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"Madison is
Cursed" - July 26
Last time, there was another team reshuffling, as
Madison and Park were abandoned for... blue and green.
But it didn't help Latricia any, as she was on the
losing end for the 5th straight time. And this time,
she was sent home. 7 are left, and now that they're
competing individually, it's time to face more
cameras...
AHH! PAPARAZZI!
Upon returning to the Melrose hotel, the contestants
all move into a single penthouse. Jackaay thinks it's
strange that she's the only one from the original
Madison still in it at this point. But the others are
more focused on the fact that it's now every person
for him/her self. And J.W. and Jules are in a corner
of the balcony, just chatting about each other. Yep,
there's definitely something going on there.
The next morning, the group gets the usual breakfast
and letter, and this time, the letter invites them to
lunch at a world-renowned restaurant, Palm. Later,
they are on their way, but as they leave the hotel,
they are faced by some people with cameras, taking
pictures of them for some reason. They casually climb
into the limo waiting outside, while the paparazzi
continues taking pictures.
The group arrives at Palm (no paparazzi on the way in
this time), and they head to a private dining room,
where Kathy is waiting. Once there, Kathy asks about
the run-in earlier, then goes on to introduce Dave
Allocca, a celebrity photographer, and Jeffrey Slonim,
an entertainment writer. The purpose of this is to let
the contestants know what to do and what not to do in
public. Dave explains that cameras are everywhere, and
that while he tries to get pictures that won't make
someone look bad, he says that there are many others
who just takes what pictures they can (in other words,
the paparazzi). He then explains that "stalkarazzis"
are those who will be everywhere that the person is
at, just to get pictures at the least likely moments.
Then, they decide to show some random pictures of the
contestants, on covers of phony tabloids, as an
example of what could happen. An example is a picture
of J.W. sleeping, and the headline is, "J.W. survives
2-day party binge." Dave says that picture could have
been taken at any time. Another example shows Jackaay
yelling, and the headline says, "Jackaay totally
freaks out!" Included below, it says, "Madison is
cursed!" Gee, how would the tabloids have figured that
out?
Afterwards, Dave and Jeffrey head out, and Kathy
explains that this type of thing could happen to
anyone. Then, Jules asks her what it's like for Paris
to deal with everything that's been in the papers
about her. That's when things get tense. Kathy
explains that Paris has a positive attitude, and that
she may be strong, but also sensitive. She even says
that there are moments when her daughter will come to
her crying, especially when "that tape" came out. (If
you don't know what is meant by "that tape", it's time
to dig yourself out of that rock you've been living
under.) But Kathy then says that she learned to just
let go, and not be so judgmental.
With that, Kathy explains that the contestants will be
attending a red-carpet event that night, to see how
people there deal with journalists, reporters, and of
course, photographers. But at this point, it's time to
eat. So they have lunch. Why not? They're in a
restaurant, right?
Dealing with a chatterbox
Later, the group arrives at a public relations agency
to prepare for dealing with the event that night.
There, Susan Magrino, a public relations expert, gives
them advice on what to say or do while in public,
including how to deal with a question from the media,
and what to do in a situation similar to what the
group faced when leaving the hotel that morning
(Susan's advice: "Smile for the cameras, wave, get in
the car, and tell the driver to hit the gas"). And
then, Jules starts talking about what she normally
does in her life. And she keeps talking. And talking.
And talking. Get my drift?
Once they're back at the hotel, the group is getting
ready for the red-carpet event. But there appears to
be some friction between J.W. and Jules. Jules accuses
J.W. of making comments about every girl he sees. And
she keeps talking about it. She doesn't give J.W. much
of a chance to get any of his own words in. But
somehow, eventually, the room does go silent.
Questions from the past
The contestants arrive at the red-carpet event via
limo, and when they walk in, they discover that it's
actually a press conference, loaded with members of
the media, and plenty of photographers were taking
pictures. And it just so happens that the 7 are the
subjects of this conference. They've become quite
nervous as they take their seats, and then the press
conference begins, with Kathy introducing Donny
Deutsch (host of "The Big Idea"), and mentioning that
this conference is the next challenge in this
competition. She'll be watching to see how they handle
themselves, and judge them accordingly.
She then turns things over to Donny, who then brings
in a few more folks who have questions to ask: another
group of 7. You may remember them if you've been
watching past episodes like I had to. That's right;
the previously eliminated players: Alain, Johnny, Ann,
Yvette, Jabe, Rashad, and Latricia. Donny then give
the instructions; each of the contestants will be up
on the hot seat, one at a time, and the eliminated
players will ask them questions to answer. He advises
the questioners to pull no punches, and to be tough.
Jackaay is up first. Yvette asks if she hates her
because she's beautiful, or because of jealousy.
Jackaay says that Yvette is beautiful, and there's no
jealousy. Johnny asks why she told people that he and
Yvette "did the nasty" when he never said anything
about that, and Jackaay said he alluded to it. Johnny
says he only mentioned hooking up with Yvette, and
when he says Jackaay should get her facts straight,
she responds about him utilizing his vocabulary
better.
Jules is next. Ann asks if, despite her saying that
she'd like to be with a socialite, she thinks J.W. is
"the one" for her, and Jules denies the socialite
part, but mentions how she feels about him. Ann then
asks if she sees herself with him, and Jules says
they're good friends, but Latricia interrupts, asking
if she goes around kissing her friends, which Jules
denies. Johnny asks how she feels about her teammates
saying she doesn't shut up and she's annoying. Jules
says that she does talk a lot, but she also listens,
and as for being annoying, she does admit to
complaining every now and then. And she continues
talking about what she's like. And she goes on and on.
Notice a theme?
It's now Jaret's turn, and Ann asks what he'd say to
those who think a country boy can't be a socialite. He
says that they wouldn't know what they're talking
about, and that though he didn't fit in at the
beginning, through extensive training, he could in the
end.
Niki steps up, and Rashad asks what it means to be a
socialite. She slowly says it's not just the partying
aspect, but... And she hesitates at that point, unsure
of what to say. Not a good sign. After plenty of
silence, and a few "uh"s, Niki continues by saying
that a socialite would be more dignified, and would
know how to act in various situations. I'm pretty sure
that that doesn't include hesitating for so long.
Time for Vanessa to answer questions. The first one is
from Yvette, who asks why she thinks team Park wanted
to transfer her to team Madison on the first
opportunity. She says she figures that they thought it
was best for her to not be there, and that the guys
don't seem to like her much. Yvette asks why, and
Vanessa thinks it's intimidation. Johnny asks what she
thinks it does to the way people act, and she says
it's for the better (like how Jackaay has learned to
do things properly) and for the worse (like with
egocentric attitudes). Rashad asks whose ego was
brought up the most, and Vanessa says Brenden, because
he was becoming a "louder presence", which wasn't the
case when the competition started.
J.W. takes center stage, and Jabe asks him who doesn't
deserve to win, of those who are still in it. He says
that he feels the others have just as much of a chance
as he does; basically, a "may the best person win"
type of answer. Sure, he avoided directly answering
the question, but hey, the questioners didn't push for
a direct answer, at least from what we saw, so there.
Finally, we come to Brenden. And Jabe asks a big
question: did he steal ideas from Vanessa? Brenden
denies it. But after a flashback from episode 2 (which
is referred to during this bit), Jabe pushes on by
saying that multiple people claimed otherwise. Brenden
says that he can't really respond to that, and that if
he misrepresented himself, then, in his words, "so be
it, because we won." Donny then asks Vanessa if he
stole an idea, and she says that she came up with the
idea, but he represented it. Brenden then says he was
just trying to be a spokesperson for the team. Next,
Yvette asks if he's as phony as he seems. He says that
he feels he's genuine, but he won't try to change her
perception of him. Johnny then asks why he'd accuse
team Madison of being stupid during the sale/auction
challenge (once again, from episode 2). Brenden says
that the luau idea isn't very classy, and neither is
serving stuff on toothpicks. (I thought serving food
on toothpicks was normal at classy events. But maybe
that's just me...)
With that, Donny ends the press conference. Though he
thought things would have gotten nastier, he does say
that the group held their own rather well. Kathy then
concludes by mentioning that no one will be exempt
this time, and everyone will be meeting for the
deliberations to determine who goes home.
Later, at the hotel, J.W. is saying that it'll be down
to Jules and Niki in the end. Jules says that they've
gotten along, but J.W. says that won't mean anything.
Niki says she has nothing bad to say about Jules, but
J.W. isn't buying it. Jules then turns it around by
saying it could be J.W. and Brenden in the end. And
suddenly, the roles are reversed, with J.W. denying
having any issues with Brenden. But in an aside, J.W.
says he wouldn't have a problem selling someone out to
make himself look better, if that's what it would take
to win.
Saying more than you should?
The group arrives at the residence via limo, and
everyone heads up to the usual room for deliberations.
As Kathy walks in, the guys stand up and wait for her
to sit in her chair before sitting back down
themselves. She then mentions how Jaret, Jules, and
J.W. are here for the first time, and asks how it
feels, to which they admit their nervousness. As if
they weren't nervous enough now; Kathy then says that
this will be the most difficult deliberation yet, and
then drops a surprise: 3 people are going home this
time. That's right; it's triple elimination night. I
bet they're really nervous now.
When asked how she thought she incorporated the
lessons learned, Vanessa says that she used everything
that Susan mentioned, including no extra info, and
keep responses short. She is then asked if she'd want
to do anything different, and she says no. Kathy then
asks Jules how she felt about being put in the
spotlight concerning the bit with J.W., and she
responds that though there was an attraction at first,
they'd be better off as friends. And J.W. confirms
this.
Jules is then asked who should go home instead of her,
and she says she can't answer that. After mentioning
that she needs their input in deciding who should go,
Kathy asks J.W. whose performance he was more
disappointed in, and he says that if he had to pick
one, he'd pick Niki, since she did stumble a bit
during the press conference. And when asked what she
thinks, Jackaay agrees. Then, Niki tries to turn it
around, saying that Jackaay stumbled at first when she
was questioned. And Jackaay is shaking her head,
obviously disagreeing with that.
Kathy asks Brenden which of his questions from the
conference was the hardest, and he picks Yvette's
question about being phony, saying that it was a shot
to him personally. Then, when asked if he thinks he
has an advantage, since he's a golf caddie, and
therefore has already been exposed to the lifestyle of
a socialite, Brenden admits to having been exposed to
it, and says he doesn't think he's any less deserving
than anyone else. Interesting, since the question
asked if he was any more deserving.
Kathy then tells Jules that she needs to not only
watch what she says, but how much she says, then asks
what lessons she'll take with her. She responds by
saying that she hasn't had much of a massive
transformation since the day the competition began.
When asked if he had any run-ins with Brenden, Jaret
said that Brenden told him they would never be
friends, and he doesn't know why. Brenden responds
that not everyone has to be friends in the end. It's
not a good strategy to say something like that, as
Kathy mentions.
With that, Kathy sends the group to the stairway so
she can write her list. Afterwards, the group returns
to the room, ready to hear the decision. She reminds
them that if they hear their name, they can head to
the dining room nearby (which starts out empty this
time). With that, she starts reading the list...
-Jaret
-Jackaay
-Vanessa
After saying that those she chose to continue on are
those who pushed themselves to make a personal
transformation using the lessons learned from the
whole experience, Kathy reads the last name on the
list...
-J.W.
So, as a result, Brenden (the one accused of stealing
ideas), Niki (the one who hesitated in her answers at
the conference), and Jules (the one who just wouldn't
shut up) are not on the list, and have to go home.
They each head out of the residence one at a time, and
each take a separate limo out of there. But once Kathy
joins the final 4 in the dining room, she gives J.W. a
chance to say goodbye to Jules before she leaves. He
heads downstairs, and as they share a big hug, Jules
says that he'd better win it. Afterwards, once he
rejoins everyone in the dining room, Kathy tells the 4
how proud she is of them, then they make the customary
toast to the good life.
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