America's Next Top Model - Cycle 12 Episode 1 / 2(S012E01) Review

Cycle 12 of America's Next Top Model (ANTM) starts tonight, March 4 at 8pm PST.

This is a review of ANTM Cycle 12, Episodes one and two: 'What Happens in Vegas' and 'Fun and Game's.

This show takes place in Vegas!!

The girls arrive in Tyra's favourite city (VEGAS!) and some are overwhelmed - Angela is already saying how this isn't 'America's Next Best Friend' as some girls seem to want to make friends before they do anything else.

The girls scream when Jay Manuel and Miss Jay come out flanked by a row of Gladiators at Caesar's Palace. A top model needs 'spirit, poise, and determination' says Jay Manuel.

The girls get changed and (more screaming) they find out that this is they first photo shoot.

Celia is 25 and she's the oldest (!!!)

Fo is a hippie

Sandra says she 'stands out'

Isabella is boring

Aminat thinks her and Tyra will be 'BFFs'

Thalia is 'pretty' says Jay

Kathryn is a 'small town town girl' - (boring)

Teyona is a 'country girl'

Next they go to Miss Jay who teaches them that walking on clouds is the best gift a model can have. Some of the girls really don't know how to walk in real life, let alone on a runway. Alex is especially terrible as she swings her arms like a gorilla. Jessica does a good job and says that she wants to be 'Venus'.

More screaming from the girls as Miss Jay walks off blowing them kisses.

Miss Jay and Jay come out to see the girls and then the Gladiators appear again, or as London called them 'hot Spartan dudes' and Tyra herself is standing in the middle of them. She's the 'Goddess of Fierce' - so she says. She says she's looking for her successor and the girls scream some more. Celia says Tyra is 'extraterrestrial' - um... ok...

Tonight we will meet all the contestants, see them be eliminated to just 20 of them and then cut down to a smaller group again as they all fight for that coveted title of America's Next Top Model.

Commercial

Now the individual interviews take place.

Sandra is first, who Tyra says is here 'because of her skin, and she looks like a British runway fashion model'. The judges seem to love her.

London is a street preacher and gives the judges an impromptu sermon. Miss Jay calls her a street walker.

Jessica says she has never been called ugly in her life, but Miss Jay just says that she's never been called ugly to her face.

Tahlia says she is a 'burn survivor' and has had 14 surgeries and only now she has felt comfortable enough to show her body and she wants to tell her story to the world. She has a lot to say and a lot of confidence with her body.

[The girls are hanging out waiting for their interviews and they don't seem to be getting along at all.]

Monique is a conspiracy theorist and she wants to spread how all governments are corrupt.

Natalie has never worked a day in her life and is super cocky about her looks.

Aminat is 6ft1" tall and she is confident of her chances to win.

[Kathryn is waiting for her interview and is talking about how it was so hard to walk in shoes. She starts crying because she says she has 'bad anxiety'. Aminat has no sympathy for her at all.]

Commercial

Kathryn is next and she has brought her pen collection to show the judges (no, you heard me right, pen collection). She cannot however, name five top models that are currently working now, however she can name all her pens. Tyra says that is not going to get her booked for a job. She came back and could name five designers, thank goodness.

Alex has a lot of sass and in her audition tape she talks about 'slapping a bitch around'.

Isabella is fresh and happy and has epilepsy and she can go unconscious. She says it doesn't hold her back.

Nijah was a prom queen and has to pose for Jay, but she doesn't do a vey good job. She can't tap either apparently.

Fo has 'cute freckles' and calls herself a 'Blackxican' and said she didn't know she was black until she met her dad when she was nine.

[The girls are at a buffet and Angelea starts crying about how she had a daughter who passed away. The other girls pretend to care.]

Commercial

Angelea has to take off her hair and nails for the interview and she slept in the Port Authority Bus Station to go to her call back for ANTM.

Celia comes in twirling for the judges and she says when she was young she was the 'ugly child'

Kortnie is the 'plus size' girl, but she looks the same size as everyone else. She also dated Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Allison has huge blue eyes and says she has a huge fascination with blood and is sad because she has never had a nose bleed. Miss Jay is concerned for the others in the house.

Teyona describes herself as 'the bomb' and spent most of her life around boys and she has some serious attitude.

The girls come back out in their white Greek outfits and start screaming again. It's time for the first elimination!

Behind Miss Jay and Jay are 34 boxes with 21 gold wreaths in it. If the girl gets a wreath then she can stay in the competition.

Let the crying begin.

Angelea brings out the attitude again.

Alex didn't make it but she puts on a brave face.

The remaining girls now have to do a photo shoot with Jay and this is their last chance to impress Tyra and make the final 13. Each girl is assigned a different goddess and they have to model that attribute that the goddess is known for.

London is the Goddess of Justice.

Fo is the Goddess of Madness

Sandra is the Goddess of Success

Isabella is the Goddess of Modesty

[Already Sandra and Angelea are starting to fight because Angelea says Sandra 'looked at her'. fight fight fight! Both girls won't back down. Jay gets involved and says how childish they are acting.]

Angelea is the Goddess of Love (yeah right)

The photos will be reviewed but Angelea is scared that everyone will think she is just ghetto because of her behaviour and is crying yet again.

Commercial

Tyra, Miss Jay and Jay are discussing the contestants.

Miss Jay says that Jessica is the prettiest one in the competition.

Finally the judges have made their decision and they are ready to let the girls know who will be going and who will be staying.

Tyra announces the finalists who will be going to New York:

The contestants for this season of ANTM is:

Celia Ammerman

Aminat Ayinde

Tahila Brookins

Kortnie Coles

Isabella Falk

Nijah Harris

Allison Harvard

London Levi

Sandra Nyancoka

Natalie Pack

Fo Porter

Jessica Santiago

Teyona Anderson

As Sandra is announced as winner she walks past Angelea and hits her on the back. Intentional or not? I'm not sure. Angelea is very upset about having to go back home to Buffalo.

The remaining girls are so excited to be going to the Upper East Side of New York City - somewhere they have never been before.

Commercial.

The girls are in NYC and they go to the Empire State Building where Nigel Barker and Paulina Porizkova are standing and they give the girls the key to their new home. Their new home is amazing and is one of those cool, funky lofts that everyone wished they lived in. Celia has the right to choose any bed she wants and she picks the bed that Sandra already picked. Then the girls find out that there are only 12 beds and Sandra is adamant that she is going to keep her first choice for a bed.

London asks Isabella about her epilepsy medication in a very insensitive way. Meanwhile, Sandra says that Celia and her can just sleep together, but Celia doesn't like that idea. London opts to sleep on the floor as she doesn't like to argue.

The girls ask Tahlia about her burn scars, also in an insensitive way.

The girls get their first Tyra Mail!!

They go to a park where Miss Jay and Jay are waiting and they tell the girls their modelling education starts now. They meet Laura Abette and they are going to walk in her runway show. The show is about 'naughty and nice; they have to have a bad girl or a good girl walk'. Tahlia is upset about not being able to show her burn scars in the show.

Teyona is not nervous at all as she says 'she's good at what she does'.

Miss Jay opens the show. The girls follow and Isabella is worried as there are strobe lights in the show and that could affect her epilepsy. 

Commercial

Isabella goes out on to the runway and walks down, trying to to worry about the lights - she does a good job.

Some girls are better than others at their walks and you can tell some are just so nervous. No one falls over though, so I suppose that's good. Sandra only went down the runway halfway, but no one is sure why.

Celia is still going on about how fashion is her life, which we are all well aware of by now. They return home to the house and talk about how well they think they did. Tahlia is upset and starts to cry because of her burn scars but Aminat tries to make her feel better about it. The girls stay up talking and Sandra is really angry about it and tells them to go to the living room. The girls relocate to the living room to talk about Sandra behind her back; Isabella hopes that she tones down her attitude. Sandra says she will 'knock the girls down one by one' with a big smile on her face.

Tyra Mail!!

The girls head to Central Park and along comes Jay on a bike in this hideous outfit. He tells them that this photo shoot will be them playing beloved childhood games. They all have to be good girls today. Fadil Berisha is their photographer.

There are some other models who are playing the 'bad girls'.

Fo skips rope

London plays tug of war

Tahlia plays tag - but she looks awkward. Jay says she looks insecure.

Commercial

Natalie plays leap frog

Sandra plays hide and seek

Kortnie plays with the monkey bars

Aminat gets pushed around (not sure what is going on here)

Nijah plays musical chairs

Allison is playing double dutch

Teyona plays hopscotch

Celia is playing hula hoop

Isabella is playing dodge ball and is still talking about how she is from a small town. (sigh)

Jessica is playing Jacks

First photo shoot is a wrap!

The girls return back to the house for Tyra Mail!

London is mad about her performance, while Sandra as usual thinks that she did amazing and she's not going home for sure. Tahlia thinks she is going home, but Celia tries to make her feel better.

Commercial (are they getting more frequent now?)

The girls arrive for their first panel.

The prizes are a contract with Elite Model Management, a six page spread in Seventeen Magazine and a $100,000 contract with Cover Girl Cosmetics.

Judging begins:

Sandra is first - her runway walk was ok, but she didn't go down the runway enough. Sandra's picture is not that good and Paulina says she looks very lost. Nigel says she looks too nervous.

Celia is next - her photo is good, Tyra likes it.

Fo's photo is 'cute' says Nigel and Tyra says she doesn't look like a model.

Aminat's photo is ok (oh she's playing London Bridge) but her face in the photo is too stiff.

London is portraying tug of war and the judges love her photo - she has true freedom.

Jessica's photo is good, good angles, but it doesn't suit the game of Jacks at all.

Teyona's photo makes her look like she has a small head.

Isabella's photo looks more like dance and her hand is in front of her face too much.

Nijah has the best hair and face shot says Tyra.

Kortnie's photo looks too much like a parade shot.

Allison's photo gorgeous says Tyra but the extras in the background look bored.

Tahlia looks like she is running out of her photo frame.

Natalie's photo is good, but Paulina doesn't like it.

Now the judges will decide who will go home.

Commercial

The judges talk about who should stay and who should go home. They don't seem to like Jessica much. Paulina seems sceptical about many of the contestants, as does Nigel. The judges have reached a decision though.

Tyra is standing in front of the girls with only 12 photos in her hand. These photos represent the girls that will go on in the running to be America's Next Top Model. The girls are called.

1. Allison

2. Fo

3. Teyona

4. London

5. Celia

6. Nijha

7. Kortnie

8. Natalie

9. Aminat

10. Tahlia

11. Jessica

It's down to Sandra and Isabella. Sandra is shocked. Tyra only has one photo in her hands. She says Isabella is beautiful but it doesn't come across in her photos. Sandra was the biggest disappointment on the runway and her photo was disappointing.

However, Sandra gets to stay.

Isabella is sad, but Tyra tells her to practice at home. She leaves with dignity and says that she will keep trying and move on and get her career going.

Next week the drama continues - come back here for a full review of what happens!