Episode 11

  2005.05.12. 10:03

BRITTANY BOUNCED OUT
This week the girls endured a stressful dance competition at a South African community center, and Naima, the 20-year-old coffee shop waitress from Detroit, Michigan, won the challenge easily. As part of her reward, Naima earned extra frames for her photo shoot. When she distributed more frames to Brittany, the 22-year-old elementary school instructional aide from Tallahassee, Florida, and Keenyah, the 19-year-old student from Compton, California, she left rival Kahlen, the 21-year-old restaurant hostess from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, out in the cold. But the extra frames awarded to Brittany and Naima didn't cut it, and Brittany was eliminated because her personality and desire to win weren't enough to keep her around.

MAKING PROGRESS… NOT
As the final four get together for dinner, some of the residual tension from the last panel, when the girls each had to judge one another, bubbles over. Keenyah and Brittany begin to get on each other’s nerves, and Kahlen is annoyed with Keenyah's selfish attitude. Keenyah has also continued to eat whatever she wants as well, ignoring advice from the judges and the other girls.

The next day, the four meet with two South African designers, Bebe and Mandela, creators of G'Mbo Urban Ethnic Clothing. The pair will take the girls out into the township to see where they derive their inspiration, and on their tour, the girls see the poverty and hardships so many of the citizens of South Africa live with daily. Later, they arrive at the township community center where they meet members of the Jazzart theatre. Each girl will be paired up with an instructor to learn about dance, and Brittany and Kahlen both get nervous, while Naima jumps right in. Kahlen has a tough time figuring things out, but Keenyah feels as though she should have a connection to the dance because of her heritage. When the group sits down and talks with the dancers on a break, Keenyah talks about being black and how she has wanted to visit Africa, while Naima feels left out. Despite her lighter skin, she is black on both sides of her family; her father is also Mexican and Indian, while her mother is also Irish.

STAGE FRIGHT
The girls learn they will have to perform for an audience as a challenge, and that they will be judged by Alfred Hinkle, the artistic director of Jazzart, as well as J. Alexander. They dress up in African fashions, and prior to the performance, Kahlen gets herself worked up in frustration. She does not want to dance at all, much less in front of a large audience, but when the competition starts, somehow she pulls out a great performance. Keenyah feels honored to learn the African dance, and Naima feels like she can express herself without words in the performance.

J. Alexander tells the audience to choose the winner of the challenge, and with resounding applause and screams, they select Naima. As her prize, she receives an extra 30 frames at the next photo shoot, and may also choose someone to get an extra 20 frames if she so desires. Kahlen is disappointed when Naima strategically chooses Keenyah, because Kahlen already takes great pictures. Keenyah gets to give ten frames to one of the two remaining girls, and she chooses Brittany, leaving Kahlen with nothing. Kahlen feels betrayed, and the competition is starting to wear her down.

THE CONFLICT BEGINS
The next day the group meets with Modise Phekouyane, a guide of Robbene Island, a former political prison during apartheid. It was in this jail where Nelson Mandela was housed for 18 years before his eventual release and election as the first president of South Africa's new democracy. The girls are taken inside the prison to learn about Mandela, and Phekouyane offers to let one of them open Mandela's jail cell with a master key. Naima holds out her hand, and while she opens the cell, Keenyah feels as though she should be the one to do it. "I don't really think of Naima as black; I just don't see that," Keenyah says. But the girls file into the cell and feel the history of it. Keenyah is moved to tears and talks about her experience on the way back to the hotel. But Brittany is tired of hearing about Keenyah's connection to Africa, especially since earlier that day, Keenyah had to ask Brittany if Mandela was still alive.

The next day the girls are brought to an ostrich farm for a 1940s set shoot for Caress Sensational Smoothing Body Wash. There will be drummers making music, and the girls will demonstrate what they learned about movement with some male models surrounding them. As the girls prep, the male models hang out with them and discuss going out clubbing. One of the men, Bertini, flirts with Keenyah and asks for her number.

THE NEXT CONFLICT BEGINS
Naima begins the shoot with her extra frames, and she is confident and alluring, although she turns on the showgirl smile near the end. Keenyah is next, and since Bertini’s attention has already made her feel uneasy, she is definitely not comfortable as the music starts. When Bertini touches her leg with a moan, she stops the shoot and expresses her unhappiness. But Jay talks her into relaxing, and she finishes the shoot. Brittany follows and dances with verve, although it’s a little awkward, and Kahlen has to focus intensely to work hard without having any extra frames. She doesn't feel sexy around the men, but she pushes her nerves aside and gives it her best shot.

That night, the three male models greet the girls for a dinner, and the Keenyah situation escalates when Keenyah brings up the incident from the shoot. The awkwardness continues when Keenyah reveals that she didn't bring any money to pay for her drinks, and Brittany calls attention to it. "I see fakeness right now," Brittany says to Keenyah, later adding, "You’re very selfish." The conversation explodes into a full-blown argument between Keenyah and Brittany. Brittany brings up the earlier situation with Keenyah's displeasure over Naima opening Nelson Mandela's cell door. Naima and Kahlen remain quiet; Kahlen hates the tension, and Naima is thankful that she was able to have her experience in the prison and not make an issue out of it. Brittany shouts "Shut up!" at Keenyah, and their fight continues at the hotel. Naima tries to moderate the conversation, but eventually walks off saying, "I don’t want to hear it." Keenyah follows her into her room, and the whole thing keeps going, while Kahlen cries on the balcony by herself. The pressure is getting to them all. Brittany says, "I'm just ready for there to be a winner. Let's do this."

DANCE FEVER
That morning, the girls arrive for panel, where they meet with the judges, including guest judges Mandela and Bebe. Tyra announces that the challenge will be to dance and demonstrate movement, with poses inserted at certain moments. The drummer begins, poses are called out, and when it's finished, all the judges get into the mix for the first ever ANTM panel dance party.

Brittany is first up for evaluation, and Janice points out that she was holding back in the pose competition, but her photo is well received. For the first time, the girls will also see their worst shots, and Brittany groans when she sees hers. Keenyah is next, and she had stepped forward during the pose competition to put herself out in front. Nolé says, "You looked like a deep cup o'hot chocolate. I just want to sip you down." Her best shot is only "good," and she tries to defend her photo by bringing up Bertini-gate. However, Nigel and Tyra both say that a model has to be able to control the situation and not be affected by the circumstances. In her worst photo, Keenyah's stomach bulges, and Janice and Tyra repeat that she has to suck in her gut. Kahlen's dancing is uniformly disliked, and her photo isn't so great either. Naima is last, and she really hid herself in the posing competition, but she recognizes that she held back. Her photo is "spicy hot," though, and Nigel loves it. She stands out on paper, and he says that she has to bring that kind of energy to the panels. Even her worst shot isn't bad, and Nigel is very disappointed in her panel performance.

THE PUDGE FACTOR
Deliberations begin. Nigel loves Kahlen, but not this week's picture, while Mandela thinks her look is strong and eclectic. Brittany is flawless to Nolé, and Janice and Nigel argue about whether her personality is a positive or negative. Naima is next, and the judges wonder, "Who is Naima?" They don't see her personality, and wonder if she can hack it. Keenyah is last, and while Mandela sees her as skinny by African standards, Janice calls her pudgy.

FAR AWAY, SO CLOSE
The final four file back into the panel room, and Tyra hands the first photo to Keenyah. Her strong and confident performance made the judges ignore that "little extra 'oomph' that [she] might have in [her] midsection." Next is Kahlen, who is "almost a complete package," but she must learn to be sexy on camera. Naima and Brittany step forward, and Tyra explains that photos are not the reason why these two are up for elimination: it's about heart. "You, Brittany, you walked in with so much fire," says Tyra. "Now the judges just see someone that's slipping away." And Naima has a fire inside, but it's weak, and the judges don't know if her personality is strong enough to connect with America. With that, Tyra hands the last photo to Naima, and Brittany is eliminated.

"I can't believe it's officially over for me now," Brittany says as she gets ready to depart. "I'm going to miss getting all done up… I liked the shoots." Of all the girls, she'll miss Keenyah the most. "I'm proud of myself for making it this far, so I can look at the good. It's just hard when you're so close and so far.”