Episode #2 of America's Next Top Model was certainly filled with surprises.
The show started with the models moving in to their 'new home' – surprise! As per usual, the residence is a palace compared to what most of the models are used to back home. The sleeping arrangements this year apparently consist of a bedroom filled with military style cots and a second bedroom filled by one massive ‘communal bed’. No details yet on who sleeps where, though. The walls this season are covered with past contestants pictures along with their ‘platform’ or catchphrase. It is a good thing Fatima is on this season so no one will have to look at her picture with the words ‘genital mutilation’ underneath all season.
The doors to the house have no ‘smoking signs’ etched into the glass, but no clear word on if smoking will be banned or just banned inside.
The other notable for the house is that ‘Tyra Mail’ will be scrolled across a digital billboard rather than being written on a piece of paper. Given how well some people can read, especially when only a few words are on screen for context at any one time, this will no doubt be a problem in the future.
After moving in, the models then got picked up in a yellow stretch limo for a tour of the fashion industry locales. The last locale was a trip to Times Square where the models were given their second ‘surprise’: this will be the location of their first runway show. As the models prepared for the shoot I couldn’t help but notice that they were changing out of heavy clothes and into high fashion dresses…and freezing. One drawback for filming in New York City is that the temperature does not promote opportunity for scantily clad models; which is no doubt why Survivor has never done a cold weather season.
The runway show seems to go well although none of the models impress with their runway walks. The one negative moment we get comes from Kim commenting that she doesn’t believe in high fashion and doesn’t think people should pay a lot for their clothes.
The models then meet with Paulina Porizkova and she explains to them that modeling is a tough business where you often are given harsh critiques. She then proceeds to tell each model what their ‘problem’ is from bad skin to squished face to drag queen looks. The models all seemed to take the comments in stride, though, so Paulina must have dazzled them with her charms.
The final task in this episode was a photoshoot to bring awareness to the issue of homeless youth. In the photoshoot the models will dress as ‘homeless’ and some real homeless youth will dress in fashion. None of the ‘real homeless youth’ looked to be very youthful, so you have to use some imagination. No matter, it gave Tyra a chance to plug her daytime talkshow as she referenced how she dressed up as a homeless person for the day for that show.
My contestant comments for this episode are as follows:
Anya: Seemed to do a good job posing in the photoshoot and impressed Jay. I didn’t like the final photo much, but the judges loved her and she was the first one called out as safe until next week.
Claire: Looked like she did a great job in the photoshoot and the final picture was excellent. She was the second call out and should be safe from elimination for quite awhile.
Whitney: I never noticed her at all in this episode until the final photoshoot. She did well there, but it is always easier for the ‘plus model’ to do well when they are dressing up in full cover clothing. She has been very forgettable so far this season.
Lauren: She looked a whole lot less ‘tom boy’ in this episode. She still can’t walk or pose, but she has the raw looks to be ‘different’ and that should keep her around for a few more episodes.
Amiee: She looked totally different in her photoshoot versus her appearance in the rest of the episode. She was almost unrecognizable in the photo and looked much more like a model in the photo.
Fatima: Still working to be the center of all the personal drama on the show. Her photo was praised for being wonderful, but I didn’t like it much.
Marvita: Perfect for the ‘homeless youth’ episode as she was that character just a few years ago. She is still likely to get in a physical confrontation with someone going forward, but she appeared more interested in the modeling than the personal drama this episode. Her final photo was bad, but I blame that on the eyebrow makeup, not her pose/look.
Katarzyna: The resident ‘smart girl’ so they make sure to tell us that she is overthinking her photos. Should be safe for several weeks at least, though.
Stacy-Ann: I thought that her final photo was the worst of the bunch. She would have been my choice for elimination. The judges only negative comments seemed to be that she was following some structured 1-2-3-4-5 pose routine..
Dominique: The judges seemed to have mostly positive comments, aside from her overly dramatic walk up before them at the start of judging. I thight her picture was very mediocre. I’m not sold on Dominique lasting long this season.
Allison: Tyra said she looked like she should be on Gossip Girl (a CW plug). I think the same comment could be made about Kim, Stacy-Ann, and Atalya. Some of these models seem very sheltered/privileged.
Amis: She says that she got her name from the bible. I don’t know the significance, if any. Amis was told she had bad skin. She was called ‘jumpy’ in the photoshoot as she had no idea what to do in front of the camera. Her picture wasn’t very good or liked by the judges. She ended up in the bottom two for the episode and narrowly avoided elimination because tyra said that she ‘had potential’.
Atalya: Several comments from her this episode about missing her mommy. The judges thought her look/pictures/personality was forgettable. I’m guessing she was another cast member on the verge of quitting. One problem with such a young cast is that you run up against people that ‘miss their mommy’ to the point where they take their eyes off the prize. I thought her final photo was much better than some of those that stayed.
Kimberly: She doesn’t like fashion or care about being involved with it, so she quit the show. I’m thinking that she just felt very out of place with the rest of the models in this group. The judges said good things about her photo, but it wasn’t particularly good and her overall look came off as short and cutsie. Paulina Porizkova summed it up well when she called her ‘too High School Musical’ in looks. The only loss with her departure is that the show has less opportunity for a ‘surprise’ double elimination in the future.
My Final comments on the episode: Nigel seemed overly positive all episode long. He seemed to like almost every photo and every model’s facial features.
Paulina Porizkova will fit in well with this group. She is much more ‘camp’ than Twiggy. Hopefully, she can still offer the same kind of insight that Twiggy brought to the show.
I like J. Alexander’s jacket elimination theme for this season. It will be much less obtrusive than the afros or ruffled collars. I liked the ‘normal critic voice’ impersonation that he did as well.
Next week is the makeover episode. That is the episode where TV ratings usually jump for this show. This season’s models definitely have lots of room/potential for dramatic makeovers. I can’t wait for next week.
Originally posted by Elvis Bus: Good Recap Obveeus. I'm wondering how many times Tyra will let herself be shot next to Paulina, because the older gal looks better next to her.
It was even more glaring when Paulina Porizkova came out from behind the models at the judging panel. They all paled in comparison to her even though she has a few decades headstart on them.
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I didn't understand the "homeless Girl" challege at all. How does one look homeless with a clean dress and tweezered eyebrows.
Fashionably homeless? I think that it was simply a contrived way to give a plug for her daytime talkshow, but maybe the time Tyra spent being 'homeless' on that show really did give her a desire to bring the issue more attention.
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We could be the foreshadowing edit on Kimberly, but when she said "I don't care about fashion." it was a OH NO SHE DIN'T! moment.
Yep. Saying that you don't care about fashion/modeling on this show is as fatal as asking to be voted off on Survivor.
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I'm liking Claire reight now, despite her alien-long fingers (Phone Home!). This of course, means she's as doomed as Heather.
Claire has nice features. Hopefully she is more competent than Heather was when it comes to script reading/performing for commercials. Still, Claire is strange. One side of her head is shaved (not popular since the 80s) and she drinks her own breast milk? She might be a little too different (or maybe even too mature) for ultimate success on this show.
None of the model contestants clearly stand out this cycle. Besides Anya and Karodkchayz, none of the models standout for their capability to model or make an impression. The only two models that I remember is Fatima and Marvita, because they started butting head with each other. Marvita was extremely disappointing in the runway, since she's already tall and she's looking down, which only serves to make her especially unattractive.
Posts: 766 | Location: New York City | Registered: 03 January 2007
Originally posted by Suzaku: Marvita was extremely disappointing in the runway, since she's already tall and she's looking down, which only serves to make her especially unattractive.
I hope you just mean that looking down is unattractive. That is a lesson for everyone in life: looking at you feet rather than making eye contact makes you a less appealing person.
Tall is attractive and tall is what the average ANTM contestant is sadly lacking. This season isn't as bad as some in the past in terms of casting short people, but most of this season's cast still aren't tall enough to be 'Top Models'.
