America's Next Top Recap: Feat of Clay

I guess when someone keeps waffling between whether they want to be a model or not, one of the best things you can do is take the decision out of that person’s hands.

That’s what happened on “America’s Next Top Model” after Wednesday’s elimination, but we’ll get to that toward the end of the recap.

This week, we got the reliably entertaining episode in which the contestants try to act. Because since these girls BARELY know how to model, it’s a perfect time to throw a completely different skill set at them.

Before that, we had more “drama” in the house as Aminat and Natalie faced off for the second week in a row. Aminat got in Natalie’s face after Natalie made a smug joke (she WAS kidding, people) about the rest of the girls doing the dishes for her following a big meal.

Natalie fretted that the rest of the girls hated her because she was such a good model and comes from a rich family (maybe there’s some truth to that). Aminat called Natalie “arrogant” (DEFINITELY some truth in that). The winner in this tired confrontation? No one. The loser? Us.

After that, the girls met up with Paulina in a theatre to work on their acting skills. The girls were challenged to deliver lines with amusing predetermined adverbs like “pitifully” (good job being pitiful, Celia) and “threateningly” all the while Paulina delivered her typically harsh-yet-amusing critiques. Soon thereafter, the girls got to act in a scene with theatre legend and noted actor — Clay Aiken! (Needle scratching on record sound.)

Seriously though, while not the first (or 2,000th) person I’d think of in an acting challenge (“Spamalot” credit, notwithstanding) Clay (pictured, left, with Paulina) did a really good job during his scene about an out-of-work model arriving for an audition. (Sorry Clay — it was a “go-see!”) The only people who were better were an over-the-top Celia, and an on-point London, who won the challenge and $5,000 worth of jeans. Predictably, Tahlia struggled to come out of her shell.

Back at the house, London generously shared her reward with her more svelte housemates. London expressed concern about her body (future storyline alert) and they were confirmed during panel, when Paulina told her that her shorts were “not becoming.” The fact that my girlfriend asked me if I thought London was pregnant (and she wasn’t kidding) is probably not that good.

This week, the girls filmed a Cover Girl commercial in two groups of four. Natalie, Fo, London and Tahlia were in one group, while Allison, Celia, Aminat and Teyona were in the other.

Oddly enough, the first take we saw (with Celia in the lead role) was BY FAR, the best of the night. The rest saw some squintiness (Teyona), meanness (Aminat), lack of presence (Fo and Tahlia when they WEREN’T in the background) and odd ghetto-ness (London). The only other person who did sort of well was Natalie.

Celia was awarded top commercial/photo, whileAllison (same face AGAIN, but different outfit at panel thanks to switching with Teyona after the judges noticed that one of Allison’s dresses was making a repeat appearance) and Tahlia were in the bottom two.

While I’d expected Allison to be sent home, since she only has one facial expression and Tahlia had performed well in recent photo shoots, I can’t really disagree with the decision. Guest judge Clay summed it up perfectly — it didn’t seem like Tahlia would EVER come out of her shell.

I’d been critical of Tahlia for saying she wants to be an inspiration, but then acting like a whiny drag for a significant portion of her time on the show. However, I still say she deserved to stay this week, and I commend her incredible bravery in putting herself out there in front of millions of people (The CW still gets “millions” of viewers, right?) and conducting herself with class on this show, right up until her elimination.

So what’d you think of this episode? Did Tahlia deserve to go? Would you rather be in the lead during one of the commercials or a scene-stealing background player (less pressure) Do you think London’s weight is going to be an issue? Finally, do you believe Tyra when she says she never used a teleprompter during her modeling career?