ANTM Cycle 10: Paparazzi Edition

America’s Next Top Model – Ready For My Close-Up
The four remaining models photograph Paulina Porizkova for a challenge. Their own photo shoot, directed by Nigel Barker, requires them to impersonate movie icons.

How the hell has Dominique made it this far? Whitney is worried that she’s been in the bottom two twice in a row. Anya is supremely confident because she’s won so many challenges. She isn’t worried about the other girls. Fatima, Whitney, and Anya discuss the fact that they can’t believe Dominique is still in the competition. They also think she eats too much candy. Fatima is disappointed that she hasn’t yet won a challenge.

At the challenge: The girls go to a park, where they get a quick-and-dirty photography lesson, then meet the editor of Seventeen magazine and each get five minutes to shoot Paulina. They are evaluated by how well they work with the model, and how good the finished product is. The winner gets 50 extra frames at the next shoot. Fatima gives good direction, and is firm but gentle. Dominique does not give good direction and has no vision. Whitney knows exactly what she wants, gives great direction, and is very encouraging. Anya’s focus is all over the place. The winner is Fatima.

Back at the loft: Fatima seems to be the only one who practices. Everyone is tired of Dominique. She never shuts up; she’s one of those people who say the same thing over and over again, almost like she’s trying to convince herself because she doesn’t quite believe what she’s saying. The funny thing is, she’s talking about how much she believes in herself.

During the shoot: The girls are dressed up like movie stars from the ’50s who are caught by the paparazzi. They each share their shot with a male model, and Nigel Barker is their photographer.

Anya looks awesome but she’s modeling too much – so much that Jay says, “Oh really, is that how women get caught by the paparazzi?” In one shot Jay distracts her and she misses a step, stumbling a little. It is easily her best shot.

Fatima is uncomfortable posing with a male model. Her shots are pretty but she doesn’t look like she’s been “caught.” She keeps forgetting where the camera is. They stop to show her what her photos look like, and she’s horrified by how bad they are. Nigel is bored stiff.

Whitney looks a little too “pinup girl” and poses too much. But, Jay says, her “booty looks cute.”

Dominique’s shoot has a lot more action than the other girls, but feels staged. Nigel tells her to be herself, but she doesn’t really get it.

At the end, Jay and Nigel are both very frustrated.
The girls are terrified of panel because they all know they did awfully.

During panel:
Anya’s shot is great but she fell into it, didn’t encapsulate a star, she lacks focus.
Whitney looks stunning but stiff; she found it hard to get into the moment.
Dominique is wearing bad clothes to panel (again), in her photo she looks like a transvestite.
Fatima’s photo is pretty but she wasted her extra 50 frames, didn’t take it to the next level.

Nigel points out that Anya had an advantage because he’d already shot her (for the 7-Up ad) and had learned her angles. He is disappointed with her shoot. Cover Girl of the Week is Whitney.

In private deliberation:
Anya lucked into it, it was an accident but she did get the best shot.
Fatima missed the point, made excuses, came off snooty, and doesn’t listen.
Whitney is pretty, but could’ve given a bit more.
Dominique is not pretty enough, or soft enough, for a Cover Girl contract.

The first photo is Anya.
The bottom two are Fatima and Dominique.
Dominique is sent packing. Jesus, it’s about time.

I want ANTM to prove me wrong but … it’s totally going to come down to Anya and Fatima. Anya is the golden girl, so she’s not going anywhere. Whitney is plus-sized, and the judges’ criticisms of her have been the same each week. She’s not improving. If you look at her portfolio on the CW website, her face is the same in nearly every single photo. Fatima has her own issues, which are too numerous to mention, but she did well in the Italian commercial so it stands to reason that she will do well in the Cover Girl commercial they shoot next week.

Tune into the CW next Wednesday for the season finale, or tune in here on Thursday for our recap. And I leave you with this: unlike the judges, I thought Whitney’s photo encapsulated the idea behind tonight’s shoot pretty well. They pointed out that the male model looks angry, like he’s trying to protect his woman, and if she had just “purred” it would have worked better. But I think she looks the part – she has that sly “oops, you caught me but really I want to be caught” look on her face.



What do you think?