America’s Next Top Model Review: Beauty and the Bees

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been getting my fashion fixes lately from RuPaul’s Drag Race and What Not to Wear, and after this week’s episode, I am still waiting for America’s Next Top Model to inspire me again.  This week the girls did an acting challenge and a beauty shot with bees.  While I am sympathetic to the tears the girls’ shed at their acting challenge, I am so unmoved by these girls this cycle that if this is the next generation of modeling and fashion, I might have to rely on the “queen” bees.

Heather Baur, Tyra’s nutritionist, came and taught the girls about “cheaties,” which are foods that technically seem bad but aren’t.  Tyra and Heather blindfolded each girl, fed them two foods, and the girls had to say which food they thought was healthier.  For instance, spaghetti with meatballs is healthier than eggplant Parmesan, and waffles and peanut butter is better than a bagel and cream cheese.  She concluded that they shouldn’t eat these foods every day, but when they want to splurge, they shouldn’t deprive themselves; they can choose the “healthier” indulgence and then go back to eating healthily.

Ironically, Tyra and Heather taught the girls how to indulge properly in a kitchen that was not cleaned as such.  After they left, Dalya and some of the other girls started cleaning out the refrigerator and they found raw chicken sitting in a bowl.  It turned out to be Alexandria’s.  While there is a way to do everything, from what I saw, Dalya was simply trying to educate Alex on the proper way to store chicken.  Apparently Alex wasn’t receptive to the lesson ‘cause it ignited yet another food fight in the Top Model house.  All I could think of was the biggest food fiasco in Top Model history from Cycle 3 where Ann and Cassie got the entire house in a tizzy because Ann wrote in Cassie’s left out food.  Watching these clips of the girls in the Top Model house is like watching freshmen in college dorms.  Have any of these girls ever lived with another group of girls?  Cheerleading camp?  Church youth retreats?  Cousin’s house for sleepovers?  Geesh!

Eugene Buica, artistic director of Acting Corps, taught the girls to confront their inner critic by drawing a picture of their inner critic on an easel. Ondrei confronted the death of her two brothers, who died within the last year and one of whom was murdered the day before her prom.  When she returned home, she called her boyfriend and told him that she didn’t think she’d be able to handle being in the competition.

The girls met Jay Manuel at Smash Box Studios for beauty shots, where they modeled jewelry covered in pheromones that attracted the bees.  With cotton up their noses and in their ears, the girls stepped into a screened area of the studio and tried to pull off “fierce” beauty and the bee shot while being photographed by Mike Rosenthal.  Unfortunately, Ondrei was not able to push past the emotions the acting challenge brought out earlier in the week.  Ondrei admitted in her interview that she thought she was ready to be here, but maybe she made the wrong decision.  In keeping with the spirit of the pheromones, when Monique returned to the house during her individual interview, she tried to use Ondrei’s grief as a stimulus for suggesting that she should go home and “not take up a spot when she doesn’t really want it.”

Supermodel Alek Wek was the guest judge.  I have seen and admired her in Ebony magazine for years and years.  I was so excited to finally see her on ANTM.  Before judging truly commenced, Ondrei admitted that the shoot did not go well for her and she wants to go home.  The judges wished her well; however, Tyra admitted that if Ondrei’s photo is the worst photo this week, no one will be sent home.  If her photo is not the worst photo, there would still be an elimination.  Best photo: Hannah, who cried during her shoot.  While Dalya’s best shot was with her eyes closed, Nicole photographed older than her age, so she was eliminated.  I must admit that part of the reason I like a girl’s photo is whether I like her personality.  While Alex had a unique pose, the food fiasco and her nasty attitude turned me off this week.  Favorite photo: Ondrei.

Whatever happened to the judging challenges that Tyra had the girls do during Cycles 2 -6?  This is where Tyra first did her now famous model-on-a-turntable turn.  We learned so much more about the girls’ modeling and styling ability from these challenges.

For another opinion on this episode, read Models Abuzz by Desiree Neall.

Cycle 16, Episode 2: “Alek Wek” (originally aired March 2, 2011)

Get fierce with this cycle of America’s Next Top Model Wednesdays at 8/7c on the CW

Images courtesy of The CW