"Haute Couture Hits a
New Low" - July 19
Last week, the teams went through an art scavenger
hunt, and for the third straight week, team Park won.
And in a double elimination, Ann (who may have been
better off on American Idol) and Yvette (who may have
been better off on So You Think You Can Dance) were
both shown the door. 10 remain, and a fashion show is
on the way.
A fashionable balance
Once the teams have returned to the hotel after the
eliminations, in team Park's room, Brenden and Vanessa
bicker about her behaviour during the previous
challenge, and Rashad sees a power struggle between
them as far as team leadership goes. Meanwhile, in
team Madison's room, the mood is actually getting
better despite having lost 4 members, and Jabe,
Jackaay, and Latricia are more determined than ever to
break their losing streak.
The next day, the teams arrive at Chanterelle, one of
the finest restaurants in New York, for lunch with
Kathy, as well as Frederique Van der Wal (a
supermodel, whom you may remember from Celebrity Mole:
Hawaii). Kathy also invited a couple of fashion
experts to give the contestants some advice on looking
good. Then, Kathy addresses the situation of the team
sizes (Madison has only 3 left; Park still has all 7),
and says that 2 members of Park will be going to
Madison, with team Park choosing one, and team Madison
choosing the other.
[Okay, so there's a difference between Madison and
Survivor's Ulong tribe; Madison gets help in the form
of members of the other side switching teams. But will
it help Madison to break that losing streak?]
First, team Park votes for one of their own to go...
Niki votes for: Brenden
Jules votes for: Vanessa
Rashad votes for: Brenden
J.W. votes for: Vanessa
Brenden votes for: Vanessa
Jaret votes for: Brenden
Vanessa votes for: Vanessa
(Before you ask, yes, apparently, a person could vote
for his/her self this time.)
So with that, Vanessa, who feels she'd be better off
on the other team than bickering more with Brenden, is
switching to team Madison. And now, it's team
Madison's turn to choose another member of team Park
to switch sides, and they decide to pick Rashad,
because they feel he would help the team a lot. We'll
see about that.
With the sides now even at 5 members each, Kathy gives
the next challenge; there's going to be a fashion show
the next day, and they'll have to model some outfits
in front of an audience, as well as some fashion
experts, who will judge them based on modeling,
presentation, attitude, and style. The show has 2
parts. The first part is eveningwear, and the teams
will head to a clothing store called Alice Underground
to shop for the clothes for that part of the show. For
the second part, they each choose a theme, and use
their own clothes, as well as stuff from their hotel
rooms.
Oh, and this time, they find out in advance that the
losing team will lose 2 members. Another double
elimination week, eh? I guess by this point, they just
want to get this whole thing over with as soon as they
can or something...
Shopping for control
The teams arrive at Alice Underground, where they only
have 30 minutes to shop. Everyone is scrambling around
the store, grabbing clothes and trying them on.
Vanessa is trying to give Jackaay and Latricia ideas
on what they could wear, without them asking for the
advice. Control freak, anyone? And, as Brenden
expected, it's starting to get on Latricia's nerves.
Later, back in the hotel, team Madison tries to figure
out their plans for the fashion show. Jackaay shows
off an outfit which includes a hole on the pant leg
area, which the team seems to approve. And once again,
Vanessa is giving ideas to Latricia. She says she's
not there to be the boss, but come on, who is she
trying to fool? Over in team Park's suite, they begin
coming up with ideas for the second part of the show,
like flowers taped to the back of one's head, or
wearing lampshades. Yeah, weird stuff.
The next morning, Jackaay is up early to take care of
some work on the clothing, when she sees an envelope
for team Madison. Meanwhile, Jaret sees an envelope
for team Park. They each take them to their respective
teams, and the message to both teams is that they each
have to pick an announcer for the fashion show.
Madison unanimously picks Rashad, while Park goes with
Brenden. But there's more to the message; after
breakfast, they're getting makeovers.
At the Warren-Tricomi salon, each of the 10
contestants are getting the full makeover treatment.
Not much to comment on for the most part, but
eventually, each of them, 2 at a time, are pulled
aside by a runway coach named Willie Ninja for some
advice on how to walk down a runway during this time.
Amateur Night on the runway
It is now time for the fashion show, and the crowd is
packed. Backstage, everyone had to make final
preparations for the show, and things were quite
hectic. Meanwhile, Kathy introduces the crowd to the
judges; Frederique Van der Wal, Bettina Zilkha
(fashion writer), Tracy Taylor (fashion director), and
Lloyd Boston (style expert). After mentioning the
judging criteria, they get started.
Team Park starts things off in the eveningwear
portion, and Jules is the first one down the runway
with a silk gown. Jaret is next with a suit that
includes a powder-blue turtleneck. Niki then walks
down the runway with a slip dress. J.W. heads down
with a blue suit and a shirt unbuttoned at the top.
And finally, as Jules temporarily takes over for
Brenden in announcing, he walks down the runway with a
gray suit of his own.
Up next is team Madison. Latricia walks down the
runway first, with a black cocktail dress, as well as
a scarf and sunglasses. Jabe was next with a brown
long jacket, light blue shirt, and dark blue pants.
Jackaay shows off a black dress with a longer gold
skirt underneath. Vanessa walks wearing a black
cocktail dress with sequins. And as Vanessa assumes
announcing duties for the moment, Rashad heads down
the runway with a black suit.
Now, it's time to prepare for the second part of the
show, and the teams are scrambling to get changed and
ready for it. And Kathy explains to the crowd about
what they had to do for this one. Possibly so they
don't get too surprised at the idea of someone looking
insane or something.
Team Park once again goes first, and Brenden explains
that their theme deals with the streets of New York
City. They start with J.W., who is dressed like the
Naked Cowboy. And we don't see the underwear behind
the guitar until after the commercial break. Yeah.
Moving on, Jaret walks out with a gas mask, T-shirt,
and camouflage shorts. Next is Niki, with a black
dress, sunglasses, and a lampshade on her head.
Lastly, Jules is up with a black tight shirt and pink
miniskirt. And Brenden manages to tie it all in to the
Naked Cowboy bit. Ooooookay...
We're not done with lampshades, though, as Rashad
explains that team Madison's theme is all about them.
Vanessa walks out first, with a pink dress, and
holding a lampshade that has a tutu on it over her
head. Jackaay walks out with a black dress, and she
also holds a lampshade over her head, this one with
some black stuff on it. Latricia is wearing a coloured
shirt with khakis, and yes, she holds a lampshade over
her head, this one with what looks like a leopard-skin
pattern (I think). Latricia then does some announcing
as Rashad walks down the runway in his gray and black
suit, and donning a lampshade with magazine pages on
it. Finally, as Rashad gets back to announcing, Jabe
heads out with a blue T-shirt and jeans, with a white
open shirt on top, and the lampshade on his head, this
time with what I think is a bandanna on it.
And now, it's time for the deliberations, as the teams
wait backstage. Afterwards, the teams join Kathy on
stage, where she announces that the prize for winning
this challenge is a photo shoot with Antoine Verglas,
a world-renowned photographer. She then reminds the
teams of what awaits the losing team (which Madison
has gone through 3 times already), and reminds them of
the double elimination.
Kathy then says that Madison's lampshade theme was
interesting, but confusing, and that Park's theme of
the streets of New York pushed the envelope a bit, but
the crowd did enjoy it. With that, the winner is...
team Park. They take their victorious walk down the
runway, as they have done it yet again.
Same old situation for Madison
The next day, team Park arrives at Hudson Studios and
meet Antoine Verglas, then they once again get their
hair done, the women get their makeup done, and they
get changed. And then, the photo shoot begins. Each
member of the team gets individual pictures taken, and
then they get some group shots. All in all, another
extravagant reward for team Park.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, team Madison braces for
yet another trip to the residence, and while Jabe,
Jackaay, and Latricia have been through it before,
this will be the first time for Rashad and Vanessa to
face possible elimination. And those two seem to have
a laid-back attitude about it. Not a good attitude to
bring into the residence, as they will soon find
out...
Lampshades?
The limo brings team Madison to the residence for the
4th straight time, and Kathy once again meets them to
find out what went wrong. When asked about feeling let
down despite having 2 members of the other team
joining them, Jackaay basically says yes, and when
asked about who from team Park they would have picked
NOW, she says Brenden, for his leadership skills.
Interesting that she'd say that with Vanessa in the
room.
Latricia is also asked about whether the two choices
about who came to team Madison were good ones, and she
also praises Brenden. Kathy says that he developed a
lot, and Latricia apparently gets confused. Next up is
who came up with the lampshades. The team says it was
Vanessa's idea, but she tries to make it seem like a
group idea. When asked if he had any ideas, Jabe
admitted that he didn't have many, since he's not a
fashion person, and that his outfit wasn't really that
cool. Kathy then asks why he didn't get someone else's
opinion. He says that everyone dressed themselves, but
she doesn't see the teamwork in that.
Kathy then asks Rashad if he would take responsibility
for how Jabe looked, and he says he would. He then
elaborates on his answer, which is pretty much summed
up by Kathy as a long "yes". She then goes into what
message they were trying to convey to the crowd, and
how 3 of them didn't get across what they should have.
Rashad then says that they had a message and tried to
put it out, but they generally failed. And Kathy
reiterates what she had said once or twice already,
that the other team's bit was exciting.
With that, the team is sent out of the room so Kathy
can write her list. This time, 2 will be left off the
list, and will be eliminated. Once the team is called
back in, Kathy reminds the team that if they hear
their name, they will join team Park in the dining
room nearby. Now, for the list...
-Jackaay
-Vanessa
It is now tense, as only one of the 3 left in the room
will advance, and the other 2 will no longer be in the
running. The last name is...
-Latricia
That means that the men of team Madison, Jabe and
Rashad, have been eliminated from the game. They both
head downstairs and out into the same limo, taking
them out of there, and Kathy joins the 8 remaining
contestants to end the episode with another toast to
the good life.
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