America’s Next Top Model Review: Long Legs And A Booty Tooch

With two down and twelve to go, the models are finally realizing that no matter how memorable you are the chances of being sent home are still pretty high. I mean, obviously, only one can win, right? Their insecurities really mean they each need to work on strengthening their brand so that they don’t fade away into Top Model history. The Hills reality star Kristin Cavallari came knocking on the Top Model door to have a heart to heart with the ladies on building a lucrative public image. Kristin, who is now producing other reality shows and has pursued her own shoe line, showed that there is life after your fifteen minutes of fame but it’s up to the individual to bring the staying power.

After their meeting, the models were quickly whisked off to The Grove in LA where it just so happens that the show Extra is filmed and also where their next challenge would take place. The ladies were split into two teams of six, with top photo winners from last week, Lisa and Bianca, picking the teams. The models were then interviewed by Extra host Mario Lopez as a group while also being given the opportunities to let their individual personalities shine. The team with the smoothest interview session would be the winners and, as an extra bonus, would be completely immune to the elimination round. Team Lisa went first and most of the girls made good conversation despite being constantly distracted by Lisa’s incessant high-fiving and additional two cents to every question. Maybe Lisa was nervous or has a little ADD going on, or maybe just excited to be standing next to AC Slater, but who the hell knows. Nigel was sure to let Lisa know to take it down a notch and let other people get a word in. When Team Bianca stepped up, things went a bit better. A few of the models were able to successfully display what makes them stand out although Nigel wasn’t happy with Angelea’s lack of on-camera sassiness. Cutie Allison was the most natural and real during her mini-interview, showing her adorable quirky behavior, and was the overall challenge winner for the day, along with being on the decided winning team of Team Bianca, as well.

The big challenge awaited the ladies soon after, one that involved the ultimate in balance and poise. If you thought seven inch stilettos were bad, try posing and contorting in stilts. Jay Manuel and famed photographer Sarah Silver coached the girls through a stilt-walking photo shoot that seemed destined to break a few ankles. Many of these girls are already pushing a six-foot tall mark and being several extra feet up in the air seemed almost cruel. The girls were put into groups of two, one girl from the winning team of the earlier challenge and one from the losing team. This little tactic made things tricky. One girl could literally phone it in for the day and still not be eliminated while the other one would have to rally up her team mate to get a good picture, seeing as how her future kind of depended on it. No pressure or anything. Well, rallying is exactly what Lisa was forced to do with her assigned buddy, Bianca. Bianca was safe from elimination but apparently deathly afraid of heights, which I completely understand. However, it’s not a tall building, it’s not an airplane, it’s a few feet on stilts. Tears are not warranted for this situation but apparently she felt it was and luckily Lisa was her usual jazzed up self and miraculously got Bianca to participate in the shoot. Overall, a few girls killed it on set (Allison, Laura, Alexandria) while others just died (Isis, Angelea, Camille).

At elimination time, Kristin Cavalleri joined the panel and helped critique each model’s altitudinous photo. Six models were safe here and six were not so panic mode was in full effect for exactly half of the room. Tyra first announced the winning photo of the safe girls group which belonged to a surprised but utterly meek Allison. Tyra praised Allison’s perfect posterior in the picture and successfully added the new phrase “booty tooch” to the ANTM vernacular (and Urban Dictionary’s if not already existent). Allison was paired up that day with Angelea, whose derriere had quite the opposite reaction from the judges, making her one of the weakest photos in the bunch.  Alexandria, who had kept unusually quiet and to herself this episode, was the best photo winner of the non-safe group. Now, a lot of focus was on Angelea throughout the episode which made me think that it was possible foreshadowing and she was definitely going home. My thoughts were only partially correct when photo after photo was being called out by Trya and eventually just Isis and Angelea were left in the bottom two. Neither one had a fabulous shoot, far from it in fact, but in the end it was Isis who had the weaker photo and was sent home, leaving Angelea to heave a heavy sigh of relief and another week to work on that tooch dilemma.

Cycle 17, Episode 3: Kristin Cavallari (original air date September 28, 2011).

For more fashion and drama tune in to The CW Wednesday’s 9/8 central.

Images courtesy of Jaimie Trueblood/The CW.