Deemed to presently be "too awkward" to be a model, Amanda Babin, an 18-year-old bookstore sales associate from Anaheim, CA, became the tenth girl eliminated from the seventh edition of America's Next Top Model during last night's broadcast of The CW reality show.
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The next day, the girls headed to a local dance studio to learn how to work with a partner. Each girl was paired with a male dancer and then taught some steps to a complicated Flamenco dance routine. Amanda had difficulty picking up the moves, and the instructor noted that she looked awkward. "The idea of dancing just makes me nervous because I'm not a very strong dancer... I definitely did not know what I was doing," Amanda explained. "Amanda looks like Amanda trying to dance.... Amanda looks awkward as usual," Eugena Washington joked.
Afterward, went the girl went to dinner, where much to the girls' delight, Top Model judge and runway trainer J. Alexander joined them as a surprise dinner guest. "I was excited to see Miss J. join us for dinner because he is on [the] panel and I felt like I just haven't really been able to have a little personal chit-chat with J.," Caridee English explained.
During the dinner, Miss J. recalled thinking that Michelle and Amanda were "the two goofiest, gumby girls." "Now that Michelle has gone, I think the competition has changed for me because I've never really done anything by myself," Amanda explained after the dinner. "I really want to be an individual."
Meanwhile, Melrose Bickerstaff's strong personality continued to gnaw at her competitors. "Melrose has three different personalities and she's really good at it, she's really convincing... it's creepy... maybe she should be medicated," Caridee later complained to the cameras. "Ya, I'd be pissed off if she won," Eugena, who had managed to keep her relationship with Melrose more amicable, remarked to Caridee the next morning. "I don't respect Melrose... if Melrose becomes America's Next Top Model I'm going to puke... all over," Melrose vented during a confessional. "I'll just puke."
Later that day, the girls competed in their next challenge, a dance competition in which each girl had to get into full costumes and make-up and then perform their new Flamenco dance routine with their partner in front of an audience. While each of the girls felt the strain of the competition, Amanda’s insecurity also added to her nervousness. "I didn't think I would be so nervous, sometimes when you want it, you don't get it because you psych yourself out," Amanda explained later. In the end, although the instructor noted that Amanda looked more relaxed than the previous day, Eugena was chosen as the challenge winner. As her reward, Eugena received a jacket and shirt from Custo Barcelona's fall collection. As the girl that Eugena picked to share in her win, Amanda, also received a Custo Barcelona jacket.
The following day, Tyra Banks and Jay Manuel were waiting for the girls when they arrived at their photo shoot. Having decided that she wanted the girls to continue to learn how to work with a partner, Tyra paired the girls up to float side-by-side on their backs in a cold in-ground pool.
While Melrose and Eugena both managed to remain professional during their pairing, only Melrose had a good shoot. "Today was a typical Eugena shoot -- flat, boring, and it looked like she was drowning in the water," Jay commented after the session. Shortly after Amanda and CariDee began their own photo shoot, CariDee’s body went into hypothermia due to the cold pool of water they were in, leaving Amanda to continue the shoot alone.
Afterward, Tyra, who earlier in the competition had cited that fact that a dehydrated Monique Calhoun had opted not to participate in the girls' third photo as evidence that she didn't "want this enough" and bragged how eventual Top Model 6 winner Danielle Evans had overridden her doctors' hospitalization recommendations to compete in one of her season's photo shoots, suddenly inexplicably took the opposite approach and chided CariDee for not quitting the shoot sooner. "You have to listen to your body and you have to tell us, OK, because all we know is 'Go, go, go, go,' but you have to tell us 'No,'" Tyra told CariDee as Tyra and medical staff attempted to warm CariDee back up.
During the elimination ceremony, Top Model judges Nigel Barker and Twiggy both commented that while Amanda has a unique, high fashion look, there is something about her that is just a little awkward. "She needs to know her body, but she is too young," guest judge and photographer David Ruiz commented.
In the end, the judges decided that while Amanda to have strong potential, there was just something a little too awkward and meek. "You stand before me with an edgy, high fashion look -- a look that excites the judges -- and the judges look at your pictures from week to week and say 'Wow, these are beautiful pictures but there's something a little awkward about them,'" Tyra explained Amanda just before she eliminated her from the running to become America’s Next Top Model's seventh winner. "They also look at personality and the judges say 'She's sweet and she's engaging but there's something that might be a little bit too soft, a little bit too meek maybe.'"
