America’s Next Top Model 9, Episode 4: Flower Power

Last week, I was in Tampa and had the week off recapping! The girls got a taste of Ms. J.’s bedside manner learning runway with him. Yum. The girls scaled the heights of fashion in their photo shoot. Some soared, like Jenah, while others hit a wall, like Kimberly, and she was sent home. Eleven girls are left, and I’m almost in love with Victoria, so let’s see if she can become one of MY girls this week!

The girls are hanging out at the house. Victoria tells the other girls that she isn’t a model, and this hasn’t been her dream until a few weeks ago. Oh, great, you know how I feel – the first girl to speak in the episode is always in the bottom two. I hope I’m wrong! She continues saying that she came into the competition having no clue about modeling. She wants to win, though, and I’d love to see it!

Bianca talks about being in the bottom two, and how it wasn’t a good feeling. Saleisha is telling Jenah that she will never be in the bottom two. When Jenah says that Saleisha doesn’t know that, Miss Saleisha tells her she won’t. Uh-oh! Tyra mail arrives and hints towards makeovers. Everyone is excited, but Chantal is nervous that she will lose her hair. Regardless, she is ready to take what Tyra gives her and win.

The next day the girls arrive at the salon, greeted by Tyra. It is, of course, time for makeovers! Tyra has a TV behind her with the girls’ photos from the semifinals, which will morph into their new looks. Ambreal is first, and she is very elegant, so she will go to almost no hair. She’s ready for a change, though. I really like Ambreal.

Bianca will be going long and wavy gold, while Sarah and her strong face will have to support VERY short blonde hair. Victoria is going edgy with longer hair and Chantal will be getting bangs and a new weave. Lisa is going short, too, and I think it looks good on the image. Jenah is getting very long and soft hair, and I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. Although I’m not sure how I feel about Jenah, either!

Janet is told that she needs help in person, so her hair will be shorter and changed to black. Ebony is told that she has glue in her hair and will be getting a new weave. Saleisha looks too catalog and will be going very high fashion with a bob cut. I’m not so sure it’s going to look great! Heather is hardly changing, since the judges already like her color and length. She’ll get a little brown in her hair, but that’s it, and Heather is happy with that. Once they are finished, the girls will have a photo shoot showing off their new looks.

So the girls head into the salon and the cutting begins. Bianca states that she’s a black girl going platinum, and isn’t happy about that. I love ungrateful girls. Sarah didn’t want to look like her mom as a blonde, and she doesn’t – so she’s happy! Victoria says that she will be a smart blonde, and she loves her makeover. I’m still not so crazy about it.

Ebony is such a mess. They pull her wig off and it looks like it’s being held on by rubber cement. It’s one of the most ghetto moments on this show I’ve ever seen. She even tells Ms. J. that it was free, and I totally believe it! Heather gets her makeover and she looks great. Love her. Janet is rocking her new look and I’m in love with it!

Ambreal admits that she is ready for her new look and is already posing with it. Jenah doesn’t think her hair is as edgy as she is, but she’ll live with it. Meanwhile, Jay is telling the stylists that Bianca’s hair will not be able to change to blonde. Uh oh. Lisa says her hair isn’t want she expected, but it’s a fresh new look. I don’t really care for it either.

Ebony gets her new weave and it’s so much better than that rat’s nest she had on her head before. Jay is now telling Bianca that they need to cut off all her hair because it’s so damaged. She will be wearing latex wigs in her photos. She’s not happy about it, but they do begin to shave. The whole time, Ms. J. is taunting her with Kleenex, and I want to punch him in the back. So rude. I think it actually looks good on Bianca, and when they give her a wig, she says she feels like a drag queen. I won’t argue with that. She’s not crazy about it. Finally, Saleisha says her new look changed her to fierce. It doesn’t look terrible, but it’s not my favorite.

Back at the house, Tyra mail tells the girls that they will need to work their way from the backstage to the front. They aren’t quite sure what it means. Bianca is bitching in her room that she grew up being told that girls who cut their hair are ugly. Where the heck was this? Chantal likes her hair, but says that Saleisha’s doesn’t make her look high fashion. Cocky, huh?

The next day, the girls arrive in the fashion district and meet up with Nigel. He introduces them to his wife, Crissy Barker, who is a makeup artist. Also present is Brent Poer, a representative from Cover Girl. It’s time for a makeup challenge, and the girls will be preparing for a runway. They have five minutes to get changed, and fix their faces, eyes, and lips. The winner will have a look uploaded to the Cover Girl website, and will shoot a video on a new feature located on the site. Very cool! Kidding.

Nigel sets the girls loose, and they run around like crazy people. Everyone is pushing and Victoria says that she rarely wears makeup, so she knows this is tough. Bianca feels like her new look makes her look like a boy and it’s hurting her. [Assistant Editor’s note: Shut up, Jaeda.] Saleisha knows that they other girls don’t want her to win this challenge because she won the other two, while Janet can’t find the rack with the correct clothes and puts on the wrong dress. She looks great, though, I’ll admit it!

Once this clusterf**k is over, the judges give critiques. Ambreal and Victoria went too overboard with their eyes, and I’d agree. Ambreal looks borderline drag. She must be hanging out with Bianca and her assortment of wigs. Saleisha is told that she needed more color in her eyes, and Janet wore the wrong dress! Out of nowhere, the judges say that Sarah is the winner. That was random! Sarah is happy and Lisa is glad that someone won besides Saleisha.When the girls return home, Tyra mail says that they should be ready to be deflowered. I (and the girls) wonder if it’s time to get nakey!

Jay greets the girls at their shoot the next day, in the middle of the woods. He tells them that they will each be a flower or some type of plant life. Bianca says she is getting used to her hair, and Jay loves that she is smiling. She’ll be a sunflower, and I have to say she actually looks good. Jay liked her on set, too, and says it took a meltdown for her to appreciate herself.

Janet is next and she’s a hydrangea. I have no clue what that is, but she looks great. Jay likes her body but wants more from her in the face. Heather, of course, is a weed. I love that they are making Heather stick out as much as possible. She looks great, though, and Jay and the photographer seem to be happy with her.

Lisa will be bamboo, and Jay thinks that she is going the same look over and over. Saleisha is a tulip and her new hair is hiding her eyes. I thought that I liked the new look on her, but I’ve changed my mind – it hides her face! Sarah is ivy and has problems, but seems to work it out in the end. I have to say that her look makes her look ten times better than before!

Ambreal is a rose and looks great, but she is told that she needs to work it in the face a bit more. Victoria is a cactus and she thinks that it’s ridiculous and very strange. She’s not giving expression and she comments that she is over it all. Now, Victoria, I do like you, but the attitude has to go. Why be there if you feel that way?

Ebony is a bird of paradise, and she totally has the bird part down. Jay loves it, though, so I can’t argue. Chantal says that she was born to do this and she is baby’s breath. She looks confused and is struggling with taking directions from Jay and the photographer. She cries after the shoot, saying she wished they would shut up since she can do this on her own. I will admit that they talked the whole time and didn’t let her do anything on her own.