Americas Next Top Model :: Season 1 :: Episode 7
(Information Copied From The UPN Website)
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ADIEU TO ROBIN
Back in New York after a bittersweet stay in Paris, 26-year-old Robin, from Memphis, Tennessee, became the seventh girl to be eliminated from the competition. In Paris, she battled with Elyse and Adrianne over the day's itinerary and missed the mark in two couture competitions. But when Robin refused, on moral grounds, to participate in a photo shoot, Tyra exposed contradictions between her words and her actions. As she left the penthouse, Robin reflected on her experience: "It's meant a lot to me to be a part of this, because I had a chance to show a variation of beauty."
FEARSOME FOURSOME
When Kesse walked out of the Hotel des Deux Acacias in Paris, she left behind a saddened and sharply polarized foursome. Over breakfast, Adrianne and Elyse had a private chat. "It sucks that Kesse's gone," remarked Elyse, "It sucks a lot. I really liked her." "I liked her too," agreed Adrianne, "She's the only one besides you that didn't judge me all the time." The two snickered as Elyse added, "So who's left in? The holiest holy rollers and the bottom of the barrel."
In the isolation room, Robin and Shannon each expressed their sadness. "It was hurtful to see her go. We were sorority sisters, we were both from the south, roommates, Christians," said Robin, "She was my best friend in this situation." "I felt like a little piece of me went away," remarked Shannon, "because Kesse was probably one of the girls I've hung out with the most, besides Robin."
A HOUSE DIVIDED
The remaining girls were more divided than ever over the issue of religion. "I do believe in God," Adrianne remarked in the isolation room, "I'm just not psychotic about it." "I think that half the house is under the control of Robin," Elyse quipped at breakfast with Adrianne, "and our half is under control of the Devil!" Later, Elyse remarked, "Things would have definitely sucked if my closest ally in the house had been eliminated, and I'm really, really glad that Adrianne stayed on."
GETTING SERIOUS
That morning, Tyra took her own photographs of the girls "to see what [they] look like through my lens." After the impromptu photo session, she noted that the four were really getting serious about the competition: "When I was photographing the girls, I felt like they were finally realizing the possibility of becoming a major star." In the isolation room, each of the girls confirmed Tyra's assessment. "Now that fewer and fewer girls are left," remarked Elyse, "I'm starting to take the competition much more seriously." "It is a lot of pressure," observed Shannon, "because the four of us that are left in the house are staring our dream right in the face." Adrianne noted that "they're really narrowing it down to see who has what it takes to be a top model and who doesn't." "What comes with this is power," Robin pointed out, "The right person can use it to touch people, to make change."
HAUTE COUTURE
Tyra took the girls to the House of Carven, the oldest couture house in Paris. "Couture," Tyra pointed out, "is the epitome of fashion." For this visit, each girl's hair had been pulled back into a bun or chignon. "A chignon is the most elegant way to wear your hair," Tyra explained, "and it's important that your hair in no way distracts from the clothes. Tomorrow you'll be tested on your ability to carry yourself in a couture situation."
The foursome met Pascal, Creative Director of the House of Carven. "Welcome to the magic world of haute couture," smiled Pascal, "Only a few girls work for couture. Couture is not only showing clothes, it's showing an attitude, an allure." He invited the girls to try on the clothes.
As they slipped on the fabulous gowns, the four budding models were united in their delight. They loved wearing the clothes and marveled at their costliness. "These dresses are probably more expensive than everything that I own," observed Shannon. "How are you not going to like some gown that's worth more than your house and your car?" wondered Adrianne. When the fun was over, Pascal delighted the girls with gift bags as they headed back to the hotel.
TO SHOP OR NOT TO SHOP?
Once the girls read the Tyra Mail awaiting them at the hotel, their couture-inspired camaraderie dissolved. "Tomorrow is your day," the message read, "You have from 10 to 3 to enjoy Paris and all the splendors it has to offer." Immediately, the four started bickering about how to spend the day, and the group quickly polarized into two pairs. Adrianne was eager to see the Eiffel Tower and Jim Morrison's grave, but Robin and Shannon wanted to go shopping.
Elyse suggested a compromise so that they could all spend the day together. Everyone agreed except Robin, who adamantly refused to visit a grave. "I don't go see graves," she told Elyse, "Just like you don't believe in God, I don't go see graves." Later, Adrianne remarked, "I didn't want to listen to what that bitch had to say. She's psychotic." A frustrated Elyse finally fled and broke down in tears. Adrianne followed to comfort her, assuring her, "If there really is this big wonderful man in the sky, then he's gonna whup her ass when she gets up there."
Unable to compromise, the girls paired up to enjoy their day of freedom in Paris. Robin and Shannon launched into a shopping spree, while Elyse and Adrianne went in search of Jim Morrison's grave. All four enjoyed the day, and although they never found the grave, Adrianne and Elyse had a great time exploring the Paris streets together. "Adrianne and I did our thing; Robin and Shannon went to the Gap," remarked Elyse, "In retrospect, I don't know why I wanted the four of us to stay together at all."
HIGH SOCIETY
Upon returning to the hotel, the girls were greeted by Tyra Mail instructing them to be ready by 4 pm for a spectacular night out. They scurried around getting ready, then stepped into the waiting limo. Their first stop: House of Carven, where Pascal explained the evening's competition. The girls were to go to a fancy restaurant to meet "four guys from the society of Paris" who would judge them on their comportment. The winner would spend the night in the ultraluxe Presidential suite at Le Meridien, a top Paris hotel, which would be a welcome change from the cramped quarters the four currently shared. For their big night, Pascal costumed the girls in couture: exquisite little black dresses.
The girls were driven to Fouquet's, where they met their escorts and had an elegant meal. After dinner, they went to the ballet. Shannon, Elyse and Adrianne did their best to behave like high-society ladies, while Robin grew reticent and began to read her Bible. Later, Robin explained that she thought their escorts were "lustful type of men," adding, "They weren't socialites. That's the reason why I tuned them out." "I thought that Robin would easily dominate the etiquette competition," Elyse remarked, "but she wasn't willing to make conversation at all." Adrianne's take on the situation was similar: "All [Robin] did for four hours with these dudes was read the Bible."
After the ballet, the group ended up in Le Meridien's opulent, rose-petal-strewn Presidential suite. Excusing themselves, the men discussed the evening in private. As Elyse had guessed, the escorts were bothered by Robin's obvious lack of interest in the conversation and the food. They pronounced Adrianne "very funny, brilliant, smiley"; Elyse was "charming, interesting"; Shannon was "lovely," if somewhat "cold." The escorts finally congratulated Adrianne and told her that she could choose one girl to spend the night with her. Surprise! Adrianne picked Elyse.
Happy to be alone in the posh suite, the lucky pair lived it up: jumping on the huge bed, eating chocolate, drinking champagne, bathing in the capacious bathtub, spending a "romantic" evening together. Looking back at her winning performance, Adrianne mused that she'd been "trying to act very ladylike, to have a lot of grace, and it was everything I'm not. I guess I proved that I can be a broad." Later, Robin sniffed, "Adrianne was very, very, very, very, very friendly, and she worked it, and she got the prize."
IN THE BUFF AT BUDDHA-BAR
In the morning, the girls received Tyra Mail informing them that their next shoot was to be an advertisement for diamonds. Art director/make-up artist Jay Manuel met the girls at the chic Buddha-Bar restaurant and explained that he would style them in strong, edgy, greasy, smudgy black makeup, with greased-up, wet bodies. Then, he dropped the bombshell: they were to pose nude. He assured them that each girl's breasts would be covered in the photos. Jay noted each girl's reaction: Adrianne and Elyse were okay with it, Robin's face went gray, Shannon looked worried, but she might be willing to try.
Next, Jay introduced photographer Patrick Katzman, who described the moody, dramatic, wild look and feel of the shots, and again assured the girls that their private parts would be covered in the photos.
Adrianne was up first, and as the others watched, the make-up artist oiled her down and she struck a series of sexy poses for Patrick's camera. After her session, Adrianne got raves from Jay and Partick. "Any direction the photographer gave her or that I gave her, she went with," Jay noted, "She's never a problem." "It really helps, shooting a girl like that," agreed Patrick, "It really shows on the final image."
Trying to make Robin and Shannon feel more comfortable, Jay told them that the set was screened off for privacy. Assuring them that the outcome of the shoot would be the illusion of nudity, not actual nudity, he offered them the option of covering themselves with panties and a breast band. This wasn't enough for Robin, however: even the illusion of nudity wasn't "sitting well" with her. Later, Robin remarked, "My body is sacred, and it's mine. My religion teaches me that my body is a temple." Finally, both Robin and Shannon reluctantly agreed to try wearing the band for the shoot.
DOUBLE EXPOSURE
Elyse was next, and as they were setting up for her shoot, Jay told her privately how confused he was by Robin's attitude, especially after an incident at the House of Carven. While the girls were trying on clothes, Robin had caught Jay's eye, then "she opened up the drape, and she was just in a panty, no bra, and was like, shaking her boobs at me. What she didn't know was Tyra was standing right next to me, around the corner."
During her photo session, it became obvious that Elyse was taking the competition seriously. "I feel like she's starting to feel the competition with Adrianne," observed Jay, "She got up on that bar, and the look that was coming out of her eyes was incredible." Adrianne noticed it too. "I would say that Elyse is doing a little bit better than I," she remarked, "and it just drives me to try to whup her ass."
By the end of Elyse's successful session, Robin and Shannon had reached a decision: they were pulling out of the shoot. "I was trying to imagine the picture in my head," explained Shannon, "and it would just not be me." "Last week it was bra and panties," Robin told Jay tearfully, "this week, it's two strands of ribbon and a thong. What is it going to be next week?" Later, Robin added, "You're looking at a representative for not only young women, but America as a whole, and a woman that has integrity."
AU REVOIR TO PARIS
The girls sadly took their leave of Paris and headed back to New York. "I loved Paris so much," sighed Adrianne wistfully, adding, "I hated being in Paris with broads that wanted to do nothing but shop." Robin wasn't quite so sad to go: "Paris has left a bittersweet taste in my mouth. France is gorgeous, but my experiences in France weren't the happiest."
When they arrived back at the Flatotel, the girls discovered that they'd all been crammed together in the Milan room. "Models just starting out share really cramped quarters," Tyra explained later, "so I reduced the penthouse down to just one room." Tyra Mail welcomed them home and announced that another girl was to be eliminated the next day.
HAUTE COUTURE, PART DEUX
The next morning, the four girls lined up before judges Tyra, Janice Dickinson, Beau Quillian, Kimora Lee Simmons and the guest judge, stylist Derek Kahn, who has worked closely with the girls throughout the competition. Derek explained the test he had prepared for the models: he had assembled an array of couture gowns and beautiful accessories, and the girls had ten minutes to get dressed and show him what they had learned in Paris. Accordingly, the four rushed to transform themselves, scrambling for the combination of clothes, shoes and accessories that would best showcase their newfound understanding of haute couture.
When the dust had settled, Elyse was called before the judges. All four judges were delighted with her impromptu couture look, which Tyra prounounced "fabulous." When they turned to Elyse's photo, Tyra gushed, "I think you look so sexy, and your booty looks kind of big and juicy. That's great!" "I'm telling you, she looks fat in that picture," quipped Derek. "I see an incredible, confident woman that owns the photograph," Janice remarked.
When Shannon entered, Tyra took one look at her loose hair and reminded her about previous complaints that her look isn't "edgy" enough. "What is the one thing that can take you from being Miss California Girl to being edgy?" Tyra asked. Shannon knew the answer: "slicking my hair back," but explained that she had run out of time. Tyra then asked why there was no photo of Shannon for the judging. "I never want to pose nude, no matter how much money or how much fame I would get," Shannon replied. "If you're not willing to do that," Janice shot back, "you might as well work in a car factory or a bakery, because that's part of being a model." "Do you have any idea what it's like backstage at a fashion show?" Beau asked, "Because you've got 30 girls that have to just strip completely naked." Tyra pointed out that she doesn't pose nude, but is willing to simulate it, as the girls were asked to do in Paris.
Adrianne was next, and as she entered, Derek gasped, "bellissima!" and tossed her a rose. The judges loved Adrianne's couture presentation, but agreed that she should have worn more accessories and make-up. Tyra commended her for pulling her hair into a chignon. The judges were also impressed with Adrianne's photo, which Derek described as "so in-your-face," adding, "this is fabulous!" Tyra commented that the photo looks like an ad: "I feel like whatever you're selling, it'll make the company millions of dollars, and I'd suggest that they give you as much money as possible."
Robin's couture look didn't wow the judges, who found it acceptable, but objected to her choice of accessories. Next, Tyra addressed Robin's refusal to participate in the photo shoot. "I don't understand how you can say no to something like that, but then, in the dressing room, when you think no one is looking," Tyra told her, "I saw you open the dressing room at the couture house, and you were nude, and you shook your chest at Jay." Surprised, Robin began to protest, but Tyra would have none of it. "You're shaking your chest, jiggle, shimmy, I saw them go round and round and up and down," she insisted.
Beau took a different tack, expressing his disappointment that Robin hadn't posed, because he was felt that her "Botticelli image" would have been a great way of "representing women of a different size." Tyra agreed, adding, "If you would have done that photo shoot and showed them big bedonkadonk can be beautiful, and it can be sexy, and I can stand right next to these other girls and serve and be fierce, I think that would have been a very strong platform."
The judges put their heads together to decide which girl to cut. Adrianne "looks phenomenal" in the photo, but Kimora noted that she sometimes comes across as rather "hard." Elyse's photo is "the most versatile," and Tyra noted that "she's penetrating the lens," which is difficult to do. Janice took "big points off" Shannon for refusing to do the photo shoot, and Derek felt that she has "stagnated," adding, "As a top model, I'm not feeling her." Moving on to Robin, they agreed that she is beautiful and not ashamed of her body, but Janice remarked, "It's clear that Robin doesn't have the personality to be a top model." "That kind of behavior is not something that I want to promote in this industry," Beau agreed.
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE
The four nervous girls again lined up before the judges to hear their verdict. Elyse was first to receive a photo, along with congratulations from Tyra. Next, Adrianne got her photo, accompanied by Tyra's advice to practice relaxing her shoulders to tone down her tough look.
Shannon & Robin were asked to step forward. Which one would be going home? Tyra commended Robin on her strength and her refusal to sacrifice her standards, but reminded her, "Human is beautiful; perfect is boring." Turning to Shannon, Tyra called her "amazingly beautiful," but cited the oft-repeated criticism that her look is "too commercial." Tyra admonished her for not slicking back her hair, which could have taken her look "to the next level." After a pregnant pause, Tyra congratulated Shannon for remaining in the competition. Robin was out.
As she packed her things, Robin reflected on her time in the competition: "It's meant a lot to me to be a part of this, because I had a chance to show a variation of beauty." Adding, "It's time for me to move on. My job here is done," Robin walked out of the loft into the New York night.
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