We’re back to give you a recap on episode 3 of Asia’s Next Top Model, so settle in and get comfortable — after all, that’s what happens during this point of the show right, you recognise familiar faces, grow attached to some of the girls, actually mind when they’re eliminated. Last week saw Heidi leaving the show… That was alright. The emotional stakes get higher each week though, so we’ll see!
Gotta say, this season’s pretty dramatic already, we get loud personalities who wouldn’t hesitate to stare daggers in front of the other girls or talk behind their backs — or at least, the camera crew’s all ready to capture these moments, so props to them. Or maybe we got used to the naturalistic pace of Terrace House, a Japanese show on Netflix we’ve been binge-watching, so being thrown into fast-paced, high-stakes reality television feels way more exhilarating. Plus, the judges don’t disappoint too, especially with Yu Tsai’s scathing criticism last week. Hey, it makes for good tv!
You know what else makes good entertainment? Tears. Lots and lots of it, and we’re almost ashamed to say that that’s the whole reason why we love the makeover episode. Okay nah, not that ashamed, since it’s actually the one episode that guarantees somebody weeping hysterically while looking at their reflection in the mirror. Let’s get right to it, shall we? Spoiler alert, of course.
Speaking of Yu Tsai, who we’ll actually be talking a lot about this week, he’s here to announce… Makeover day! “I don’t care… shave all my hair off, it’s fine,” boldly claims Nametha before the challenge, and we find ourselves totally embracing how chill this girl is. But, of course, there’s a twist! Duh. Dorothy, who came up top last week is now given the power to decide on the other model’s new looks — two looks are presented, a subtle one and a dramatic one, and she gets to select whatever suits her fancy, either bless a friend with a fresh makeover, or dispense disaster and really screw someone up big time. Cue evil laughter.
No seriously, we weren’t making the evil laughter bit up.
As you can see, she’s definitely gleeful about it. For the first girl, Shikin, she chose a boyish crop. Hmm, good choice, we can see the Malaysian model rock some edgy shots with that look. Nametha’s “dramatic” style involves ash-blonde colouring, which she would have clearly gone for anyway, judging by her fist pump. What, no shaved head?
And, oh yes, but oh no — tears, before we’ve even on the salon seat, this time from Clara who’s getting the “subtle” look that’s supposedly a boyish, layered cut. Not a pixie cut, mind you, just a choppy, shoulder-length style. We’re confused. Why is this a big deal, again?
Back to Dorothy though. Plenty of her choices lean towards “dramatic”, and we can see why. We prefer the dramatic looks too, and most of them are more imaginative, with asymmetrical bobs, fringe, layering, stylish cuts, and advanced colouring techniques — heck, we even want Layla’s “coloured ombre extensions” at this point. It looks fun! We want makeovers too! Other than Clara, plenty of the girls seem pretty cool about their new looks… for now.
Okay, off to the Jean Yip hair salon it is then, in, ahem, their Subaru cars. Right off the bat, we get our first teary breakdown. Oh dear. Clara’s at it again, and we find ourselves thinking exactly what the girls say in their backstage reactions, about how she’s overly dramatic and all that. Maybe they should cast us for this show too? Oh wait, modelling, right. Anyway, Clara’s worried that she’ll be single and that “my boyfriend will break up with me”, because all relationships are based on the length of your hair right — sorry, no sympathy there. It’s a major eye roll moment.
As if to make it worse, we get Shikin, Alicia and Jennica superbly happy about their sassy new styles. They’re all glowing and happy, with big smiles all over the place and… Oh we’re back to Clara, are we? Whoa, hold up, Jean Yip herself makes an appearance to talk some sense into the girl too, though really, Clara’s having none of it at this point. There are more tears and more of her tragically looking into the mirror holding her terrible, terrible disaster of a haircut. You know the producers are totally milking this moment, but hey, we’re not complaining.
Also, Cindy’s here! Things are about to get serious, you see. “Some girls are getting way more dramatic makeovers than you, you are not being professional,” she says rather curtly. She also adds that she’s not gonna baby her anymore. Preach it! Okay see, everyone’s nervous too but they’re taking it well, tsk. In fact, most of them are embracing the new looks.
And no wonder, they look great! Now if only we can nail this shot with our girl friends the next time we’re out from the salon… And that’s it, no more crying. Eh, looks like our girls could be tougher, or way less dramatic, than their American counterparts. They get back to the model house to find a photobooth waiting for them, so naturally, they’re working the camera and its Good Lighting like the world’s most happening party in the world is going on, even though nothing’s really happening at all. Just a photobooth.
Still, it’s a chance to see how the girls really feel about their new looks. The short cuts look amazing. Layla’s the most lively we’ve seen, ever. The girls with bangs were generally skeptical at the salon, but their hair turned out pretty well after all. Dorothy’s 70s shaggy cut’s totally on trend. “I think I can look more fierce now – finally!” says the ever-adorable Cindy. Mm, Nametha’s hair could look less brassy though. Still, every one of them hammed it up in front of the camera, even Clara, so it looks like our dear girl has moved on, just in time for… Cindy Mail! Something about open fields and skies, and the speculation leads to skydiving. That’s pretty far-fetched here in Singapore, but hey, you never know.
Okay, next scene and phew, no skydiving. Instead, we literally get open fields at some ulu part of Singapore, so just an outdoor shoot, eh! Easy. “Models, models, models,” chants creative director Yu Tsai, and like an orientation camp cheer, the models holler back with “Yu Tsai, Yu Tsai, Yu Tsai.” Hmm. That will take some getting used to. Anyway, today’s photoshoot theme? Denim. It’s the most versatile material in fashion, so you can make it cool, grungy, sexy, demure, crazy, anything you want actually, which means the girls’ personalities have to shine through a lot more.
As if that’s not scary enough, it’s also their first shoot with Yu Tsai around, and a few of the girls are intimidated and afraid of disappointing him — no kidding, we would be too. Malaysian supermodel Ling Tan and photographer Shavonne Wong are also there to guide the girls, so that’s a relief.
We find that he does give some constructive criticism actually, in his own way. Shikin looks hot, and somehow her blonde crop brings out her strong features, especially when she turns her head to the side. The styling’s cool and casual, and she manages to bring an edgy vibe and severe confidence, despite how she’s modelling on a ridiculously large chair. Alicia gets some tips from Yu Tsai, and by that, we mean he gets in front of the camera and starts posing for her sake, but she does get better after that. And oh, it’s Clara! Damn, she’s working her hair and she manages to look soft, feminine and sexy, so it looks like she’s moved on, but Yu Tsai, to our surprise, was meh about her performance.
Cindy looks particularly fierce this week — she usually looks sweet and baby-faced, which match her sweet personality too, but she brings some spunk to this shoot. She makes sprawling on chairs look effortless when we know she’s absolutely getting a headache after cocking her head back at certain angles. Then, there’s Maureen. “I don’t think sexy’s your thing, sweetheart,” says Yu Tsai and asks her to go tomboy. He’s pretty stressful actually with his live commenting, which tends to escalate to a nonchalant “don’t waste my time”, though we suppose these instructions at least help the models get in the mood. “Cool girls don’t pose,” he scoffs.
Valerie’s getting all hoochy — points for the Tyra Banks reference — though this vampiness is later toned down. Tu looks fierce as well, with a bit of the broken doll look going on as she leans on the edge of the chair, and she looks immediately sexy two shots in, the kind you don’t try hard to do, much to the envy of some other girls. Where is this coming from?! Right after the shoot though, she falls to the floor and faints again, probably due to our crazy-hot weather. We’re seriously worried about her health.
Then, it’s Dorothy’s turn and she’s out to have Yu Tsai take back last week’s cheesy comment, and man, she did impressive, with plenty of good feedback from him, as she lies back on the seat and looks completely at ease. Jennica’s having a problem with her head turban, which leads to strange poses, like she’s on her first day of modelling school. Case of the blues, maybe? As for Nametha, she had some trouble with improvising at first, but she literally got down to the ground and gave some good angles while casually reclining on the chair. Layla though looks worried, which is worrying us, because she tends to shut down and internalise all this defeat — she does have a high-fashion face and physique though, so after a few baby tears, with the littlest of gestures and a change in mindset, she pulls through this challenge easily.
Welcome to the judging panel, which is ten times more matchy-matchy than the American version. Everyone’s in denim, denim, denim (this is why we should stop trying to make fetch a thing). Clara goes up first and gets reminded of her drama queen crying — or rather, they tell her to kindly grow up a little, in nicer words. “Look at Shikin, look at Nametha!” says judge Cindy, pointing out the girls who had to take on far more out-there hairstyles. Right on cue, Nametha shoots over a hilarious ‘yup!’ face followed by a playful sneer — seriously, her comedic facial expressions warrant her a free pass every week. Tu wasn’t happy about her photo, but the judges were proud about her transformation, and praised her for taking the challenge head-on. Alicia looks badass. Pretty-faced, gorgeous Maureen looks good but admitted that it was a hard time getting that shot, so maybe she lucked out this time.
Then, we see Dorothy selling everything she’s got, H to T, including the clothes, and yet despite her channeling her best cool girl attitude and good comments from Ling and Cindy, Yu Tsai’s back to play the devil’s advocate. Again. He isn’t satisfied, says she’s boring and thinks she can do better than this, just like an Asian parent who will never be happy about an A-. Cindy does well again, with good comments all around thanks to her totally embracing her transformation and channeling her inner it-girl. Definitely the girl to watch! Jennica and her awkward turban got mixed comments.
Nametha comes on and gets Yu Tsai raving — so she didn’t start off well, but that’s a good thing apparently. “I actually enjoy watching people struggle sometimes. Somehow in this awkwardness, almost defeat, you gave me what I call ugly beautiful.” We’ll take that! Meanwhile, Layla visibly struggles when asked if she’s here to be the winner, to which she says… no. NO? Isn’t that an insult to the other hardworking girls?! Oh, she said she’s gonna try, alright, we’ll give her a chance. The judges like her photo and her mile-long legs, and obviously, she has the most editorial look among the girls, so that’s a plus. Soon enough, we get to “the judges will deliberate” line. Quick question, why do we hear none of this earth-shattering, top-secret deliberating? Oh, too late, because this week’s winner is…
Cindy! Despite how she’s lying upside down in her picture, she’s top girl this week, which was certainly expected and well-deserved too! Tu’s up next. After a series of names, we’re finally down to the last two: Maureen and Jennica. Maureen seems to be struggling with direction, still, at this point, says judge Cindy, but Jennica didn’t do justice to her outfit, and just didn’t have enough skill or confidence to make the turban work in her favour. After a dreaded countdown, we find out that it’s Jennica who’ll be leaving us this week. Still, she’s ready with some strong parting words, reassuring Cindy, us, and herself that she’ll continue to work hard even after this competition. Good on her.
But, ah well, what do you think? Did any of the girls inspire you to rock denim on denim on denim, a la Brit and JT circa 2001? You can check out their post-makeover looks and poses right here.
Asia’s Next Top Model Cycle 5 airs every Wednesday at 9pm, only on Star World (Starhub TV Ch 501/Singtel TV Ch 301). asntm.com
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