America’s Next Top Model Cycle 12

Wasn’t ANTM just on?

Seems like we’re being drowned by reality TV these days. Usually they wait until the summer to save us from rerun Hell but right now we have Survivor, The Amazing Race, Project Runway Canada, Celebrity Apprentice, and now America’s Next Top Model. There must surely be a Big Brother lurking around the corner.

I couldn’t stop myself. I had to watch it. Tonight, the show aired at the same time here as it did in the US. Last time, A Channel stopped doing that part way through the cycle and switched it to Thursdays, which is about when I lost interest — no fun taking part in a live online chat if you aren’t actually watching it at the same time.

Tonight’s online chat with Erin was, as always, fun. We’ve decided that Cycle 14 should be Jesus Christ Supermodel.

Questions related to this episode from Top Model Gossip:

Is London’s street preacher gimmick for real or a cry to get attention?

The Christian part of it is probably for real but she’s amping it up to get noticed. She’s a poor street preacher if her performance in front of Tyra for the first time was a sample.

Did Sandra’s bitchiness turn you off?

It turned me off her, but you know she’ll be there for awhile because they need the friction she causes…and because Jesus clearly doesn’t love me.

Should Angelea made into the house? If so, instead of who?

I really didn’t see enough of her to have an opinion either way. Having both her and Sandra in the house would have been loads of bitchy fun, though. I loved Sandra’s bitchy bumping into Angelea when the 13 girls were picked to move into the house. The Dark Side truly was with her. 😉

Has your opinion of anyone changed because of this first episode?

I didn’t have any opinions before because I didn’t even know the show was back on until today.

What did you think of McKey’s Cover Girl commercial?

Haven’t gotten to see it yet.

What did you think of the photo shoot theme?

Lame. The little girls playing theme was a little creepy, like adult women dressing up as children for porn sites. Very oogy. The bad girl extras did pretty good jobs, though, better than the model hopefuls in some cases.

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America’s Next Top Model cycle 11 episode 3

I know. It aired several days ago. I was toying with the idea of just not posting about it again. But there Erin goes again, hauling out the hard-hitting questions, making me have to post. So here goes:
Do you think Hannah is racist? Or just sheltered/naive?

I think she’s had a very limited upbringing without the exposure to people, places, and things outside of her home “in a small town in Alaska”. I think ANTM is going to chew her up and spit her out, and if it doesn’t, the modelling world will.

On the other hand, maybe she’s just a really good actress.

Was Sheena brave or silly or denying having fake breasts, then coming forward with the truth?

I think she was silly to have lied about them in the first place. I mean, come on. 100% genuine, real breasts don’t look like that in that kind of a pose. They just don’t. Was she brave coming clean about them? Not for a second. She knew she’d been caught out in a lie and that it was going to come back and bite her in the ass later. So, brave? No. But smart? Very. Sometimes it’s all about damage control.

Are Nykeisha’s excuses legitimate? Or a cop out?

The only reason she was still there this week was that ShaRaun was so much more horrible than she was. The excuses for eh-verything, the interrupting people, the inability to actually pull a good pose.

Whose photo was the best? Or worst?

I wasn’t excited by Lauren Brie’s. She looked a little sickly in it. I liked Elina’s. Marjorie looked a bit like Stevie Nicks with that headband, but hers was up there, too.

Did Isis deserve to be in the bottom two?

Yeah, I’d say she did. Her final photo wasn’t that bad but most everything she did leading up to it was less than stellar, from the posing class to the actual accessories posing to most of her ladder poses. She also really looks unkempt — and almost ashamed — whenever she comes to the judging panel. I applaud her struggle to become who she feels she should be, but she has massive obstacles (and I don’t mean prejudice) to overcome to get much further in ANTM (assuming one ignores the drama factor of keeping her). Had she not been a transsexual, I doubt she would have made it as far as she has with what she’s been doing.

What are they doing to Elina in the makeover episode next week?

I don’t know but after all the hype of the previews, someone better be getting something drastic done. And cutting long hair short, putting extensions in short hair, making Clark a brunette or someone else a blonde or redhead ain’t gonna cut it. I want to see a bald head or blue mohawk or something equally extreme to warrant the “something never done before on Top Model” shtick.

Ooh, just had a thought. Maybe it’s an extreme makeover for Isis, if you get my drift. That would truly be a “top model first”.  The ANTM Extreme Makeover Episode.

Or maybe not. Too bad — they could throw in de-hootchifying for Sheena. I have to admit that I’m disappointed by the makeover previews — making Clark a brunette is not taking out the pretty pretty. Now, a short haircut like Marjorie’s with the brown would have been something. Instead, making her a brunette will make her look even more like a gelfling.

Enough with fierce

It was bad enough having to endure it from Christian all during last year’s Project Runway and then having to endure it throughout cycle 10 on America’s Next Top Model. But she’s doing it again. Tyra is using “fierce” all over the freaking place. Enough already.

The first episode of America’s Next Top Model 11 is getting weirder — and, yes, more stupid — each season. This was unbelievably bad. The whole Top Model Institute of Technology thing is just really cheesy. It looks like a really low budget (and I mean a couple of hundred dollars, tops) Sci Fi movie. Or 80s porn.

Top 5 America’s Next Top Model 11 pet peeves for this week (in addition to the above):

1. The cattiness about and towards Isis — I’m all for general cattiness (that’s part of why we watch these kinds of reality shows) but that’s going to an ugly place almost immediately from the start.
2. Clark — Her beauty pageant looks don’t warrant the conceit she exhibits; and she’s one of the bitchiest girls there. Maybe they’ll cut off all her hair in the makeover episode.
3. Sharaun — Didn’t think anyone could be more conceited than Clark but here she is.
4. Hannah continually mentioning that she grew up without water or electricity — We get it. You done growed up with nothing in the middle of nowhere. Time to move on.
5. Tyra making the one plus-sized model hopeful stuff extra padding around her

Top 5 America’s Next Top Model 11 likes for this week:

1. Clark being picked nearly last in just about everything — seriously, the girl needs to be taken down several pegs.
2. Sharaun being eliminated — she was just too cocky for words. Talk about asking the Universe to slap you upside the head
3. Isis — I don’t think she has a hope in hell of winning but she’s more model-world-savvy than any of the others
4. Elina — One of my favourites this season, despite her having the hots for Clark. Mind you, if she can help Clark smarten the hell up, that’s even more reason to like her
5. Sheena — Another favourite this season, possibly even my top favourite at this point

You can probably guess some of my answers to Erin at Top Model Gossip (gotta bookmark that site):

Did you feel the Top Model Institute of Technology theme worked?
Hell, no. The concept might have worked but the cheese was way over-the-top.

What do you think of Tyra’s finalist choices?
I think she picked pretty well. I might have swapped a couple but overall, I agree with her choices.

How do you feel about the girls’ reaction to Isis?
I think the overall reaction was good. Asking questions is a good sign. The cattiness from some of them was, as I said above, really ugly and says more about the girls saying the ugliness than the object of their jabs.

Is Elina’s super-strong sexuality for real? Or for drama?
Could be a little of both, but I would lean towards real. I know a couple of people like her and they are genuine. I’d love to see her hitting on Clark. I think Clark would freak out. Did you notice she was the first hug Clark after Clark was called second to last of the 14? She’s making the moves already. Too funny.

What did you think of the “voting is sexy theme?”
The concept was interesting and might be effective. I’m not sure about the sets. Bureacracy? Seriously? I get most of the others because they were about key issues — immigration, privacy, education — but “bureaucracy? Glad that Clark had that one but still think it was a lame choice.

Which girl is your early favorite?
Elina and Sheena first, followed by Marjorie

Whose photo was the best? Worst?
Clark’s and Sharaun’s were the worst. Marjorie’s and Isis’ were the best.

Who is in the greatest need of a makeover?
Almost all of them could. Isis could use a little help to soften some of the hard lines that still remain. Clark needs to lose the Brittany Spears’ look. Hannah looks too young and immature to be a model. McKey needs to lose the burgundy hair.

[Edited to add: I just replayed the elimination — did you see the sneering smirk on Clark’s face when Sharaun dropped to a crouch after being eliminated? No wonder. She’s now the Queen of Cockiness. LOL]