Last week, I compared the premiere of America’s Next Top Model: Cycle 10 to both The Bad Girls Club and Charm School.  This time around, I actually felt like I was watching an episode of Survivor.  Wednesday’s surprise ending – like the recent Tribal Councils on the CBS program – just made my jaw drop.

Yesterday’s show kicked off with the fourteen aspiring models getting a load of their new NYC digs.  While their pad was definitely impressive, it was not overly done up like the previous homes in LA.  This one actually reminded me of The Real World’s inaugural season in New York.  (Remember that one?)  Thankfully, a room full of bunk beds prevented needless catfighting over space.  There was also one large bed that looked like it had been ripped straight from Hugh Hefner’s grotto.  (It was unclear who had opted to share that sleeping arrangement.)

Once the ladies were settled in, Miss J and Jay Manuel arrived to take them on a bus tour of their new city.  After passing by areas like Soho and Bryant Park, the girls were then taken to the heart of Times Square.  This would be the location for the first runway show.

After getting their hair and makeup done, the girls strutted in front of gawking tourists in their Badgley Mischka outfits.  (Those who couldn’t see the models from the ground could also see them on one of the large jumbo screens.)  Most of the gals did fairly decent jobs for their first attempt.  Unfortunately, there were those who seriously needed more coaching.  Marvita head her eyes pointed toward the floor, tomboy Lauren was positively stiff, Allison looked freaked while Kim lacked any joy.  (Kim had apparently a hard time accepting the cost of her outfits; she couldn’t understand why anyone would want to spend that kind of money.)

Although the ladies should have celebrating backstage, two of them almost had it out after the show.  On her way back into the dressing area, Fatima accidentally hit Marvita in the face.  While it appeared to be an accident, Fatima neglected to apologize.  (She would have had to care first.).  That moment officially put Fatima on Marvita’s hit list.

The next day, the girls took a trip to Elite Model Management where they met the North American director and a surprise guest: Paulina Porizkova.  The former model was there to give the girls a taste of the brutally honest critiques they would experience in the industry.  She first started things off by telling Amis she had bad skin.  Then the remarks got better from there.  Dominique was told she looked like a transvestite version of Robin Wright Penn; Kim was compared to someone from High School Musical; and Marvita was told that she – like Paulina - had a ‘smushed’ face.  (It was important that she not bite down on her back teeth, otherwise she’d look ‘square’.)

After the consultation, Fatima repeated the ‘smushed’ comment to Marvita during their cab ride home. (That comment now moved the Somalian to the top of the hit list.)  Marvita told Fatima that she’d never “met a mean African” except for her.

Later, the wannabes met Jay Manuel for their first real photo shoot.  The girls learned that they would be bringing light to homelessness by posing with homeless women.  The twist?  The models would be the ones wearing the street clothes while being surrounded by others in high fashion.  (You gotta love Tyra Banks.  She honestly believes these girls will be drawing attention to topical issues once this contest is over.)

While some of the girls had tough backgrounds to draw real emotions from (Marvita, Fatima), others struggled to give a variety of expressions (Atalya, Amis).  There were those who took risks with their body language (Kim, Katarzyna) and others who took a strangely shrunken stance (Allison).

Behind the scenes of the shoot, former rivals were finally making a breakthrough.  After Marvita accused her of being a potential saboteur, Fatima claimed that she simply had a hard time letting her guard down.  When Marvita revealed that she, too, had a difficult past (she was molested and raped), Fatima spit out what seemed to be a sincere apology. 

Back at home, Kim privately told Fatima how she really felt about the fashion industry.  Not only did she not like the idea of wearing expensive clothing, she simply didn’t want to support it.  (Uhh – keep in mind, this is a girl who didn’t want to be known as a ‘dumb blonde’.)

The next day, the ladies made their first appearances in the new judging room.  If they could make it all the way to the final end, they would strut away with an Elite Model Management contract, a 6-page spread (and cover) in Seventeen magazine and a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl.

Before the evaluations began, Tyra used the opportunity to cross promote her other project.  She told the girls that the homeless shoot was very personal to her because she once dressed up as a homeless person on her talk show, Tyra.  (Wow.  That was profound.)  She then introduced a new face to the ANTM judging family: Paulina.  Yup - the same woman who served them a cold dose of truth earlier was set to do it all over again.

One by one, the gals had their turn before the panel.  When Kim stepped up to the plate, the judges were given their own dose of reality.  When asked why she seemed disinterested during the runway show, she admitted her true feelings about the materialistic industry.  She said the fashion thing didn’t really “interest her at all.”  This, of course, shocked the judges and irked Tyra.  Many other girls who wanted to be there were turned away.  She was essentially taking someone else’s spot.  So Tyra had nothing else left to do but ask if the blonde wanted to go home.  When she said yes, Tyra simply waved her off and said “Alright, go home.”

The rest of the girls were simply stunned and yet happy at the same time.  They were hoping the untimely departure would put an end to that day’s elimination.  Unfortunately, it didn’t.  Tyra said they would proceed as planned and send one home anyway.  When it came time to hand out the individual photos, Anya’s pic was at the top of the stack.  The judges said she had great bone structure and photographed “like a dream.”  Claire and her powerful face came in second while Whitney (the girl with the wind-blown look) came in third.

Up for elimination this week were Atalya and Amis.  The judges thought Atalya was a pretty girl who didn’t evoke high fashion in her photo.  Meanwhile, Amis was having a hard time translating her interesting and edgy appeal into her stills.  In the end, ‘interesting’ will always win out over ‘pretty’.  LOSER:  Atalya.

(You can review last week’s episode here.)
(You can read next week’s episode here.)