by Michelle Spigner

Tonight, it is down to four girls and we are getting painfully close to finding out who America’s Next Top Model is....

 

Only Nicole, Laura, Jennifer and Erin are left. Erin is more determined than ever to do well in the next photo shoot and come back from having done poorly in the past couple photo shoots. Nicole is happy that she has gotten out of her shell and discovered her love for modeling. Jennifer is proud that she has made it this far and continues to push herself. And as a small town girl, Laura just wants to prove herself and show girls like her’ that they can have big dreams.

 

The girls return home and receive their Tyra mail that reads, “Let’s not skirt around the issue.” The girls know the challenge will have something to do with hula dancing and they are correct. The next day they arrive at the beach and see a group of girls performing a traditional hula dance routine but then break out into a funky fusion of booty popping and hula. This is a new interpretation of the traditional hula and mixes hula with hip-hop. The girls’ challenge is to incorporate the tradition hula and hip-hop into a story that that they will choreograph into a solo. Each hula move represents a word and the girls are to weave the moves into a story that represents themselves.

 

After learning the basic moves the girls get a chance to practice and choreograph their solos. Erin is the most confident because she has some background in dance as a former cheerleader and helps the girls to nail the steps. Once the girls have gone over their steps they return to the beach and are greeted by Miss Jay who will judge them. He also explains the prize. The challenge winner will receive an all expense paid trip to Maui for five days and she will be staying at the Four Seasons Hotel. The girls are ecstatic because this is by far the best prize yet. The pressure is on!

 

Jennifer is up first. She has some difficulty with the hip-hop section but she remembers her steps and keeps on tempo with the beat.  Miss Jay thinks she could have been more consistent but she moved as a model, which was good.

 

Erin knows her steps well, but Miss Jay thinks she seemed a bit angry when she did her solo.

 

Laura doesn’t know the routine as well as she would have liked but works to fake it. She really shakes her hips and tells a story with her movements. The judges think she did a good job with the hip-hop as well.

 

Nicole is very awkward with the hip-hop section and forgets some of the moves. She struggles to find the beat but even though she looks a bit awkward she doesn’t give up.

 

Miss Jay thinks Nicole was so entertaining that he goes out and does an impression of her. The challenge winner is... Laura! She decides to bring Jennifer along with her on the trip.

 

When the girls get back to the house they receive their next Tyra mail that reads, “Is the pressure making you feel like you want to explode? Not so fast... timing is everything.”

 

The next morning the girls meet Jay Emanuel on the beach and he explains the photo shoot. They are going to be styled like Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes who is known for her fiery temper and extreme beauty. They will be posing on the volcanic rock along the beach and will have to time the wind and the waves perfectly so the photographer can catch a shot with the sea crashing onto the rocks behind them.

 

But there is a twist. There is a lot more riding on the photo shoot than usual because this week two of them will be going home. All the girls’ jaws drop because they know that means half of them will be gone at the end of the next panel. So either they exceed to the best of their ability in the shoot or they will be sent packing.

 

Jennifer is up first and focuses on bringing everything she has learned in past weeks into her shoot. She starts off doing something very simple and then tries to work up to something interesting. Jay doesn’t love her but thinks she did well.

 

Nicole is up next. And all the girls know that she is going to do a great job because she always does. And she does. Jay loves her face and he thinks she nailed it.

 

Laura up is next and starts doing something strange with her face. Jay and the photographer try to give her correction and work to get her into a good shot. Laura feels that she isn’t doing well and tries to push herself more but she just gets in her own way.
Erin is last. She comes out with a good attitude and has some really good poses, but she isn’t looking very warm or pretty in her face. Erin starts singing pop songs in her head that helps her to bring out a more peaceful and serene face.

 

The next day the girls meet with panel and Editor in Chief of Seventeen Magazine, Ann Shoket is the guest judge.

 

Erin really glows and looks serene in her picture. But Tyra is concerned with her film because unlike the other girls Erin only had one great picture to choose from instead of several.

 

Jennifer looks pretty in her picture, but she doesn’t hit the best angle for her face. She has great power in her body. However, in a

lot of her film she forgot about her face and forgot to smize.

 

Laura looked very strong and had a lot of great faces in her film. They judges are concerned that Laura looks short in her picture but like that she can be such a chameleon in the different photo shoots and do something different and interesting each time.
Nicole had a great close up but her pose was weak. Tyra thinks she has lost some of the strength in her poses. However she portrays so much emotion, mystery and sexiness through her face and especially her eyes that the judges are very impressed with her work.

 

The judges deliberate. The girl with the best picture and the first finalist is... Nicole. There is only one spot left and it is between Laura, Jennifer and Erin. The second finalist is.... Laura. Tyra tells the girls that they should be very proud of themselves for making it so far. Erin and Jennifer are devastated that the journey is over and it hurts to be so close and not make it.

 

So it is Laura and Nicole battling it out in the fashion show to see who will make it to the top.


Be sure to find out who wins cycle 13 on the finale of America’s Next Top Model, next Wednesday at 8pm on the CW.

(Image courtesy of the CW)

 

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