It's been a few weeks since I posted on America's Next Top Model, thanks to a week of vacation and a week of getting ready for vacation. But as I came back Wednesday night, little had changed: The recap showed Dallas' Ann Ward continuing a hot streak the Rangers might envy, winning five photo challenges through the Oct. 13 episode. And Arlington's Chris White and Liz Williams were still there, too, as the Oct. 20 began.
The recap also showed that Kacey was gone. Kacey was this season's Contestant That Nobody Likes, which has reached some pretty strong extremes this season with folks like that David dude on The Apprentice and the guy who had to go home after an anxiety attack on Top Chef: Just Desserts (no recap on that, but -- spoiler alert! -- Dallas-based pastry chef Morgan Wilson is still hanging in there).
Wednesday's ANTM began with the models celebrating the elimination of Kacey, whose absence also eliminated much drama, despite the occasional model saying that she was mad at another model about something. Then we saw Liz have an observation about Ann: "Ann's won best photo five weeks in a row. But when it comes to speaking or showing any kind of personality, she's definitely not there." So Ann's a little awkward and shy. She always comes alive in front of the camera. Whoever said that models needed to talk? Oh, yeah, Tyra Banks did.
We learn a little about Esther's kosher diet. "Esther's rules for being kosher, I wouldn't be able to do," Chris says (umm .... they're not Esther's rules, per se). "Especially being in this competition, [which is] stressful alone. You got this [diet] on top of everything. I'm getting a headache just thinkin' about it."
The models go to the Grammy Museum, where they -- especially Liz -- geek out over such things as a Michael Jackson exhibit. Grammy honcho Neil Portnow, the kind of guy who slows down Grammy ceremonies by talking about such things as rules and heritage, and ANTM's Jay Manuel tell the models that they're in a team competition to be one of the women who hands out Grammy statues onstage Grammy night. The models are paired off and told that they have to select the outfits for their partners.
Ann gets teamed with Chelsey, for no other reason than they happen to be standing next to each other, which is how all the pairs are formed. Chelsey is nervous because their personalities are so different. I don't know a lot about fashion, but I do wonder what Ann was thinking when she got a size 12 outfit for a model. An outfit that Chelsey had a hard time figuring out. Chelsey did a much better job picking for Ann, who once again was showered with compliments. Somehow, Ann hasn't let this go to her head or let it make her absolutely paranoid. Or if she has, she's not showing it. But then, she is a quiet type.
Liz gets teamed with Kayla. Since the linked picture was taken, Kayla has had a makeover that gave her flaming red hair, and with her prominent nose, she has an edgy quality that makes her look like a rock chick. Liz, with her short-short post-makeover haircut, looks like a rock chick, too. Both do a good job picking outfits for the other, although I gotta say that Liz showed a lot more imagination with the dress she picked out for Kayla than Kayla did picking an outfit for Liz that included pants. (Has Kayla ever seen the Grammys? Liz has -- she still has ceremonies on tape.)
Chris gets paired with Kendal, and they strive to find outfits that don't look like they've just come out of a strip bar. Frankly, I think a) they succeed and b) it's the Grammys, and for some people there, a strip-bar outfit would be demure. But Jay Manuel says they look like they just walked out of a club with their tight-fitting dresses.
Around here, my notes get a little illegible. But the upshot is that Neil Portman tells Ann that she's too tall, taller than most of the Grammy winners (maybe she could hand out a Trace Adkins statue if he were to win something). I wrote something that looks like "I can't charge my haight wireless I chop of my legs but that's not gonna hope." I think Ann really said, "I can't change my height unless I chop off my legs, but that's not gonna happen." I can just hear Tyra saying, "The judges found out [pause] that you wouldn't chop off your legs. We don't think [pause] you want this."
Ann thinks she has problems. Portman tells Liz he's gratified by how much she loves the Grammys, therefore she's not going to win because she loves them too much and she's too starstruck. Kayla wins. Liz is upset. She takes it out on a bottle of wine, and we see her crawling on the floor at the model house. What was in that wine, anyway?
In the photo/elimination challenge, the women have to portray iconic fashion designers, some of whom are male, in a photo shoot shot by Francesco Carrozzini. Liz draws John Galliano. She doesn't know anything about John Galliano. Neither do I, frankly, but apparently he's a long-haired guy with soft features, even though he has facial hair. Liz tells Jay Manuel that she doesn't know anything about Galliano because she's busy at home, being a single mom, holding down two jobs and being a student, all of which causes Jay to be disappointed in her Model Work Ethic. But Jay is pleased with her shoot: "She became John Galliano," Jay says. "I just wish she knew who he was." Apparently, she's a quick study, so why complain?
Ann gets Alexander Wang, which is perfect because he's young and boyish looking and so is she, although she's probably taller. Everyone loves her shoot. Chris gets Betsey Johnson, a designer I actually know something about because of her quirky aesthetic, and Chris nails it, having a bunch of fun jumping up and down during the shoot. Clearly, none of the DFW women are going home tonight. At panel, the judges love them all, although Francesco notes that Chris' jumping up and down got to be a little one-note and Andre Leon Talley says he doesn't get the photo. About Liz, Francesco says, according to my notes, "She vorked in front car crowned that she was JG." Which I think really means, "She walked in front of the camera convinced that she was John Galliano."
Liz wins the challenge, breaking Ann's streak. Ann looks mildly upset, but if I were her, I'd be relieved to have that five-wins-in-a-row target off my back (and I'd be shorter, because I'm actually taller than her). Tyra calls Ann's name third, Chris' fifth, and Esther and Kendal wind up in the bottom. Kendal goes. "Maybe you we bomb to be a model but a UNT home shields," Tyra says, according to my notes. I think she really said, "Maybe you were born to be a model, but you don't have the skills." Note to self: Next week, write clearer notes.
