AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL CYCLE 6
GINA ELIMINATED FROM UPN'S "AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL"

Gina, a translator from Tampa, Fla., became the fourth girl eliminated from the sixth cycle of UPN's hit series AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, reducing the pool from 10 girls to 9.

Janice Dickinson surprised the girls for a lesson in posing that explained the difference between commercial and editorial looks. With help from Cycle 5 participant Lisa D'Amato, Dickinson exhibited different poses that could be used. Gina asked Janice for advice on how to take a convincing photo. This inspired Janice to further Gina's lesson and asked her to jump up and down on one foot and laugh aloud to help attain the feel of realistic emotion. "Gina doesn't know how to laugh at herself," Janice said.

That night at dinner, tempers flared when Janice tempted Gina to admit who was giving her a hard time in the house. After gentle coaxing from Janice, Gina finally pointed the finger at Jade.

The next day, the girls were greeted by renowned male model Lawrence Zarian at Light Space Studios where they were challenged to use the skills that they had learned the previous day in a commercial shoot for Sears. Gina's insecurity was obvious during the shoot, as she seemed nervous posing in front of Jade who she knew would have criticism of her photos. In the end, Nnenna won the challenge and was awarded all of the outfits that the girls wore during the shoot.

The following morning, the girls met Tyra backstage at her talk show to share what their future career goals would be after modeling. The career paths that each chose became the theme of their next photo shoot. The girls were challenged to use the editorial poses that they had learned from Janice. Gina struggled to capture the editorial look, for her goal of becoming a fashion designer, prompting Jay to stop the shoot. "You look incredible, but he is stealing the shot," Jay explained to Gina in reference to her male accessory. "If I had to publish this picture, I would crop you right out."

During the week's elimination ceremony, the judges challenged the girls to show three different commercial poses using the clothes they were wearing and then asked them to pose in edgy editorial poses using a firefighter's uniform. As with the previous two challenges, Gina struggled to make a good impression and when asked by Tyra how she felt she did in her photo shoot, she replied, "I don't think I did that hot." She was soon after eliminated from the competition.

The winner of UPN's AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL will have the opportunity to be managed by Ford Models. She also receives a $100,000 contract with cosmetics giant CoverGirl. Finally, the winner appears in a fashion spread in Elle magazine.

The sixth installment of UPN's hit dramality series AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL follows 13 young women as they attempt to prove they have what it takes to make it in the high-stress, high-stakes world of modeling. Banks, who created the show, also serves as executive producer along with Ken Mok ("Making the Band") and Anthony Dominici ("The Amazing Race").

AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL airs Wednesdays, (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on UPN. For more information about AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, log on to www.upn.com.

The Interview

Although Gina may have appeared to be the timid girl on America's Next Top Model, we found her to be quite upbeat, cheerful and talkative when we spoke with her about auditioning, her future, and Jade.....

Auditioning....
"My mom used to work in downtown Tampa and customers would always say 'you should model'. A woman came in and said they were casting at the Hard Rock Casino and I should go. My mom said 'you have nothing to lose', so I went."

Although Gina beat thousands of other girls during the auditioning process, she didn't really have much experience. "I did a few local photo shoots. Nothing extraordinary."

Watching...

"I didn't want to watch the first two episodes. I was embarrassed. I say the dumbest things ever!! And I do the darndest things. I watched the second episode alone in my room and turned it off. The third and fourth I watched with friends and family."

...and learning...

"I didn't realize how uncertain I could be. I can act different than what you saw. I was surprised how easy it was to lose myself and be uncertain."

Jade...

After all of the strife Jade had put Gina through, we wanted to know if the two of them had spoken since Gina left the house.

"I haven't, unfortunately. I would like to.. not in a bad way. I want to see how she's doing. I hope we can move on."

Friends in the house...

"I'm really close with Nnenna. She was my roommate and when we were alone we would have these intimate conversations about family and our boyfriends.

Elimination

After finding out Kari had been eliminated before her, Gina was shocked...

"Of course I was. I was prepared to go. But I was relieved that I was staying. They gave me another chance and I thought 'Great. I'll try my best." I tried to keep myself humble. I wasn't going to go around like 'Yeah - I rock!!'"

What's next for Gina...

"Now if an opportunity to model comes up, I want to continue to pursue it. I'm also going to school for fashion design."

Message to her fans...

"I want to say thanks for their support and for rooting for me. I also want to apologize if I offended anyone with the things I said. I really want to say I'm sorry."

~March 30 , 2006

Read about America's Next Top Model Cycle 6
Read about America's Next Top Model Cycle 5
Read about America's Next Top Model Cycle 4
Read about America's Next Top Model Season 3
Read about America's Next Top Model Season 2
Read about America's Next Top Model Season 1

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