America’s Next Top Model 13, Episode 7: Easy? Breezy?

Previously on America’s Next Top Model, the eight remaining contestants were paired up to go on a series of go-sees (model interviews) all around Los Angeles. Sundai & Rae missed the deadline to return to the Wilhelmina Agency and were tossed from the interview competition, which was eventually won by Nicole … a decision that caused general grousing from several of the other contestants.

The photo shoot involved martial arts weapons and a flying harness apparatus. Nicole continued her string of success and won the photo shoot, followed closely by Laura. The bottom two were Sundai and Kara, with Kara being eliminated.

Seven models remain, but not for long.

Missed anything? Check out my recap of the previous episode and also check out Phil Kural’s exit interview with Kara.

The winner of this season of America’s Next Top Model will receive a dream contract with Wilhelmina Models, a $100,000 Covergirl contract, and a cover with six-page spread in Seventeen magazine.

Now, on to this week’s episode:

We begin in the top model house as Rae receives a letter from home. Rae confides that she misses her infant daughter, Aria. She thinks that being away from Aria is the hardest thing she’s ever had to do – including being a contestant on ANTM. She does think that being in the competition is the right thing to be doing, but that she needs to work to stand out from the rest of the women.

Nicole reviews her digital picture from the previous photo shoot (Nicole won the photo shoot, so her photo is on display in the Top Model house). She jokes that her butt looks too big in the photo. Nearby, Erin stares hateful daggers in Nicole’s direction. In confidence, Erin admits that Nicole can take a good photo, but questions whether Nicole has the personality to be an elite model. (I wasn’t aware that there was a personality phase of the contest.) Erin thinks that her own personality is far better and that she’s more popular amongst the other contestants.

At the dining room table, Nicole suggests that the models have a hair-tossing competition. (I just had a visual of a shot-put contest with wigs.) In a flash, Rae, Erin, and Nicole are flinging their heads around like heavy metal groupies. Jennifer is sort of the judge and jokes with Nicole that she’s awful at the hair-tossing. Laura stands nearby and looks mystified at the proceedings. The hair-tossing finished, Jennifer declares Erin to be the winner.

Rae and Nicole dance around in circles and Rae confides that Nicole is starting to come out of her shell and that Nicole is fun to hang around with.

Tyra Mail arrives and asks if the models know the competition “inside and out.” In confidence, Laura admits to being dyslexic and that she has a hard time reading regular print. To Laura, regular print seems to move on the page. She says that she has been called stupid in the past because of her dyslexia and that it’s something she’s dealt with her entire life.

The next morning, the models arrive at their destination via a big black limo: a television studio. Inside, they find Lara Spencer, the host of the television news magazine show The Insider interviewing comedian and reality television veteran ANT. There’s some obviously staged banter between Lara and ANT discussing current projects and how Lara confuses him with comedian Mario Cantone. (I can see how the mistake is made: they’re both openly gay, both on the short side … only Mario Cantone is actually funny.) Mercifully, the faux interview ends.

Lara introduces herself and ANT to the models. They admit that the interview was a fake, but that when you make mistakes in interviews, you have to recover quickly and move on. The lesson for the models will be how to think on their collective feet. Ant declares that there’s a future in being an entertainment correspondent for models who can think quickly. Furthermore, excelling in multiple areas of the business can lead to additional work and to an extended career.

Nicole admits that live reading and interviewing aren’t her forte at all. On to the challenge: The models will interview ANT as various stars of a fictitious movie called Attack of the Five Foot Models. (Is that title in reference to five different models that specialize in feet or in reference to short models?)

Rae is first for an interview. The ladies’ man ANT/Magnuson starts by commenting on Rae’s general chest area, which seems to immediately fluster her. She takes an attacking approach to the interview and won’t let ANT/Magnuson finish any answers. Erin interviews strung-out ANT/Roberta and seems to comport herself well. Nicole follows and interviews high-strung ANT/Norman, who won’t let Nicole get a word in. When ANT/Norman finally stops talking, Nicole doesn’t start. Nicole is just a lost soul in this sort of task. Laura has her turn, this time interviewing self-centered diva ANT/Cameron, who commands Laura not to look directly into his eyes. Laura can’t stop giggling long enough to get in a question.

It appears that the interviews with ANT are just for practice and they’re led onto the actual set of The Insider. Joining the models and host Lara is editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine: Ann Shoket. Ann notes that the interviewing practice will come in handy as they’re each going to interview Jessica Lowndes, an actor on the CW show 90210.

Lara advises that they’ll be provided with a fact sheet on Jessica and will read questions from a teleprompter. Lara warns the models that they have two minutes to fill and not to stop the interview, regardless of what happens. Ann reveals that the winner of the interview competition will have a feature article in Seventeen magazine.

Jennifer begins and starts a nice, casual interview with Jessica as they discuss the 90210 series. A wrench is thrown into the interview as the teleprompter is intentionally turned off about 30 seconds in. Jennifer barely misses a beat and segues into a question about Jessica’s film career. Sundai is next and starts to laugh when her teleprompter is shut off. She does recover, but is shaken up and interrupts Jessica’s answers. Laura follows and confides that she’s not looking forward to working with a teleprompter. Laura seems to handle the first question well enough, but then her teleprompter begins to show gibberish, which confuses Laura and completely flusters her to the point where she stops asking questions. She punctuates her frustration with a curse.

Next up is Erin, who handles the teleprompter issue like a pro. Brittany follows, but doesn’t seem to be listening to Jessica’s answers. Rae has her turn to interview Jessica and does well with the teleprompter problem, but her posture is a mess. Nicole is the last to interview Jessica and gives it a good try, but she’s still a mess with interviewing.

Thankfully, the interviews are over and the models are summoned by Ann and Lara to hear the results. Lara says that they all did well overall. However, Nicole let her nerves get the better of her. Erin is praised as she took control of her interview. Rae is criticized for not being memorable enough. Jennifer is lauded as being unflappable. Laura’s major pause in the interview is noted … as was her curse.