So here's what I'm thinking: The producers moved the CoverGirl commercial challenge up in the cycle - as well as those "Aussie slang" street interviews with Sydney passersby - so that they could take full advantage of all six remaining contestants, i.e., three who struggle with American English (Jaslene, Jael and Natasha) let alone Aussie English, and one (Brittany) who struggles with memorization.
Tonight's focus was all about "talking good," as Jaslene said, and moving the remainder of the competition to this year's chosen foreign hotspot: Sydney, Australia. Since many of these lovely ladies "haven't been nowhere else besides the hood and around the corner" (again, I quote Jaslene here, in attempt to emphasize her quest to
speak well), the episode was chock-full of issues with the language and new surroundings.
First, April Wilkner from Cycle 2, the one who struggled to embrace her half-Asian ethnicity and not be so self-critical, offered lessons in interviewing, now that she's become a professional "correspondent." I'm sorry, I just have to put the word "correspondent" in quotes here, because I equate that term with someone like
Christiane Amanpour, not April, who's done some work in an online talk show called "Miami Vibe." But I did notice that she has fully grasped TV reporters' penchant for using huge amounts of makeup.
Following a seemingly random clip of the girls frolicking in the pool (Jael topless), they cut to another meeting with April. This time, Tyra came bouncing into the room in a giant kangaroo costume that momentarily whisked that bandanna she's been wearing off her head. Live kangaroos followed (on leash), and then a hilariously delayed reaction from Natasha, who, despite admitting having long been "crazy" about going to Australia the way others are crazy about "the Tie-bet" (Tibet, I guess?), didn't get the kangaroo hint until well into Tyra's announcement.
Some further episode highlights after landing Down Under:
Dionne:
- Said "that's cool" eight times in her "Aussie slang" interviews, a phrase which, sadly for her, was not Aussie slang.
- Completely botched the commercial, adopting more of that Jamaican accent from the acting class.
Renee:
- I thought she did really well, relative to the others' performances, in her "yank" beach interviews as well as her commercial. Yeah, she channeled a bit too much Steve Irwin, but she was able to tackle the accent, the words, the cheery, articulate CG banter and some model-y poses all at once.
Jaslene:
- Is anyone surprised that the Aussie lingo she adopted included the word "dag"? It means "a funny person" and is not to be confused with "drag," but still. Girl, get a new schtick.
- To her credit, she pulled out a shockingly competent commercial, finishing on the sixth take, and without cue cards. She didn't really adopt an Aussie accent so much as speak better, clearer English in general. Not bad.
Natasha:
- Felt "bloody good, mate" after her commercial, as well she should have. First, she sprinkled Aussie slang into her interviews with the locals (and won that challenge), when I assumed she'd be stumped just trying to figure out what "fashion faux pas" meant.
- Then she (somewhat) covered her Russian accent and memorized a script in what is her second language. Actually, when I thought about it, I wasn't surprised she rocked it: Unlike the others, she's been studying and memorizing English for several years, not to mention deciphering between the various (American) accents.
Brittany:
- Though very telegenic, she was at her most vulnerable tonight, tearing up over her short-term memory loss from a car accident at age 17. I know this is slightly off-topic, but just
now realizing five years later how much the incident affected her memory begs the question of whether she had to study or memorize anything for school or a job between then and now, e.g., last week's acting-challenge script. Weird. Nearly 30 takes later, she was left feeling defeated and depleted for the first time in this competition. She made the bottom two with
Jael:
- Claimed to be the "spreader of light" and didn't want to get booted off because she was "not finished spreading the joy to the universe." However, said joy didn't spread into her commercial, where suddenly she couldn't evoke the "fake happiness" she felt the shoot required.
- While Erika Heynatz, the onetime host of
Australia's Next Top Model (and Tyra's new BFF), defended Jael during judging panel as someone who "loves what they're doing," all Jael wanted to do was "run free, touch the animals and climb the trees." Turns out Ms. Anarchy Grrrl is actually Miss Nature Girl.
- Needless to say, Mr. Jay struggled to get a good line-read from her, and after 23 takes, she was no longer deemed "queen of the world."
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So here's what I'm thinking: The producers moved the CoverGirl commercial challenge up in the cycle — as well as those "Aussie slang" street interviews with Sydney passersby — so that they could take full advantage of all six remaining contestants, i.e., three who struggle with American English (Jaslene, Jael and Natasha) let alone Aussie English, and one (Brittany) who struggles with memorization.Tonight's focus was all about "talking good," as Jaslene said, and moving the remainder of the competition to this year's chosen foreign hotspot: Sydney, Australia. Since many of these lovely ladies "haven't been nowhere else besides the hood and around the corner" (again, I quote Jaslene here, in attempt to emphasize her quest to speak well), the episode was chock-full of issues with the language and new surroundings.First, April Wilkner from Cycle 2, the one who struggled to embrace her half-Asian ethnicity and not be so self-critical, offered lessons in interviewing, now that ...
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