alluringbeauties

I'm torn on seeing any leaked photos. Half of me doesn't want to spoil Christmas, as Prettyphile said. The other half of me is so damn excited to see what is coming that I couldn't help but look. I guess it's kind of like that present we always wanted as children. I'm not going to pry back the corners of the wrapping paper, but if I see the gift before it's wrapped, I'll look and still be excited when I can finally play with it.

This is it! The Champion will be decided by this match! Voting for these matches is open through January 26. Use the link under each matchup to vote, which will literally take about a second to do. Please vote only once, since duplicate votes do not count. More information about the tournament, including standings, brackets, results, and all matches can be found here. Thanks for voting! ------- Knockout Stage - Championship Match (14) Bar Refaeli vs. (21) Nina Agdal Vote: http://poll.fm/54gbh

Today’s results are in! Knockout Stage - Semifinal Round (14) Bar Refaeli (68.8%) defeated (16) Petra Nemcova (31.2%) (21) Nina Agdal (60.6%) defeated (8) Brooklyn Decker (39.4%) (14) Bar Refaeli and (21) Nina Agdal will face each other in the Championship Match My spin: And we’re down to two! Bar Refaeli and Nina Agdal are the lone survivors, as each of them have tallied nine wins against zero losses during the 2014 tournament. One of them will go to a perfect 10-0 and claim the title of 2014 SI Swimsuit Model Tournament Champion. Who will it be?!? What are your thoughts? Got any predictions? Share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!

We’re down to 4 models left, and the Semifinal Round matches are now live and open for voting!! Voting for these matches is open through January 23. Use the link under each matchup to vote, which will literally take about a second to do. Please vote only once, since duplicate votes do not count. More information about the tournament, including standings, brackets, results, and all matches can be found here. Thanks for voting! ------- Knockout Stage - Semifinal Round - Match 1 (16) Petra Nemcova vs. (14) Bar Refaeli Vote: http://poll.fm/54aso Knockout Stage - Semifinal Round - Match 2 (8) Brooklyn Decker vs. (21) Nina Agdal Vote: http://poll.fm/54asr

Today’s results are in! Knockout Stage - Quarterfinal Round (8) Brooklyn Decker (54.2%) defeated Julie Henderson (45.8%) (21) Nina Agdal (67.6%) defeated Hannah Ferguson (32.4%) (8) Brooklyn Decker and (21) Nina Agdal will face each other in the Semifinal Round My spin: The magical run has come to an end for both Julie Henderson and rookie Hannah Ferguson. Julie’s surprising run was ended by Brooklyn Decker, but she didn’t go down without a fight. Brooklyn won a rather close match. Hannah did not put up nearly as good of a fight against Nina Agdal, as Nina easily cruised to victory. So, that sets up Brooklyn vs. Nina for a spot in the Championship match. Nina has looked unstoppable, while Brooklyn comes in having had three close matches in a row. But, I still think this is a tough one to call. What are your thoughts? Got any predictions? Share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!

Today’s results are in! Knockout Stage - Quarterfinal Round (16) Petra Nemcova (65.5%) defeated (9) Veronica Varekova (34.5%) (14) Bar Refaeli (63.4%) defeated (15) Heidi Klum (36.6%) (16) Petra Nemcova and (14) Bar Refaeli will face each other in the Semifinal Round My spin: Petra Nemcova outdistanced fellow Czech beauty Veronica Varekova to win the Jule Campbell Region championship and advance to the Semifinal Round. I thought Petra was a slight favorite to win this match, but I’m surprised by the final margin. What an impressive win for Petra against an unbeaten opponent who came in having just knocked off the #1 overall seed, Elle Macpherson. Petra’s next opponent will be Bar Refaeli, who also had an unexpectedly easy time getting past Heidi Klum to win the Elaine Farley Region. Bar has had three very tough opponents in her past three matches. She has faced Hannah Davis, defending champion Marisa Miller, and supermodel Heidi Klum, but she’s gotten the better of each of them. So, who will win Petra vs. Bar to advance to the Championship Match? I have no idea. I think Bar is a slight favorite to come out on top, but both have been very impressive. What are your thoughts? Got any predictions? Share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!

Today’s matches are now live! Voting for these matches is open through January 20. Use the link under each matchup to vote, which will literally take about a second to do. Please vote only once, since duplicate votes do not count. More information about the tournament, including standings, brackets, results, and all matches can be found here. Thanks for voting! These are the final matches of the Quarterfinal Round. The Semifinal matches will be released after all Quarterfinal matches have finished. ------- Knockout Stage - Quarterfinal Round - Match 3 Julie Henderson vs. (8) Brooklyn Decker Vote: http://poll.fm/545cs bodypaint Knockout Stage - Quarterfinal Round - Match 4 (21) Nina Agdal vs. Hannah Ferguson Vote: http://poll.fm/545cu

Today’s matches are now live! Voting for these matches is open through January 19. Use the link under each matchup to vote, which will literally take about a second to do. Please vote only once, since duplicate votes do not count. More information about the tournament, including standings, brackets, results, and all matches can be found here. Thanks for voting, and check back tomorrow for new matches! ------- Knockout Stage - Quarterfinal Round - Match 1 (9) Veronica Varekova vs. (16) Petra Nemcova Vote: http://poll.fm/544ew Knockout Stage - Quarterfinal Round - Match 2 (14) Bar Refaeli vs. (15) Heidi Klum Vote: http://poll.fm/544ey

The first Quarterfinal Round matches will be posted in about 20 hours from now, but for now I’ll post the updated odds to win the championship, for entertainment purposes only, of course! (8) Brooklyn Decker - 4/1 (21) Nina Agdal - 9/2 (14) Bar Refaeli - 5/1 (16) Petra Nemcova - 6/1 (9) Veronica Varekova - 13/2 (15) Heidi Klum - 15/2 Hannah Ferguson - 17/2 Julie Henderson - 22/1 Brooklyn Decker assumes the role of favorite to win the tournament now. “How could Nina Agdal possibly not be the favorite anymore after she trounced her opponent?!?” It’s nearly all to do with Brooklyn’s matchup with Julie Henderson, which is certainly the easiest matchup of those remaining. Julie is a big underdog. So, Brooklyn has a better chance of advancing past this round than our previous favorite, Nina. Feel free to post agreements or disagreements!

Today’s results are in! Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen (21) Nina Agdal (78.6%) defeated Cintia Dicker (21.4%) Hannah Ferguson (53.6%) defeated (2) Kathy Ireland (46.4%) (21) Nina Agdal and Hannah Ferguson will face each other in the Sexy Sixteen My spin: Another upset hits the tournament, but this time one that may have been on ranking only. Hannah Ferguson becomes the only rookie to reach the Quarterfinal Round with her narrow victory over SI legend Kathy Ireland. I actually predicted this one a few days ago, so I’m not surprised, but I thought it could go either way. Hannah could have herself a long SI career if both sides care to do so. In the other match, Nina Agdal continued to steamroll her opponents. This time, Cintia Dicker was the unfortunate victim, as she is knocked out after a wonderful run in this year’s tournament. This loss to Nina was Cintia’s only loss, and she has been very impressive in her wins, especially last round’s beating of Irina Shayk. So, it’s Nina against the Rookie for the M.J. Day Region championship and a spot in the Semifinal Round. Nina obviously goes in as the favorite, but can Hannah spoil her fun? What are your thoughts? Got any predictions? Share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!

+1. And a hilarious +1, at that. I think Julie has some good photos, though... those that show off her body more than the facial features. Those types of photos can hang with a lot of SI's best. But, yeah, I'm still shocked.

Today’s results are in! Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen Julie Henderson (62.9%) defeated (13) Paulina Porizkova (37.1%) (8) Brooklyn Decker (57.6%) defeated Emily Ratajkowski (42.4%) Julie Henderson and (8) Brooklyn Decker will face each other in the Sexy Sixteen My spin: Well, the surprises just keep coming! Julie Henderson pulled off an upset against Paulina Porizkova, ruining the chances of having three Czech beauties in the final 8. Coming into the tournament, I thought it would be a good accomplishment if Julie made it through to the Knockout Stage. Given her group, with reasonably tough opponents like Chrissy Teigen, Karen Mulder, and Kara Young, getting through would be a challenge. I never would have expected that she would make the final 8! Great job. Things will get really tough for Julie now, though, as Brooklyn Decker looms. Brooklyn was the one to finally knock off red-hot rookie Emily Ratajkowski in a pretty close match. Emily goes home after the Sexy Sixteen this year, but she’ll have plenty of chances in future years. So, it’s Julie Henderson vs. Brooklyn Decker for the Diane Smith Region championship and a spot in the Semifinal Round. Brooklyn is the obvious favorite to the win, but maybe Julie can continue to surprise after all? What are your thoughts? Got any predictions? Share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!

I was wondering what the heck you were talking about with Elaine D'Farley. I was positive that it was Elaine Farley. In fact, we're apparently both right. She was known as Elaine Farley in her SI editor days, and you can see her name in dozens of references to her work at SI. But, now she seems to go by D'Farley, as evidenced by her current LinkedIn profile. Another odd bit of SI trivia to file away, I guess. Thanks for commenting! I like to see the discussion.

Today’s results are in! Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen (14) Bar Refaeli (55.9%) defeated (3) Marisa Miller (44.1%) (15) Heidi Klum (52.8%) defeated Sara Sampaio (47.2%) (14) Bar Refaeli and (15) Heidi Klum will face each other in the Sexy Sixteen My spin: Yesterday, we lost Elle Macpherson, one of the 2013 tournament’s finalists. Today, we lost the other one, as defending champion Marisa Miller was knocked off by Bar Refaeli. Once again, this proves that the difference between models 1-16 or so is very small, which makes predicting a champion very difficult! In the other match, Heidi Klum sent the rookie home in a close one. Sara Sampaio had a great run in her rookie tournament, but she came up just a little short against the legend. It was a proud showing for Sara, though. It’ll be Heidi and Bar facing off in the Quarterfinal Round. The winner claims the title of champion of the Elaine Farley Region and advances to the Semifinal Round. The loser goes home. Heidi was knocked out in the round of 32 last year (by giant killer Stephanie Seymour), so she will be looking to continue her best run. Bar, on the other hand, is looking to get over the hump, and she looks to better her Quarterfinal Round loss last year to Brooklyn Decker. What are your thoughts? Got any predictions? Share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!

Agreed! I love Daniela, and she's in my top 5 of all time, I think.

Today’s results are in! Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen (9) Veronica Varekova (62.5%) defeated (1) Elle Macpherson (37.5%) (16) Petra Nemcova (74.3%) defeated (6) Daniela Pestova (25.7%) (9) Veronica Varekova and (16) Petra Nemcova will face each other in the Sexy Sixteen My spin: The Body goes bye bye. Elle Macpherson was a finalist in the 2013 tournament, but in the 2014 iteration she’s knocked out in the Sexy Sixteen by Czech beauty Veronica Varekova. Veronica has now won 7 matches without defeat. Her one close call was last round, when she narrowly defeated Natasha Barnard by a 51.3%-48.7% margin. Now, Elle wishes Natasha would have pulled out that victory. Maybe it would have been different for Elle. In the other Sexy Sixteen match, Daniela Pestova shockingly proved to be no match for Petra Nemcova, as Petra got nearly 3/4 of the vote. I predicted a Petra win, but I would not have predicted the margin of victory. I expected a much closer match, but Petra is looking pretty unstoppable right now. But, then again, so is Veronica! It’ll be the two Czech beauties facing off in the Quarterfinal Round. The winner claims the title of champion of the Jule Campbell Region and advances to the Semifinal Round. The loser goes home. Both of these beauties were knocked out in the round of 32 last year (Petra by Marisa Miller & Veronica by Vendela Kirsebom), so they are both having a tournament to remember. What are your thoughts? Got any predictions? Share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!

Today’s matches are now live! Voting for these matches is open through January 15. Use the link under each matchup to vote, which will literally take about a second to do. Please vote only once, since duplicate votes do not count. More information about the tournament, including standings, brackets, results, and all matches can be found here. These are the final matches of the Sexy Sixteen. Quarterfinal matches will begin on January 16, after all results from this round are in. ------- Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen - Match 7 Cintia Dicker vs. (21) Nina Agdal Vote: http://poll.fm/53vvf Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen - Match 8 Hannah Ferguson vs. (2) Kathy Ireland Vote: http://poll.fm/53vvi

Today’s matches are now live! Voting for these matches is open through January 14. Use the link under each matchup to vote, which will literally take about a second to do. Please vote only once, since duplicate votes do not count. More information about the tournament, including standings, brackets, results, and all matches can be found here. Thanks for voting, and check back tomorrow for new matches! ------- Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen - Match 5 Julie Henderson vs. (13) Paulina Porizkova Vote: http://poll.fm/53tpy Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen - Match 6 Emily Ratajkowski vs. (8) Brooklyn Decker Vote: http://poll.fm/53tq4 see-thru

I meant to post this before the Sexy Sixteen began, but I’ll go ahead and do it now anyway. Those of you who read SI more than once a year for the Swimsuit Issue will recognize this as being familiar. I present to you… Numerology - Sexy Sixteen Edition 6 - Repeat Sexy Sixteen participants; Kathy Ireland, Marisa Miller, Nina Agdal, Brooklyn Decker, Bar Refaeli, and Elle Macpherson all appeared in the Sexy Sixteen of the 2013 tournament. 3 - 2014 rookies to make the Sexy Sixteen: Emily Ratajkowski, Hannah Ferguson, and Sara Sampaio 93 - Combined victories in the 2014 tournament amongst the 16 remaining models 3 - Combined losses in the 2014 tournament amongst the 16 remaining models; Marisa Miller, Julie Henderson, and Hannah Ferguson each lost one match in the Group Stage (Hannah also drew one match). 8 - Models who will lose their Sexy Sixteen match; As you can see, something will have to give… not everyone can finish unbeaten! 81.8 - Bar Refaeli’s average vote percentage in the 2014 tournament, the highest amongst Sexy Sixteen models 61.1 - Emily Ratajkowski’s average vote percentage in the 2014 tournament, the lowest amongst Sexy Sixteen models Current Odds - Win 2014 Championship - provided for entertainment purposes only, of course Nina Agdal - 8:1 Brooklyn Decker - 10:1 Marisa Miller - 10:1 Elle Macpherson - 10:1 Bar Refaeli - 10:1 Petra Nemcova - 11:1 Paulina Porizkova - 12:1 Veronica Varekova - 14:1 Emily Ratajkowski - 14:1 Heidi Klum - 15:1 Kathy Ireland - 16:1 Hannah Ferguson - 17:1 Daniela Pestova - 17:1 Cintia Dicker - 25:1 Sara Sampaio - 29:1 Julie Henderson - 52:1

Today’s matches are now live! Voting for these matches is open through January 13. Use the link under each matchup to vote, which will literally take about a second to do. Please vote only once, since duplicate votes do not count. More information about the tournament, including standings, brackets, results, and all matches can be found here. Thanks for voting, and check back tomorrow for new matches! ------- Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen - Match 3 (3) Marisa Miller vs. (14) Bar Refaeli Vote: http://poll.fm/53sco Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen - Match 4 (15) Heidi Klum vs. Sara Sampaio Vote: http://poll.fm/53scp see-thru

Today’s matches are now live! Voting for these matches is open through January 12. Use the link under each matchup to vote, which will literally take about a second to do. Please vote only once, since duplicate votes do not count. More information about the tournament, including standings, brackets, results, and all matches can be found here. Thanks for voting, and check back tomorrow for new matches! ------- Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen - Match 1 (1) Elle Macpherson vs. (9) Veronica Varekova Vote: http://poll.fm/53rmj Knockout Stage - Sexy Sixteen - Match 2 (16) Petra Nemcova vs. (6) Daniela Pestova Vote: http://poll.fm/53rmo

Today’s results are in, and the Sexy Sixteen is upon us! New Sexy Sixteen matches will be posted shortly! Knockout Stage - Third Round Hannah Ferguson (63.6%) defeated Josie Maran (36.4%) (2) Kathy Ireland (53.3%) defeated Alyssa Miller (46.7%) Hannah Ferguson and (2) Kathy Ireland will face each other in the Sexy Sixteen My spin: Hannah Ferguson joins fellow rookies Emily Ratajkowski and Sara Sampaio in the Sexy Sixteen, as the 2014 rookie class has burst onto the scene. Josie Maran was the unfortunate loser. Last year, Josie was one of the last eight models standing, but this year, she could only make it into the top 32 because of Hannah’s stellar performance. In the other match, #2 Kathy Ireland survived another tough test, this time from Alyssa Miller. Survive and advance! So, the Sexy Sixteen matches are: (1) Elle Macpherson (AUS) vs. (9) Veronica Varekova (CZE) (16) Petra Nemcova (CZE) vs. (6) Daniela Pestova (CZE) (3) Marisa Miller (USA) vs. (14) Bar Refaeli (ISR) (15) Heidi Klum (GER) vs. Sara Sampaio (POR) Julie Henderson (USA) vs. (13) Paulina Porizkova (CZE) Emily Ratajkowski (USA) vs. (8) Brooklyn Decker (USA) Cintia Dicker (BRA) vs. (21) Nina Agdal (DEN) Hannah Ferguson (USA) vs. (2) Kathy Ireland (USA) Of the remaining models, there are 6 from the United States, 4 from the Czech Republic, and 1 each from Germany, Brazil, Israel, Portugal, Australia, and Denmark. Therefore, 7 countries still have a chance at national pride. It is so difficult to predict what might happen in the Sexy Sixteen, because the field is full of unbelievable models, but I’ll try it anyway! My predictions for the Quarterfinal Round are Elle vs. Petra, Bar vs. Heidi, Paulina vs. Brooklyn, and Nina vs. Hannah. We’ll know in about a week if I was correct. Do you have any thoughts or predictions? Post and share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!

Today’s results are in! Knockout Stage - Third Round Cintia Dicker (55.0%) defeated (7) Irina Shayk (45.0%) (21) Nina Agdal (61.3%) defeated (12) Kate Upton (38.7%) Cintia Dicker and (21) Nina Agdal will face each other in the Sexy Sixteen My spin: For the second straight year, Kate Upton has been vanquished by Nina Agdal! Nina’s win last year was considered quite a surprise, but this result confirms that we shouldn’t have been shocked at all. Nina is red hot right now, and she has to be considered one of the favorites to win the whole tournament. Speaking of red hot, redheaded Brazilian hottie Cintia Dicker pulled off a big upset of #7 Irina Shayk. Irina had stumbled in the Group Stage, losing to another Brazilian, Jeisa Chiminazzo, and her 2014 tournament was in jeopardy. But, she made it through the Group Stage and had an easy time with Jessica Perez in her first Knockout Stage match. So, it looked unlikely that she would be beaten by Cintia. That’s what makes this tournament so much fun, though: you never quite know what will happen! Cintia pulled out this upset, but she’ll arguably need to pull off an even bigger one in the Sexy Sixteen against Nina. Nina has been dominant so far, and I don’t think that’s going to end. We’ll see what happens, though! What are your thoughts? Post and share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!

I am not a big Lily fan, so I hope the cover selection isn't influenced by the Kings of Leon factor. I think there are far sexier choices for a cover.

Today’s results are in! Knockout Stage - Third Round Emily Ratajkowski (64.0%) defeated (11) Christie Brinkley (36.0%) (8) Brooklyn Decker (56.7%) defeated Hilary Rhoda (43.3%) Emily Ratajkowski and (8) Brooklyn Decker will face each other in the Sexy Sixteen My spin: Brooklyn Decker had been rolling along, but she got a real challenge in this match from Hilary Rhoda, whose performance in the 2014 tournament can be classified as a true surprise. Hilary had a great run, but it’s Brooklyn who moves on. In the other match, Emily Ratajkowski became the 2nd rookie to make the Sexy Sixteen with a very impressive win over #11 Christie Brinkley. That sets up a fascinating Sexy Sixteen matchup between EmRata and Brooklyn. The hot-shot rookie against the legend. Who will prevail? What are your thoughts? Post and share them! Latest Knockout Stage bracket Thanks for voting!