incredible performances and outstanding beauty.

Ida, in every way, is a well-deserving model, and incredibly qualified for the PMOY crown. Her Playmate of the Year pictorial is simple, well-produced, and memorable, while being well in keeping with her identity and photogenic style. It showcases her otherworldly, ethereal body complete with every voluptuous curve and glistening muscle. Simple shots, like this one, give a great view of Ida's well-toned but substantial body, as well as that sexy dark hue that makes her one of the best black Playmates in history. Ida, once again, is a dream to behold, taking every single angle and working her body all the way to the end.

I must say bravo for a wonderful PMOY pictorial, because they so often fall short of expectations. In the shower, Ida continues her incredible performance, taking on complete nudity in the water, in a state where she just glows. Photographer Stephen Wayda knows what to focus on, too, as Ida's strength lies in her hips, and the pictorial knows where to take its direction. As it draws to a close, it takes a lighter, brighter feel which is less agressive with Ida's body, with Ida on white sheets in a classic theme that never fails to disappoint.

All in all, a very excellent performance from a girl who can go down as one of the great PMOY's of all-time. Ida is a girl with layers and layers of depth, who can transform photos with her engaging smile and unique face, and who is a welcome addition to the history of Playboy's Playmates. Thanks to Playboy for not taking the shortcut here and the easy way out, but taking up the challenge instead of making such a powerfully sexual subject and making her even better through immortalization.



Consensus... A

Ida Ljungqvist
Playmate of the Year 2009

Cyber World

A lot's been going on in the world of Cyber Girls, from top to bottom: there are plenty of developments in the CGOM world, with two new great runners for next year's CGOY title. Not to mention, we have crowned a new official Cyber Girl of the Month. And to top it all off, we've got a couple of extremely exciting candidates emerging as CGOWs, including this week's new emerging contender. So let's get started!

Let's start at the top... with Sharae Spears, who was recently crowned CGOY. If you look back to my rankings, you'll remember that Sharae was nowhere near the top for me, in fact, she came in at a measly #8, and for good reason. As I said, this was one of the stronger Cyber Girls years as of late, and the candidates were rife with talent. The pool was deep, and the top three were amazingly beautiful, with Tasha Nicole, Trina Marie, and Jia Lynn all being stellar candidates who could have put on breathtaking performances in their reign.

Who do we get instead?? Absolute mediocrity!! This has to be one of the biggest missteps Playboy has made in recent years, along with Dana Dicillo's snub earlier last year. One flub I can take, but SHARAE WINNING THE YEAR'S CROWN?!? This is just ridiculous. Sharae is pretty, but has nowhere near the kind of talent needed to deliver month after month on the big year's stage.

Aside from that, it looks like Playboy's changed to formatting for the way they're doing the CGOY feature. Gone are the days of Jo Garcia's prolific set of 12 months' pictorials, or Monica Leigh's breathtaking performance over the course of the year. Now, we got unprofessional, boring blog posts and shoddy material. Is that what the fans deserve? A girl we didn't vote for, giving us crappy material??

To put a positive spin on things, I can at least look forward to next year's CGOY. Yes, it might be early, but with this result, I can't help but look forward (HOW could they deny Tasha or Jia another shot??) First, we have last month's Cyber Girl 100 winner, Kaytee Bees.

Kaytee was my pick for CG 100, and although the candidates weren't really extraordinary in the first place, Kaytee really stuck out with her CGOW pictorial set. Kaytee did a great job with her CGOM pictorial sets, too, showing a bit of an edgier side than she'd previously shown. Kaytee is extremely busty, which surprised me because somehow I missed that big detail when I first looked her over. Also, Kaytee's cute face has soft features and is unique in a sort of exotic way, mainly in her eyes, which are extremely seductive when she focuses them and gives a squinty, quick look.

The bottom line with Kaytee is that she is a well-deserved winner as the 100th Cyber Girl of the Month, with an excellently curvaceous body that's overly extravagant with its curves. In fact, they can sometimes be a bit too much for the eye to behold, as Kaytee truly excels when the camerawork is made to subtly accentuate her body, without going too overboard. She's a definite Cyber Girl of the Year candidate for 2010, and her performance in her Week 4 videos may throw her over the top if enough fans take a good look at them. Kaytee is a very talented poser, and her strip teases are extremely engaging and active.



Consensus... B+

Kaytee Bees
Cyber Girl 100 Winner
Cyber Girl of the Month
April 2009




This month's girl, May's Carlie Christine, is also a real looker. She was my choice to emerge from her CGOW competition, and for plenty of reasons. Carlie had a sort of classical look to her, a quintessential bright-eyed Playmate who hearkens back to the 1960's, when the starlet-esque gaze was all the rage. Although Carlie's lost that production value a little bit with the transition over to CGOM, she still looks radiant in her photos. Carlie is a real natural beauty, and it's my hope that Playboy doesn't over-sexualize her and make her into a "porn star," and lose the luscious charm that she embraced so well as a CGOW. It's a little startling how much of that sparkle Carlie's lost in the transition already, and hopefully the photographers will bring that luster back in the next two weeks.

Getting all the way to the nitty-gritty of recent developments, let's take a look at a long-awaited Cyber Girl of the Week appearance, Hillary Fisher. Hillary has appeared in numerous Playboy Special Editions features, but fans always felt that she deserved a higher stage because of her great sense of professionalism and immaculate beauty. Well, that wait has come to an end, as Hillary has gotten her chance to shine on the big stage with her CGOW pictorial coming out today. The expectations were high, but the general fan consensus is that Hillary absolutely hit it out of the park.

Hillary looks so extraordinary in her pictorial, she absolutely floored me in it. The hard spotlighting upon her finely tanned skin looks breathtaking, and the photographers really did a great job with the production on her set.

And hey, a hot model doesn't hurt, either. Hillary has been a longtime fan favorite because of just how sexy her body is, and how positively radiant her face looks. Her body, a slim, petite, rock hard work of art, is tight and fit. And, it's curvy in all the right places. On top of that, Hillary has one of the most beautiful and dynamic faces you can find anywhere in Playboy. She's got a hundred different looks, and her infections, pearly white smile is to die for.

Ultimately, Hillary is one of the most exciting CGOW's to emerge since Lauren D'Marie. If you take into account Lauren's flop of a CGOM pictorial, then you could go all the way back to June 2008's Tasha Nicole for an equivalently exciting pictorial. Hillary, in my mind, is not just an early favorite for CGOM for her respective month, but for 2010's Cyber Girl of the Year nomination. If all goes well, Hillary could have a spectacular showing as CGOM, as long as Playboy doesn't stray from the formula that makes her spectacular. If all of that goes well, we could be witnessing the ascent of one of the great Cyber Girls of all-time.

Too early? Hey, after Sharae's win, I've got to keep hope. Perhaps it's Hillary that will usher in the "return" of the Cyber Girl?




Consensus... A

Hillary Fisher
Cyber Girl of the Week
5/11/2009