Super-Hair: Former Top 10 Tresses

Super-Hair.Net

Former Top Ten Tresses, O-Z

These pages are a record of all women who were on the Super-Hair Top 10 list at least once, since the first list was posted on the Internet in December 1999. Included is when the style was listed, and an explanation of why it dropped off the list.

JACQUELINE OBRADORS -- May-July 2003. She's shown both curls and straight locks on NYPD Blue, and both have looked sharp and strong. But we found a German movie site with snaps from a film where her hair is sidepart-brushed across her left eye. It pains us to drop her for a movie role, but that's what we're doing. (Courtesy MovieWeb)

NORAH O'DONNELL -- January 2002-March 2004. This NBC/MSNBC correspondent has stunned us often with a beautifully soft-looking, yet indestructible pageboy style. She gained a Platinum Award for two years on our list, and was a four-month unbeaten survivor of our Hair Watch. But a tough spring crosswind finally pushed hair from her right side into an eye 22 March 04. Read the dramatic details in the Hot List.

PRINCESS LETIZIA (ORTIZ) - February-June 2004. Her TV news work at Spain's TVE allowed her to develop a shoulder-length loose style which attracted a member of Spain's royal family. But on her honeymoon, a photographer snapped a picture with a breeze from the back blowing across her sunglasses. Que mal.

OLIVIA PALERMO -- August 2007 - January 2008. This New York college student/model/socialite is blessed with thick long hair, which is jaw-dropping when waves and curls are added. She hit #1 in the world at one point, and delayed fashion shows simply by showing up to take a front-row seat. But at one show, a breeze somehow through a couple of strands on a tied-back style down the middle of her face. Not in the eyes, but too close for us to keep her in the rankings -- and that truly disappointed us.

ANNIE PARISSE -- February-March 2005. Law and Order brought her in to take on Melina Kanakaredes of CSI: New York on Wednesday nights. Her blown-straight style held strongly for weeks, with help from added bangs. But a turn of the head outside in a New York breeze proved more than even her top-level hair could handle. Review the evidence in her Ultimate 50 pages.

MELANIE PAXSON -- December 2003-January 2004. Glad Bags declared her "the voice of reason," and her dangerously-cut flare style had some impressive early showings on the TV comedy Happy Family. But bigger roles somehow brought less control to the hair, and it appeared to fall in her eyes in early January episodes.

CAROLYN PECK -- December 1999-August 2006. The women's basketball coach was the last of our "original Ten" to fall off the list, and that's only because several Hair Fans panned her in our polls. The woman who places #2 in the Ultimate 50 earned the only Quintuple Platinum Award as a six-year member of our list. That sort of long-lasting hold (from Purdue to Orlando to Florida) still has us impressed enough to keep her close at hand, as an alternate.

SANDRA PINCKNEY -- February-May 2001. This delicate-looking short style has held well on TV's Food Network and the show "SOS in America." She could come back, but we replaced her with an undefeated champion whose style seems more spectacular.

TERI POLO - November 2003-January 2004. She showed good conservative style control in the movie Meet the Parents, and her waves tend to hold very well on I'm With Her. But she sadly posed for an ABC promotional picture with a bit of curl over her right eye. Her TV teacher boyfriend would know that's not "A work."

DENISE QUIÑONES -- July 2001-January 2002. The award-winning hair of Miss Universe impressed us, especially when curled. When bangs suddenly appeared, she showed beauty smarts. But for some reason, our voters don't like her -- and her straight style seemed to finally fall in a movie from a skating rink. After a frame-by-frame analysis, we ruled her great locks defeated.

H.M. QUEEN RANIA -- January-March 2003. The first member of royalty to make our list, Jordan's Queen has shown impressive moments where her long hair stood up under pressure. But on a rainy March day, she stepped out of a car for a U.S. TV interview -- and her vulnerable left side drooped into her eye.

LEAH REMINI -- July 2000-January 2001. Her medium-long hair on "The King of Queens" has shown impressive quality and control. But she dropped some strands too close for a "pinned-back pajama" scene on 1/29/1 -- and from what we saw, a quick turn made it finally fall.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE -- October-December 2003. She may have been the U.S. National Security Adviser, but she's quite high-risk with her left-side bangs. On the day after Saddam Hussein's capture, she placed them mere millimeters off the eye -- and bangs behind them drooped, even if the closest didn't. She's still unbeaten and a thrill to watch, but that's too close for us.

DANAE ROBERTS -- July 2000-October 2002. When she was elected to Georgia's State House at age 22, we wrote she had "Meg Ryan hair that's better than Meg Ryan's." It held so well she became a Platinum Award honoree for two years on our list. But her style had droopy moments in 2002 -- and with her losing a re-election bid, she's fallen out of public view too much to remain.

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS -- March-April 2005. We discovered the TV comedy Girlfriends rather late, and were impressed by how the daughter of Diana Ross keeps the family's signature curls off her face and out of trouble. But then we saw a rerun where she shook the hair in and out of her face after a late-night party. Next time, she shouldn't stick her head out of the moon roof of that limousine.

KERI RUSSELL -- December 1999 - January 2000. We listed her even after what might be the most controversial haircut of the 1990's. (From the picture, you can tell which style we prefer.) Added to the Ultimate 50 on 10 Sep 2K, "Felicity" had a chance to return to the Top Ten when she grew her hair back out. But for some reason she went to a straight style (not our preference), and a mechanical bull ride beat it in the April 2002 Seventeen.

LYNNE RUSSELL -- December 1999 - December 2000. Now semi-retired, the biggest star of CNN Headline News kept her hair solid at both short and long lengths. Added to the Ultimate 50 on 16 Apr 2K, we were reluctant to remove her after almost a full year on our list. But we applied a "one per network" limit to add the #1 Ultimate Style. Read our exclusive interview!

LISA SALTERS -- June-September 2006. She made the Ultimate 50 at #6 while with ABC News. We turned out to be ahead of the curve, as she moved up in the ESPN pecking order to the 2006 N.B.A. Finals. But we knew Saturday night college football would be this tough helmet-like style's toughest challenge -- and despite a hard fight for control, a crosswind inside the Los Angeles Coliseum pushed a few strands into her left eye.

LAURA SAN GIOCOMO -- December 1999 - June 2000. This medium-long style locks tightly on "Just Shoot Me," but we found Internet photos with hair practically covering one eye. A Super-Hair Wars loss to Jessica Simpson knocked her out.

JULIA SEBESTYEN - November 2006 - April 2007. Hungary's top figure skater has shown tough-holding short hair for years. A strong start in the early Grand Prix season of 2006-07 put her on the list. Her removal isn't due to her hair collapsing (it's come nowhere close), but her record in competitions.

KIKI SHEPARD -- December 2002-September 2003. Her long locks impressed us on the various Harlem "Showtime" shows. But when she moved west to host "Live in Hollywood," she got a serious trim which voters in a Cutting-Edge poll didn't like. She's still unbeaten from what we've seen, but bangs plopping much too close to the eyes October 4-5 forced her to step aside.

IRINA SLUTSKAYA -- December 2001-September 2002. This Russian figure skating champion has displayed impressive control in routines with well-trimmed, flexing bangs. But in pre-season appearances for the 2002-03 season, she seemed to switch to a center part with bangs noticeably hitting the bridge of her nose. She's still officially unbeaten -- and if this new style keeps sticking as well as it has, we could be persuaded.

RACHEL SMITH -- April-May 2007. She used natural waves to her advantage, with a steamy look which won her the 2007 Miss USA pageant. But even before she slipped and fell during the Miss Universe pageant, she was photographed during preliminaries with strips of hair across her face. Women with true Super-Hair simply don't permit this (see Susie Castillo).

KRISTEN SMYTH -- April 2004 - July 2005. Her success as Stanford gymnastics coach attracted us. Her nice, mysterious-holding style attracted us more. She gained a Gold Award for one year on our list -- but no updated pictures at all in the 2005 season didn't "vault" her higher for now.

KATRINA SZISH - August-October 2007. The InStyle magazine correspondent kept a short round style in place so well that we longed to see more. But then she told us of a desire to follow the cut of a fashion model -- and as she modeled coats on her "Style Spy" blog, one picture seemed to show blunt-cut hair across her right eye. It was indeed stylish, but not quite sturdy enough for us.

ROSANNA TAVAREZ - July 2004. Her appearances On-Air with carefully-controlled styles impressed us, at both short and mid-length. But she celebrated a "Superfan" so much 23 July that she had to brush strands off her face (though cleverly with her back to the camera). The cancellation of her host Ryan Seacrest's show leaned us toward removing her, but we hope she's back on TV soon.

AIMEE TEEGARDEN -- February - April 2008. The drama Friday Night Lights has a co-star whose long hair and bangs have survived every bit as much as her show. We we found pictures from a "Maxim Hot 100" party where the bangs seemed missing, and the style seemed to blow down.

ASHLEY TISDALE -- September 2006. Long hair combined with daring positioning and rock-solid hold thrilled us about this Disney Channel star. After we posted her, we wanted to see every photo we could of this sensational style -- but alas, we found summer shots where her sidepart drooped down into an eye. It wasn't a full collapse -- but ooh, how she had us going. (Courtesy Wireimage)

TAMMY TRENT - October 2007 - February 2008. This Christian singer and speaker knows all about the trials of life, and she's worn short styles near the brink of collapse very well. But at least one of her music videos seems to show her right eye covered up a touch too much -- and with a style like this, the margin for error is almost microscopic.

TWEET - December 2003-January 2004. Soul music's "Southern Hummingbird" has striking long straight hair, which she obviously tries hard to keep in position (consider all the hats she wears). The extensive picture collection of a fan club shows several challenging situations where she escapes defeat - but alas, also a couple where hair covers the right eye in a fashion show. That's too bad, but we're still impressed.

SIBILA VARGAS - September 2005-May 2007. Hair Fans voted this CNN entertainment reporter #1 in the world in August 2006, for thick mid-length hair with plenty of strong controlled flexibility. But a windy day in Southern California may have worn down her look, as a few strands on a front layer blew across her right eye for a few fateful seconds. (Courtesy Reporter Caps)

AMELIA VEGA - June-July 2003. The long, straight style of Miss Universe 2003 looked great on pageant night, and she works hard to keep it behind the shoulders and out of trouble. But check the photos at the pageant web site, and you'll find one picture with a few strands across the edge of the right eye. A tiny flaw, but that's all it takes.

NICHOLE VRSANSKY - May - July 2007. This Rockford, Illinois news anchor shot to Super-Hair Wars stardom with a deceptively well-cut and strong short hairstyle. She attracted more votes in 2007 Hair Fan's Hall of Fame balloting than anyone else -- but so many of them were against her, that we reluctantly had to pay attention. Read our exclusive interview!

KERRY WASHINGTON -- March 2007 - January 2008. This actress has shown an amazingly wide range, with hairstyles as well of roles. She was our 100^th member all-time of the Top Ten, but a cut to a short sidepart strangely proved harder for her to control. A breeze as she stepped out of a car in Los Angeles seemed to push the left-side hair in too far.

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ -- April-September 2005. The first-year congresswoman is different not only for her activism, but unusually long loose curls in Congress. We liked them enough to give her a number-one ranking -- but then our voters spurned her. She's unbeaten and could come back, but for some reason she's simply not popular.

McKENZIE WESTMORE -- April-September 2001 and December 2001-January 2002. She's moved in and out of our list about as much as her character on "Passions." As a Super-Hair Wars undefeated champion, her short and sassy style lasted for months -- until a hurricane on her drama made her disappear. She came back, so we brought her back. But around 2/1/2 her enticing bangs became so lengthy that a few dropped on the bridge of her nose. They were NOT in the eyes, so she's still unbeaten -- but barely.

DIANA WILLIAMS -- December 1999 - August 2000. This New York news anchor has the textbook perfect pageboy, and it's been perfect for years at several lengths. She could return easily to the Top Ten, but she slipped to "number 11" for a national name.

Former Men's Top Five:

PIERCE BROSNAN -- November 2004 - September 2005. For hair that's looked sharp in action movies for years, whether as James Bond or with Salma Hayek in After the Sunset. But to be honest, there's not a lot of drama here -- off screen, that is.

BRODIE CROYLE -- September 2005 - October 2006. This style from his days as quarterback at the University of Alabama made him the first male to lead our monthly search report, in October 2005. But he made a dead-serious trim, when he went pro with Kansas City. Was he forced to do this, in a team hazing?

JOHNNY DAMON -- October 2004. Swirling Fenway Park winds didn't blow the hair of this Boston Red Sox outfielder into his right eye. But only one day after we posted him here, the World Series celebration in St. Louis did. Well, he is known for having speed.

KERRY FRASER -- 2001 - December 2004. He had the best, most talked-about hair in the National Hockey League -- and he was a referee! But a lockout of the players has kept him blocked from Hair Fans' view.

JUSTIN GUARINI -- September 2002 - April 2004. The runner-up in Year 1 of American Idol has curls which never seem to fall flat. Sadly, his music career has - and that's why we dropped him.

AL HARRIS -- January-December 2004. The Green Bay Packers cornerback's extra-long dreadlocks caught our eye above all others, especially when he won a playoff game with an interception return. But he lost a "head-to-head" 2004 playoff showdown to Randy Moss.

RANDY MOSS -- January-February 2005. Perhaps he won that showdown because of a "playoff Afro." But when he was traded to Oakland, all that hair was gone. We're tempted to ask if his stylist is taking some months off.

TY PENNINGTON - March 2005 - January 2006. If you've wondered why Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is so popular, we think hair has something to do with it. But we've become convinced it's the long-haired ladies -- because his perfect spikes become boring after a while. (Courtesy WSTR-FM)

JOE DON ROONEY - November 2006-June 2007.. The country band Rascal Flatts has some fascinating hair, and his struck us as the most dangerous. But to be honest, it became quite ordinary over time -- and with men, interesting is better.

NATE SALLIE -- May-October 2004. Took mock offense when a CBN reporter told this Christian rock singer he has "Nashville hair." Actually, it looks fine -- but it stays so stuck that it started to bore us.

QUIN SNYDER -- May 2002-December 2003. A Missouri Hair Fan wrote us saying if we posted Wesley Stokes, we should post his college basketball coach as well. Fair enough. Lots of mousse is his hair "shield of shelter" -- but where's the drama here? Low risk cost him for someone else.

WESLEY STOKES -- December 2001-February 2003. This college basketball player's curls grew on us while he was at Missouri -- from a "just for fun" add-on to a strong member of the men's list. His hair is still unbeaten to our knowledge, but he transferred to San Diego State. Sit out a year, and you drop out here.

ANDERSON VAREJAO -- June 2007-January 2008. He brought curls to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and inspired hair-lookalike nights when LeBron James seemingly wasn't enough of a draw. But a serious trim for the '07-'08 season was a bit too ordinary for us.

RICKY WILLIAMS - February 2002 - March 2004. The Miami Dolphins' running back was a dreadlock pioneer in the N.F.L. But then the league ruled his hair could be pulled to make a tackle - and we think that explains why he showed up for March drills with his head shaved.

Honorable mentions - Just for fun, or special tributes:

ERYKAH BADU - April 2000. All wrapped up for both the Grammys and the Oscars. This may have been the most interesting head of hair we'd never seen.

JAMES BROWN - January 2007. The "hardest-working man in show business" may have had the hardest-working hair spray to match. He moved and bounced all over the place on stage, yet his 'do's hardly ever did. (Courtesy Concert Shots)

KALPANA CHAWLA -- February 2003. Only too late did we discover the smartly-controlled locks of the astronaut from India, who perished aboard the shuttle Columbia.

MIKE COMMODORE -- June 2004. Calgary Flames hockey player who grew out his hair from the pre-season in August all the way to the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, and inspired wigs in his honor throughout Alberta. The last "Commodore" with hair this good was Lionel Ritchie.

KIMBERLY DOZIER -- June 2006. We thank a Hair Fan for suggesting this, in the wake of the CBS News reporter's close call in Iraq. Her hair truly is strong for the challenge there -- and may she get well quickly. (Courtesy Media Research Center)

RUSSELL GORMAN -- November 2002. This Rhode Island teenager won a court fight with his prep school, so he wouldn't have to cut his "hockey hair." This is one mullet we probably would throw back.

LORI HACKING -- August 2004. Who would harm a young woman with curls as good as these? Sadly, police in Utah determined her husband did. What a crying shame.

PRINCE HARRY -- December 2002. British papers and the Drudge Report had a field day over this photo of a somewhat straggling style. But then we learned a tabloid reportedly wanted to snip at his strands for a DNA test -- and considering who his mother was, maybe it's a compliment.

KATHERINE HEPBURN -- July 2003. If you had been a Hair Fan in the 1930s or 1940s, this Oscar-winning actress's well-sprayed yet bouncy style would have made you long for more. A classic look of its time.

"MISS ELIZABETH" HULETTE -- May 2003. One of the founding beauties of professional wrestling, her curled styles showed great control in high-pressure ringside situations. She died in mysterious circumstances, taking the mystery of that awesome hold with her.

SADDAM HUSSEIN -- December 2003. Sure, the hair looked messy when he was captured in Iraq. But note how careful he was to keep it away from his face. (Courtesy Drudge Report)

GENE KEADY -- March 2005. The "king of the combover" retired from college basketball coaching. We wish him well -- but we're thankful Carolyn Peck didn't follow his example, when she was at Purdue University. (Courtesy Purdue Exponent)

SAMPAA LAJUNEN -- February-March 2002. Dyed his hair "Finland blue" for Winter Olympic cross-country skiing. Too bad Marge Simpson's already taken. (Photo courtesy CNNSI.com)

HOPE LANGE -- January 2004. This solidly-secured style impressed Hair Fans on the 1960's TV show The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. We never recall it weakening, much less collapsing. (Courtesy TV Tome)

JESSICA LYNCH -- April 2003. A U.S. Army Private who fought practically to the death for her country in Iraq. Imagine what she can do to protect this non-military hairstyle, once she's in college training to be a teacher.

LESLIE MOUTON -- February-March 2001. Long before Melissa Etheridge, this San Antonio TV newscaster and cancer survivor dared to appear without a wig. She says, "Hair does not define me." Her bravery and spunk definitely do.

MIKE PIAZZA -- July 2001. Dyed his hair blonde, perhaps to see if they had more fun - but he didn't have to do that to make baseball's All-Star Game, did he?

TOMMIE PRINCE -- March 2000. Pepperdine men's basketball player. With a sweatband, he had the highest hair the NCAA tournament had seen in a long time - by either gender.

NEEMA SAMAHA - April-May 2007. A college freshman who was skilled in dance, and apparently knew how to wear long hair well. She represents all the students gunned down on a fateful Monday morning at Virginia Tech. (Courtesy NPR/Facebook)

SURREY SPICE GIRL (Left) -- March-April 2002. The champion of New York's Westminster Kennel Club dog show stunned us with an incredible helmet style -- and the best part was, she never has to spend a penny for stylists. (Courtesy N.Y. Daily News)

DONALD TRUMP -- February 2004. When a New York tabloid devotes an entire page to alternative hairstyles for this man, he must have something. We're not saying what -- just something.

JENNIFER WILBANKS -- May 2005. She had a nice-looking style before going for that long pre-marital run from Georgia to New Mexico. But this may be the most unique way to hide a bad hair day we've ever seen.

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