Episode Report Card Potes: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Fruits of Laboriousness
By Potes | Season 12 | Episode 8 | Aired on 04.22.2009
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.The girls head on their little model plane to Sao Paulo, Brazil where they meet Brazil's Next Top Model host Fernanda Motta and are thrown into their first international challenge. They must pair up and find the real Girl from Ipanema's favorite flower (bird of paradise) and then find the legendary Girl herself -- Ihelo Pinheiro -- at Sao Paulo's botanical gardens. Fo and Natalie reach her first, and she definitely seems song-worthy. They win the keys to their new, sweet pad, as well as some blinged out flip flops. Despite this victory, Natalie is summarily unimpressed by Brazil and complains about everything her pretty little empty head can think of.
The next challenge has the girls getting a lesson in capoeira, the Brazilian dance / martial arts hybrid. Their teacher, Mestre Eddy Murphy, tells them that they can use moves from capoeira to create drama in their modeling. Celia already knows how to create drama, and proves it by accidentally kicking Aminat in the face as they face off. The girls then have a photo shoot challenge in which they demonstrate what they've learned. Fo does best, and wins 50% more frames on her next photo shoot. The kicker is that she has to take these frames from another girl. That is some awesome, dastardly shit. She still is peeved that Teyona chose to take along Celia on her challenge win last week, and so cuts Teyona's frames in half. Teyona says she's flattered, but is totally pissed, too. For their photo shoot, the girls head to favelas -- Brazilian neighborhoods built by the poor -- and are styled as Carmen Miranda. And you thought this show couldn't possibly get any fruitier. At the words “sex appeal” Natalie thinks she's got this shoot in the bag, but the judges find her pose typical and dull and the same as usual. She backtalks that Jay loved what she was doing and told her not to change for the whole 50 frames. I actually find that feasible, but Tyra does not and clearly wants to give Natalie a top model ass whuppin'. Aminat and Celia both do poorly, but Allison pulls it out with energy and a great face. Fo is cute, but too literal in her Carmen Miranda interpretation, while Teyona worked it in her 25 frames. Allison is called first, with the best photo of the week, while Aminat and Natalie land in the bottom two. Despite Aminat's seemingly permanent position at the bottom of the pack, it's Natalie who gets the boot.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on America's Next Top Model: The models played creative director for the day and learned you don't have to be orange to be successful. Teyona was the victor, and chose Aminat and -- somewhat controversially -- Celia to share in her prize. The girls then posed with so-called "icon" Ciara in their photo shoot for the week. London and Aminat both hit sour notes, but Aminat wasn't a giant porker side of lard and so got to stay. London thus missed out on getting to pack her bags for Brazil, the season's international destination. Six bitches remain!
And now, before we begin, I must take a moment to pay tribute to a true legend, Miss Beatrice Arthur. As a Golden Girls addict from my youth until this day, I will never be able to hear the words, "Rose, get the cheesecake," without thinking of her. May she forever bask on heaven's lanai.
We join the girls in their post-elimination limo ride home. They are sad and somber about the loss of London. Kidding! They are happy to have her fat ass out of the house, since she was eating all of the food and if she sat on the couch no one else could fit. And they are also quite happy to be going to Brazil! Teyona interviews that a few people are sipping on their haterade lately. We cut to a shot of Celia drinking from a bottle that is in fact filled with a potion that came directly from the Fountain of Youth. Nice try, grandma. What Teyona means is that since she's doing well, she has to watch out for some bitchery. Some of that bitchery, our mistress Foreshadowing will have us believe, is going to come from Fo, who is still pouty that Teyona did not choose her to share in the Seventeen photo shoot after winning the last challenge. We have a sepia-toned flashback in which Teyona explains that she wouldn't have done so well without her kick-ass model, Celia, so she chose her. Fo says she got a reality check that this, in fact, is a competition and it's every woman for herself. It only took her eight weeks.
But forget about petty rivalries for the moment, because it's time to pack! For Brazil! Natalie interviews that she's stoked to go to Brazil. New York is way too cold for her Southern California ass. The girls bid their New York house adieu, and we get the little plane graphic with all of their faces in the windows. I think that graphic might be my favorite part of this season so far. The girls land in Sao Paulo, which according to stock footage has rainforests and beaches and girls in bikinis that show their butt cheeks, oh my! Aminat says that being in Brazil is a bit mindblowing. I have a feeling it doesn't take much to blow Aminat's mind. It's like the most fragile of fuses. She was in the bottom two last week, again, and so has vowed to turn over a new leaf. Let's hope that leaf doesn't continue to be from the Suckberry Tree.