SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
It’s makeover week! The most anticipated episode of every cycle of America’s Next Top Model. Especially for the breakdowns. Aside from the transformations themselves, it’s always awesome to see who loses their confidence and who gains more. And this season’s make over episode did not disappoint. I do miss the days of the contestants not knowing what they would get until they were actually sitting in the chair, though.
We got two makeover breakdowns this cycle, compliments Cherish and Tash. Cherish’s reason for being resistant to the makeover I could somewhat understand, but she could always strip the colour out of her hair later. She looked a lot better after the makeover; before her hair colour looked rather dull. Tash’s breakdown I didn’t get at all. It came down to the fact that she didn’t want to look masculine…but she already did. With her already short hair – which they weren’t making any shorter, they were only shaving down the sides – coupled with her body type, she already looked very masculine before the makeover. So it wasn’t like they were making her look like she hadn’t before.
Tash got one of my favourite makeovers this cycle, along with Kyle and Paige. I don’t like Courtney’s makeover at all; it ages her considerably. Krislian, Marissa and Giah don’t look like models, they look very basic; Krislian and Marissa look like video girls and Giah looks like, as the judges said, an R&B singer. India’s makeover confuses me; the hair colour doesn’t really add anything to her look, but I love the way that it’s styled. The other girls’ makeovers are kind of meh.
And to show off these brand new looks, the girls had a nude photo shoot. Nude – and semi-nude – photo shoots always present a problem. There is always one girl who is not comfortable posing naked. And this cycle it was India. Ultimately she did do the shoot, but I’m not quite clear why she was hesitant to do it in the first place. Insecurity with her body? Moral or ethical disagreement? Shyness and discomfort with disrobing in front of others (that can’t be it, being backstage at a fashion show means flashing everyone and she did a fashion show already)?
The person my eye immediately went to in the first group shot was Kyle. She was fierce, strong and commanding. Definitely the best in her group. Tatiana was the weakest. Coryanne really stepped it up this week – being in the bottom two seems to have worked out well for her – but time will tell if she’s truly this capable or if the photo this week was a fluke.
In the second group shot I saw Marissa first, but immediately after the photo appeared on screen my eyes went to Paige. She outshine Marissa and India by leaps and bounds. She looked amazing. I wish Marissa’s arms wasn’t so stiff and that she titled her head up a little. India was kind of just standing there, her pose wasn’t the best. But she gave good face (and kind of looked a little like Gigi Hadid?).
Group three was far and away the weakest. None of the girls in that group really brought it and it’s difficult to say who was the best because they were almost all equal measures of mediocre. I would say Binta was the worst just because she had been doing so well and her performance this week was just a disappointment. Krislian looked like a deer in headlights and Cherish was trying too hard.
The fourth group was the best, brought down only by Giah who significantly under performed compared to Courtney and Tash. Tash won this photo and the shoot on the whole to me; best in her group and best of the week. I do not agree with the judges that Courtney was the best – I’d give her third place after Kyle – and Tash should have been called first at panel. Tash hated her makeover but she did not let that hinder her performance this week at all. She was very Grace Jones.
The girls who were in the bottom three deserved to be there, but I would have put Giah in the bottom two and not Cherish. If I were Cherish I’d be pissed I changed my hair only to get eliminated too.
Random thoughts:
- Coryanne is still on this “My mom was a supermodel” thing.
- Krislian: “…I have a big butt…” No. No you don’t.
- Marissa really should have auditioned for Bad Girls Club. Her personality fits that show a lot better.
- Again, Kyle is lower than she should be.
America’s Next Top Model airs Mondays at 10 pm on VH1.
