For Week 4 of Asia’s Next Top Model Cycle 1, the focus was on bringing sexy to the fore. And this really scared the hell out of most of the girls who suddenly turned shy and demure with the thought of posing sexy for the camera.
And so, mentor Joey Mead started the day by giving the 11 remaining contenders a casual talk on Being Sexy 101. All of them tried to display their individual definition of sexy in terms of body movements. But only Helena rose to the occasion. So as a challenge, they were asked to put on make-up and dress up in an outfit they feel will bring out their sensual side. Afterwards, they were instructed to pick any one household item to be used as a prop in their mock sexy posing test. Some chose kitchen items like a spoon (Stephanie), a noodle bowl (Jessica), a whisk (Rachel) and a frying pan (Sofia). But a couple of them brought odd ones like a box of face tissues (Jee) and a vacuum cleaner (Melissa).
Helena was wise enough to get a conventional telephone which she was able to use well for her mock sexy poses. She won the challenge and was rewarded with a fine dining meal at Osia Restaurant inside Resorts World Sentosa. She also selected Jee and Rachel to be her companion for the prize, and they were joined by Todd and Joey as well.
For the important photoshoot the next day, the ladies were asked to channel their inner sexy inside a boxing ring, together with handsome male model and actor/TV host Jason Godfrey. This excited them, but eventually started to second-guess their sexiness when the camera started clicking. The one expected to shine above the rest – Helena – did just the opposite when her poses teetered on the overly sexy and disappointed judge Daniel Boey. Melissa, on the other hand, was anticipated as the one who would least deliver but turned in shots that pleasantly surprised everyone. It probably helped that she has a not-so-secret crush on Jason.
And the wardrobe malfunction I hinted about last week? It was Trang. She wore traditional panties to a supposedly sexy shoot (she was having her period at the time) and her shots were the only ones showing the lining of tights underneath. This made Daniel mad and gave what he termed the best outfit to another girl instead of her. As for the rest, several passed the standards of the judges, including Sofia, Stephanie, Aastha and Melissa. But a few continued with their mediocre outputs, such as Jee and Filantropi.
Judgment time came that night and true enough, Jee and Filantropi were in the bottom. Before anything else, though, Sofia won her first photoshoot challenge, with Aastha as runner-up. Helena was on the verge of crying when her name was called fourth to the last. And Trang was just relieved that she was asked to come forward just before the three became two.
What’s the twist? Well, it was a double elimination episode. The judges felt that the cellar-dwellers this week have already pushed themselves to whatever best outputs they are capable of in the competition. Bye bye, Jee and Filantropi.
Next week, the girls head off to a challenge aboard a luxury yacht. And another girl’s dreams of becoming Asia’s Next Top Model will end. Please keep on watching the show on Star World, Sunday nights at 8:55pm.