After the elimination of Cindy in last week’s episode, the remaining five (in actual fact, four) contestants were not shy to voice their dissent towards Xiao Qing, who has not yet been revealed to be an undercover judge. However, she was able to carefully respond to the girls’ strong objections and was relieved to hear they are standing up for their friend, whom they have spent 11 weeks together.
“This is the reaction I expected from them. Imagine if they didn’t feel a thing about their friend. How cold hearted they would be,” says Xiao Qing on how she expects the girls to feel outraged.
With Xiao Qing still in the game though, the girls are feeling competitive more than ever, but charging forward head-on is not going to be easy as they are tasked to do another catwalk challenge. This time, it is not like any of the catwalks they’ve done before – try strutting vertically down the side of the 6-storey Subaru showroom building instead. Given that Cindy Bishop herself went ahead to give the girls a demonstration, there is no room for excuses for the girls to not do well in the challenge.
Xiao Qing was the first to go and despite being scared of heights, she remained calm and did not show any signs of being scared. In fact, she made it look easy. Winning the previous catwalk at Sunway City in Kuala Lumpur last week, Xiao Qing managed to pull off some poses and once again, completed her catwalk effortlessly.
While she was going about the challenge with ease, Shikin, on the other hand, was harbouring ill thoughts, hoping that Xiao Qing would fumble. Well gurl, what goes around comes around, because karma is coming for ya. Right at the beginning, Shikin was unsteady and couldn’t find her balance, causing her to fall on her knees. However, she remained focused and got the hang of walking vertically, striking a confident pose and completing the remainder of her catwalk easily.
Maureen listened to instructions well and successfully cleared the challenge as well, but it was Clara who was the first to forgo the challenge. Her fear of heights saw her trying to lean forward in a failed attempt and she gave up pretty easily. Seeing Clara in tears right before her walk, it instilled some fear in Tu. But she managed to push her fears aside and actually found it exhilarating, even nailing her pose.
Glenn Tan, the executive director of Tan Chong International, personally went up the building to give some encouragement to Clara (gurl, nobody is going to be as nice as Glenn in the real world), she regained her composure and decided to give it another shot, to prove to the judges she deserves to be in the grand finale. Although her catwalk was not fantastic and her pose, lacklustre, we’ll give it to her for not giving up in the end.
It’s pretty obvious that Clara was going to be at the bottom for this challenge. But hey, better than getting a big fat zero in the face right? Meanwhile, it was a close fight among the stronger contenders, especially between Xiao Qing, Shikin and Tu, but it was Shikin who emerged as the winner of the challenge. As a reward, she received a huge opportunity to become the next Subaru ambassador.
For the photoshoot segment, the models had to get their creative juices flowing. Revolving around the theme, “road trip”, the girls were responsible for conceiving the concept, character and story for their client, Subaru. This is where they get to practice their communication skills as they are required to pitch their stories to Glenn before stepping on set. To assist the models in the shoot, props were provided, and what’s a road trip without a car? The all-new Subaru Impreza was the co-star of the shoot and the models had to make sure they don’t treat the car as just another prop. It required the models to be quick on their feet yet still be on point for the client’s brief.
Both Xiao Qing and Tu went for a typical storyline in which they both play a successful businesswoman taking some time off to go on a road trip. Given that it was the final shoot before the grand finale, it wasn’t very impressive.
Scoring the lowest for the first challenge, Clara really had to step up her game. However, her story pitch was mediocre and she was all over the place during the shoot, causing the judges to be puzzled with her choice of props.
Shikin, on the other hand, brought a different concept to the floor and fully understood what the client was looking for. Her story pitch focused on the presence of the Subaru Impreza and herself, choosing to use only two props in the shoot. While Cindy was concerned that she was not making full use of the variety of props available, Glenn seemed really pleased with her story pitch.
Maureen was another contestant who went for a different approach. She chose to tug on the heartstrings of the judges by bringing in her own personal story. Having lost her mother at a young age of eleven, the Subaru Impreza was her companion that helped her break free from the darkness she was in.
While the concept of the shoot is important, the girls must be able to execute their plan by making sure they can translate their idea into the photoshoot.
Shikin’s shoot went smoothly without any hiccups whereas Clara’s plan did not seem to work, with Cindy becoming frustrated at Clara’s work ethics. Despite being confident of her pose, she did not give a variety of poses and instead, just stuck to the same one. Her performance did not seem like she gave it her all and with her poor challenge score, it’s definitely not going to be enough to save her ass from elimination.
Next up was Tu. Initially, she outshined the Subaru Impreza and was going back to her usual sexy poses, but she was able to take in the judges’ words and quickly offered a different style that honestly we’ve not yet seen before. And that’s a good thing alright. Her shoot seemed to end on a good note.
Despite having some modelling experience in the past, Xiao Qing’s modelling skills were rusty, which resulted in an average performance. Lastly, it was Maureen’s turn. For a story pitch that had so much potential for her to shine this week once again, she failed to deliver her best performance and she knows it.
At long last, the big reveal. Xiao Qing was finally revealed to be an undercover judge, so she went on ahead to provide insight on how the girls were really like. While some girls had sensed something was off right from the start, and others surprised, at least the girls now know that they are fighting in a fair competition and are back to being Top 4.
Shikin was clearly the star model, being the winner of the challenge and receiving praise from the judges for fulfilling the client’s brief. Clara was once again being told off by the judges to be more disciplined and focused during shoots and to show some respect to the team on set. Xiao Qing also added that she has to control her mood and not let it get to her.
While Yu Tsai was very pleased with Tu’s shoot, even offering to bow down to the photo, it is ultimately up to the client’s decision and Glenn did not seem to feel her photo was portraying the correct expressions of a confident businesswoman.
This week, Shikin finally outdid herself and made Malaysia proud by being the contestant with the best performance of the week, earned the title of being Subaru’s next ambassador, and of course, secured a place for herself in the grand finale. She has been trying hard the past few weeks and her hard work finally paid off. Definitely a well-deserved win.
Tu was called up next, which came as no surprise since she came in second for the challenge and did fairly well for the shoot, receiving high praise from the hard-to-please Yu Tsai.
So it’s down to Maureen and Clara, and we think it’s pretty obvious who stays and who goes. Sure enough, it was Clara who got eliminated by a surprisingly small margin of 0.3 points. Nonetheless, both girls accepted the result with smiles on their faces, and just like that, three models are left in the running to be Asia’s Next Top Model.
With the final three contestants left, there is really no chance of screwing up. Will the girls fall under pressure or rise above it all? Stay tuned for the exciting grand finale coming next week. The end is near.
Check out the full photoshoot below:
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
You must be logged in to post a comment.