America’s Next Top Model 10, Episode 9: Blood and Guts

Two weeks ago, the girls had a few go-sees and then the dreaded water shoot where they posed through water while lying on plastic. Claire and Lauren were drowned by the competition and Claire was sent packing. It seems like so long ago, doesn’t it?

We’re halfway through the lineup of girls now and down to the final seven. There’s chatter as the girls are in the kitchen. Some are rather surprised that Claire was sent home so soon, while others are realizing that they have made it so far already. My favorite girl, Whitney, is proud of being a plus-sized model and staying this long.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom Fatima, Dominique, and Katarzyna speculate that the overseas trip should be coming up soon. Fatima is excited, yet concerned. You see, she isn’t a native and came here as a refugee. She had papers from the consulate, but somehow lost them in Atlanta. She’s worried that she won’t have her paperwork squared away in time to go on the trip. Her lawyer is working on the situation, but she could possibly end up having to leave the competition on a technicality.

To me, I’m mildly surprised that she was allowed to come onto the show in the first place if all her documents weren’t in order. Again, it goes back to being ready for the show. Remember how Hok from So You Think You Can Dance? wasn’t allowed on the show because his paperwork wasn’t in order from Australia and he was postponed for a season or two? [Assistant Editor’s note: Same with Carly Smithson on American Idol. Also, Lisa from last cycle said she had tried out before but wasn’t allowed to compete because she wasn’t a citizen – why have the rules changed?] I think Fatima probably should’ve gone through the same process. Then again, this surely makes for good television, right?

Back to the show. Paulina comes for a visit and this week’s lesson in thinking on your feet. She runs through a couple of scenarios involving talking at a party and interviewing on a red carpet. The first scenario involves Paulina pretending to be some sort of makeup mogul at a party. Each of the girls has the opportunity to come to chat her up as if they are approaching her for the first time. Anya starts out the field well by striking up a conversation with her, asking about her family. The rest don’t do quite as well, including sweet Stacy Ann who comes off almost too sticky-sweet and insincere.

The next scenario, Paulina is a bubbly entertainment reporter asking the girls interview questions. Fatima actually does well. Both Dominique and Whitney come off as too chatty. Paulina points out to Whitney that she came across like a beauty pageant contestant, very bland and zoned out. She also tells the girls that Dominique needs to understand the value of a good sound bite.

On a side note, I did a brief stint as a television reporter years ago and there are days it’s difficult to narrow down a quote to something poignant when someone is rambling on. Even worse, the cuts are usually cut down a second time for even shorter clips. This is definitely a lesson the girls need to learn if they want to get more exposure.

The girls are in the kitchen making breakfast when a shriek comes out of Lauren. While cutting onions, she cut a large chunk out of her thumb, deep into the nail. We find out after a quick commercial that she does end up getting stitches in it and has it wrapped up. Yikes!

The next morning, the girls are treated to a giant box at the door. Three of them will be going on a group date with Matt… oh, wait, wrong show. The box is full of lemons and limes, but buried beneath them is a special invitation to a party hosted by Jay Godfrey, who is a notable designer. The lemons and limes allude to the party sponsor of 7-Up soda. Ah, I see the connection now with seven girls remaining and a 7-Up plug and sponsorship!

Katarzyna is quick to tell us at home that she thinks the challenge will involve them mingling at the party or having to work an interview since the training they got this week from Paulina was just that. If this is the case, I hope people at the party will understand Anya and her funny accent and that Dominique doesn’t ramble on and on like she can do.

Sure enough, the bell rings and at the door is one of Jay Godfrey’s assistants bringing dresses hand-picked by the designer for each of the models. They’re to wear them to the party. Remember, they’ll have to remember the designer’s name, if asked.

Sure enough, there’s a mockup of a red-carpet event, which subjects the girls to their entertainment news interview. Stacy Ann is beautiful, but comes across as if she’s answering a beauty pageant question, as does Whitney. Anya is stunning as well, yet handles her questions with poise. Dominique completely flubs the designer’s name, calling him Jay Giorgio instead of Jay Godfrey. The funniest and most brash interview of course goes to Lauren, who tells the reporter that she’ll “kick the $h*% out of those girls anytime.” Wow, how do you respond to that?

Next, the girls must mingle with the guests at the party. Lauren digs into her punk-rock-chick roots while talking to Ric Ocasek, who was with The Cars and is Paulina’s husband. Anya chatters and mingles well with just about everyone, asking questions as well as answering them. It all goes downhill after that, though, as we see shots of Whitney yammering about relatives in Texas she doesn’t know about and Stacy Ann caught up in a Groundhog Day-like moment talking about being from Miami. They’re both not coming across as very genuine.

At the end of the night the girls are critiqued by Jay Godfrey and the reporter on how well they performed throughout the night. As expected, they call out Lauren for her potty-mouth, Dominique for flubbing the designer’s name, and Stacy Ann for not coming across as genuine. The winner of the challenge is Anya, who remained natural through the entire night. She wins a photo shoot for a 7-Up advertisement. That’s pretty exciting, but I wonder if the shoot will actually be used in an ad?

Her shoot is beautiful where she’s lying on a bed covered with green leaves, lemons, and limes. Her hair is flowing all over the place and she just looks, well, natural, like 7-Up is proposing it is. The photo turns out well and it looks like it will be used in magazines. As she’s cleaning up to go home, she’s treated to her first check as a working model – $10,000. That’s certainly exciting and she can hardly contain herself.

Back at the house, Stacy Ann is a bit jealous and thinks she should’ve won the prize. She seems to be getting a lot of airtime this week; I wonder if this isn’t a good sign.

Fatima is worried less about the prize and worried more about not being able to get her paperwork in time to go on the overseas trip. Sure enough, the camera cuts to her on the phone with her lawyer. He and the producers have managed to score an appointment at the consulate for nine o’clock the next morning.

Tyra Mail interrupts the gloom and the girls are told that they need to pack their bags or they’ll miss their connection. I wonder what they would pack since they probably don’t know if they will be going someplace tropical or someplace further overseas like Europe or Japan. Strange. Screaming ensues and they stay up all night packing for their trip.

The limo picks the models up early, at about 5:45 the next morning. You can see that the models are tired, yet still running on all the excitement. The limo takes them to the airport and into a hangar where they’re met by Jay Manuel. Unfortunately for them, Jay tells them that they have a photo shoot to do before they leave and it has to be done by three o’clock that afternoon. One girl won’t make it on the plane. This doesn’t bode well for Fatima.

Fatima tells Jay that she has to leave to go work on her paperwork. He’s not happy about the whole situation, which I can understand, but he should be upset with the producers rather than going off on a rant to her. She hustles out to a waiting cab while the rest of the girls start getting their hair and makeup done for the shoot.

The gist of this shoot is that there will be one photo made up of a composite of each of the girls as they get onto a waiting corporate jet. Each of them appears to be made up in jet-set ‘60s-style clothing and makeup. The girls will all be in each photo, and each photo will have a different girl in the spot where she’s showcased getting onto the stairs. The best photos of each girl will be added to a single composite photo of each of them. It sounds complicated, but I’m sure we’ll see a good product in the end.

Lauren struggles with the shoot mainly because of the pain in the remains of her thumb. Stacy Ann has issues with the cold and wind blowing into her eyes, making them water constantly. She’s also getting too posey again and Jay isn’t happy. Whitney also comes across as posey. Anya is having a spectacular week and is doing well with this shoot. Katarzyna does well also.

During all of this, Fatima gets to the consulate in time and manages to get her paperwork in order. But will she make it back to the shoot in time to be able to compete this week? Her cab drops her off at the hangar just after three o’clock, so she’s not going to make it. I wonder how the judges will handle this?

Jay releases the girls from the shoot and tells them to go get their luggage waiting in the hangar. Sure enough, as they get in there, they’re met with the glaring eyes of the dreaded panel. They all are stunned to see the judges and most don’t look too happy.

Speaking of not looking happy, it’s at this instant when Tyra realizes that Fatima is not among them. The door opens and in walks Fatima. Tyra is not happy that she missed the shoot, chastising her about not being ready to go.

With that, the judges move on to what they do best – critiquing the models. First up is Katarzyna. Her photo is one of an elite jet-setter. The judges like it, as do I. Lauren follows her with a photo that makes her look strikingly like Lauren Bacall. She still has problems with her posture at panel and the judges criticize her for this. She does take good photos, but in person, she just has no confidence. I wonder aloud why they continue to bring her along as there have been stronger models with bigger personalities leave the competition already.

Dominique’s shot went well where it combined fun and fashion. She even looks feminine this week. Stacy Ann’s photo isn’t as good. She looks as if she has one leg the way she’s posed, and the angle of her jaw line looks large and distracting. Nigel comments again on how she came across at the party earlier as fake. This doesn’t bode well for this girl.

Whitney’s shot looks nice, but Jay mentions yet again that she looks too pageant-like. Nigel comments that she came across a little fake at the party. She’ll need to tone it down if she wants to continue. This week’s all-around favorite is Anya. She did well at the first challenge and her photo came out gorgeous.

Without a photo to judge for Fatima, Tyra abruptly sends the girls away so the panel can deliberate. Katarzyna doesn’t have much of a personality. Dominique is improving and not looking as manly. Lauren looks graceful in her pictures, but she doesn’t look the same in person. Whitney has wonderful energy. Stacy Ann has plateaued. Anya is heaped with praise. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s picked first.

For Fatima, the judges decide to go through her entire body of work to decide if she will stay or go. Looking back, most of her picture are admittedly pretty good. I do think no matter what that she’ll be in the bottom this week.

Tyra calls the girls in order. First up, unsurprisingly, is Anya. She’s had a great week and it shows. Next in order are Lauren (who nearly trips her way up the aisle), Dominique, Katarzyna, and Whitney. That leaves Stacy Ann and Fatima, who you knew would be in the bottom two.

Stacy Ann is tearing up, while Fatima is blankly staring at Tyra. Both girls look absolutely miserable, but it looks as if Stacy Ann knows she’s going home. Tyra tells Fatima that she’s disappointed that they had to go back through her body of work since she missed the shoot. Then she turns to Stacy Ann, to whom she tells that she’s reached a plateau. Who will be going on the overseas trip? That would be Fatima, while sweet Stacy Ann is sent packing to go home.

With that, the girls are told that the judges are taking the private jet to the hidden destination while the girls are going commercial. But where are they going? Tyra flips around the bag she’s carrying and it has a great old sticker on it with “Rome.” That should be exciting for the remaining six models. Who will be told arrivederci next week?

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent America’s Next Top Model 10 articles on RealityNewsOnline:

Kari’s favorite photos are taken spontaneously in photo booths. Which were your favorite girls for the week? You can send her comments at flystorms2@yahoo.com.

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