Wow - what a busy night for threes.  It was down to three on both American Idol and our beloved ANTM last night.  Only in this case—there was no controversial beatboxer:  just Renee (the old one), Jaslene (the latina drag queen) and Natasha (the Russian phony).

With two eliminations to accomplish in just one hour, the show got off to a quick start.  The ladies met up with Jay for their last CoverGirl shoot.  The winner of the overall competition would eventually see her print ad in a magazine.  Additionally, the girls filmed a ‘My Life As A CoverGirl’ commercial.  The caveat?  Aside from a few required words, the girls had to completely ad-lib.  To help them prepare for this critical shoot, Caridee (Winner, ANTM Cycle 7) came by to give them a few words of advice.

Natasha had a ‘behind-the-scenes’ type setting.  Although her first take was a bit more crisp (she wrote out a script for herself), it lacked spontaneity and sounded like she was reading from a grocery list.  Her second try was not as composed, but she injected a lot more fun.  Lucky Renee got to film her commercial out on a boat near the Sydney Harbour.  She first depressed the crew by telling everyone how she thought her life was over when she had a baby.  But she managed to turn her story around and talked about her whirlwind experience as a model and a mother.  More importantly—she ended off with the signature CoverGirl tagline: ‘easy, breezy, beautiful’.  (The CG rep completely ate that one up).  Jaslene did her thing inside a limo just next to a red carpet opening.  At first, her speech was strange—almost like she was overenunciating.  But when Jay told her to bring ‘Cha Cha’ out, things significantly improved.  She even threw in a little Spanish to jazz things up a bit.  Nice!
For Deliberation #1, the judges had a hard time deciding between the models’ different weaknesses.  They loved Natasha’s face, but her eyes lacked confidence in the still photo.  And while her commercial wasn’t the strongest—they liked her ability to laugh at herself.  Jaslene had a beautiful print ad—great engaging eyes—but they had problems with her jawline.  They also appreciated the Spanish twist in her commercial despite her awkward pauses.  On the latter end, Renee was great on both fronts. She had a gorgeous photo and gave an honest and enthusiastic commercial.  The only fear the judges had was that she still looked much older than her age.  Additionally, they didn’t feel she was extremely unique—especially compared to the other exotic ladies.
The winner of Round 1?  Jaslene.  The loser?  Renee.  This announcement came as a complete shock to everyone.  Renee looked like she had been slapped in the face.  Even though the judges unanimously felt she did well with her CoverGirl ads, it just wasn’t enough.  They simply felt like they had seen Renee’s ‘look’ before.
The Half-Way Point Editors Note:  Wasn’t Renee the girl the viewers loved to hate just a few episodes ago?  Didn’t the other models all sit around and tell her how much they hated her?  More importantly—didn’t she tell Whitney that a plus-sized girl would never land the cover of Vogue?  So if there’s anyone out there who feels sorry for her:  Don’t.  As for the finalists—I can’t think of two better comeback stories.  Natasha was on the verge of being kicked off at the very beginning of the series.  And how about Jaslene?  She didn’t even make the cut last year!  I have absolutely no idea who will win at this point…

Before their last challenge, Jaslene and Natasha both had one-on-one conversations with Tyra.  They talked about their life and how they got to this point.  Blah, blah, blah.  Sounds like that episode in Survivor when the remaining contestants have to visit the souls of those they voted off.  Natasha talked about her meager life in Russia and Jaslene talked about her character rebuilding process.  I’m so moving on.
The next day, the ladies met up with Jay and Miss J for instructions on their runway showdown.  This year’s theme?  Evolution.  For each runway pass, they would have to act out a different part of the evolutionary phase.  In other words—they would start low and crouched for their first pass, but walk strong and confident by the finale.  It would be a contest of two different personalities:  the strong and fierce Jaslene vs. the exciting and fun Natasha.
Caridee kicked off the fashion show which quickly got interesting.  For the first run, the actress in Natasha came out and started very strong.  But during the second pass, her skirt literally started falling down as she strutted down the runway.  Like a pro, Natasha kicked it off and kept on walking.  She was so smooth, Nigel Barker actually thought the move was deliberate.  Meanwhile, Jaslene was holding her own…but her walk seemed to lack oomph.  But by the finale, it was like a complete role reversal.  Natasha’s energy waned while Jaslene brought on the ‘Latin Spice’ (those were her words, not mine).  She looked extremely confident—almost like she owned the place.
The Almost-To-The-End Editor’s Note: I still have no idea who is going to win…and I’m not sure if I care.  They’re both deserving…
Needless to say, the final judging was a difficult one.  The girls both possessed great exotic looks, they had imperfections the judges appreciated and they ruled the fashion show at different moments.  Natasha may not have been as strong as Jaslene was from Week 1, but she had the potential to keep growing and learning.  Meanwhile, they feared that Jaslene may not have the ability to be soft and commercial—just a sexy ‘Cha Cha’.  But they did note that she was lot more sophisticated than when she had started.
In the end, it’s important to remember that even when you think you’re down and out—- try, try again.  WINNER: JASLENE