America's Next Top Model: It's a Jungle Out There
The four are taken to a dance studio where they meet Paulina. She explains that a good samba dancer has poise and coordination, and so should a model. You have to move your body and make it look easy. They have a quick lesson and are told to practice. Then it’s challenge time and they get all prettied up and meet their partner, the smokin' hot Eduardo.
Paulina tells Celia that she wants "it" too badly and tells her to relax. Oh yeah, and desperation is not sexy. Well, after that Come-to-Jesus talk Celia enjoys herself -- or at least pretends to. It's all about faking it with confidence. Paulina thinks that Aminat is a natural dancer and we agree -- she looks really natural and always seems to be having fun. Paulina is just plain scared for Allison who she thinks looks like a little tin wind-up doll when she’s trying to dance. Then poor Teyona is just so awkward with Eduardo. Even her buddy Aminat claimed that she "…didn’t handle her business out there."
The challenge winner and one other girl (her choice) get Ara Vartanian jewelry worth over $7,000! The newly relaxed Celia grabs the challenge win and chooses her pal Allison to go with her. But Aminat is cranky because she did really well, certainly better than Allison! Nevertheless, Celia and Allison are whisked off to meet Ara himself and they get to "shop."
Bright and early the next morning the make-up and hair boys surprise the final four in their apartment. It's hair and makeup time, which can only mean a photo shoot! They all travel two hours, deep into the Brazilian jungle where Tyra surprises them. She's going to be shooting them this time. Jay is the set director and it's all about the birds. Complete with feathers and nests. The make-up and hair is...frankly, it's hideous. But somehow the gals manage to still look pretty. And on set, well, at this point they've all got it down. She may be tough-as-nails at panel but as a photographer Tyra manages to put them all at ease and each model has a good shoot.
At panel it could be anyone.
When they take a look at the photos it gets even tougher. Allison did really well. Jay even said he thought that it was the most relaxed he'd ever seen her. Aminat didn't use her body as much as she could but the judges are impressed with her photo. Tyra thought that Celia had a certain freshness. She relaxed, had a fun time and it worked. With Teyona, there was a lot going on and at the shoot Tyra was nervous about losing light. However, she was impressed that Teyona worked a difficult set and worked it well.
When the girls return after deliberation, it's very emotional. Allison gets best photo AGAIN and it's time for Grannie Celia to go home. As Miss J so kindly put it while poking his head out from behind his huge bow, "It isn’t called America's Next Top Mother." However, Tyra thinks Celia has a future in the business as a designer or she could even be Paulina's stylist. And in the typical Celia way she handles her exit with style and grace.
They have been talking about Celia's age since about the third episode and it ended up being her demise. Is a model washed up by the 25 or is it just because Celia wanted to begin her career at that ripe old age? Do you even think she looked "old?" Tell us what you think here!
Comments
Aminat has the strongest overall look, she's both telegenic and photogenic. The judges and designers like her look and attitude; she will go further as a model. She will need to work on her lisp if she wins for the Cover Girl contract, but actual models do very little speaking roles so it's not a big obstacle in her future career. Teyona comes off as disingenuous (e.g. "fake") and she looks rather creepy to me, like an VERY early Micheal Jackson in a wind tunnel (look at his Off The Wall album cover).
I'm glad Celia's gone, she reminded me of a female Jim Carrey, rather horse-like in her looks. I think they were pandering to an older, homely crowd by keeping her around so long; notice how much Tyra emphasized it's not so much about beauty, etc. as the season wore on.
ANTM isn't so much about the true modeling industry as it is about what the average American thinks-wishes-dreams-hates is modeling. So I'm surprised they had as many strong candidates this year, but many were let go too soon. Yet the top 3 are deserving enough.
Posted by: Che | May 13, 2009 6:33 PM
i've gotta root for Allison Harvard
Posted by: Nomad | May 8, 2009 11:12 PM