Although Lisa was ecstatic about having last week’s best photo, the (internal) pressure to keep up the good work really bothered her.  Meanwhile, Heather was feeling particularly bummed about Sarah’s recent departure; the weeks of eliminations were really starting to get to her.  Of course, Bianca saw each goodbye as another reason to celebrate.  She was far more realistic about the competition than sensitive Heather.

Later the girls met Benny Ninja (posing instructor) and the Director of Elite Model Management (North America) at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.  At the school, the ladies were paired with FIDM students who would work with them on their next challenge.  The girls were to act as muses for outfits created specifically for them.  Although each garment was built off the same basic dress, the individual interpretations had no limits.  It was simply up to each model to make sure her outfit reflected her unique personality.  Unfortunately, some of the girls were less vocal than others when it came to expressing their opinions.  Lisa simply told her designer that she loved to draw and show her legs; Heather told some weird story about feeling like a fire nymph amongst all her water nymph friends; and Bianca only managed to look confused by the proposed ‘Cleopatra on the Mediterranean Sea’ look.

That night while the dresses were being created, Lisa focused on improving her poses and runway walk.  Meanwhile, Bianca kept going off about her favorite target: Heather.  Bianca (supposedly) realized that she was no longer intimidated by her; she didn’t believe her competitor could get much further on a beautiful face alone.  Ambreal said she actually feared what would happen if Heather was forced to speak in public.

The next day, the girls returned to FIDM for the finished products.  Their mission now was to wear the garments during a runway show and speak about the creations they helped inspire.  (It’s all part of being a future spokesmodel.)  Before they walked out on stage, Benny strongly advised the ladies to own their outfits.  The girls – for the most part – did better than expected.  Although Bianca hated her Cleopatra-crossed-with-a-ballerina design, she fooled the audience with her strong attitude.  Jenah also looked very confident in her rock star ensemble while Ambreal was cute and flirty in her dress.  Unfortunately, Lisa and Heather did not fare as well as the others.  Thrown off when she started flubbing her lines, Lisa proceeded to rush through the rest of speech.  Meanwhile, Heather opened her mouth…only to have no sound come out.  Not only was she horrible at improvising, she completely lacked the persona to sell a garment.

Needless to say the judges (the Elite director and the editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine) were uninspired by Heather’s presentation; it was as if she didn’t want to be on the runway.  They also thought Chantal appeared angry (as opposed to ‘ethereal’) through her walk and felt Bianca overshadowed her dress with her attitude.  In they end, they chose Saleisha as this week’s winner.  They thought she had real presence in her pixie ensemble.  For her win, Saleisha got to choose two friends (Lisa and Bianca) to join her on a holiday jewelry shoot for Seventeen.

After the show, Heather really beat herself up about her performance.  Although Bianca advised Heather to develop a thick skin when it came to setbacks, Lisa sympathized with her.  Given her own disastrous turnout, Lisa was convinced she was no longer in the running for America’s Next Top Model.  Oh how far they fall.  As they were entering their home for the evening, a tired Heather called dibs on the shower.  Unfortunately, Lisa and Saleisha either didn’t hear her or didn’t care because they jumped in first.  This angered an already moody Heather—and she made sure to let them know. 

EDITOR’S NOTE:  I really had a hard time choosing sides in this particular battle.  The showers were made to be group-sized to begin with; Heather didn’t have to dominate the whole thing by herself.  Granted Heather’s feelings were completely dismissed, but the girls are forced to share in a household that size.  Having said that, I don’t think the girls should have treated her as ‘more scary’ than any other freakin’ girl who has had an attitude problem in the home.  People with Asperger’s have bad days too, you know; if they happen to snap at you, that doesn’t mean they want to do ‘voodoo’ on you.  (I was talking to you, Saleisha.)

The next day the girls took a long road trip out into the desert for their next shoot.  For their ‘virtual wasteland’ photos, the ladies needed to evoke desperation while standing next to a burning car.  Although frustration should have come easy to the still upset Heather, she had a hard time delivering the right dynamic.  For the first time, she came off slightly lost and awkward in a shoot.  Ambreal – the girl still fighting for her ANTM life – also struggled as well.  She came off too posey in most of her shots.  Meanwhile, Lisa couldn’t grasp the concept of ‘selling the garment’; not only she was ‘too square’ with her silver dress, she couldn’t make good use of her long arms and legs.

The other four girls seemed to do very well with their frames.  A confident Bianca wore Jay out with her fabulousness; Chantal (‘All I Want Is To Be In Front Of The Camera All The Time’) did a great job expressing desperation with her face; Jenah made good use of her body language; and Saleisha, while initially posey, because frustrated enough to finally pull off the right mood.

At the next judges’ panel, Tyra started off the elimination process with a surprise:  the remaining six girls were set to go to China.  (Surprisingly, a place Tyra had never been before.)  After she finished pouring salt into someone’s wound, she finally moved on to the actual judging. 

This week Bianca was chosen the big winner.  The judges felt she delivered a really interesting fashion photo.  They also liked that she was rising in the competition.  Placed in this episode’s Bottom Two were Ambreal and Lisa.  The judges knew that Ambreal was a beautiful girl, they just didn’t know if she had what it took to be a model.  Meanwhile, the judges felt that Lisa – who could be a model – was starting to fade.

In the end, if you weren’t deemed strong enough to stay once before…you probably weren’t meant to stay until the end.  LOSER: Ambreal.

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