Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

Jealousy reared its ugly head at the beginning of Week 8 of Caribbean’s Next Top Model, with the girls complaining about Kittisha’s winning the top photo the previous week.

Nicoya said her poses were too safe and a bit simple, while Ayana said it was unfair that Kittisha won, considering she couldn’t do the more difficult poses the others were required to do.
Kittisha was hurt by the criticism, especially since she congratulated the others when they got best photo in previous weeks. “I followed directions and it’s not my decision, it’s the judges. I think they think I’m a favorite, but how is that my fault?”
The Wendy Mail for the challenge read “Learn to walk before you strut.” The girls went to Queen’s Park in Bridgetown, to meet Jeffery “Ife” Wilkinson who introduced them to the artform of stiltwalking. The challenge was for the girls to walk down a path and back on beginners’ stilts, and the degree of control of the stilts determined their placing. Linda won and said it would make her family and the people of Puerto Rico proud, because stilt-walking was part of their culture and future. Her prize was a costume in Zulu Royale’s VIP section for next Cropover, along with the chance of having her best friend play with her.
Ife said “You all have shown extreme control and confidence and this is one of the steps that you can use in your confidence measures and also on stage when you’re walking down that stretch to present yourself to the audience.”
The Wendy Mail for the photoshoot read “Plumes and Dunes hot stepping in between…” and had the girls thoroughly confused. This week’s shoot was all about Carnival, with the girls being directed to portray the sexiness and panache of the festival on the beach in costumes by Zulu International. Photographer Pedro Virgil said the five remaining girls would be rotated in groups of three with the girl in the middle being tasked to outshine the two in the background.
During panel, host Wendy Fitzwilliam, Young and Virgil had very few negative critiques for the girls.
Linda won best photo and was excited to be picked as the first of the final four finalists. Nicoya was second and Kittisha third. Ayana and Sydney were in the bottom two, and Fitzwilliam said their growth over the course of the competition had been inconsistent, and they had both struggled to work as part of a team. In the end, Sydney went home. Fitzwilliam told the remaining four models that “the competition will get harder from here on out. Continue to enjoy this journey and to take our instructions to heart and once you do and enjoy the experience it’s going to be well worth your while.”
Next week will be especially tense, with the challenge requiring the girls not to rely on their beauty and the added pressure of a DOUBLE elimination. Let’s see who continues on in the hope of becoming Caribbean’s Next Top Model.