By Kylene Hamulak

America's Next Top Model: College Edition is down to the Top 9 girls in the regular competition. Laura, who had Best Photo on the last shoot, will be enjoying the Tyra Suite, and as she's talking about how surprised she is that her shoot went so well, I'd like to talk about why she's surprised she's doing well in the competition. While she claims she doesn't have a typical high-fashion model "look", she's delusional if she thinks she's representing a regular, healthy girl. Regular girls don't look like her.

 

Remember a few weeks ago when Leila won the keys to the suite and invited Laura to join her because she felt like they were friends? And Laura was like, "I have no idea what her motivation is"?

 

Guess who is not getting Laura's invite to the Tyra Suite. More interestingly, guess who IS. Laura, knowing that it's going to create all kinds of drama, has decided to bring Kristin into the suite with her. Apparently, Leila's impression that she and Laura are friends is not exactly accurate.

 

But let's move on to bigger things. Like the fact that Tyra brings Alicia Keys to join her for a morning wake-up committee, shocking all the girls when she shows up in their bedroom. There's a lot of crying and yelling and Kiara singing. Tyra tells them that the girls will be doing a charity fashion show for Alicia's cause, Keep A Child Alive.

 

To practice, the girls are challenged to do an impromptu fashion show based on Alicia's hits. Leila steps up on the platform, and it's clear that Kristin - after targeting Destiny last week - is ready for Leila to leave. Leila is a bit rattled by some of the criticism Tyra gives her, so it will be interesting to see if it affects her performance.

 

Tyra also announces that the girls will be in complete control of the appearance - from style to hair to makeup, everything will be their decision. As president of the house, Laura is given the responsibility of delegating the roles and responsibilities. It makes her a little nervous because she hasn't had a lot of experience with runway.

 

When the girls arrive at the site to discuss their plans with Johnny and Kelly, Laura is asked about the concept and who will be assigned to what roles. Kelly looks visibly annoyed when, as the leader, Laura doesn't have the slightest clue what she's supposed to be doing.

All the girls will be wearing Mara Hoffman designs, and the model whose look gets the highest bid will be the winner of the challenge. As an extra incentive, the winner of the challenge will also win a special experience for her and a friend with Alicia Keys.

As a follow up to her practice walk, Leila once again hears Tyra yelling at her from the audience to move her arms, much to the delight of Kristin, who Kelly thought looked like a "real model" on the runway. The three girls who made the best impression were Victoria, Laura, and Kiara. The girl who made the most money for the charity is named as Kiara, and she choose Nastasia to join her for a stop on Alicia's tour.

 

Kiara's pretty smug about winning her second challenge, Allyssa is frustrated at having the lowest challenge score, and Leila thinks if she continues to take great photos, she'll be fine.

 

Meanwhile, in the suite, Laura and Kristin are still gossiping about how Leila is obsessed with Laura and was offended that she didn't pick her to stay in the suite with her. When Leila actually confronts her about it and wants to have a real conversation, Laura denies ever having uttered such a thing. It becomes a group conversation where Leila feels alienated and Laura feels attacked and Kristin feels...well, no, Kristin just IS bitchy. And she'll own it.

 

The truest statement Laura makes: "It just feels like high school." Apparently she had a tough time growing up because her parents were in the entertainment industry, so everyone gossiped about her being obsessed with herself...which is exactly what Leila said to her. So now she's crying. Buuut...I mean, I've gotta be honest. I'm not convinced it's not true.

 

The next day, the models arrive at West LA College for their photo shoot, taking on the role of a sassy fashion cheerleader. We discover that Laura is (in her words) the farthest thing from a cheerleader, while Kristin believes that six years of cheer experience will give her an advantage.

 

The girls are being tossed in the air for the shoot, which has varying degrees of success. Some of the girls do really well controlling their bodies and their expressions, but then there are disasters. Like Allyssa. Who hits one of the male cheerleaders on the way down from her toss, leaving his face bloody.

 

Laura, terrified of heights, is nervous about her shoot, particularly after seeing Allyssa's accident, but she does manage to fight through and get the shot. Kristin does seem to get great shots, so her cheerleading skills helped her a lot. Leila, however, is having a tough week, getting stuck in a "duck lips" rut. Johnny notes that her photos were not as strong as a lot of the other girls. Nastasia gets high marks for her shots, but Brittany overthinks it and has some trouble.

 

And now it's time for judgment.

 

Victoria: Kelly thinks her photo looks like a middle-aged man about to take a nap, but Rob and Tyra also liked it for not being typical cheerleader.
Judges Scores: 6 (Kelly) + 8 (Tyra) + 8 (Rob)

 

Leila: Leila's photo isn't as bad as her shoot indicated, though the judges aren't entirely impressed. Bryanboy says she's very popular online, but even he thinks she's going to need to step it up.
Judges Scores: 4 (Kelly) + 6 (Tyra) + 7 (Rob)

 

Kiara: Tyra loves Kiara's photo, but Kelly doesn't think it's that beautiful, and Rob is disappointed that she's not in the air. Bryanboy offers a social media comment that says her body is phenomenal, but her face "is just sad." Ouch.
Judges Scores: 8 (Kelly) + 8 (Tyra) + 7 (Rob)

 

Kristin: The judges love Kristin's photo, but if it's any consolation to the girls hoping Kristin fails at some point, Tyra does say, "I see a cheerleader - I don't see a model." However, despite her attitude and the way some of the other girls feel about her, Bryanboy says that the public is reacting positively to her.
Judges Scores: 9 (Kelly) + 6 (Tyra) + 10 (Rob)

 

Brittany: Brittany is another one who had trouble this week, and the judges argue over whether or not she's cut out for modeling. Brittany says she came into the competition as "the Disney girl" and that she wants to show other sides of herself, and Tyra tells her there are a lot of ways to BE the Disney girl but still show fierceness and sexiness.
Judges Scores: 6 (Kelly) + 6 (Tyra) + 6 (Rob)

 

Nastasia: The judges love her shot, which shows a very fierce Nastasia, though Bryanboy shows that one of her fans thought it was too sexy.
Judges Scores: 9 (Kelly) + 8 (Tyra) + 10 (Rob)

 

Yvonne: Yvonne gets great feedback about her shot, with all the judges loving it and social media calling it "fierce, fiery, and gorgeous." I'm a little confused about why Kelly only gave it a 7, seeing as how she had positive feedback.
Judges Scores: 7 (Kelly) + 9 (Tyra) + 9 (Rob)

 

Allyssa: Kelly calls it a "show pony carnival gone bad" while Tyra says she sees a cheerleader, model, and sexy woman. Bryanboy reports that Allyssa seems to be "middle of the road boring girl."
Judges Scores: 6 (Kelly) + 8 (Tyra) + 6 (Rob)

 

Laura: The judges mostly love Laura's photo, with Tyra telling her it's something she could see in a magazine. The weird thing is that Tyra starts asking her about her fear of heights, and it's uncomfortable to watch as Laura's complexion changes and she tries not to break down describing her irrational fear.
Judges Scores: 9 (Kelly) + 9 (Tyra) + 6 (Rob)

This week's highest score and Best Photo is Nastasia, who will be visiting the Tyra Suite. Let me tell ya - if she doesn't pick Kiara to join her, we're definitely going to get drama next week. Laura is named the runner up, with Kristin close behind.

 

The final two girls to hear their fate are Brittany and Leila. Personally, I'm torn because I like both girls, though Allyssa looks more upset than anyone. With 29.5 points, Brittany barely edges out Leila, who scored 29.0. Leila is eliminated from the competition.

 

She's very upset about her elimination, feeling like she's let everyone down by talking such a big game. We'll see how she responds in the second-chance competition.

 

Um, guys? Kristin is two for two. I'd be really careful if I was one of the remaining girls in the competition. Or if I ever encounter her in life.

 

America's Next Top Model: College Edition airs Fridays at 8/7c on the CW.

 

(Image Courtesy of the CW)