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America’s Next Top Model: “The Ladder of Model Success”
12-Sep-2008
Written by: Ivana Cheong
Hannah is called out on her prejudiced views and the girls learn the art of extreme posing.
As a model, the ladder of success is definitely a rocky path with ups, downs, uncomfortable shoots, meltdowns, and everything in between. But in order to get through it, you got to have a little humor. In “Ladder of Model Success,” the girls of ANTM learned how to pose to highlight their products most effectively, while also battling unconditional situations. Typical ANTM episode.
First, the girls go off to learn from the posing master, Benny Ninja. Benny is joined by an Australian model/contortionist to teach the girls extreme posing. They had to pose in sheer, red fabric tubes which were somewhat confusing as to what is their purpose, but I suppose the effect is for sheer comics.
Some girls, like Sheena who is naturally very flexible, got gold stars from Benny and his partner. Others, however, did not do so well. During the teach, Benny asked Nikeysha if she a) had gas, or b) was in labor. And of course, she talked her way during his critiques. Also, Benny told Hannah that she was “lost in translation.” This comment proved to be quite through for Hannah; keep reading.
After the teach, the girls decide to jump in the pool for some needed fun. In complete girl camp fashion, they agreed to play Truth or Dare. Sheena had to dance “hoochily” sort of going against her efforts to “dehooch.” They dared Clark to kiss Elina. Elina of course, went all for it; she was the one who grabbed Clark first. Clark kept her lips closed, but she probably enjoyed it. At least Elina did, saying that Clark had soft lips and that she saw fireworks.
Meanwhile, Hannah is hunched and closed off but no one knows why. That is, until Isis started dancing in the water and she sort of danced into Hannah’s “personal space.” That is when Hannah pushed Isis away, a gesture that wasn’t received very well by the girls in the house.
Defending herself, Hannah kept using the “white-girl-from-small-town” routine, saying that she was the whitest, white girl ever. She said that she doesn’t walk into rooms flamboyantly and go, “Hey!” Brittany looked quite offended by that. She said that she’s black but she doesn’t always act like that.
Meanwhile, Isis said that she needs to take a hormone shot in order to keep her transformation going. So she takes Analeigh with her to keep her company. Analeigh was completely sweet and she understands that this is something that’s very important to Isis.
Afterwards, some of the girls like Sheena, Brittany, Joslyn, and Nikeysha decided to talk to Hannah and see what her deal was. They asked her if she was racist, or maybe just prejudiced, but Hannah played the small town girl card again. She said that since she came from a tight-knit small community, she’s not used to racial diversity, especially a transgendered person.
Hannah felt like it was an ambush by the girls; if one of them had a problem with her, she should’ve come straight to Hannah. But weirdly, Hannah compared her ambush to “gang rape” and “gang violence.” What is she drinking up there in Alaska?
For the challenge, the girls worked with Benny Ninja again and handbag/accessories designer Terina Tarantino. The challenge was to pose to make the accessories pop. And did they pose! Most of the girls used their toes and their legs. Sheena contorted to a half pretzel and put the bag between her legs. A big no-no, according to the creative team. In the end, Elina won, with a prize of a handbag filled with accessories. I wonder what she’s going to do with all those, since in casting she said that she doesn’t like “gender-specific” items.
For the photo shoot, the girls went to a huge open field with a hot air balloon in it. Jay Manuel said that there will be a ladder hanging from the balloon, and the girls will be modeling dresses on the ladder. After a few tries, the men who were in charge were running left and right to keep the balloon and the ladder steady. When they figured out that the wind is way too strong, they decided to keep safety first. To keep the idea of the shoot, the ladder will be hung from a crane and the rest will be Photoshopped in.
Scarily, most of the girls did quite good. Yes, this is a scary fact, because this hasn’t happened a lot in ANTM. Lauren Brie was like a pro up on that ladder; in fact, it didn’t even look like she was on a hanging ladder! Elina looked angelic with her hair extension. Everyone compared her to Angelina Jolie. Sheena, however, still could not control her sensual side. Mr. Jay kept calling out “hooch” every few seconds. It was really hilarious when she basically sat on the ladder rungs without the help of her arms and legs.
In panel, we learn that Ms. Jay will be counting off the episodes with a huge necklace that depicts how many girls are left in the competition. Everyone was amazed by Lauren Brie’s shot, and some agreed that her shot is one of the best in ANTM history. The judges told Clark that she wore too much makeup, and when makeovers come, she will truly be made over. Tyra asked Nikeysha about her eating habits, because she was too thin. Again, she couldn’t stop talking.
Sheena looked too sexy again in her picture and Polina asked her if her boobs are real. Sheena said they are. But later on, just before the judges send them off before deliberation, Sheena raised her hand and revealed that in fact, her boobs are not real. She told the judges that it was a stupid decision at a very young age. The judges commended her for stepping up.
The order in which the girls received their pictures: Lauren Brie, Elina, Joslyn, Marjorie, McKey, Samantha, Sheena, Hannah, Clark, Brittany, and Analeigh.
That said, the bottom two were Isis and Nikeysha. The judges did not care for Isis’s mall look and Nikeysha’s inability to stay quiet and take criticism. In the end, Isis got a second chance. All the while, Nikeysha kept talking about how she’s going to go home and become an aesthetician. Tyra had to tell her to be quiet because she’s invading Isis’s moment.
I think Nikeysha had good potential, but she completely deserved to go home because she just could not shut the hell up. It was a great, impressive episode. I, however, am still looking forward to next week’s makeover meltdowns, which is guaranteed to be fun and juicy, considering the judges are just itching to do a 180 change to Clark and Samantha.
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