America's Next Top Model Recaps

Nicole is America's Next Top Model!

2009-11-19T09:01:00.003-05:00

Last night's finale episode was certainly one to remember. For the first time in such a long time, I was truly rooting for BOTH models at the end. Nicole has proven over and over that she deserves to be in the final two. With her ability to inspire photographers and her determination to learn and grow as a model throughout the competition, she earned her spot. Laura, though, deserved to be in the top two just as much as Nicole. I fell in love with Laura's sweet and innocent personality, and what I love most is that she didn't ever reveal herself to be something else. Usually when you meet someone like that on a reality TV show, they eventually turn out to be devious or sneaky, but not Laura. She was pure sunshine the whole season, and I was so happy for her to be in the final two.

The final tasks for this petite cycle of ANTM involved a Covergirl commercial, photo shoot, and finally the stomp to the death fashion show. Laura's dyslexia held her back from doing her best at the last Covergirl shoot, but not this time. Not only did she look stunning, she also did a fantastic job. Nicole nailed her lines, but Mr. Jay was disappointed in her delivery, saying that she came off sounding snobby. What I love about Nicole is that instead of getting defensive and being upset, she did her best to make it better. She's aware of the fact that she comes off awkward and unapproachable, but she works to fix it. As for the photo shoot with Nigel for the Cover Girl ad, Nicole rocked it. From the beginning, she has made a good impression on every single photographer she was worked with. I think Laura disappointed him a little with her inability to find inspiration that was deeper than "milkshakes".

As for the stomp to the death, it was the first time in Top Model history that eliminated models from the same season were called back to walk the show. Erin, Jennifer, Brittany, and Sundai joined Nicole and Laura on the runway. Nicole definitely brought her own signature walk that made her stand out. She really makes her awkwardness work for her by being so confident in herself that you just have to like her. Also, her face looked amazing. Laura did an awesome job in the runway, though. I would have to put her above Nicole in the runway portion simply because she looked like a true model who already had a lot of experience. All in all, it wasn't the most exciting show, but the dresses were gorgeous and the lighting was beautiful.

At the final judging panel, they looked at the commercial and the CG print ad, as well as the entire cycle portfolio. To me, there was no contest on who had consistently delivered the best photographs. Did Nicole even have a single so-so or bad photo? Not one! While Laura's personality is so lovable and I will always be rooting for her to succeed in the modeling business, I agree with the judges pick for Cycle 13's winner: Nicole! She was truly at the top of the pack early on and just never let go. She never quit trying, despite some mean comments from the other girls in the house who didn't "get" her. It was a great cycle overall, proving that petite girls are just as capable of modeling as their taller counterparts. Good luck Nicole, and congratulations. Laura, don't give up girl. You've got what it takes!

Can't wait for Cycle 14 already !

America's Next Top Model Recap: Cycle 13, Episode 8

2009-10-21T21:03:00.002-04:00

Cover Girl Commercial time came early this season! This week, the remaining 7 models were tested on their ability to perform in front of a video camera instead of a still camera. As usual, some were naturals while others simply fell apart.

For this week's challenge, the models were sent to the set of The Insider, with host Lara and her crew. They were taught some basics about interviewing techniques and then thrown in front of the cameras to do an interview with 90210's Jessica Lowndes. As a trick to see how well the contestants think on their feet, their teleprompter was blanked out after a question or two, leaving them to rely on their own quick thinking to keep the 2 minute interview going.

Jennifer and Erin were memorable as the two that really knew the actress and were able to keep her talking naturally without any dead air time. On the other side of the spectrum, there was poor dyslexic Laura. She started to panic when the teleprompter blanked. She has a hard enough time reading and when they blanked out the prompter, they had a bunch of random letters, and she couldn't tell if she was just having trouble reading or what. I truly felt for her, but she really didn't get over it and find her rhythm. Instead, she did the one thing you can't do on TV, she cursed. Ouch. Of course, that was nothing compared to Nicoles faux-pas of asking the young actress if she'd ever had children before. Awkward! The rest of the group was just so-so.

The challenge winner got a highly coveted reward: A beauty shoot for Seventeen Magazine. Erin was declared the winner and she chose Rae and Jennifer to go with her. High on her win, Erin thought she was the bomb, apparently getting a bit too cocky, which came back to bite her on the ass during the Cover Girl Shoot.

After the challenge, the girls returned home to find a set of boxes waiting for them. In each box was a set of Exact Eye Lights Mascara and shadow along with a stopwatch and a pad and pen. Their instructions were to write their own 25 second script, memorize it, and be ready to do a commercial the following day. Erin, feeling over-confident, was finished in minutes, happily calling out "Done!" and going to bed without much work on memorizing. Others like Nicole and Jennifer stayed up for a long time working on their scripts. You have to wonder why everyone wouldn't take such an important step in the competition more seriously. Everyone who's ever watched the show knows that the commercial is one of the most difficult shoots of the entire competition. It's easy to get rattled or nervous or tongue-tied.

And for Erin, that's exactly what happened. Even though she was happily saying during makeup that she was a winner, she walked onto the set and fell apart. Nigel, who was directing the shoot, was extremely disappointed. He had to call for makeup to fix her face FOUR times because she was crying so much. She never got it together, and I was honestly just rolling my eyes. She should have never acted so cocky, trying to intimidate everyone else, when she wasn't willing to put the time in that was required in order to do a good job.

At the top of the pack was Jennifer, who came across approachable and charming. Nicole also did a great job, finally showing the judges that she is able to put inflection in her voice. She also looked stunning! Brittany, though somewhat robotic, pulled off her lines flawlessly. Sundai had a good script, but geez, the girl had a hard time sounding serious. Her commercial was uncomfortable to watch! And not just in my opinion. Guest judge Kim Kardashian (who is not technically a model but has certainly become comfortable in front of a camera - and is famous for a sex tape she did so needless to say, she's comfortable in front of the video camera), also said Sundai was hard to watch.

The bottom two this week were Erin and Rae. Rae didn't mess up quite as badly on the commercial as Erin did, but in both the challenge and the shoot, she just wasn't memorable. She didn't seem to have any kind of spark or intense desire to be there. In the end, the panel chose to send Rae home. I don't think she minded terribly much either. She was mostly just happy to be going home to see her daughter again. That gives Erin another shot. Let's hope she can find an true inner confidence instead of just that fake mask she tries to put on to intimidate everyone else.

Next week: The model's house is condemned for being a mess! Tyra tells them it's so bad they can't live there any more. Does this mean they are heading out to a foreign country? I wonder where they'll go this time!

America's Next Top Model Recap: Cycle 13, Episode 7

2009-10-14T21:06:00.002-04:00

GO-SEE's! I love watching the go-sees, and trying to guess which models are going to be dumb enough to show up late. I understand the temptation to go to one more go-see, I really do, but if you're only 30 or 40 minutes away from the deadline, you're not going to make it back in time unless the go-see is next door. The cycle's go-see losers? Sundai and Rae. The funny thing is that Rae actually let Sundai talk her into going to one more when they so obviously didn't have time.

The winner of the go-see's was: NICOLE! I can't help but love her! She's got a style about her that just seems cool and calm, and she has, by far, the best look in the group this year. I just don't understand all the Nicole-hating that's going on in the house. Is it jealousy? Sure, she says some strange things from time to time, but for the most part, it seems that she just stays out of everyone's way and keeps to herself. What's the harm in that? Kara had me sitting, mouth open in shock, in front of the TV when she said, "She has the social graces of a fetus." Wow, that is seriously mean! Karma's a bitch, though, isn't Kara? Not only did Neil Lane call her a "disaster" for not having pierced ears when she showed up to model his jewelry, but the casting director of the ad agency said she was greasy and another designer called her 'scruffy'. Ouch, ouch ouch. Not one person liked Kara this week. Rough.

As the winner of the go-see challenge, Nicole won a piece from all of the go-see casting people, including Neil Lane diamond earrings and some awesome outfits. The eye-rolling and hater looks from most of the other girls had me fuming. Erin actually had the audacity to say, "well, you haven't won anything yet, so they might have just wanted you to win." I was literally cheering when Nicole bounced back with, "No, I earned it." And she damn well did earn it. Erin went down 10 points in my book for saying something like that out loud.

Crouching Tiger-Hidden Model
The photo shoot this week was awesome. Each model was dressed in a colorful and flowing frock, then given a choice of traditional asian weapons. Numchucks (no idea how to spell that word), swords, everything. THen, they were taught by a professional how to use their weapon and how to move with a harness on their bodies. This was a great shoot for middle of the season, because it truly tested how much the models have learned. They had to be thinking about their modeling and their faces, but also the length of their bodies, the sleeves on their outfits, and the way they were moving on the harness.

Kara and Sundai stood out as the worst this week during the shoot. Sundai, though cute, was called "Abysmal" by Jay, as she wasn't able to get past the distractions of the weapons and the harness to focus on her modeling. Kara bombed it big time, and honestly I'm not surprised. Anytime a model starts obsessing over the success of someone else in the house, it's only a matter of time before they are booted. Not because Tyra knows about it or disapproves, but because their focus is on someone else instead of themselves. If Kara truly wanted to model, she would be thinking about her own issues and how to improve rather than constantly bitching about Nicole's success.

Some of the best and most impressive on the harness this week were Laura, who really used her weapons to elongate and lengthen her body; Nicole, who looked fierce and in control the entire time; and Jennifer, who just looked natural and amazing in that red outfit.

PANEL
Guest judge this week was "supermodel" Jessica White. While beautiful, I doubt the use of the term 'supermodel' here. Okay so she's posed for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition 7 times, does that make her super? I don't know, but anyway, she's successful and that's what is important. Also, I like her because she said Nicole is "my absolutely favorite." With each week that passes, I agree more and more.

The highlight of this week's panel for me was Nigel Smeyezing. It was awesome. He looked like he had something stuck in his eye.

The best photo of the week is: NICOLE. As the winner of yet another thing this week, Nicole has quickly shot to the top of the pack. Nigel still wants to see more personality and inflection in her tone of voice, but she's modeling at the top of the crowd and I think she'll go far.

Laura (second place and still on top for me. she needs to step it up though if she wants to truly stand out in this competition)
Brittany
Erin
Jennifer
Rae
And the bottom two: Kara vs. Sundai.

I just knew Kara was going to be in the bottom 2 this week when they opened the episode with her dissing on Nicole. She should have spent more time worrying about her own problems and less time thinking she was better than everyone else. Sundai was given another week in the competiton and Kara, much to her own surprise, was booted out.

I almost felt sorry for her until she said, "What's the point of being in the competition if I had to go home in the middle? If I didn't win?" I hate that attitude! The point is that you were on an extremely successful TV show where you got tons of exposure. The point is that you got some priceless modeling experience and (hopefully) learned a lot in a short period of time. What a terrible attitude to have. Think about all the girls who didn't make it on to the show. You should be grateful you had the chance, and sad that you wasted your opportunity by letting yourself become distracted. Peace out, Kara. Nicole rules.

America's Next Top Model Recap: Cycle 13, Episode 6

2009-10-07T21:01:00.003-04:00

It was group week on Top Model, with the remaining 9 contestants modeling and dancing in groups of 3. It's always tough to find a way to really stand out in a group, and sometimes, as Ashley learned, it's harder when the rest of your group is pulling you down. Interestingly enough, she was on both sides of the fence this week... as the puller and the pullee so to speak :).

Benny Ninja, the pose-master extraordinaire, was on hand this week along with Lil' Mama and the Jaberwockies, to teach the models how to express themselves with their bodies instead of just relying on their faces. This is one of the most important lessons a model can learn. After their teach, the girls were split into groups of 3 and given one hour to come up with a dance routine that exemplified happy, sad, and angry, using their bodies only and a mask over their faces. Through the curse of the draw, Ashley, who is the only real dancer in the group, was given Nicole and Erin as her two dance partners. Neither of her partners have a shred of dancing talent, and in fact, Nicole needs some serious work when it comes to learning how to be free and move with her body. Needless to say, their group was at the bottom of the three groups. Laura, Sundai, and Brittany were in the middle, only really shining on their "sad" portion. Rae, Jennifer, and Kara did an excellent job embodying all three emotions and as their reward, they each got to choose a piece of jewelry from the collection of designer Rhonda Faber Green (totaling 17,000 bucks). Again, the looks of sheer jealousy from the other girls this season make me cringe and laugh both at the same time!

Back at the house, it was Ashley who was unable to let the dance competition go. She continued to obsess about it, even going so far as to say "We were the only group dancing real dance moves. If it was me by myself... totally different story." Of course, back in their rooms, dogging Ashley were the houses' new "gossip girls" Jennifer and Kara who were seen numerous times this episode talking about the other girls and speculating about how far each would go in this competition. In my opinion, those two need to be paying more attention to their own modeling instead of spending so much time talking about everyone elses' modeling. In this weeks' photo shoot, both Jennifer and Kara were at the bottom of their groups.

PHOTO SHOOT IN VEGAS
This week's photo shoot was in fabulous Las Vegas on the stage of Cirque de Soleil's show "Mystere". It was all about standing out in the photograph as groups of 3 modeled with groups of 3 performers. Mr. Jay's performance on stage deserves and honorable mention as well. I'm surprised Tyra wasn't there all dressed up in Cirque makeup, though... seemed right up her alley.

PANEL
Guest judge for the week was Josie Maran, a 5'6" model who has had a successful 19 year career, modeling for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, Victoria's Secret, and various campaigns and magazine covers.

Tyra called each group to the front, then took them through the photo one by one. I have to say, Miss Tyra was cut-throat this week in her critique of the photos. Photo number one was Brittany, Rae, and Jennifer. Rae really stole the photo with her smoldering eyes and fashion forward look, but Brittany was a close second with her bride of Frankenstein awkwardness that worked for this shoot, but Jennifer "brought this picture down." Tyra was brutal, saying that Jennifer's film was awful.

Group two, it was Ashley that pulled the shot down. Tyra said her performance was "very poor", and I have to agree. For all her talk of wanting it and trying her best, she really didn't follow Jay's directions very well about the angles of her body, and it really showed. Laura, on the other hand, had my very favorite photo of the week. She looked sexy and strange and confident and beautiful. Each week, she becomes more and more my favorite. Tyra said she must be drinking "fierce juice." Haha. I agree! Kara was "middling", not really standing out as great. She more just blended in, bringing nothing to the photo.

Group three's downer was Nicole, which was surprising to me because I expected her to shine on this very theatrical and strange photo landscape. Rather than going "golem" and contorting her body, she was just there, plain and uninteresting. Sundai stood out in her group photo, with Tyra saying that she had to choose a picture that wasn't her best just to get a decent shot of Nicole. I think Sundai has improved a lot, but is it enough? Erin did a good job in the photo shoot as well, but I didn't see anything really new and exciting from her. I don't feel that she's really getting better so much as staying decent.

So who goes home?

Best photo this week was given to the best collective group: Rae, Brittany, and Jennifer. I hated to see Jennifer get "best photo" just because she was in a group with the two best. Having one of the weakest photos of the bunch, it didn't seem fair, but fair isn't the name of the game, I guess. She skated by and she better be thanking her lucky stars! Next, Tyra called names individually. Laura, Nicole (who should have really been towards the bottom in my opinion), Sundai, and Erin.

That left Kara and Ashley in the bottom two, and there was no doubt in my mind who was going home. Ashley has been in the bottom two several times, and there was just no saving her this week. She was sent home, giving Kara another week to battle it out.

Next week? Go-sees!!! In L.A. rather than abroad, which is interesting. Also, looks like they are giving the girls cars to drive around the city rather than relying on taxi's who know where they're going. Should be fun! THe photo shoot looks even more fun, though, as the models take to wires Kung-fu style.

America's Next Top Model Recap: Cycle 13, Episode 5

2009-10-01T15:26:00.004-04:00

So many wonderful things on last night's episode of Top Model! We got to see more of Nigel (and to see his gorgeous wife); we learned how to make up the perfect "smokey eye" from makeup expert Sam Fine; we got to watch Tyra the photographer in action; and best of all, we got to say goodbye to my least favorite model on cycle 13.

First things first, after the girls got over losing Lulu (not that anyone but Ashley really seemed to care), they were whisked away to a top model teach with makeup artist Sam Fine. He taught the models how to make their faces look model perfect in case they are called to a shoot or to a go-see on the spur of the moment. His advice for a model's 4 must-haves?

Concealer
Bronzer
Mascara
Lip Gloss

The trick is not to cover too much, but to even things out and to make your eyes really pop and your lips shine without looking like you put too much makeup on. It's all about trying to make yourself look as if you don't have makeup on at all. He also taught them how to make up their eyes in a smokey look by applying loose powder below the eye, then concealer on the lid, and finally using a contouring eye brush to apply dark brown below and above the lid. I'm personally planning on giving it a shot asap.

The challenge this week also involved making yourself look great for a spur of the moment interview. Nigel and his wife Crissy Barker (a CoverGirl spokesmodel), met the models at a Walmart during the wee hours and challenged them to a four station race. CLothes, Shoes, Makeup, and Photo were the four stations. The trick was that there weren't enough items at each station for every girl, so speed was important. Apparently, Erin took this contest to heart. The replay video showed her pulling on people's arms, shoving others to the side, and even intentionally throwing another girl's photo on the ground. While you have to admire the fact that Erin wants to win and is willing to go for it, you have to wonder if she will be admired in the industry when she fails to stand out as having anything positive to her determination.

Even though Erin's thirst for a win landed her in the top 3, Nigel and Crissy chose Sundai over Erin and Bianca as the model who made it to the end with the most put-together look. As a reward, Sundai won a $1000 walmart gift card and an online photo at walmart.com.

The next day on the way to the photo shoot, some of the models compared their bruises (which were a direct result of Erin's tirade through walmart the night before) and Erin cried. I think the stress is beginning to show for some of the women, but do you think Erin should really apologize? Maybe, but the others need to realize that the modeling world is cut-throat so stop complaining and get on with it already.

The photoshoot revealed an exciting twist - Tyra as their photographer! These are always some of my favorite shots of the season, so I was anxious to see what she had in store for the girls' this season. What I love is that Tyra keeps showing this season that she truly does care about the career success of the models once they leave the show. She wisely told them that as shorter models, "beauty" shots could be their bread and butter, then she proceeded to help them nail it. Some models, like Kara, Bianca and Ashley... failed to deliver. I think they were nervous and stiff with Tyra. Others like Brittany, Jennifer and Laura were completely at ease and took direction so easily.

The other twist at the shoot was that Mr. Jay and Tyra chose the best photo of the week right there on the set, giving Brittany immunity as well as a photo shoot for tyrabanks.com (complete with hot male models.) Oooh, the jealousy was so thick, I could feel it in my living room. The looks on the losing models faces as she went through her shoot was pure jealousy and hatred. Wow, 10 models still in the competition and it's already seriously tense. I can't wait to see what happens once we're down to the final 5.

Guest Judge at panel this week was China Chow, a 5'3" model who makes an impressive living as a beauty model. I love that Tyra is bringing in new judges that can serve as role models for these young girls. Hopefully they are looking up the work these models have done and seeing what can work in their own careers. This week's order was:

Brittany (whose final photo was good, but I don't know that it was really the Best... wonder if Tyra would have changed her mind if she had chosen at panel instead.)
Jennifer (trying her own ideas and screaming on set to get a great and powerful shot really paid off)
Rae
Nicole
Erin (whose picture, in my opinion, should have been 1 or 2 this week)
Laura
Sundai (who deserved to be at the top too, this was her best shot ever!)
Kara (yikes)

And the Bottom 2 came down to Ashley vs. Bianca. It's terrible to say it, but I was hoping for Bianca to be sent home. While she seems to know a lot about fashion, she could never quite deliver a wonderful or unique photograph. Her attitude stands in her way and until she can conquer her own issues, she's never going to be a top model. Tyra sent her home, giving Ashley another chance.

Next week, Benny Ninja!!! The girls will learn all about posing. I have a feeling Nicole is going to blow this one out of the water. We'll see!!

Tyra's Fortress of Fierceness

2009-09-16T21:09:00.004-04:00

Tonight's episode of ANTM saw a return of Tyra's completely crazy side as she reinvented herself: Super-Smize, the supermodel/superhero teaching models everywhere how to smile with their eyes. You would think that any model who ever watched ANTM would have practiced "smize-ing" every night for hours before coming onto the show, but getting individual instruction from Tyra herself is worth its weight in gold.

I personally was just happy to see Tyra be her crazy self. Her no-fear ability to just do whatever the hell she wants is what makes me love her so much!

And now, more recap, less Tyra fan-fare:

The models made their way to Wilhelmina Modeling Agency where the president, Sean Patterson flew in to meet them in person. Photographer Nigel Barker joined him as the two interviewed each of the models one-on-one. Everyone seemed to think it was a challenge where there would be one winner, but since this is the season for turning everything on its head, there was, instead, a loser. Directly after the interviews, Nigel informed one sad model that she just "doesn't have what it takes to be a Wilhelmina Model."

So who was it? Was it clueless Lulu who actually told them "I don't pay attention to photographers." right after she had just said that she loves and follows fashion? Or was it lazy-eye Jennifer? No, it was doe-eyed Rachel who completely tanked when Nigel asked her to sing a few bars of any song she wanted. She did, after all, tell them that she'd done some musical theater. When it came down to it, the president of Wilhelmina just thought that Rachel had no spark and no personality, and she was sent home.

As if losing someone so suddenly wasn't hard enough on the models, then they had to face Tyra's "Smize-ing" challenge where they were all clothed in tella-tubby-esque pink skintight outfits and asked to battle it out one-on-one. The winners were immediately dressed in designer clothes and whisked away to a private dinner with Sean Patterson at one of Tyra's favorite restuarants - The Bazaar. The losers had to put on rubber gloves and scrub dishes all night. Yuck!

But as we all know, it's the photo shoots that matter most in this competition, and this week's shoot was both fun and challenging. Keeping with the "smize" theme, the women were asked to pose topless with long wigs covering their chests while on a horse at the Santa Anita Park. Some models like Brittany and Laura seemed right at home nude on a horse, giving it 100% and just relaxing and having fun. Others, like Courtney and Bianca, wanted to blame something else for their bad performances. For example, Courtney got upset that Jay wanted her to leave her boot on while she was doing her standing poses. She let that one thing interrupt and effect her entire photo shoot, and personally, I don't even understand why she was angry. He was only trying to protect her foot, right? And it wasn't like it was going to be in the shot.

Bianca's complaint? That she didn't like her blonde wig. She said that after last weeks' stint in the bottom 2 for her attitude, she had learned to keep her mouth shut, but I don't think she was doing a good job of it, personally.

PANEL
This week's panel included guest judge, Lauren Conrad. What? Seriously Tyra? We couldn't come up with someone else? I guess Lauren is qualified since she designs clothing, but... well, I'll keep my mouth shut on this one. Her comments actually turned out to be right-on, so it wasn't so bad. Oh, and worth mentioning is Miss Jay's strange idea of making his sleeves bigger and poofier each week. I can't wait to see the outfit she/he wears on the final episode.

The Good: Brittany laying full out on the horse, definitely smiling with her eyes. Laura looking both sexy and cute with her braids and her broken down body. Nicole looking five foot ten next to the horse and pulling out an amazing close-up. Erin looking fierce with her ice blonde hair and dark, smoldering smize.

The Bad: Courtney looking angry and doing nothing unique with her body. Ashley standing there looking bored because Tyra chose her test shot as her best shot. Ouch.

The Ugly: Omg, Bianca. Not only was her attitude once again ugly, (When Tyra asked her if she was ready to see her best shot, Bianca's answer was a snarky, "Yeah, I want to see this blonde hair.") but her face was pure ugly in her photo. Even Tyra said she had the "Who farted?" face looking like she just smelled something terrible. I thought Mr. Jay said it right when he said that Transgendered Isis from a few seasons ago was softer and more lady-like than Bianca in this shoot.

BEST PHOTO: ERIN

Brittany
Laura
Nicole
Kara
Jennifer
Sundai
Rae
Lulu
Ashley

And this week's bottom two: Bianca (again) and Courtney

Ultimately, it was Courtney who was sent home. I personally would have given Bianca her walking papers, because I don't see much potential in her modeling so far. But, in the end Courtney's excuses about having to wear her boot and being upset about it and giving up right from the start of her shoot were her downfall. Tyra said the judges just couldn't put up with a model who was willing to give up and stop trying, and I have to agree with her there too. Bianca better be thanking her lucky stars to get another chance, but if she can't get it together by next week, I think she'll be heading home too.

Next week: The model's have their first fashion show.

Cycle 13 Premiere!

2009-09-09T22:01:00.003-04:00

Yay! Our favorite reality series is back for Cycle 13! I have been looking forward to this night for so long, and it definitely delivered. Even though I love the show just the way it is, after 12 Cycles, Tyra thought it was time to try something new, and I'm loving it! This Cycle, Petite is the buzz word, with models 5'7" and under ONLY. That means no plus size models. Instead, it's pint sized models!

After what turned out to be a predictable first hour of casting, the season really got to the good part with the second hour's normal episode. Only 13 out of the 14 girls chosen at casting actually showed up to the party, so one lucky girl got to come back. Amber, the girl who proclaimed early on, "I am for Jesus Christ and I will do whatever he wants me to do" apparently found out that JC did not plan for her to be on ANTM. Instead, dark-eyed Lisa got a second chance, but would she make the most of it?

Ty-overs
The first order of business this season was not the typical scream-over-the-cool-house scene. Instead, Mr. and Ms. Jay took the girls straight to the salon for their Tyra Make-overs. I was actually very impressed with how well everyone took their new styles... with one major exception. Bald Bianca, the only person who had almost NOTHING done to her since she has no hair to speak of, was the only one who acted like a complete baby about her makeover. All she had done was that they bleached her eyebrows. I wanted to reach through the TV and strangle the be-yotch for daring to complain about something so stupid! My favorite makeover? It's probably a tie between Erin's icy blond hair and matching eyebrows and Nicole's afro red!

Fun House
Next, the girls headed to their new LA house. With a "fun house" / "carnival" theme, the sign at the door reads, "You must be this SHORT to enter" with a hand pointing to 5'7". Very cute! Inside, the girls found bunk beds with little dolls wearing their faces at each bed (which eliminates any drama with choosing beds - have to wonder if Tyra was so riot-scared she tried to eliminate as much as possible). A nice V-shaped runway and a fabu pool and hot tub are the highlights of this very chic house.

First impressions at the house - Bianca is really a bitch. Seriously. She seems to say all the wrong things. At one point, she was even rude enough to say to quiet Nicole, "I think something's wrong with you." Nicole, yes, is a bit strange, but she's just quiet and being herself. At least she isn't bothering anyone or saying ugly things behind their backs. Laura is just about as sweet as she can be. She's like Bianca's polar opposite. She even brought clothes that her grandma made for her. There's just something so innocent and very cinderella, rags to riches about Laura that has me rooting for her.

The Photo Shoot
I loved the theme of the photo shoot this week! Mr. Jay had a baby photo from each girl and their job on set was to use their baby photo as the inspiration for their current photo. The assignment was to modernize the theme and be very "editorial". With it being the first shoot, you always expect some girls to be rough, but at the very least, you hope they will be excited and eager to please... but some fell far short of this.

On one end of the spectrum, there was Rae, a mother who is dealing with being away from her daughter for the first time. Did Rae complain about being away from her baby when she was on set? Not a drop. Did Rae complain when the stylist gave her impossible 8-inch shoes to wear as she portrayed a modern version of her ballerina self? Not even half a drop. She worked it and had a great attitude the whole way around.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Bianca. Can you tell she's already my least favorite of the girls? She started complaining from makeup on, saying that she didn't like her makeup. Then, instead of going on set and just making it work, she walked out there with some serious attitude and complained to Jay about her makeup and the smell of her outfit. Seriously?

The hottest on set were Rae, Nicole (who definitely looked fierce), Laura, and Jennifer. On the not-so-hot side were Bianca, Lisa (Jay actually said watching her was like watching paint dry), Sundai, and Britany. Everyone else just sort of fell into the middle somewhere.

Panel
I was anxious to see the judges panel since we all know that Paulina got the boot after last season. I was hoping they would bring out some fabulous new model or maybe even bring Twiggy back, who I loved. But no, instead, they introduced a guest judge... supermodel Chanel Iman. I wonder if they will just do the entire season with only four judges this year instead of five. I think it would be nice if they would bring Mr. Jay into the judging so he could talk more about their presence on set, but four judges will be just fine.

This cycle, instead of the regular contract with Elite Model Management, the winner receives a contract with Wilhemina Models. Tyra explained to the contestants that they chose Wilhemina because they work with models of all shapes and sizes. The Covergirl contract is still a go, though.

Best part of tonight's panel? When Tyra dissed Brittany for being too sexy, her excuse was that she was used to modeling with blond hair, but that her dark hair somehow brought out the sexy part of her. Tyra's response was to actually rub her own boobs and say, "Well, my hair is darker too, does that mean I have to be sexy all the time?" Nice. Tyra's such a kook, I love her!

Worst part of the panel? The fact that Bitchy Bianca actually got a good picture despite her attitude problems.

This week's order, from best to worst, as called out by Tyra's midriff-baring self is:

Best Photo: Rae! Her good attitude and willingness to find a way to make those ridiculous shoes work really paid off!

Nicole
Jennifer
Ashley
Courtney
Erin
Lulu
Rachel
Laura
Kara
Brittany

The bottom two: Lisa and Bianca.

I was really proud of the judges for putting Bianca in the bottom two. Even though her picture turned out well, she got a lashing for having such a bad attitude. I hope we will see a real change in her next week. Lisa, the girl who was given a second chance when Amber dropped out of the competition, failed to make it worth it. She simply couldn't deliver when it came to her photo shoot and she was sent home.

Next week: The girls go to Wilhemina Modeling Agency and someone is immediately eliminated. Oh the drama!!

Teyona wins America's Next Top Model Cycle 12!

2009-05-13T21:01:00.002-04:00

Tonight on the finale of Cycle 12, beautiful New Jersey girl Teyona was named America's Next Top Model, narrowly beating out an equally worthy Alison.

The final three also included Aminat, and even though she delivered a believable cover girl commercial, her lack of a great photo and being able to control her face in photos, she was eliminated. In the cover girl commercial, Teyona let her nerves get the best of her and she simply fell apart. Her gorgeous photo combined with her top model performance throughout the season pulled her through, however, and she moved on to the final 2. Alison did a great job on her commercial, and her cover girl photo was fabulous.

On their final runway challenge, the two finalists walked in a Rosa Cha Swimsuit design fashion show in Brazil. Their hair was swept up into a high ponytail and masks were painted on their faces, which made them look fierce. To be honest, I was expecting Alison to bomb it on the runway. So far this season, she has been dreadful on the runway, but when it came to her final performance, she rocked it! She was sexy, cute, and in control. You could really tell that she had practiced a lot, and it really paid off for her. I was really truly proud of her for putting up such a fierce competition. Teyona also looked great on the runway, and even though she could have given it more and let loose a little bit, she really did a great job.

In the end, it was a tough decision for the judges. Alison was by far the most improved and the most original. But Teyona's undeniably gorgeous face and her sweet personality and engaging confidence won them all over. I think she definitely deserved to win, and although I fell in love with Alison, I have no doubt that we will be seeing her again. They both will no doubt enjoy full and successful careers as top models both in America and beyond.

Let the Drama Begin! - Episode 4

2009-03-25T22:27:00.002-04:00

Woo, tonight the drama really began, and I have a feeling it is only going to heat up from here. With only 10 models left in the competition, the claws and the insecurities are coming out. Sandra really set the tone for the episode when she walked in, saw her picture on the screen and exclaimed, "My picture shows that I'm better than all the other girls." We'll see about that.

The guest stars this week included Tocarra, the big, black beautiful model from cycle 3, and famous pose instructor Benny Ninja. Tocarra showed up at the house for a sleep over, bearing gifts of night-wear from Mira Kelis. I have to just mention that these were some of the hottest and cutest little sleepshirts and shorts I have ever seen. I want to run out and buy some for myself ASAP!

Tocarra was there to talk to the girls about "personality", something she herself has in spades, but which is lacking from most of the girls of cycle 12. Out of everyone, I would say that Fo seems to have one of the cutest personalities. I just wish she would step up a bit and really show it, because right now she's blending in a bit more than she should.

Sky Nella, an austrailian Model turned DJ spun some beats of different styles while Benny showed the girls how to pose with the music. WHen he let them all give it a show, only London, Aminat, and Celia stood out to me. Everyone else, especially Allison, Tahlia, and Sandra, fell flat.

Their challenge, of course, was then all about posing. They were sparkly sexy dresses from "The Blonds" and participated in a model pose-off in front of a huge crowd at The Mansion. Although something about Celia's face kind of creeps me out (and she looks a bit too old to be a new young model in my opinion), she simply "fragged off the energy" of the crowd and came up with a very dominant win. Natalie came in second, and I think Fo showed herself well. Tahlia was the one with the most boo's from the crowd, prompting her to run home and drown herself in a sea of "I want to go home" tears.

Here, my friends, is where the drama begins. All of the other girls were pretty much pissed that she is ready to give up. There seems to be one every season that doesn't take things seriously or doesn't really have what it takes, but the truth is, we all have insecurities. It doesn't make Tahlia worthless in the competition. It just makes her a scared, scarred 19 year old girl who is still finding herself. If the models in the house were smart, they would realize that she's not going to win if she doesn't have the confidence to feel good about staying... so they should just let it go.... More to come so hold that thought.

No group photo shots this week... oh wait, yes there were! Is it just me or is this the year of the group photo?? Although the models did not have to pose in groups with each other, Benny Ninja was posing as their husband and there was a gaggle of small children around them as they all pretended to be immigrants landing at Ellis Island.

To capture an authentic photo of immigrants, the photographer used a special old camera (can't remember now what it was called) that shot very slow frames in a very authentic antique style. The models were asked to bring somewhat of a modern twist to this antique photo, but most simply couldn't relate to the rest of the group. Sandra, whose photo was the best last week, ended up in the bottom of the pile this week. Bottom two in fact.

Fo and London gave profile shots while everyone else in the group was staring at the camera, making it look just wrong. Natalie and Celia did not really come alive in their photographs either, which was a big disappointment after some good photos from them in the past. Aminat's photo was one of her best to date, and Teyona's was actually stunning. It's too bad Teyona never really looks good in panel. They "fixed" her makeover weave last week, but now it's all stringy again. I am thinking she just doesn't have a clue of how to take care of it.

In the end, the best photo of the bunch was.... ready for it?? TAHLIA!! Little miss, I want to go home, was able to pull herself together and give some of the best photos of the competition thus far. Tyra told her she needs to work on her confidence, and I am hoping that this win will start to help her to believe in herself. If she really wants to go home, she should step up and quit. Allison's photo was also worth mentioning. She may not have done a great job with her posing, but damn, she can take a stunning and interesting photograph!

Kortnie's photo, which was completely devoid of personality and poise, put her in the bottom 2, battling with Sandra for a precious spot in the final 9. I guess the judges just see more potential in Sandra, asking her to stay even though she was in the bottom 2 for the second time. Kortnie took the criticism well and even kept a great attitude when she was eliminated.

Celia stepped forward when Kortnie was told she was going home, and my heart almost stopped. No! She's not going to do what I think she's going to do! But then she opened her mouth and said, "Tyra, with all due respect, I think you should know what Tahlia has been saying all week. She wants to go home and she doesn't think this competition is the right career move for her. I just think it isn't fair to send someone home when they want to be here and she doesn't."

There was total silence in the room as everyone waited to see what Tyra was going to say. If I was Tahlia, I might have tackled the bitch, but Tahlia, true to her personality, did not say a word. Tyra, however, did. "You want to know what's not fair?" she asked. "You saying this now in front of everyone when Tahlia has not expressed any of this to me or the judges. Our decision is final, you may step down."

I was half expecting a Tiffany moment when Tyra tore her a new one back in the day. I agree with Celia that it's totally unfair for Tahlia to be there and to be doing well in the judging when she doesn't want to be there anymore. However, life (and modeling) is unfair. You better get used to it honey. Because when you step out and "tattle" on someone like that, it only makes you look like a bitch who is jealous and out to sabotage someone.

You could see on Celia's face (probably because of the tears) that she was very very sorry she said anything. I think she was shocked by Tyra's reprimand, but she's 25 freaking years old. She should have known better. She should probably also realize that Tyra's watching clips of them at the house and she knows exactly what's going on. It just was the WRONG time to say something like that. Especially since the judges were lovin' them some Tahlia at panel. If she had been bottom 2, okay maybe say something. But Top picture of the week? Shut your mouth! I have a feeling Celia could be the next to go.

Runway with Miss J

2009-03-19T14:22:00.002-04:00

Miss J showed the girls just how fabulous his runway walk really is when he took them through his etiquette and runway course. Past antm models, Chantel and Bianca, were there to help demonstrate what it means to show respect to the models who are with you on the runway. I, for one, thought Chantel was an interesting choice for this particular episode since she knocked a dude off his stilts during her final runway challenge for the top model crown on Cycle 9 in China.

But this is Cycle 12, so who had the best runway walk and who bombed it? Natalie impressed J the most with her confidence, and even though the rest of the girls thought Natalie was being a egotistic bitch back at the house, she really is good at runway. Celia does a great job too and models from head to toe. I think runway is a strong point for Aminat and Sandra as well.

Tahlia needs to work on her confidence because other than that, she looks good on the runway. Fo needed some work at practice, but later she showed that she can take advice well. The worst was poor awkward Allison. I think she has the potential to get better, she just needs a little practice.

Drama ensued back at the house before the runway challenge the next day when the girls were playing "truth or dare" and Natalie pulled the truth question..."Who do you think had the worst photo other than Jessica last week?" First of all, let me say that whoever fucking put that question in the hat is an evil bitch. Come to think of it, it was probably Sandra or Natalie anyway... but Natalie's answer was Tahlia. I might have personally chosen Kortnie for that title, but Tahlia's was nothing to cheer about either. She took the comment personally, but felt so much better after she had a chance to talk to her sister on the phone for support later in the week.

The runway challenge was to walk in a show for famous American designer, Jill Stuart. Also judging the challenge was Ann Shokett, seventeen magazine's editor in chief. Natalie did a crazy twirl in the middle trying to stand out, and even though they dogged her for it, they still gave her the top prize for looking so confident on the runway. Celia was sort of the runner up, but she didnt get anything for it. When they announced the Natalie was the winner, all the other girls sort of clenched their teeth. I don't think most of them like her too much, and I forsee some crazy arguments to come. Overall, I thought the clothes were really beautiful and the girls did a pretty good job.

The photo shoot was a fun idea. They all piled onto a big red bus and parked in different famous Manhattan places where they were asked to portray a certain type of person. Allison and Naija ended up in the bottom two this week as neither of them were able to get into character and play their part. Naija was paired up with Kortnie and was supposed to be a soho artist. Kortnie's picture showed potential, but Naija just looked flat and uninteresting again this week. Allison was paired with London on Fifth avenue, portraying high society snobs. For some reason, Allison just sort of freaked herself out and couldn't produce a great photograph. I was so relieved to see her stay though, because she really does seem to have some potential.

At the top of the pack was Sandra who was paired with Celia as a nanny on the upper east side. I think both of them look fabulous, but personally, the picutre of Fo and Aminat was my favorite. THey portrayed wall street stock brokers and for me, there is just so much attitude and awesome in this photo. I was so glad to see that Fo got over her baby shit about her hair cut.

In the end Naija was the one sent home. Next week, Benny Ninja takes the models to a transgender strip club? to teach them all about posing. That should be fun. I hope there's a Tyra impersonator.

Makeovers! Week 2

2009-03-12T13:04:00.000-04:00

I always love watching the makeover shows. It's gotten a lot more fun since Tyra and the Jay's stopped telling the girls what to expect and just starting DOING it. There's a lot less whining and more excitement. This year, the show is in New York, so of course, the girls headed to the John Barrett salon at Bergdorf Goodman's. There was no doubt they were in good hands.

Sandra got the shortest hair, since hers was already super short, Tyra had them even it out and dye it blonde. I think it serves her well, but the problem with Sandra is that she doesn't have enough passion on her beautiful face when she takes pictures to really be as strong of a model as she has the potential of being. Several of the girls got long extensions, which is usually my favorite look. As a shock, though, Fo and Celia got their hair chopped off. Celia was really the one who had more reason to cry, I thought, because he long blonde hair was truly beautiful. Instead, though, I was very proud of her when she took it all in stride and said that she found her new shorter hair "liberating". She owned it in her photos this week also.

Now Fo is a different story. She is the one girl who got an F- on her makeover exam this year. She looks cute as hell, but simply felt "butch" and couldn't get over the fact that she looked like the "girl next door's brother". She once again proved that attitude is 90% of this competition by falling short on her photo shoot with Nigel simply because of her makeover angst.

My favorite makeover? Allison! THey took the bug-eyed dark haired freakish girl and turned her into a goddess. She still has a freak in her, but her new long blonde locks give her something special. I also like London's super short blonde hair now too. It accentuates her face much like McKey's haircut helped her out last season. Surprisingly, for the first time ever, Tyra had nothing she wanted to change about a model: Natalie did not even get a makeover. Mister Jay told her she was a model from "head to toe" and they wouldn't change a thing. We'll see in time if that helps her or hurts her. I kind of tend to agree that her hair is really very pretty the way it is.

The modeling challenge this week was another Walmart makeup display. Since there are no Walmarts in New York (What?? They can't afford the rent or what??), Covergirl brought their typical Walmart display to the girls and tasked them with finding a suitable "model" on the streets, introducing her to the wall of covergirl, then putting the makeup on her in a flattering style. The girls were paired up, and the winning group this week was Aminat, Sandra and Celia. I thought it was cool that the group was able to keep from arguing, especially after Aminat told Sandra point blank that "the better girl went home" and that the house was hoping Sandra would get the boot. It's a good sign that they didn't start arguing. Of course, Sandra didn't say much of anything. She more or less road Aminat and Celia's coattails and won a feature in a Covergirl Walmart display.

Nigel Barker was this week's photographer. Their photoshoot was also about being in groups (of 4 this time) as the lead girl in the photo held up two curling iron looking lights and held them up in order to light herself in the picture. I thought it was a good learning/teaching exercise that would quickly show which girls were good at finding and creating their own light and which girls have skills when it comes to posing. The best photo of the week this week? Teyona! Girl owned that photo shoot. She was all over the set, had passion in her eyes, and she knew how to light herself up.

Some of my other favorites this week were Celia, Allison and London. TO me, everyone else fell a little bit flat. It was honestly a shock to me that Tahlia and Kortnie weren't on the chopping block after their photos went sailing down. Neither of them have shown much potential in my opinion. They better step it up or get ready to step out.

In the end, it was Sandra and Jessica who ended up in the bottom 2. To be fair, Jessica's picture was terrible. You could see that she was completely clueless about where the lighting was. I think that out of all of the girls, she was by far the prettiest as far as traditional "pretty" goes, but if you are a fan of top model, you already know that pretty only goes so far. Being a model is so much more than that, and Jessica just couldn't get there fast enough and was eliminated.

Episode One: Sandra makes Friends

2009-03-04T21:25:00.003-05:00

The 13 finalists arrive in New York City and go straight to the iconic Empire State Building to meet with Nigel and Paulina. Nigel told them where to find their apartment and handed the key to Celia. When Paulina announced that Celia getting the key also meant that Celia could pick the first bed. DRAMA. I could feel it coming.

Their amazing apartment on the Upper East Side is incredibly chic. Sandra, not Celia, was the first one to pick a bed. Of course, it also just so happened that later Celia also wanted the same exact bed. I guess in an effort to save money (or to create drama) whoever decorated the house decided to only put 12 beds in the house for 13 girls. Maybe they just assumed one girl would only be there for a week, so screw her. Anyway, the fact that Celia picked the same bed as the one girl in the house who is ready to start a fight and has already said "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win." is just hilarious. The first ANTM cycle 12 argument!!

Fortunately, before the argument got too boring, jesus freak London stepped in and offered her bed to Sandra saying that she would sleep on the floor. (London cracked me up when she said "I know I'll have a bed eventually" and I think she's got a good point there.)

So far this cycle, the most vocal person in the house is Sandra, by far! I think they keep playing her clips just because she is so obviously delusional. First of all, she thinks she is going to win the title at the end simply because she's African. WTF? Sure, her accent sets her apart, but no one from Africa has ever won ANTM, so I don't know what she's thinking. I also think the producers find it funny that she keeps talking about how great she is in one scene and then showing that she's completely incapable of doing things right in the next.

The next drama also involved Sandra, who alienated and pissed off all the other girls in the house when she told them to go in the living room if they wanted to continue their "dumb" conversation, because she was trying to sleep and couldn't. Good thing Sandra isn't into making friends... cause she wouldn't know how.

The first photo shoot was about an issue very close to Tyra's heart: young women who are growing up too fast. They were all given tasks that were typical of young girls like "hide and go seek" and "ring around the rosie".

In their judging panel, here's what the judges thought:

Sandra - After calling her out for a terrible runway performance earlier in their first task (she didn't even walk down the runway all the way!), we got to see her photo. Horrible. She didn't look like a fun and fresh young girl. She looked terrified.

Celia - Looking amazing at judging, the judges loved her hula hoop photo.

Fo - very sweet and beautiful face.

Tiyana - Her face was almost missing from the shot entirely, so it didn't really show her potential.

London - One of Nigel's favorites. The motion was great and her face was fresh and young looking. In person, the judges were not totally convinced that she has the proportions for a model.

Jessica - Her photo was stunning and very "model" but it had nothing to do with the photo shoot's issue, which kind of killed it for the judges.

Aminat - She almost looked angry in her photo, and while I was thinking she might have the most potential so far, she really didn't come through with a photo that made sense. Paulina complimented her runway walk, but is afraid that she only has one note.

Isabella - Her shot looks more dancey than anything else. Tyra mentioned that her hands were in front of her face a lot. Mister Jay didn't like it either, but I wouldn't say she's the worst!

Naija - Her face and hair turned out great and very sweet and innocent, but they thought it looked more like hopscotch than musical chairs.

Kortnie - Liked her face too, but something weird about her legs.

Allison - The judges loved it with her very wide-eyed innocence.

Tahlia - One girl that needs a makeover, let me just say. Her shot was okay, but she also had some leg issues. Tyra told her that honestly people aren't going to want to see her scars and other people will want to flaunt them. SHe needs to reconcile that with herself.

Natalie - Her shot was sweet, but Paulina said that she could not see her potential from the shot.

The models headed off to a holding room while the judges looked over their photos one more time.

"13 beautiful girls stand before, but I only have 12 photos in my hand."

Best picture of the week: ALLISON (unanimous decision from the judges)

2. FO
3. Tiyana
4. London
5. Celia
6. Naija
7. Kortnie
8. Natalie
9. Aminat
10. Tahlia
11. Jessica

The bottom two in the very first week were Sandra and Isabella.

You know Sandra had to be trippin' cause she thought she was going to win. Isabella has a beautiful spirit, but she was lost on set. Sandra was the biggest disappointment on the runway and then her photo was a disappointment as well. So who stays in the competition?

I was so ready for her to say that Sandra was going home. I certainly didn't expect Isabella to go home first, but in the end, you just never can predict what will happen. Isabella is just a victim of not having a great photo shoot. Her runway was okay. Maybe the producers just basically said, keep Sandra cause she's adding a lot of sass and drama to the show this cycle! In some ways, I have to admit that I'm glad she's still in for that exact same reason.

Who is your favorite so far this season? What did you think of McKey's CG commercials?

Cycle 12 Begins!!

2009-03-04T21:03:00.002-05:00

As Goddesses in the city of sin, 34 women made their way to Las Vegas in hopes of becoming America's Next Top Model. All of the girls had their chance to impress the judges with their interviews, swimsuit body and their posing. I think the first cuts seemed to be pretty clear.

When breaking the news to the girls, Mister and Miss Jay let them go up to small boxes with their names on them. Inside was either a golden crown or not... In honor of Vegas, they chose 21 semi-finalists. Those 21 girls were given one last chance to impress the judges in a "Goddess" photo shoot.

Each girl was given a Goddess to emulate. For example, "The Goddess of Love", "The Goddess of Justice", "The Goddess of Pride"... and so on. For the most part, you could see which girls already had some experience modeling and which ones did not. Of course, ANTM is not about how much experience a girl already has, but rather how quickly they can learn to become a better model.

The highlight of the entire photo shoot was what was going on behind the scenes. Ghetto-fabulous Angelea with her long crazy fingernails and her fake hair showed us all that she "Won't let people pull her buttons." I myself have never pulled a button, but sometimes I do like to push buttons. /shrug. Sandra said something about the way she looked and Angelea went nuts. Lesson number one of how to make it to the finals of any competition is don't argue and show your ass in front of the judges and the people who matter in the competition.

When the final decisions were announced and of course there were the usual tears and cheers. Cycle 12 finalists are: Aminat (the cool black girl with a fro); Natalie; Fo (the Blaxican with freckles and my personal fave); Allison (of the bug eyes aka the token awkward girl); Tahlia (the not skinny, but not plus-size burn victim); Celia (25 year old beautiful and fun blonde); Najia (very pretty but doesn't really stand out for me); London (the interesting Jesus-freak); Tiyana (wind-tunnel face girl); Kortnie (plus size ex of Dale Earnhardt junior); Isabella (fresh and fun dirty blonde who also has epilepsy, but doesn't seem to want to let it hold her back); Jessica (the "prettiest" who will probably become known as commercial); and finally Sandra (the African girl who thinks she's got this whole thing in the bag and has DRAMA written all over her prominent forehead bone)

This season will be taking place in NYC again and the girls will be living on the Upper East Side for the very first time. Hell, just getting to live there for a few weeks (or months) would make it all worth it for me. This is shaping up to be a great and drama-filled season.

Slacker

2009-01-16T09:30:00.003-05:00

Unfortunately, I only made it halfway through last season of America's Next Top Model before I slacked off on the website recaps. I did watch the show, however. How could I miss it? McKey was the big winner, and I really think she deserved it. Personally, Analeigh was my very favorite, but I think McKey just sort of looked more like a traditional high fashion model by the end.

I will be back with more recaps next season and will hopefully be able to post all the way through. As for now, I am writing recaps of American Idol. If you are interested in that show as well, check it out at http://allaboutamericanidol.blogspot.com/ . The show is just now in the audition phase and it will still be about three or four weeks before the regular Hollywood auditions kick in. There seems to be some good talent around so far, so be sure to keep up with it if you can. Thanks for visiting! And I'll see you next season of ANTM!

Episode 5 Recap: Clark is Eliminated

2008-10-01T21:02:00.004-04:00

I know it's mean to cheer when someone gets sent home, but there have rarely been contestants on this show that I wanted to see kicked off more than I did Clark. I was even inspired to start chanting, "Clark's going home, Clark's going home" after her photo shoot. I am so mean, I know, but Clark was more wrong than Paulina's poochy stomach flash this week. I guess I should start from the beginning.

Only nine girls left in America's Next Top Model, and as they returned to their house post-Isis elimination, Clark's winning photo was greeting them. "Fierce. Strong. Blew me away." was plastered over her picture, and you could just see the cocky on her face as she walked through the door. "It's lonely at the top," she chided, while poor Marjorie's confidence plumeted. The house was dominated this week by girls trying to find their positivity, but in the background, Marjorie was there with her nerves and her "cultural" tendency towards the negative.

THE CHALLENGE: Make it Fit!

At the challenge this week, Paulina greeted the girls at a run down warehouse. She was wearing a hideous blue suit that didn't fit her at all. Why she felt the need to lift the shirt up to reveal her tiny pouch belly, I have no idea, but I was happy when she changed out of that and into a simple black tank top and jeans. She looked so much more beautiful in that simple outfit than she ever does at panel.

Paulina's challenge to the girls was to give them all clothes that didn't fit and give them five minutes to find tools to make it fit well enough to be photographed. They were given clips and soda cans, water bottles and padding for their bras. While everyone was rushing around stuffing things in their pants to make them tighter in front and clipping wherever they could, Marjorie was pouting in the corner. I know there are a lot of Marjorie fans out there, but I have to say that she lost a lot of respect from me this week. I wanted to scream, "Get over it! Try for goodness sake!" Instead, she sort of gave up, and then when Paulina criticized her outfit, she cried and blamed it on her parents being French.

After the girls paraded their fitted outfits in front of Paulina, she declared that Samantha was the absolute worst while McKey was the very best. I have to say, even though Samantha makes a lot of bad decisions, at least she isn't afraid to try new things and fail as long as she can keep learning. Her bad choice this week was to completely change her outfit by altering the clothes rather than just making them fit. This is generally a bad idea when you are supposed to be modeling the clothes for a catalog that people will order from. McKey, on the other hand, put a soda can in the back of the pants and clipped them to make her outfit look fabulous... from the front. As the winner, she gets fifty extra frames in this week's photo shoot.

THE SHOOT: A Force to Be Reckoned With

The very creative shoot this week was all about "Destructive Giants". In order to really get them pumped for the shoot, Jay Manuel dressed up yet again this season. This time, though, he was no prince, opting instead for a scary monster to bring his point across. "It is important to really come through and make an impact, even with a bunch of makeup on."

The photographer, Brian Edwards, was picked by Tyra after she walked into Elite one day and saw the pictures he had recently taken of Jaslene from Cycle 8. The set was miniaturized in order to make the models, who were dressed up in a very 60's style, look like giants. They were each given a different "Natural Disaster" (or at least LA disaster) to portray.

Elina was an Earthquake, but she didn't really get into the spirit of it until the last frame. Sheena was a sandstorm and Jay liked her variety. At panel later on, Nigel really said that he loved this shot of Sheena because she brings so much life and personality to her shot, to which Paulina quipped "With her personality, but not with her looks." Ever confident Clark walked on the set saying, "I'm confident" but then proceded to give a very boring portrayal of a blackout. I honestly think she just lucked into a good picture last week.

Lauren Brie did a pretty snowstorm, while Joslyn slid towards the bottom of the group as a rockslide. Analeigh's photoshoot as the Santa Ana Winds was close to the best of the day, but it was McKey that impressed Jay the most on set. She was trying all kinds of poses and giving it a lot of variety. Jay even said that she didn't need the extra frames. At panel, though, the judges just thought she should have given more. I would love to see the rest of her film, because maybe Tyra just picked a photo that wasn't her best this week.

Samantha brought a lot of energy and creativity to the set in her portrayal of a Tidal Wave. She also looked great in the 60's style hair and makeup! Melodramatic Marjorie did not bring much to the set at all, however. Mr. Jay had to physically walk up to the set and position her arms and legs to make her shoot work. Afterwards she moped and said, "I felt like a fool." Somehow, however, at judging she ended up with a good shot and everyone loved it, which just proves that her lack of confidence is a mystery.

PANEL: Clark goes from #One to #Gone

Just before panel, they showed a clip of Clark in the confessional saying, "I'm number one in this competition right now. I know I'm not going home." Famous last words, I guess. At panel, it was bottom two Samantha who rose to the top this week to win the digital display as best photo of the week. Taking her place at the bottom was a very mediocre, but very surprised Clark.

As for their critiques of the others, the judges, which included guest judge and photographer Brian Edwards, put the girls in the following order:
Samantha was top of the heap with Miss Jay especially going gaga over her "exquisite" photo.
Analeigh didn't blow anyone away, but she was cute and looking good. She was also the only one that the photographer spoke up for, saying that he liked her and was happy with her photo.
McKey could have given it a bit more, but overall they were happy with her picture.
Elina had that "Ugly Pretty" going on in her photo, even though Tyra said the rest of her film was 'boring'.
Marjorie had a good picture and seemed confident enough at panel, but seems to be falling apart.
Lauren Brie takes amazing photos but it's time for her to step it up a notch and stop "resting on pretty."
Sheena was towards the bottom and I can't for the life of me figure out why. The judges seemed to like her picture and her personality.
Joslyn in the bottom two was so sad to see, but she needs to get back to the energy and creativity she was bringing to set at the beginning. Even though she and Clark seemed to be neck and neck with their performance in photo shoots, it was Joslyn's energy and personality that put her on top.
Clark was told that instead of lucking into a fabulous picture, they wanted to see her being great each time. She was sent packing.

I am already really looking forward to next week, because they were showing Tyra giving posing lessons, which is always great fun. She's so crazy, you just never know what she's going to do next. I think she has actually been a little bit reserved this season, and I can't wait to see her bring out the crazy. As for the photo shoot, all they showed was that Elina was scared about her performance because this was the shoot where the models needed to be able to lose control. Should be a good episode!! Thanks for reading and check back each week for a detailed synopsis and more photos.

Hannah and Isis both Eliminated: Episode 4 Recap

2008-09-29T12:44:00.005-04:00

Two eliminations this week... so harsh. The first half of the episode was all about runway. Miss J met the girls at a bowling alley and handed them high heels that were inspired by bowling shoes. Hannah cracked me up when she saw the shoes and said, "Wow, I didn't know they made stuff like that." It would be even funnier if we got to see her walk into a normal bowling alley with some friends and specifically request the high heeled bowling shoes. Haha! Then again, she probably never walks in heels unless she has to, judging by the way she walked in them this week. Miss J even said she walked like she had a bowling ball dropped on her head. It was pretty painful to watch.

Of course, that was not Hannah's best quote this week. I couldn't go on without mentioning that at the very beginning, Hannah was listening to some of the girls complaining and feeling upset about their performances and she said "I'm so over the pity parties. You've got to pick up your beans and keep on rolling." She puncuated this strange statement with a timely finger snap.

As for the other girls in the practice runb, Joslyn really turned it on and did a little extra, bringing her personality and strong energy to the makeshift bowling alley runway. Sam was told that she needed "rock her bow legs", which she seemed to take in stride, listening to Miss J's advice and doing her best to follow through. Elina got a little too "thinky" on the runway, controling every movement, but everyone else was fair. Oh, and WTH was up with McKey's crazy outfit in that scene? She looked like she just stepped off the set of Star Trek...

Later, back at the house, we got to see a tiny bit of house drama as Clark and Lauren Brie snuggled on the couch, dishing out their views of the other girls and how they look. The pair seemed to like Elina and McKey's "look" but dogged Isis hardcore in whispered voices. I must admit that I was disappointed to see Lauren Brie in cahoots with the likes of Clark. I was secretly hoping for Clark to fall on her face or take yet another bad pic this week and get voted out, but that is just not how the cards fell, my friends.

At the challenge this week, the models had to walk in a Jeremy Scott fashion show, Blindfolded. Yikes! Good thing so many of them practiced their walks at home the night before. Hannah, bless her heart, just wasn't getting any better, but she tried. Mr Jay and Miss J were both there to help judge the competition, as was Ann SHoket, editor in chief of Seventeen Magazine and frequent face on ANTM. Mr. Jay announced two very important things before the show began... #1 - The winner of the runway challenge would get to do a photo shoot of Kira Platinina's designs in a Seventeen Magazine shoot (Kira is a super famous 15 year old designer); and #2 - The girl at the bottom of the pack would be sent packing... no second chances and no photo shoot. I would have been completely shocked at this news if they hadn't already told us in the previews. Oh well.

So who nailed it and who screwed it up? Joslyn was the #1 girl on the runway, and she was hot. She really does look professional up there! I was really proud of Analeigh also. She seemed to finally find her confidence this week. Sheena looked great, and so did Isis and McKey. With all of those girls, it didn't seem as though the blindfolds really bothered them at all. They could see through them a tiny bit so they wouldn't fall off the runway, but I am sure it was still difficult. Overall, those were the best of the best. Clark and Marjorie wobbled through and Hannah looked every bit as horrible as she had at the bowling alley.

The designer also got really pissed off at Samantha because he had told her backstage that she absolutely should not lift her dress up. Then, when she got on stage, she did just that...I guess she was trying to be super confident and look sexy, but she put her hands on her hips and lifted her dress up so high that you could see her ass hanging out. He was PISSED. I am wondering if maybe she didn't understand that the black tights she was wearing were not supposed to be pants, but more like pantyhose. Either way, it is never a good idea to get out on the runway and do the one thing the designed told you NOT to do.

The only thing that saved Sam in this runway competition, I'm guessing, is that at least she seemed confident, and she has really shown a lot of promise in her photo shoots. Hannah, however, hasn't really done that well in any shoot or competition, and she was sent packing. Her response when her name was called? "Oh, Okay." and she walked off. I guess she decided to pick up her beans and keep rolling.

For the editorial shoot in Seventeen magazine, Joslyn got to take two friends, and she chose Sheena and Isis. They looked good together and I think that overall, the shoot went pretty well. Good job Joslyn! Hard to believe she tried out for ANTM so many times and didn't get in until now. She is really talented!

PHOTO SHOOT

Early in the morning, while all the girls were still sleeping, Mr. Jay came in and woke them up with a very loud whistle. What an awful way to wake up! I would have been so cranky, but the girls seemed to handle it well as soon as they realized they were about to do a photo shoot right there at their house.

When they got out to the pool, I thought it was about to be Tyra taking their pictures, but I was just a bit off. Nigel came up out of the water in a dramatic fashion and told the girls that their "Eyes are the windows to your soul." Their directions in the shoot were to have their heads underwater, just letting their nose and eyes peek up from the water, and then possibly to have their hands or anything in a great, unique pose. I thought this was a neat photo shoot and really tested their ability to think outside of the box. The only one who was truly scared of the water was Joslyn, who confessed that she cannot swim. Girl better learn, that's all I'm saying.

Even though I had been secretly hoping for Clark to underperform again this week, she cranked it up a notch and turned it on for Nigel. Mr. Jay thought the only reason she was doing a good job was because she was trying to turn Nigel on... I don't think she did the way she had hoped, but he did seem to like her performance. Overall, the shoot was a big success. Lauren Brie was great as usual, and even Analeigh brought her A-Game ("Yo, I'm like, a model") Sheena looked better than ever in her ethnic, tribal look and Samantha was doing some unique poses. Elina, the winner from last week, pretty much tanked, though. She basically just froze up in front of Nigel and said "I'm stuck". She never really got un-stuck, but her sheer beauty was enough to pull her through this kind of shoot I think.

I really felt for Isis in this shoot though. For the second week, they had her in a bathing suit, and this time it was even skimpier and more revealing than the week before... and she was in the water. Unfortunately, she was more worried about whether her tape would come off in the water and set her remaining male parts free, than she was about putting together a good photo. It's a tough situation. On one hand, I think it was mean to do something that they knew she would find uncomfortable two weeks in a row. On the other hand, if she wants to be a model, she has to find a way to at least appear focused and comfortable no matter what the situation. The truth is, they probably already had the photo shoots planned out and put in order before they even picked the girls in the first place.

PANEL

Tyra Mail! As the girls read that panel was coming up and someone was going to be eliminated, Clark waved to Elina's digital photo and said "Goodbye Elina." That was the first time I had heard any tiny bit of jealousy or drama about the digital photo, but I thought it was pretty catty considering that Elina had already told them she didn't do a good job in her shoot. Clark gets more and more evil as the weeks go on. Her dark hair was so appropriate.

At panel, Miss J's necklace was down to number 10 (complete with a paper 0 taped to his chest because someone stole his number!) In the critiques, the judges praised Sheena for her intensity and loved the "mystery" in Lauren Brie's eyes. They all agreed that Joslyn looked terrified, but that Marjorie had delivered a wicked kind of beauty in her photo. Isis' pic did not turn out well at all, bless her heart. Neither did Elina's, but her performance up to now has been so good that she's still safe for now.

McKey's picture was intense and beautiful, but Paulina hated her giant hand coming up from the water. I will say that her hand did look a bit awkward and manly, but her eyes are just amazing. Speaking of amazing eyes, Clark really put on her bedroom eyes and smiled the way that Tyra loves. I guess now we know that Nigel inspires her! Analeigh had a good picture also, looking so great with her legs up above the water. Paulina even said that if Analeigh had a bad picture, she would have been voting her off, but that her great performance this week has kept her going. Samantha had another great picture, and guest judge, designer Jeremy Scott said that although hers was the best picture, she was the absolute worst in his runway show. He really tore her up in panel, but she handled it very well, keeping her mouth shut and nodding in understanding.

After making the girls leave and going through the photos again (with Scott making another comment about how Sam walked like a mix between a truck driver and a stripper in his show), they called them back in to reveal the results. Clark and her squeeky clean, just washed red face was named photo of the week, which just tore me up. She has totally sucked every other week up to now, and she somehow moved from the bottom to the top overnight. Analeigh also moved up to number two, but I felt better about this rise because we have been watching Analeigh really work to get better. Lauren Brie and Sheena were the next called. At the bottom were Elina, Samantha, and Isis. I guess this week really turned the competition on its head considering that Elina was almost in the bottom 2 after a best photo last week.

Samantha and Isis were the two put on the chopping block and Samantha had tears running down her face as she took another flogging from Tyra about her runway faux pas. I am sure she will never make that same mistake again! Isis was the one sent home, however, because of two weak photos in a row. I was glad she at least got to do the Seventeen magazine shoot with Joslyn, but I had been hoping she would get farther in the competition. Tyra told her she had been a great role model to the "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender" community (Did I get em all Miss J??) The problem with Isis was that even though she was different, she was scared to step up and stand out. The judges felt that she should have embraced her differences with more passion instead of trying to look and act like the other girls. I am sad to see Isis go, because she was one of my favorites. I love that she wore a tiara as she packed up and walked out of the house. I have a feeling that she will be very successful as long as she keeps believing in herself and giving it her all.

Brittany Eliminated: Episode 3 Recap

2008-09-17T21:06:00.002-04:00

Tonight's episode of Top Model was about as dull as Brittany's photograph. You still want to watch it because it's interesting and pretty, but there just isn't that (what did the supermodel call it?)... oh yeah... Wow factor. Every year, I scream at the television, trying to tell the model wanna-be's that they should have expected something crazy from their makeovers and if they want to be models, they better get used to people messing with their "look". This year, though, it seemed a bit anticlimactic. There were only two or three serious changes, with most of the girls just getting their hair color changed or the length tweaked a bit. Only two girls cried! That has to be a top model record. No one threw a crazy fit or freaked out and threatened to quit. Overall, that part was a bit disappointing.

Makeovers

The highlight of the episode for me was when Tiara Tyra gave the girls a princess party where she served pizza and talked about how she changed her entire career path when she realized that she actually had a booty and some boobies. Isn't it interesting how Tyra herself left the high fashion modeling behind and opted for more commercial things like Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret... and yet she always criticizes her contestants for being "too commercial" and not "high fashion" enough? I guess she's rich enough at this point that she can do anything she darn well pleases. It is, after all, her show.

Tiara Tyra's story about her career change segued into her announcement that it was that time for the girls as well... Makeovers! But before she could tell each girl what her makeover would be, an evil Ms. J hobbled in and gave her poisonous apple, which, of course, left Princess Tyra dead on the chair. Never fear! Mr. Jay was there to save the day as her sweet Prince. He kissed her on the lips (aren't the rumors supposedly that they absolutely hate each other?) and carried her away.

So what did Tyra, the Tiara wearing "Good Fierce Witch" have in store for each of her model proteges? Marjorie was given warm brown hair, but her short length stayed the same. Joslyn got long, wavy hair which honestly did not make that much difference in her look at all. Samantha was one of the only drastic makeovers of the day. Her long blonde hair was chopped off and she was given an edgy short hair cut with bangs. She cried, but she wasn't very dramatic about it, and quickly got used to her new look.

Hannah's hair was chopped off also and she was given a chin length bob with straight bangs. I think it only served to make her look even more young and goofy than she already was, but I'm not in charge here. Clark's blonde hair was darkened to a very rich brown, which looked great on camera, but still didn't do much to help her face in the photograph. Lauren Brie basically just got blonder than she already was, and Analeigh got blonde highlights and thicker layers. Brittany got a weave with some wave in it and so did Isis, minus the wave. McKey's makeover turned out fantastic with them cutting her hair super short and turning it almost black.

Finally, Tyra wanted to make sure that Sheena and Elina got their own identities, rather than being compared to Kimora and Angelina Jolie. Sheena got caramel colored highlights in her hair, and it turned out really well with her skin color. Elina's was the most drastic makeover of all. They changed her from an edgy black haired girl to a wavy, voluptuous redhead. Her transformation was by far the most shocking, and finally I got to see real tears from one of the models. In the end, though, she sucked it up and learned to love it in record time.

Late Night at Walmart

Right after the girls got home from a stressful day sitting in chairs and having their hair done, they returned to the house only to be told that they were leaving again for some "late night" work. They soon arrived at a huge Walmart store that was opened up just for them, and were greeted by makeup artist Sudan who has been on the show for years, as well as Crissy Barker, covergirl spokesmodel and wife to sexy Nigel.

After unveiling the makeup stand that will be placed in Walmarts around the country bearing Whitney's winning Covergirl photo, they announced a challenge. Each girl was to find her TruBlend shade of foundation and apply it quickly, then give a short commercial explaining the TruBlend color selector that can be found in all Walmarts to help Covergirl customers find their perfect match. The winner gets a $1000 gift card to Walmart and her photo on the Covergirl page at Walmart.com.

For the most part, I was impressed with the ease of delivery. Most girls spoke fluidly and appeared completely comfortable in front of the camera. Analeigh, however, was painful to watch. She could barely figure out what she wanted to say, and then she punctuated her performance with a tossed off "Yo!" at the end of her video. Ouch. You could literally see Crissy Barker cringe. Brittany and Marjorie also bombed it, stumbling over their words and obviously uncomfortable. Marjorie apparently thought she was shopping at Walgreens, which only shows that she's never actually been in a Walgreens. Either that, or her hometown has the HUGEST Walgreens on the planet. Either way, Walmart would not have been pleased if that was a professional gig.

Hannah was the big winner of the challenge, even though I thought she was a bit goofy the entire time. Personally, I thought Samantha's delivery was fantastic. I have no idea why they picked Hannah, but there are many things about this show that completely boggle my mind, so I'll just accept it and let it go.

House Drama

Now let us pause for the only house drama of the week. After last week's racial tension, I was expecting more firey house scenes, but there ended up being only one strange scene between Elina and Brittany in the bedroom. Brittany proclaimed how much she loved her mother, and the girls in the room got into a conversation about their relationships with their parents. Elina, who hasn't really opened up to anyone very much, offered the very personal information that she never has loved her mom and their relationship is what has made her so guarded towards others. I can't blame her for not going into too much detail about the ins and outs of her private drama with her mother, but Brittany seemed to think that Elina was "evil" for not loving her mother.

Brittany's argument was that if Elina's mom was paying for her food and allowing her to live in her house, then she should love her. Elina said that yes, her mother takes care of her financially, but she doesn't show her any love. Brittany bantered back that paying for things is a way of showing love, to which Elina retorted, "I hate her... I hate my mom." There has to be some deep dark secrets there, and instead of being sympathetic to her feelings, Brittany blurted out that Elina is just "using" her mom. I don't blame Elina for getting uncomfortable with the conversation at that point. There's nothing worse than opening up to some housemates for the first time and being instantly slammed for your feelings. All in all, though, the house drama was pretty lame.

Who is "Suited" to be America's Next Top Model?

The photo shoot this week was the all-popular swimsuit shoot. Mr. Jay explained that Tyra made history by being the first black model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, and that the photographer who shot that infamous picture, Russel something or other, was there to take this week's photos. Also running the shoot was the 90's supermodel turned swimsuit designer, Susan Holmes. The girls were modeling her suits, and I thought they were very cute. I especially liked the pink sparkly one that Lauren Brie modeled. Very sexy.

The models started to freak out when Mr. Jay said he was going to "take the training wheels off" and leave the direction of the photo shoot to the photographer and the supermodel. I knew that things were going to start heading in that direction this week. The first thing I wrote in my notes during the intro to the show was "It's time to step it up and see who has the ability to grow."

Okay, so let's talk about the one thing that popped into my mind immediately... how the heck is Isis going to hide her package in a swimsuit? Mr. Jay even told her that the photographer and Mrs. Holmes were not aware of her transgender "situation" and he just wanted to make sure that she was comfortable. I was amazed at how well she did, honestly, but it's obvious that she was holding back. After a super impressive first week shot, Isis has slowly been slipping towards the bottom of the pack. The photgrapher even commented that he was unsure of Isis's modeling potential just due to the structure of her face. Ouch. That can't be good.

Proving my goofball and strange theory, Hannah looked like a crazy person in her photo shoot. The photographer must have told her ten or twenty times that she needed to relax her eyes and stop doing that with her eyes, but she never seemed to get it. Afterwards, he said that she was schitzy and had psycho eyes. Double ouch. I think that despite the fact that she won a challenge this week, she will not last more than a week or two.

At the top of the pack this week were Elina, who looked amazing with her new red curls, Lauren Brie (who wore that sexy pink bikini) was smokin' for the second week in a row. If Lauren can get her "in-person" look together, she will be one of the top contenders. Samantha's picture was really good, and I loved the way that they had her wearing a white bikini and holding a white flower. It looked fantastic with her blonde hair. Similarly, Mckey's dark hair was mirrored with a black bikini. Her eyes are really amazing too.

At the bottom of the pack, called up at the end to face Tyra's rant about only having "one photo in her hand, and the girl whose name is not called must pack her bags immediately... and go home," were Analeigh and Brittany. I was actually kind of sad to see Analeigh at the bottom. I sort of felt like Clark deserved to be there more than Analeigh. I mean, has Clark even had one good picture? Paulina's comment that Analeigh's arms looked scary, combined with guest judged Susan Holmes' observation that Analeigh needs to do more research and learn more about poses, landed Analeigh in a dangerous bottom 2 position.

I guess I should have known that the one they were sending home was Brittany. After all, they showed scenes throughout the entire episode where Brittany was crying or complaining about how people are always saying that she is "pretty." The problem I had with her argument is that even after she realized that this was her weakest point in the competition and that she needed to show more high fashion fierceness, she never even tried to change her attitude or her posing. She was given opportunity after opportunity to show that she was able to adapt to the needs of the competition, but she really only concentrated on complaining and crying. She got sent home because she just couldn't grow and get better. I loved Brittany's first week shot, but the past two weeks she was just boring and annoying. I was not sad to see her go.

Nikeysha Sent Packing - Week 2 Recap

2008-09-10T21:03:00.005-04:00

The drama has officially begun in casa de top model this week. After last week's previews, we knew it was going to start heating up, but there were more racially motivated arguments this week than there were gay men... and that's really saying something.

The two big questions asked this week were "Are you racist?" and "Can you pose?". I am not sure if either of those is quite as interesting as the "How do you hide your package?" question from last week, but it will just have to do. I was also a bit disappointed in the fact that no one had a jealous behind-her-back bitch fest about Marjorie's picture that was digitally displayed in the house all week with the words "Intelligent, Divine, Marvelous" written across the screen. Maybe we will get to hear some jealous comments later. We didn't really hear much out of Marjorie this week at all, come to think of it, but I'll get to her later.

House Drama: Are you racist?

For now, let's discuss the major issue at hand. Is there a racist lurking in the top model house this season? Perhaps. It all started when the girls were crammed into the hot tub (yes, all 13 of them in a big tub). Truth or dare already had Hannah out of her comfort zone. You could practically see her wanting to bolt when Clark was dared to kiss Elina, which actually was pretty hot. I think Clark looked like she enjoyed it a little bit, and it's definite that Elina was digging it. She even said in her interview afterwards that she saw "fireworks" and that Clark's lips were so soft. Ah, romance. Hannah wasn't into it though, saying to the camera that "I am from a small town and I normally wouldn't hang with characters like Elina or Isis (pause) because she's a transgender." If that wasn't enough to seal her fate as someone who holds extreme prejudice in her heart, just wait, there's more.

A few moments after that, Isis swam a bit too close to her and she physically pushed her. I couldn't believe it. Her excuse was that she didn't want anyone in her space. Were we just supposed to ignore the two other girls she was sandwiched between like an oreo cookie? She didn't mind her arms and legs rubbing against those girls, but Isis got within three feet of her and she got physical. Back in the bedrooms, Sheena and Britney tried to explain that her behavior was offensive, but instead of admitting it and wanting to learn from the experience, she gave her excuse ("I am a stereotypical white girl, so I don't go around saying things like "Hey" and screaming and doing stuff like that.") and then cried for sympathy.

Pretty much the rest of the shots from the house this week revolved around Hannah's obvious dislike for people who are different from herself. Honestly, I'm not sure if Hannah knows what a stereotypical white girl is, but she seems to have some pretty strong opinions in her mind about stereotypical black girls and transgenders and lesbians... and she just knows that she's not like that.

After we watched several clips of one group after another either bashing Hannah or bashing the people who were bashing Hannah, they finally decided to call a "house meeting" and get it out in the open. I have to speak in Hannah's defense here a bit though. She was totally ambushed. that had to be disturbing! Basically, they just gathered everyone together and asked her if she was racist, to which she replied, "No, but thanks for critiquing me." and then, she cried. I did fell a little bit sorry for her. And don't you hate that in the previews they didn't show her saying no? They just showed her walking off... which is a blatant attempt at exploiting the situation for the drama of it.

Later, of course, I felt less sorry for her when she was describing the house meeting as being "like gang rape or gang violence". Obviously this small town girl has no idea how far that was from something as terrible as gang rape. We'll just have to watch and see how the drama plays out from here and if she continues to show prejudice or not. I'll tell you one thing, though, the episode made me glad thatI don't live in a house with 12 other women.

The only other interesting house event worth mentioning is that we got to watch Isis take her hormone shots. It became a bonding event between her and Analeigh when she asked her to come in the bathroom and distract her from the pain while she was taking her injections. I have to say, Analeigh was a good friend to her. She made her laugh and passed zero judgment on her for it.

Modeling Drama: Can you pose?

Everyone's favorite poser was back this week to teach the noob models a thing about extreme posing. Benny Ninja met with the girls and had them pose inside red fabric tubes. Most people did a decent job, but the most common comment was that their poses were good, but their faces were not. I'm sure it's hard to concentrate on two things at once, so we have to give them a little bit of time to get used to it. Haha. Sheena was called out for being the best and the most flexible (she can do that standing up full split that the girl from Pussy Cat Dolls does in the "When I grow up" video). Probably the worst of the day was Hannah, who just couldn't figure it out. Benny said she was "lost in translation", which I thought was clever.

The next Tyra mail said something about whether you've got it in the bag and Lauren Brie made the oh so very astute observation that, "I think it might be a challenge about posing, but I'm not sure." Wow, could that be because you guys just spent eight hours learning how to pose? I wonder...

Surprise, surprise, when they walked into their challenge the next day, Benny was there, doing a full split across a couch with a tiny little gold hat sparkling on his head. Posing it is! Tarina Tarantina, a famous handbag and jewelry designer, was there to judge the girls as they did their best to model her accessories and make her collection pop. The winner was to be the model with the most inventive poses.

Just a few notes on some of the things they came up with: Sam looked like she had no clue at all how to pose, most of the girls just copied each other, Hanna put the bag on the chandelier, which was totally weird, and Nikeysha was dumb enough to walk onstage and say "If I pee on myself, it's for you, cause I really need to go to the bathroom." Oh. My. God. I couldn't believe she actually said that! And that still wasn't the worst thing. Sheena, who was the best poser from the day before, actually did a weird kind of split and placed the bag right in front of her hoo-hoo. The designer found the pose very disrespectful. The winner of the challenge was Elina, who got to take home a bag full of sparkly jewelry. I wonder if she got a tiny sparkly hat?

The Tyra Mail announcing the photo shoot said something about "climbing the ladder" so I had a feeling it would be another top model flying through the air kind of shot. I wasn't exactly expecting a giant hot air balloon though. It was a cool idea, but unfortunately the wind was blowing it around crazy and they had to just hang the ladder from a crane and then superimpose the picture of the girls and ladder with the balloon later.

Lauren Brie was first up, and no one really touched her in creativity. Here are my notes for the other girls, in shorthand:
Elina: Looked like Angelina Jolie.
Analeigh: Ouch. No.
Sheena: Hooch.
Isis: Struggling a bit - bad facial expression.
Nikeysha: So lost. She has no control.
Britney: No good poses.
Joslyn: Great posing and face!
Clark: Terrible. She was sitting on the ladder.
Hannah: Stick figure.
Samantha: Not aware of her dress at all.
McKey: Great when he wasn't taking the pictures. Not so great when he was.
Marjorie: Very good! She looks great with long hair!!!

Later that night, the dreaded Tyra mail announcing panel and that they would be down to only 12 put a sour puss on everyone's faces. Especially after Sheena said, "Ya'll better start packing, hehe." You could hear crickets, I'm telling you. Everyone looked like they feared for their very lives.

Panel Drama: Up, Up, Up and Away

Miss J. Alexander's giant gold necklace said it all. "13" and next week it will only be "12". Do you think he had those especially made? Oh, and I wanted to comment on Paulina's hair. It was super short, but very cute. Did she cut it or just have it pulled up? I couldn't tell.

Tyra got right down to business, and the story was the same for the majority of the pictures: Nice angles, Nice Poses... Bad face. Lauren Brie's photo was the only one that just really made them say "Wow!" and I have to agree. It was worlds better than last week, and really looked like something you would see in Vogue. Elina, Marjorie, and Joslyn also got very good reviews on their pictures.

The most notable embarrassing comments during panel were Nigel saying that Clark's face looked like it was a weird color at panel ("I may have gone a little crazy with the powder and stuff"), Tyra saying that Isis looked like she was in Elementary school (what the hell was she wearing? This is the second week in a row she has looked very bad in panel... she better get it together!), and them calling Britney merely a "High End Catalog" girl. (Of course, Tyra made the comment that she could make a million dollars a year being a catalog girl... and she acted like that was no big deal. I'll take that job, thank you very much.)

The worst of panel, however, was what happened with Sheena. Paulina asked her flat out if her breasts were fake, saying that they were not just big, they were so "placed." Sheena said no at first and went back to her spot. After they were done with the photos, however, and before they made their final decision, Sheena asked to come forward and she admitted that she needed to fess up and tell the truth. Yes, she had a boob job when she was younger. So, she lied, but in the end she came up and told the truth, which is probably one of the only things that saved her this week. Tyra claimed that she already knew her breasts were fake, and I am sure Paulina knew she was lying too. I mean, these women have made a career out of their beauty and their bodies... they know fake when they see fake. I'm glad she told the truth though. That took guts.

So, who's picture gets the digital display for the week? Lauren Brie. The judges even said her picture was top five in the history of top model, which is a huge compliment. It really was a great photo, I must say. Elina was called second and everyone said she looked like "Angelina Jolie" modeling. It's true, but I think she's more ethereal than Angelina. We'll see what they do to Elina in makeovers. I'm scared.

When it came down to final two, it was Isis and Nikeysha. They told Isis that she's a beautiful girl (at which point the camera cut to Hanna making a weird face that read "girl? yeah, right.") , but that she needed to look better in person. They told Nikeysha that she is way too thin and she does not ever stop talking. I personally think she did better this week, but still... she is awfully skinny. In the end, two weak photo shoots in a row sent Nikeysha packing. She cried as she packed her bags and talked about her experiences and her goals and her disappointment... and she talked some more... and she continued to talk as the credits rolled and eventually faded to black, cutting off her final top model ramble.

Next Week's Drama: Makeovers!!!!

I can't wait!! And in the preview, they have Elina sitting in a chair at the salon and Miss J is saying "This will be the very first time in top model history." Any guesses what they are going to do to her? I haven't got a clue, but I am going to be counting down the days until we find out!

Photos From Week One

2008-09-09T23:40:00.008-04:00

I am so excited about a new episode of ANTM tomorrow night! I went to the CW's website to look back over the week one photographs to refresh my memory on the performances from last week. I am so happy that they post their pictures each week! It's always so much fun to go back over them at the end of the season and see how much they really have grown by the end.

This year, Tyra announced that for the first time, the girl who gets her name called first at panel will have her photo displayed digitally in the house until the next elimination. I think this will bring an interesting dynamic to the house. It will certainly make it easy to spot the girls who can't handle the competition very well and who are prone to jealousy! Also, I'm sure that some of the girls who win throughout the season will get a big ego and a sort of "I was the best, so I rule the house" attitude. That would be fun to watch!! I just hope Marjorie, the winner of week one, doesn't continue to put herself down all week. That girl needs some self-confidence!

Here is Marjorie's winning picture:

She definitely photographs beautifully. She looks so mysterious in this photograph, and I love the way she has her legs. They always talk about finding the light, and it looks to me like Marjorie really nailed it in week one. Her skin looks luminous!

The main thing Marjorie needs to overcome is her lack of self-confidence. She got so nervous with Nigel last week when he asked who her favorite photographer is, that she couldn't think of a single photographer's name, and instead of coming up with a witty answer or even just saying that she was drawing a blank, she "um'd" and "hmmm'd" for a few minutes before giving a lame... "You?" Hopefully she finds a way to think better on her feet in future episodes.

Also, I can't be completely sure, but the few times that we've seen her walk, she looked a bit awkward to me. I don't feel like I've seen enough to really give a solid opinion about it yet, but as we all know, the only way you can win this competition is if you can walk. After all, the final "exam" is always a runway show.

The person voted off in week one was Sharaun, and here was her picture:
Honestly, I don't think it could have gotten much worse than this. She was supposed to be portraying Homeland Security, but instead, she looks like a prostitute trying to make a couple bucks at the airport on a Saturday night. Her face looks mean, honestly, but I think she was going for sexy. The sad part is that Mr. Jay was really trying to explain to her what he wanted, but she never really tried any harder or got any better.

I definitely did feel sorry for her after she had said so many times that she knew she was going to win. This girl is a cautionary tale, reminding us all that while we all need confidence, we better have the talent to back it up. If she had been a little bit more humble and little bit less, "I'm already good enough to be a supermodel, so all I'm doing it waiting for you to pick me as the winner," she might have actually stepped back and listened to the directions she was being given on set.

As a side note, however, this picture from Clark was by far my least favorite of the bunch. It doesn't really help that Clark's personality is repulsive to me, either, but come on... do you like this picture? She has a beautiful face, but she just looks completely lost in this photo. And just check out the position of her legs. It looks a bit awkward and strange to me. Time will tell if it was just a bad week, or if this modeling biz is just too much for her to handle.

I think that if the judges get wind of her terrible attitude and blatent prejudices, she will be out faster than Tyra can say, "Oh No She Didn't!"

I also want to take a moment to post my favorite pics from this week. Yes, I think Marjorie's pic was lovely, but I didn't think it was the best. In a way, I think Tyra only called her first because she knew that Marjorie needed a shot in the attitude. This week, I think that there were several better-than-average pictures, but here were my very top 2 favorites:

Elina did an awesome job in her picture this week. As Jay said during her shoot, "She's smiling with her eyes!" To me, she definitely makes voting look sexy! She holds her body well, and her legs look fantastic. There's nothing uncomfortable about her in this picture. She looks patriotic and sexy, exactly what they wanted her to look like.

Her face is absolutely gorgeous in this picture. She has such a beautiful and unique look with her dark hair and pale skin. And we all know that a girl who has already learned Tyra's favorite modeling technique is going to be a tough competitor!

Isis deserves a moment in the spotlight as well. I tried to just pic one favorite for this week, but I couldn't leave Isis out. Anyone who can look this amazing when there are assholes behind you saying ugly things is "fierce" in my book. I am still pissed at those girls for being so rude during her shoot! And everytime I think about it, I am more and more proud of Isis for how she handled it. All too often, people use things like that as a crutch for their shortcomings, but she handled it like a professional model and got her shoot done beautifully. I also like the tenderness that she shows in this picture. The way she holds that ballet to her chest, it really looks like she is concerned about her privacy and her rights. I love it! I will be rooting for her this week. (And praying that she shows up looking better at panel....WTF was she thinking going in there with her hair looking like a ragdoll?)

PRECAP

In the previews for tomorrow's show, it looks like the drama has finally begun! Elina already admitted last week that converting straight girls was a hobby of hers, and by the looks of it, she has her sights set on Clark. That should be interesting to watch! Especially in light of Clark's very conservative small town values. (or at least that what she was claiming when she was dogging Isis)

Also, in another preview, Sheena asks to come forward in panel and says she just has to get something off of her chest. I can't even imagine what it is at this point! She is definitely an outspoken person, but in the first week, we really saw a sensitive and caring girl as well. I wonder if she is going to rat out the other girls for how they are treating Isis? Or maybe she will complain about something that is bothering her. I just hope she doesn't quit!!!

Oh, and Benny Ninja is back!! I can't wait to see what crazy poses they all come up with this year!

Sharaun Eliminated First!

2008-09-03T22:03:00.005-04:00

Tonight Top Model kicked off a new Cycle, promising to be full of drama and possibly a few catfights. The evening started off with the Top 30 Semi-finalists going to the "Top Model Institute of Technology." I thought the futuristic theme was pretty creative, but what was up with Mr Jay's dyed silver hair? I like Ms. Jay's silver wig much better! The highlight of the technology theme, though, was when the Glaminator 11.0 started to freak out and overload... and then out comes Tyra bot. No one could possibly say that she doesn't have a sense of humor... and a bit of a freak inside of her.

At the Top Model Institute, we got to watch each girl walk down the runway. The ones that stood out the most to me were Sheena and Joslyn. Sheena because she unzipped her outfit a little at the top which was so funny to me, and then Joslyn because Jay and Jay just KNEW she was gonna twirl... and twirl she did.

Of course, we also got introduced to the contestants when they went in for an interview with the Jay's and Tyrabot. First off, let me say that there are three Brittany's this cycle. Brittney B. (later to become Sharaun) was first up, and she made a bad first impression because she couldn't even name a single fashion designer. Ignorance of the industry never made anyone popular with Tyra. We learned some interesting facts about other contestants, like the fact that Lauren's dad is a cop, Analeigh was almost sold to a Saudi Arabian man, and Kacey, my very least favorite of the semi-finalists, used to have white friends. Why doesn't she have them anymore? The judges asked her the same thing. Her response was that her white friends didn't understand why she couldn't swim with them. Kacey was constantly making dumbass comments like that throughout the first hour. ("I'm not ghetto. Ghetto to me is like Kineesha, Shineesha.")

On a side note, is anyone else tired of the way some girls walk into their interview screaming? I'm so over that already. Ahhh! It's Tyra!!! Yeah... and you knew you were about to meet her... and you look like an idiot on your first impression. And I have to mention Hanna's interview because it was classic Tyra. Hanna talked about how in Alaska, she had once been chased by a moose. Tyra told her to reenact this event with Tyra as the moose and Hanna running away "fierce". She was terrible, so Tyra switched the roles and turned on her charm. It looks like Tyra has maybe gained some weight this season, but she's still gorgeous. The only other interview I think worth mentioning is Susan, the recent Harvard graduate who studied English and American Literature, and yet could not name a single heroine from a novel. WTF?

Okay, with that off my chest, I will move on to the most press-worthy contestant this season, Isis. As everyone has known for weeks, Isis is ANTM's first transgender contestant. What I didn't know before was that she was one of the models in the homeless shoot from last cycle. Looking back on those pictures, it was obvious that the girl can take some great photos. She was also very upfront and open about who she is and she clearly is not on the show to make a social comment, she's just truly wanting to be a top model and is going to do her best like everyone else.

Of course, when the other girls found out that Isis was born male, most of them freaked out and immediately became defensive and judgmental. They bombarded her with questions about it throughout the episode, but I thought Isis was very down to earth and not uncomfortable with her situation at all. The best quote this week is when someone asked her, How do you hide it? She responded, "The magic of tape." That had me laughing. Isis confessed that she was eager to have the surgery to make her transformation complete, but had so far been unable to do it. Wouldn't that be crazy if the show had it done for her? Like the way they fixed Joanie's teeth way back when? I wonder how long it takes to recover from a major surgery like that though.

Anyway, the judges made one cut from 30 down to 20, and it was brutal. Last year I think they just had them find a bag and open it all together to see if their picture was in it or not. This year, they made each girl walk up to a scanner in front of everyone else and when they placed their hand on it, Tyra Bot's voice said either "Access Granted" or "Access Denied". Right away, all 30 girls were smiling and confident. However, after the first girl heard the dreaded words, everyone who had not gone yet suddenly started fidgeting and swallowing hard, some trying to hang on to a small fake smile, but showing their nerves through it anyway. After the cuts were made, the 20 girls remaining had to do a photoshoot where they only had five minutes to change into a blue metallic catsuit and put on their own makeup. There were balls on the set, and wanting to be different, some of the girls just did the dumbest things with the balls. They held them over their head, they sat on them, they laid down on them, they bounced on them... it was awful. The best pictures ended up being the girls that focused on the silver backdrop and made the picture more about them than a ball.

In the end, Alpha Jay, Beta Jay, and Tyra bot looked over all of the pictures and chose their final 14 contestants. With a fierce look and a smile in her eyes, Tyra declared, "Let us beam fiercely" and they were immediately beamed away to the final cut of the semi-final round. Once again, the girls were happy and smiling, until they saw that they were not called first. Then, the hard swallowing and nervous smiles started coming onto the scene. By the time Tyra called Isis' name and then said, "Only two girls left," some of the remaining models just broke down and started crying. Kacey, who had nothing but awful comments about everything when she opened her mouth, looked positively offended that Isis made the final cut, and she was already crying when Tyra got to the final two. Clark and Joslyn were the last two called, and that brought us to the 14 that will compete this year for the title of America's Next Top Model.

It was almost joyful for me to watch Kacey break down and start sobbing, "I'm so confused!" Really? Maybe next time try not being a completely bigotted bitch and actual develop some good characteristics in your personality. Heeeeyy!

So, with the finalists chosen, the second hour of the premiere included all of the fun first episode traditions. The girls got to see their house, screaming all the while. (They are starting in LA this year.) It turned out that all 3 Brittany's ended up in the finals, so Brittany B started calling herself Sharaun, and Brittany S. became McKey. Brittany R just got to stay Brittany. I will say this... anything is better than last year when Aimee became Amis. I still don't know what the hell she was thinking there.

I know I already picked my favorite quote this week, but since it was two hours long, I have to include another one... Mr. Jay greeted the finalists with this insightful statement: Alright, we've got 14 lucky bitches here in LA.

Well said Mr. Jay. Of course, after moving into the house, there was more drama about Isis being born a man. To me, honestly, Marjorie is more boy than the boy. Sharaun really did not impress me with her ugly comment that "A drag queen is not going to win Top Model" Hasn't she ever seen To Wong Fu, With Love, Julie Newmar?? Isis is not a drag queen. Clark and Hanna also had their private moment of judgmental attitudes when they confessed to each other that "Isis has no place in this competition" and "We're not being close-minded, we're just traditional." Haha, very funny Clark. The sad thing is that Clark was one of my number one picks from the website before the show aired, but now, I want her gone. She's a real b-i-t-c-h.

In the next scene, the models went to the Magic castle, where they were faced with yet another cheesy, gimmicky intro to a day in ANTM. For the first time, each model got a one on one with each of the judges (minus Tyra), which is a HUGE chance to make your best impression. Who managed to make the worst impression? Sharaun. She walked in to every judge and said, "I'm Sharaun, and I AM America's Next Top Model." Most of them just looked at her like, who the hell are you? Nigel was most impressed with Isis, although he did say, "There seems to be something unusual about her though." He's so perceptive.

Samantha made a super good impression on Paulina, which isn't easy to do. And I think Joslyn and Ms. Jay bonded at their one on one. It's good to see some of the girls made the most of the experience. When they returned home, they were each given gifts of new shoes and new clothes, which was really cool. They were also greeted by Tyra mail saying "Fashion isn't the only agenda."

What other agenda were they going to find out about? Voting. Tyra is very passionate about the voting issue and the race for President this year, so she had past favorite photographer, Mike Rosenthal do a shoot about making voting sexy. Some girls, like Joslyn and Samantha really nailed it. (Jay even said to Joslyn, "That was almost Tyra Banks hot.") Others totally blew it... like Clark for example. First of all, each girl was given a different reason why people should vote. Clark landed with beaurocracy, and she had no idea what it meant. It was hilarious when she asked McKey what it was, and McKey laughed and said, "I'm not going to tell you." Then, of course, Clark made fun of McKey's photo shoot, which is ironic because at panel, the judges LOVED McKey and hated Clark's photo.

The worst part of the whole shoot though was Isis' shoot. Not because of Isis, who was fierce, but because of the girls who were "extras" in the shot, who were standing behind her saying things like "You need to shave, you're all sweaty." and other ugly insinuations about her being a man at one time. I totally fell in love with Isis at that moment because instead of being a diva and tattling on them or letting them interupt her shoot, she just turned around and said, "I wouldn't do that. Please don't." and kept right on posing. When she got to panel, she really showed the others by producing one of the best shots of the week. (Called second!)

At panel, one of the most exciting announcements was that the girl who gets called first each week is going to have her picture displayed digitally in the house for everyone to see all week. This week, Marjorie was called first, which was actually a surprise. Most of the judges LOVE her, adore her, etc... but Nigel sees a ball of nerves, which is what I see. She's very neurotic and insecure. She definitely needs to find some confidence after being called first this week. Isis was called second, which made me cheer.

As for the bottom two, Tyra called Nikeysha and Sharaun to the front. Of course, Sharaun was floored and crying because she expected to be number one. To be honest, though, her picture was terrible. She did not look at all like a model. She looked like a bad stripper. Nikeysha's picture wasn't so terrible, but the reason she was in the bottom two was because she interrupted every single criticism the judges had with some excuse as to why she didn't do it right. One thing I love about ANTM is they just don't put up with excuses. The only one who even had an excuse this week would have been Isis, but she never faltered or lost her concentration. I was really proud of her.

Sharaun, the girl who was so cocky by telling each judge that she was already the winner, they just didn't know it yet, realized that she made herself look like a fool. Tyra called Nikeysha's name, making Sharaun the first one eliminated. She immediately fell to the floor sobbing, but Tyra had no tears for Brittany/Sharaun. She hugged her and told her flat out... "This is not just about wanting it, it's about being real."

I am already looking forward to next week when beautiful and bi-sexual Elina ends up kissing Clark in the hot tub. It should be hot! And, one of the things I have said leading up to this premiere is that I hope people don't make this season all about the transgender contestant, cause that will get real old. However, I loved Isis and will be cheering her on from now on. Who do I predict as the final winner of this cycle? I think Samantha might have a really good shot. Joslyn also would be my second choice, with Isis close behind.

Who do you like best? Are you charmed by Marjorie's quirks? Or just annoyed? What did you think of Clark's attitude? Did you think Sharaun deserved to go home? Talk it up all week here and on the cwtv.com.

Sheena

2008-09-02T20:52:00.004-04:00

The only Asian woman in the competition (which actually is really rare overall for this show) is 21 year old Sheena. She is from Honolulu, Hawaii, but is currently living in Harlem, NY. On the website, they have her listed as a Hostess/Go Go Dancer, but I read in the CW forums that she is actually a rapper/musician. I am not sure if that is true, but I will certainly research that for next week!

Right away, I notice on her video that Sheena has great personal style. She is wearing a beautiful orange top that accentuates her best parts and looks amazing with her skin color. Her hair is also very nice, and I hope they don't cut it all off or dye it blonde or anything in the makeover!!

Sheena said that she had "put her pictures out everywhere" and was contacted by a scout to audition for the show. I don't know exactly what she means about that, but it made me picture her stapling flyers with pictures of herself on telephone poles or something. Anyway, she is a big fan of the show and is determined to make the most of her top model experience. What is she looking forward to the most? Everything, she says. And to learning how to be the very best model that she can be. I like that attitude for sure.

The only really annoying thing about Sheena is the whole "black" talk she's got going on. I guess living in Harlem, that is part of her culture and who she is, but who really wants a high fashion model that says things like "We go hard", "We don't play", and "I'm gonna be a stereotype slasha" ?? I know that's a pretty judgmental comment, but it's weird to see a beautiful Asian woman talking like a gangsta.

Her hippie chic pic is amazing and beautiful, but check out her portfolio pic. It's terrible. Her body looks good, but something about the angle of her face is just wrong. It makes her look like a horse face. Hopefully she will learn her angles and as she says "Bring it!"

Sharaun

2008-09-02T20:33:00.004-04:00

Sharaun is an 18 year old student from Chicago, Illinois. This is her second year auditioning, but she didn't make it in last year only because she was too young. Now, she is in the competition and ready to win.

In her video, she is pretty loud and outspoken. One of her first comments is "For some people, top model is a choice. For me, I was born into it." That sounds confident, sure, but it borders on cocky. I think she is pushing her confidence a little bit too hard in the video, as if she's trying to force you to believe it's true. Also, she does this annoying thing with her mouth when she talks or something about her accent is strange... I can't quite figure it out, but it was not attractive.

Sharaun is most looking forward to the makeover. She said that she is ready for anything they want to do, so let's hope that stands true when the time comes. Nothing is worse than a crying model on makeover day!

All other things aside, Sharaun is a beautiful girl with a gorgeous face. It looks like she has nice skin and a very model like body. My advice to her would be to tone it down just a little bit and let your confidence speak for itself

Samantha

2008-09-01T13:17:00.004-04:00

One of the youngest girls in the competition, Samantha is an 18 year old student athlete from Woodland Hills, CA. She plays Volleyball, Track & Field, and Cross-country, so she definitely is in good shape. Her sports background also shows just how competitive she is and that she is willing to work hard to get what she wants.

Samantha is a big fan of Top Model, and she said she would watch the show and say, "I could do that. I could do that better than that girl's doing it." Now, this might sound a little bit conceited, but come one, who among us hasn't thought that from time to time during an episode? I know I have, but that's just because sometimes as the observers, we can see more clearly than the girls who are stressed out and messing up. Anyway, Samantha is spunky and seems like a lot of fun.

It is obvious that Samantha believes in herself, and believes that she can really win this competition. I wonder what will happen when she looses some competitions or gets some tough criticism? That will be her true test. Can she still believe in herself when others are doing a better job? Will she rise to the challenge, or just complain and get angry. Like I said before, she's very young and she acts like it. I have a feeling she has rarely ever lost any competition, so this will definitely be an eye opener for her. She's probably one of those people who just has everything come easily. I can't wait to find out if she's truly up for the challenge.

One thing is for sure, she has a hot body, with shapely curves, and a beautiful face. Sometimes, though, the bigger the boobs, the faster you are cut from the competition. This is my fiance's number 2 pick for the season, which means she will definitely appeal to the male crowd. But will she win Tyra over?

Nikeysha

2008-09-01T13:07:00.005-04:00

Nikeysha is also a 19 year old student, like many of the other contestants this season. She comes from the Bronx, NY and she is crazy. Haaayyy!

Out of the videos I have seen so far, Nikeysha definitely has the most outgoing and bubbly personality. Can this be annoying? Certainly, it can. However, what redeems her for me is her attitude about the competition. She knows that she has some work to do to break into the modeling industry, and she sees Top Model as a springboard towards success. She said that she is most looking forward to being molded into a better model. She wants to be the very best Nikeysha that she can be, and I respect that.

Nikeysha did not mention whether she has modeling experience or not on her video, but from her portfolio picture it looks to me like she does. She has some interesting angles with her body and a fierce look on her face, which to me, looks like she knows a little bit about what she is doing. She is super skinny, though, which to me is not as attractive as someone with a little bit of meat, but this is a modeling competition, so I doubt anyone will fault her for being too thin.

The reason I worry about Nikeysha is that she wants this so badly that she just might screw it up for herself. Sure, she is ready to be "molded" into a better model, but there seems to be a tinge of a self-esteem problem buried in there. I don't think she believes she can really win this competition. She just wants to stay in as long as she can. To do her best though, she needs to start believing that she can win!

McKey

2008-08-31T12:55:00.002-04:00

19 year old McKey comes from Lake Forest, Illinois and is a student. Why did she audition for ANTM? According to her, some of her friends told her she should audition because she's good looking. She confessed in her video that she wasn't really into the show until she started her auditions. I guess it's harsh to judge someone before you've really seen them perform, but I alreaedy don't like her. Being a huge fan of the show and watching every single cycle, it always makes me a little bit angry when some girl gets on the show who has never modeled, never really seen the show, and just wants to go on it for the "experience". I would much rather see someone who has passion for modeling on the show.

Okay, so with that rant out of the way, let's talk about McKey's advantages in the competition. She certainly has a lot of confidence. She claims that her best asset will be her personality, because she is outgoing, friendly, and extremely competitive. Hmm... often friendly and competitive don't go hand in hand, so it will be interesting to see how those character traits work together for her. She even said she's so competitive, she's not afraid to get down and dirty, which to me sounds like she's willing to stab some people in the back or hurt their feelings to get what she wants.

This has definitely been an extremely biased opinion about McKey, so please comment if you see some redeeming quality here that I have missed. I will say that her portfolio pic is pretty good, and she is showing a bit of attitude, but the scrunched up lips just makes it look like she's smelling something funky. Also, her hippie pic is the worst of the bunch. She looks pretty drugged up and almost like she is about to squat to go to the bathroom. Who knows? Maybe after the first few episodes, I will love McKey, but for now... not so much.

Marjorie

2008-08-31T12:41:00.000-04:00

Marjorie is a 19 year old student living in San Francisco, California. She spent her childhood years in Marseilles, France, and then moved to America when she was 9 years old. It is also interesting to note that Marjorie did not apply to Top Model on her own... she was approached in a book store by a representative of the show who asked her to audition. Let's hope that doesn't go to her head too much and leave her thinking that she is better than everyone else because they saw her first.

You can see right away that Marjorie is a bit off-beat. I think she seems intelligent, but it's possible that she will turn out to be extremely annoying as well. For one thing, she rambles endlessly in her video, skipping from topic to topic. Another thing I could see being annoying is if she mentions her French background and cultural depth a million times.

As for her look, Marjorie is so incredibly thin. She has a cute pixie haircut, so it will be interesting to see what the makeover will bring for her, but her face in the portfolio pic is stunning. In the hippie pic.. not so much. She is looking away from the camera too much and you can barely see her face at all. Maybe she was going for a wistful look, but to me she just looks bored.

I expect Marjorie to be the one who stands out in this cycle as the "weird" one. I have a feeling that even though she preaches tolerance and cultural adaptability, she will end up talking down to people and pissing them off. I guess we'll see!

Lauren Brie

2008-08-30T10:01:00.004-04:00

Wow, isn't that one of the best hippie pics so far?? I think Lauren Brie has something really special about her. Sure, she's a token blonde girl in some ways, but there's a uniqueness to her eyes and lips that makes her stand out. She is a 20 year old from Charlottesville, VA, who has always had a burning desire to model.

Lauren claims to be very competitive, which could either work for her or against her. Competitive is good, but bitchy is bad. As long as she knows how to balance friendship with competition, she'll be fine. Also, on this show, you have to know how to accept criticism and defeat, and still pick yourself up and perform.

In her video, Lauren Brie seems to slouch a little bit, so I'm curious to see her do some runway. In her jeans pic down here on the right side, she also has a slightly awkward pose, so hopefully she's got some better moves. Something else that stands out to me about her in the video is that she actually sounds pretty smart. I know, a smart blonde??? Just kidding. She is very articulate and seemingly intelligent, so she might be a really good competitor this season.

I think she definitely has a rocking body and will look good in a variety of different kinds of shoots. The question is, can she only do pretty, sweet shots? Or can she pull out edgy and high fashion as well?? I can't wait to find out. First out, Lauren Brie is one of my top pics this cycle.

Joslyn

2008-08-30T09:54:00.005-04:00

Joslyn is a 23 year old student living in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her hometown is Lucky, Louisiana and she is very lucky to have finally made it on to the show.

She has auditioned, like, 30 times and like, Tyra is her role model, so she's like, really excited. Joslyn definitely has a hurdle to overcome with her very southern accent, but it's nothing new to ANTM. Danielle won (what season was that? 6? I am not sure) despite her accent. Of course, Danielle was exceptionally beautiful. I'm not sure about Joslyn yet.

She is definitely looking forward to the makeover, but she had some advice from her mother... no dye. If she puts dye in her new weave, it's gonna fall out. That made me laugh. It sounds like solid advice though.

Joslyn seems very bubbly and excited, and she definitely should be cheered for her determination and her confidence in herself, believing that even though they didn't want her the first 29 times, she still knew that she was good enough to compete. Now, either they saw something in her this time that they did not see before... or this year's models at tryouts just weren't as good as previous years. I think they just finally sat up and took notice of her.

I hope that she does well this season. She certainly has some of the shapeliest legs out of the girls this season. Her hippie chic photo isn't the best though, so she's going to have to turn out some better photos if she wants me to start cheering for her.

Isis

2008-08-29T14:01:00.005-04:00

And now we come to the number one person everyone is talking about this season, 22 year old Isis. She is originally from Prince George's Island, Maryland, but is living in New York, NY. From her video, it sounded like she has some experience modeling already and is comfortable on the runway.

But why is everyone talking about her? If you haven't heard yet, Isis is the first transgender finalist on ANTM. Isis herself has said she is a "woman who was born physically male." I couldn't find any specific information about when Isis made the switch from male to female, but I think this is a more common occurrence than a lot of people realize. Many children are born without a distinctive sex and parents have to choose the sex for their child. Also, some children are born with male anatomy, but female hormones and other tendencies. No matter what Isis' reasons for transforming herself, I hope that people will not judge her just from the fact that she used to have a penis. She should be given the same chance that any of the other girls have. I think it's great that Isis has the courage to go on TV and be honest about who she is.

As for her look, she has a good portfolio pic (if you ignore the poor shoe choice, that is), but this Hippie pic has her with a very strange expression on her face. I think she is really beautiful, though, and has a beautiful skin color. In her video, she presents herself with extreme confidence. It is also good to hear someone say on their video that this is really want they want with all of their heart. That lets you know right from the start that she will give it 100%.

Hannah

2008-08-29T13:39:00.003-04:00

Perky 19 year old Hannah is from Fairbanks, Alaska, and you can tell from her video on cwtv.com that she doesn't get out much. She is super cute, even if she does come off a tad bit naive (or ditzy perhaps.)

She claims that she is used to wearing tons of layers when it comes to clothing, but you can tell from her Hippie pic that she seems to be totally comfortable out of her clothes as well. I think this whole experience will be totally new for her, and it will be fun to watch her. The only annoying thing will be if she won't shut up about how she grew up in Alaska and had no running water and shit... I mean, there's only so many times you can hear that before you want to punch a baby.

When she went to audition, she said she almost didn't go because she was doing laundry (uh huh, sounds like she's completely invested in wanting to be a model), but she decided to go to the casting call anyway. She was taken aback when she got there and most people had gone all out in their new weaves and their cocktail dresses, but she just wore her old cowboy boots. I think that's a cute story, as long as she proves that she really wants to be a model. It will just turn out to be a sad story if she didn't want to model and all of these other girls had wanted it so so much. Like Kimberly from last season... I really was pissed at her for quitting.

I like Hannah's look in general, though. She seems unique and can have many different looks, already from just the two pics and the video. Let's hope she's ready to bring it.

Elina

2008-08-28T14:51:00.003-04:00

Elina is 19 (although in her video she says she just turned 18, so maybe she just barely was 19 by the time the show filmed) and lives in Seattle, Washington. Her CW profiles says her hometown is Berdichieve, Ukraine, but from her accent and video, I would imagine that she did not live in the Ukraine during her formative years. Maybe she was just born there and her parents are from there.

No matter what the situation is there, it's obvious just looking at her that she has a very different look. Right away, my fiance claimed her as his favorite, which usually means they end up too sexy for the judges and get voted off early. Last season he was nuts about Katarzyna, and she actually stayed around for a while, but unfortunately did not make the top 3. Wait... should I be worried that my fiance is into all these Eastern European girls?

Elina says she is most looking forward to traveling to a different country with top model. Most girls so far have said they are looking forward to the makeover, which doesn't put them aiming too high, since that usually happens by episode 2. (I hope they don't chop off Elina's hair, it's too pretty.) Traveling, however, is usually only reserved for the top 5 or so girls, so Elina has high hopes. She is by far the most confident model so far, saying that she knows she has a strong look and a good voice, and she believes she has more potential than the rest of the girls. I will say that from her video, I'm pretty damn impressed. Her confidence is not lacking, I'll give her that, and she seems to have the goods to back it up. I just hope she doesn't get too sexy with those full lips and ruin her chances for high fashion.

Clark

2008-08-28T14:36:00.005-04:00

Clark is from Pawley's Island, South Carolina and is currently a student in Columbia, SC.

Watching her video, the first thing that stuck out to me was that she didn't seem to be very comfortable in front of the camera talking about herself. She looks confident in her pictures though, so maybe I'm just reading her wrong.

She said she is looking forward to the makeover, which to me just screams that she's in for disappointment. Also, she's wanted to be a model ever since she was five, which is a BIG shocker.

When she sent in her audition tape, she says she was trying to get it in at the last minute, and describes it as a "hassle". She does sort of redeem herself by saying that it turned out to be worth it, but I didn't like that comment coming from her right at the start of the competition. I mean, if you know you are making a video that will be America's first impression of you, why would you say that it's been a hassle to audition?

Other than a poor video, I like Clark's pictures, and I think she is definitely a pretty girl with a nice body. Is it just me or does she have an uncanny resemblance to Bridget Fonda? She has some beautifully shaped eyes and I like her high cheekbones. I don't think I would put Clark at the top of my list just yet, but she's certainly not at the bottom. I think she will be around a while.

Brittany

2008-08-27T09:37:00.001-04:00

Brittany is also just 19 years old and she comes from Henderson, Nevada. She applied the regular way, and was chosen by Tyra. She has a self-proclaimed "exotic" look, but I am just not buying it. She looks pretty normal black girl to me. Beautiful, but normal.

After watching her video online, I can tell that she's doing everything to make you know that she "LOVES" modeling. Of course, she just started modeling like, yesterday, but she thinks she's really good at it and she loves it. Did I mention that she loves modeling??? It sounded to me like she was trying to give herself a pep talk on camera to convince her that she's where she needs to be.

My prediction with Brittany is that she will be the type of girl who just tries way too hard. She has a little bit of modeling under her belt, and she already thinks she is great. She will probably brag to the other girls about her experience, and then feel the pressure to perform when it comes to the photo shoots. Her occupation online is listed as Customer Service, so whatever modeling experience she has so far, it's not enough for it to be a career, so she should act a little bit more humble and admit that she's got a lot to learn.

As far as her look is concerned, she has really nice legs, and she looks a little bit athletic in her build. Her arms seem way too small for the rest of her body though. She's pretty, but I think that she's a closet insecure, and that is definitely going to play out in the coming weeks of competition.

Analeigh

2008-08-27T09:16:00.001-04:00

Analeigh is a 19 year old from Sacramento, CA, currently living in LA as a student. She was found through a website and asked to come audition for ANTM.

My first impression of Analeigh is that she's tall and lanky, which could be very good for high fashion modeling. Unfortunately, the girl is basically devoid of all curves. Just look at her legs in the picture at the bottom, which, even in high heels cannot manage to create a single sexy curve.

I really like how she looks in this hippie chick picture, though. She's kind of got that Denise Richards style of beauty in her face, and the way she's got her body angled, she's at least creating the illusion of more curves. It's possible that Analeigh could be a versatile model.

On her video, she says that she is eccentric. I am curious to find out what that really means in her eyes. She also claims that her "interesting story" will help her in the competition. I wonder what that story is. Other than that, all I can say is that she talks with her hands a lot, saying things like "I am going to send out the positive energy." Oh, and girl needs a haircut. Sure, her hair looks pretty nice in the hippie pic, but on the video you can really tell that it's too long for her. I can't wait to see what they do to her in the makeover episode. I bet she totally freaks if they cut it short.

The Models of Cycle 11

2008-08-27T09:12:00.000-04:00

The 2 hour cycle premiere is just a week away, and it's time to look over the 14 finalists and give them a "first photo impression" critique. I will post two a day until next Wednesday, so if you don't want to know who the finalists will be, leave now! I'm so excited to get the season started. Rumor has it that they are going to Amsterdam this year, but I don't have that info nailed down yet. I can't wait to see what crazy things we are in for this season! (Oops... I mean CYCLE)

Cycle 11 Begins September 3rd!!

2008-08-26T15:16:00.001-04:00

The new Cycle of America's Next Top Model, my favorite guilty pleasure, is going to begin on September 3rd. As a countdown to the show next week, I will be posting opinions about the new girls and will make a prediction about this year's winner! I am never right, but it's fun to guess anyway! Check back soon for all of your Cycle 11 news and recaps!!!