The competition began with a bunch of ladies heading to Palm Springs to meet with Mr. Jay and Miss J. There were some bad weaves, some bad attitudes and some familiar faces. The twist this season was that each girl was sitting next to her direct competition. There were even sisters, who described themselves as sooooooo different. Because, like, one sister is really outgoing and crazy. And the other sister is, like, outgoing and reserved. What?
There were “The Quirky Girls”, which included a Lady Gaga wannabe and several large noses. Then there was “sexy”, “strong bone structure”, “blondes” and “brunettes”. Some groups were more creative than others…
The first girl to meet with Tyra and the J’s was Kayla. Her blonde 80s perm was a big distraction. Once her hair was wetted she looked a lot better, though I could have done without the “I grew up poor” sob story. Old news, sister. Kacey was back from Cycle 11 – apparently she was rude to Isis back in the day, but you can’t deny that the girl has major cheekbones. Sweet hippie chick Rhianna stood out for me. I loved her cute dress and quirky hat. I didn’t love that she was the first girl to have her crotch area blurred out when she was busy posing like a tumbleweed. Yes, you read that correctly. A tumbleweed. I hope they put her in the quirky group, because tumbleweeds are not sexy. I dug Esther, a chesty orthodox Jew. I didn’t expect to ever type that word combination. She observes the sabbath, but promised Tyra she’d break it for modeling. Her large chest size could be an obstacle, but I think it makes her unique.
There was LOTS of drama going on while the girls met with the judges. In particular, one conflict stood out. One girl, Emily, (allegedly) wrote something along the lines of “I almost had to room with a black girl, ew” in her diary, which was then read by another girl. Cut to every black contestant screaming at the girl while she sobbed about how it wasn’t what she meant. What a messy situation. The ambush seemed wrong, but the diary comment was pretty inexcusable.
Emily then met with Tyra and discussed the situation. She was embarrassed, but Tyra said she thought Emily had learned her lesson. I have to wonder what that lesson was. “Keep the racist thoughts in your head, not your journal”? “Don’t let other people read the racist comments in your journal”? “Don’t, like, be a racist”?
One of my favorites was Liz, a tough single mom. Her bone structure was amazing. Ann freaked me out. She was so tall, and so skinny, and so weird. The sisters, Terra and Chris, were certainly both outgoing. Lexie, the Uma Thurman look-alike, was one of my favorites. Vanessa, little Miss Minnesota, is incredibly pretty but didn’t even have to say a word in order to come across as a bitch. Though all her bitchy comments certainly helped paint the picture. She didn’t make the cut though, and neither did the probably-racist Emily.
The twosome photo shoots that Mr. Jay did certainly revealed the weaknesses in some models. Among the girls who made it through were quirky Rhianna, strong and sexy Liz, curvaceous Esther, skinny and awkward Ann, second-timer Kacey, cute and quirky Lexie and and both sisters. I was glad Gaga-wannabe didn’t make the cut, even though she said she really did want it.
It looks like we’ve got a pretty awesome cast this season. There are some really different, pretty girls in the competition. Are you happy with the season premiere of ANTM? Do you think this cycle will stand apart from others? There’s at least one improvement so far: Tyra looked FIERCE. For reals. Way better than that time she wore all jumpsuits.
Check out photos of the models at the ANTM Facebook page. Now that I’ve seen the models better (ANTM producers, stay on a shot for more than 5 seconds please!) my early favorites are Esther, Jane, Sara, Lexie, Kendal (though she reminds me a lot of a few past contestants), Liz, Rhianna (though her photo sucks) and Chelsey. I think Chelsey might have the best photo on the Facebook page.
