It seems that with every week on Asia’s Next Top Model, the stakes only get higher and higher. This week really upped the ante with not only one guest judge, but THREE special guests that the girls had to impress. Right off the bat, the first challenge the hosts Cindy Bishop and Yu Tsai threw at the girls involved being a “living mannequin”. In case you don’t have a clue what the phrase means or just didn’t catch the episode, here’s a visual reminder for you:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BD3Cl6BQQ66/
Uh-huh. And they had to hold that pose for 30 mins, by the way. And the eco-couture creations (my name for these masterpieces) were all courtesy of OTT Thai designer Madeuw, better known to his 29.8k followers on Instagram as @madiewga and is Insta-famous for his wacky photoshoots on the photo-sharing app, where he models his creations made out of ordinary, everyday materials (all with a side of fierceness that would raise RuPaul’s eyebrows waaaay up).
I thought it was very kampung clown couture 😂😂😂 —PK #AsNTM4
— Harper's BAZAAR Singapore (@HarpersBazaarSG) April 6, 2016
Of course, the inherent drama surfaced with Aldilla suffering a bad, full-body allergic reaction to the straw used to make her outfit (see above photo, right), but still holding out to the end of her 30 minute-long slot before being rushed away. Others were more prosaic and Tuti, ever the clown, cracked that she looked like a “fabulous chicken” before taking her place on the mannequin area.
https://twitter.com/mecahterpillar/status/717702199422246915
Sang In seriously impressed Madeuw with her otherworldy expression in his “kite-flying” dress and this won her the chance to split the girls into teams for their first team photo shoot challenge. Here’s the breakdown:
Team 1: Sang In, Aldilla, Julian
Team 2: Patricia, May, Jessica
Team 3: Tuti, Angie, Tawan
Centered around a shoot inspired by New York City and the It Girl, the girls underwent transformations courtesy of Maybelline New York creative director Nigel Stanislaus. Turns out, Nigel’s one of the guest judges they have to impress too, because the winner of the It Girl photo shoot wins an all-expenses paid trip to New York Fashion Week for two days in September. As their excited screams died down, who else but fashion legend Patricia Field saunters on set in a cloud of bouffant red hair and raspy voice cooing greetings. It was an amazing entrance.
Photo shoot performance? Well, not so amazing. Using props like bicycles, scooters and skateboards only seemed to shock the models and they were trying to work their best angles for the camera. The keyword here being “trying”. Of course, this ended in not a few tears and Yu Tsai’s angry barks of direction seemed to confuse them even more (it’s called modelling girls, absorb instructions and process it). Patricia Field didn’t seemed very taken with some of them, but doled out advice in spades all the same.
When it came to elimination, nothing could possibly top the drama of last week’s episode, but nonetheless, we saw last week’s Tawan slide her way down to 5th place, one spot short of being in the bottom three with Aldilla, Julian and Jessica. Ultimately, it was Jessica who got the chop because of her uninspired poses, inability to capture the essence of the shoot and just her general confusion with everything on set. With eight girls left in the running, the next few episodes should see fiercer competition, better modelling and shorter fuses (watch the sneak preview below to see why). Till then, remember to follow us on Twitter (@harpersbazaarsg) or via the hashtag #AsNTM4 for our weekly live-tweet sessions and exclusive content of the show.
Best moment: Basically whenever Patricia Field got on camera. At one point she even took a stab at Yu Tsai!
Worst moment: When Aldilla was having an allergic reaction to the straw and no one moved to help her. Thank goodness she got through the challenge intact.
Challenge winner this week: May from Myanmar took top spot this week with her inimitable cool factor that prompted the judges to say they looked at her picture and wanted to hang out with her.
Who got kicked off: Jessica. For being just really confused on her photo shoot.
By Pakkee