So you wanna be on top?

Yesterday afternoon, I finally had the chance to sit down and watch last week's episode of America's Next Top Model. Last week, Gus Greeper suggested that perhaps I should do posts about the show. I thought it was a great idea, so here's my inaugural ANTM post.

I'm going to be honest about the fact that I've been finding that the "cheese factor" of this show has increased with each cycle. This past week's challenge was no exception. Don't get me wrong, I love Tyra (dorky as she may be at times...in fact, I think that's what makes me love her) but some of the situations that they put these girls in really make me giggle. On this episode, they were learning about body movement and had to master the perfect pose and convey a specific emotion while being held in the air by male figure skater, Lloyd Eisler. Benny Ninja trained them on a trampoline before they took the ice. I found this part of the show almost painful to watch. The part that I love is the photo shoots. The fact that they continue to come up with creative themes and ideas for these shoots is what makes me keep watching. I find many of the concepts intriguing and I love to see the hair and makeup people work their magic. The transformations are remarkable sometimes. This week's shoot was done on the top of a high building (making the girls who fear heights very unhappy)...the theme was sexy gargoyles, and I think it was lost on a few of the models. Heather redeemed herself in the shoot, giving Jay exactly what he was looking for. Sarah posed a little strangely and nobody was really getting what she was doing. Jay told Saleisha that she's too men's magazine. She may have gotten a slow start, but Lisa worked it out with a little help from Jay (below is her best shot). Ambreal managed to make it through her shoot, but didn't bring a whole lot of creativity.


Time for judging. I swear, Miss J's hair gets bigger every week! Sarah and Ambreal fail to impress while Ebony and Chantal get high marks. Despite her best attempts to hide it, Janet's white underwear is totally visible in her shot. Lisa turns out a strong picture.
I have often said that the women who take the best photographs and make the best models are often not the most beautiful women to look at outside of the shoot. Jenah looks terrible at judging. She looks like she didn't put any effort into her look. What's that about? The same can't be said for her picture, which once again is beautiful. Tyra echoed my sentiments about her look. "Run a brush through your hair, girl!" Yet, Jenah's photo was my favourite this week. (See below).


While the judges deliberated, I thought about how mad I would be if Ambreal went home, only because the title of the episode gave it away, "The Girl Who Was Afraid of Heights." Next, Tyra made a (cheesy) pun, saying a "gar-girl" was going to go home. (groan)

After whining about it all episode, Lisa finally gets called first but deservedly so. Her rival Bianca is called next. After that, Tyra calls Ebony, Chantal, Jenah, Saleisha, Heather, and Sarah. Janet and Ambreal are left in the bottom two, one for needing too much coaching and one for not progressing enough. Tyra saves Ambreal and eliminates Janet.

I can't say that I have a favourite contestant on this cycle yet. In the past, I have rooted for one of the girls from the first episode. This time, nobody really stands out for me.

What do you think? What's your take on the show, and the girls for cycle 9?
Photos courtesy of CWTV