by Michelle Spigner

 

On tonight’s episode of America’s Next Top Model, the girls take the trip of their lives to model in an exotic new place.

 

The girls return to their house after lat elimination and find that it is completely covered in red “Danger” tape both inside and out and a team of hazmat men are rummaging through their things. When the girls come inside they are greeted by Tyra who tells them that she is outrage by how disgusting the house is. She has never seen a Top Model house look so messy. Tyra tells them that it is so bad that they can’t stay there anymore and must leave. She slides open the doors to the backyard to reveal tiki poles, men and women in hula skirts, fire throwers, hula dancers and traditional Hawaiian music. They are going to Hawaii!!

 

The girls are ecstatic and quickly hurry off to pack up their things and head off to the airport and hop on a flight to Maui. The girls arrive in the picturesque island paradise and explore their fabulous new house. That night they receive their first Hawaiian Tyra mail that reads, “If you want to catch a break. You’re gonna have to go out and get it.” The girls think they might be going fishing. Close… but not so much.

 

The next morning they arrive at the beach to find that they will be learning how to surf. Surf champion Buzzy Kerbox is there to instruct them on how to paddle out and jump up on their boards. The girls do pretty well and most of them are able to stand up on their board, which is very important if they want to do well in their challenge.

 

While the girls take a break from surfing two hot surfers come up to ask them if they would like to go out for a surf with them, but Jay Emanuel interrupts to explain the girls’ challenge. They will be surfing tandem with the two hot surfers and will have one opportunity to get a good shot standing up on the board. The girls will have to catch a fierce look into the camera before they lose their balance and fall off and most of the girls do a good job.

 

Jay is judging the challenge and is looking for the model that takes all that she has learned about modeling in the past weeks and applies it to her shot. The winner will receive a helicopter tour around the island. Jay picks Erin as the winner. He thought that she had the best shot and a great pose, where she modeled from head to toe. Erin brings Brittany and Nicole along and they are whisked off to explore the beautiful Maui mountains and beaches from the air.

 

But Erin isn’t satisfied with her prize. She wishes she had gotten something tangible like jewelry or clothes like past challenge winners. At this point the girls are getting very tired of Erin and many of them especially Brittany think she is very immature and are tired of her acting like a brat.

 

Later that night, the girls receive their second Tyra mail, “Sometimes being all mixed up is a beautiful thing.” The girls aren’t sure what it means and have no idea what the next day might bring.

 

The next morning the girls arrive at a sugar cane field and are greeted by Jay. He introduces their photographer for the week, Tyra! She will be shooting them again. This photo shoot is all about the mixed race culture in Hawaii known as the “Hapa.” The girls will be portraying women of mixed backgrounds and wearing a fashion interpretation of the races.

 

The girls are very excited about the photo shoot. But first the girls have to go through some very extensive hair and make-up in which they are painted from head to toe to change their skin color, pop in color contacts, and get hair pieces and wigs put in to portray their Hapas. Many of the girls end up looking like completely different people.

 

Erin is up first and is portraying a Tibetan and Egyptian woman. Erin just doesn’t do it for Tyra, she is just too commercial and seems a little lost. Tyra can’t pull any life out of her.

 

Laura is up next and her Hapa is Mexican and Grecian. Laura isn’t doing so hot at first and then asks Tyra to be brutally honest with her. Tyra tells her the truth that she isn’t happy with her shots. After that Laura turns it on and gets some really great shots in.
Nicole’s Hapa is Japanese and Malagasy. Tyra asks Nicole to do some of her famous shapes and poses and she rocks Tyra’s world.

Jennifer’s Hapa is Batswana and Polynesian. Tyra thinks Jennifer is all over the place and is really uninspired in her performance. The crew has to bring in some music before Jennifer can really do anything. But after the beat starts pumping she really comes alive.

Brittany's Hapa is East Indian and Native American. Jay thinks she perfectly embodies the two cultures in her look, but her performance is poor. It is a struggle to get her to loosen up and she is just too pose-y.

 

Sundai is the last model of the day and is portraying Russian and Moroccan. Jay says that she was the best surprise of the day and she really nailed it.

 

The next day the girls meet with the judges, and guest judge, supermodel Kristy Hume sits on the panel.

 

This week the judges think many of the girls look pretty but is it is more a question of whether they look like models. Like Jennifer. The judges love her photo and think she has something special, but she just doesn’t scream model. Same with Laura she looks like a very pretty and interesting girl in her photo, just not like a model.

 

Sundai’s problem isn’t that she doesn’t look like a model in her shot, it is that she doesn’t look like a model of the right age. Again, the judges think Sundai’s picture is stunning but it looked more “Gap Kids” than editorial. Tyra thinks she looks too young, and she needs to work on photographing taller.

 

Brittany and Erin have the problem of coming off too commercial in their photos. Brittany lacks the energy the judges want to see in a picture, and she was overpowered by her garments. Erin looks very boring in her picture and resorted to standard poses and faces in her shots. The judges think she psyched herself out about the photo shoot and stood in her own way.

 

The judges have no complaints about Nicole. They think she is stunning from head to two.

 

Needless to say, Nicole gets the best picture of the week. Runner-up is Jennifer, and then Laura and Sundai. Erin and Brittany are in the bottom two. The judges don’t see much improvement in Brittany’s pictures and think hey lack inspiration. Her poses lack the inventiveness that the fashion world looks for. Erin takes beautiful pictures, but stands in her own way by intimidating herself. In the end, Brittany is the one to go.

America’s Next Top Model airs Wednesdays at 8pm on the CW.

(Image courtesy of the CW)

 

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