America’s Next Top Model – Cycle 9
Week One: Thirteen Are Selected for Competition
Thirty-three contestants head to the Caribbean.
Tyra Banks is on a three-part mission:
- To expand what America considers beautiful
- Question what makes a model
- Open up the world of fashion to young women everywhere.
The first thing she does to fulfill this mission is call each of thirty-three contestants to tell them they made the initial cut.
Caribbean Bound
The girls head down to the Caribbean for casting, where they are met by Miss J in front of an ocean liner: their new home for the time being. By the end of the trip, only thirteen girls will move into the top model house, and only one will become America’s next top model.
The first chance the girls have to show their modeling skills is to do a runway walk on the cruise line, complete with orange life vests and high heels. Miss J assesses the girls, saying a few did surprisingly well with their walk, but others needed quite a bit of extra help. Miss J tells Spontaniouse that she walks with her butt stuck out, and shows her by doing a spot on imitation. She then tells Heather that she walks like she should be digging up clams. Victoria admits she has the fashion sense of a 12-year old boy, while Ebony hones in on Heather’s insecurity and thinks she won’t make it all the way.
It's Tyra Time
As the girls eat dinner later in the day, Tyra surprises them by appearing as a showgirl. The girls go wild at how gorgeous Tyra is.
Tyra interviews the girls to get to know them better, and little by little they show parts of their personalities. Ebony already thinks she doesn’t have any competition from the group. Mila is perky: VERY PERKY. Chantal thinks she has something no other girl has – although she doesn’t know what. Lisa got a little insecure by looking at the other girls, while Marvita says she’s been through a lot but will do whatever it takes to get in the house.
Both Jays join Tyra to help critique the girls. Jay thinks early on that Ambreal is a little too choreographed. Chantal tells the panel she was built inside and out for fashion, while Sylvia says she gets asked all the time if she’s a model.
Heather makes an entrance by addressing the panel with, “Hey pretty lady… and Tyra.” Heather was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome when she was thirteen, and wants to show girls everywhere that you don’t have to be perfect to step out of the shadow.
Tyra recognizes Felicia because she went to Tyra’s T-Zone Camp when she was fourteen. T-Zone Camp is designed to help young girls feel better about themselves, and Felicia agrees that she’s come a long way because of attending the camp.
Divas, Tears, and Fun in the Sun
There are a couple girls that stand out as definite diva material. Sabrina thinks she looks good in the face, hair, everything. When Tyra asks her what her worst feature is, she’s stumped for an answer. Jenah thinks she’s, like really intelligent, and likes to hang out with guys so that makes her, like, cool.
It’s clear there’ll be a cat fight at some point in the season when Bianca tells Tyra that Ebony is a word that rhymes with witch. Later, Tyra confronts Ebony about this, and while she starts out acting strong she ultimately begins to cry when she talks about all she’s been through.
After interviews, Jay tells the girls that they’re going to the beach where they see Jaslene working a photo shoot. Then it’s the girl’s turn to shine. They each take turns posing for five shots. Immediately after the shoot, both Jays tell the girls that there are twenty boarding passes for the contestants moving on in the competition. The girls race over to see if they made it to the next round.
The twenty are then eliminated to thirteen. The following girls made it through to the next round. In order:
- Mila
- Bianca
- Jenah
- Chantal
- Ambreal
- Victoria
- Sarah
- Saleisha
- Kimberly
- Ebony
- Janet
- Heather
- Lisa.
One of them will become America’s next top model.
