America’s Next Top Model 7, Episode 10: Cold as Ice

The water is freezing cold, which Eugena quickly mentions. Tyra tells her she should try shooting a Sports Illustrated shoot in the snow. Jay notes that Eugena’s jaw is quivering. The girls shriek. David Ruiz is the photographer for the shoot and Tyra tries to speak Spanish to him, though, as we learn later, he speaks English. A for effort, though.

The floating begins and Eugena starts sinking after a minute. Tyra tells the girls that it’s okay for them to tell David if they need a break. Melrose is okay, but she notices that Eugena seems to be struggling. “Don’t they hate each other?” Jay asks. Maybe, but remember that Eugena and Monique didn’t get along very well in the beginning, and look what happened there.

As the shoot goes on, Eugena continues to sink too much. I think she’s arching her back too much. David thinks Monique has a soft face. Tyra says the girls look like they love each other. She mixes their black and blond hair. Eugena says they’re supposed to be floating like angels, but she couldn’t move or float. She hopes she didn’t look like a dead fish. Jay says it was a typical E shoot – flat, boring, and she looked like she was drowning. Does he mean that she always looks like she’s drowning? Because that’s kind of weird. Eugena says that she couldn’t control herself.

When Melrose and Eugena are done, Eugena confirms to Tyra that this was definitely the hardest shoot. Melrose says she tried not to complain because she’s competing. She and Eugena lie on the hot ground to warm up. Amanda is sure she’ll be a baby in the cold water. Eugena says she never wants to do that again.

It’s Amanda and CariDee’s turn. CariDee says the water was unbelievably cold, but she had to do what she had to do. David tells her and Amanda not to show the cold in their faces. The girls float well but Tyra thinks Amanda looks stiff. She tells her not to think about drowning. CariDee interviews that Amanda is young and naïve. At this point in the competition, it’s not about trying, it’s about having it or not.

The girls do get some good shots, though. CariDee is shivering a lot, and at a break, some guys wrap her in towels (though she’s still in the water, so I’m not sure what good that will do). David tells her that if she feels like something’s strange, she needs to speak up. Tyra notes that CariDee is from Fargo, so she should be used to the cold. “I forgot,” says CariDee. Hee.

CariDee says that her body took over and it felt like her skin was on pins and needles. But when the camera was on her, she tried not to let it show in her face. She asks for a break, and as she’s getting out of the water, she’s so cold that her hands are shaking. She says her breath was taken away. Some guys help CariDee out of the pool and wrap her in towels. Jay says that models need to tell people when they’re past their limit. CariDee pushed herself so far that became hypothermic. Then maybe they should take her to the hospital? However, when Jay comes over to check on her, she just asks how the photos are.

Tyra tells CariDee that she has to listen to her body and let someone know if something is wrong because all they know is “go, go, go.” Melrose interviews that CariDee let it go too far. Thanks for the insight, Melrose. There are still about 50 frames left, so Amanda takes some single shots. Jay says that if Amanda gives something great in a single shot, they can edit in CariDee from an old photo. CariDee says that she’s always nervous about panel but Tyra wouldn’t let her get back in the water. She couldn’t help her reaction and she hopes things work out for the best.

The girls get a typical Tyra Mail about panel. Amanda hopes that the person who goes home won’t be her or anyone she likes. So… just Melrose then, huh? Melrose says that she messed up and she’s disappointed because she practiced well. She knows she can only go up from here. Or… go home. Either one.

Eugena hangs out on CariDee’s bed and says that that was the hardest shoot, partly because her dress kept wrapping around her legs. CariDee has a sore throat. Eugena interviews that CariDee didn’t get to finish, but she heard that Amanda didn’t do so well because she was awkward, as usual. CariDee says that her body couldn’t handle the cold. Amanda interviews that they’re getting narrowed down, and she’s still in it, but she’s worried because she didn’t do that well. She doesn’t want to get her hopes up too high, but she really wants this.

The girls head to panel. Tyra calls them the top four finest… chicks. She wanted to say something a little dirtier. Tyra reminds them of the prizes and introduces the judges, including David Ruiz. Ms. J. looks like an extra in Grease.

The individual evaluations are first. Well, pair evaluations, since they had pair photos. Melrose and Eugena come up first. Tyra tells them that a lot of models won’t do shoots with another person, but it’s important to learn how to work with a partner. The judges look at Melrose’s dancing photo first. She looks graceful and like she’s very into the dance. Twiggy likes her arm work. Eugena’s dancing photo is okay; I don’t think they chose her best shot. They barely talk about it.

Melrose and Eugena give a little dance demonstration. Nigel looks bored, and when they’re done, he points out that there are two photographers at panel but the girls didn’t do any of their movements in their direction. The girls’ floating shot looks pretty good.

Twiggy thinks they look like mermaids. Nigel says that the point is to share the frame but also shine in it, and he thinks Eugena and Melrose did that well. Tyra says that they had tons of Melrose faces to choose from, but Eugena, not so much. She still has problems connecting, though she’s getting better. However, she’s not actually floating in the floating shot; she has her foot on the bottom of the pool. Tyra says that if she wasn’t getting it perfectly, she should have at least made sure her faced looked pretty.