Hannah and Isis both Eliminated: Episode 4 Recap

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.

Sharaun Eliminated First!

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.

Isis

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%.