Monique Weingart became the seventh girl eliminated from America's Next Top Model's sixteenth season during Wednesday night's broadcast on The CW.
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"I'm just really shocked right now, like I didn't really see it coming. I've been feeling myself skating along in the middle and it's really been pissing me off. I've been really trying to fully go after it, but I don't know. There's something inside me that's just holding back a little bit. I don't know exactly what that was, but I don't want to go home yet. It really sucks," Monique lamented following her ouster.
Monique was eliminated from the sixth episode of America's Next Top Model's sixteenth season after Top Model's judges reviewed the photos the season's eight remaining finalists had taken at their fifth photo shoot challenge, which required them to pose artistically for a black and white photo in two groups of four while being covered from the neck down in mud.
Monique, a 19-year-old student and waitress from Hebron, IL who currently resides in Pell Lake, IL, ended up in the bottom two alongside Mikaela, a 21-year-old student from Boca Raton, FL.
Both girls had failed to impress Top Model photo shoot director Jay Manuel and fashion photographer Jonathan Mannion during the shoot, which featured the girls squaring off in two groups -- blondes versus brunettes -- and posing intertwined amongst each other in their bathing suits indoors while attempting to shine individually.
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The blondes consisted of Kasia, Hannah, Molly, and Alexandria, while the brunettes were comprised of Mikaela, Monique, Brittani, and Jaclyn.
"Chin up, Monique. Chin up a bit more. You see what I'm trying to find from you, Monique? It's the stretch, and then bring it back in," Jay told her.
"Monique would find a moment where she stretched and it was breathtaking, but then you'd see this little switch go off -- click -- that turns her from model to pretty woman," he added afterwards.
After Jay directed Monique and discussed her inconsistent performance, he then addressed his concerns with Mikaela, and she happened to have similar problems with her modeling.
"Mikaela, losing it a bit in your eyes. Find a weight to make it present again," Jay told her.
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"Mikaela was hit and miss for me today, and what was registering in her eyes, it was pretty lack luster," he said following the shoot.
The next day the girls arrived for the sixteenth season's fifth elimination panel -- where they were met by Top Model judges Tyra Banks, Nigel Barker and Andre Leon Talley as well as model and guest judge Sonia Darta.
The judges criticized both girls' photos during their panel critiques.
"Monique, I love the hair coming down, the gentle soft look in your eyes. I think that even if you had just collapsed even more in your body, your body and face would have gone together. You got the look in the face, but the body has to follow," Nigel told her.
"I agree with Nigel that you could have slouched into a little bit more, but your neck looks fantastic," Sonia said.
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"I think you looked relaxed here, but I'd like to see you pierce through just a little more, because right now, I do feel like a couple of the other girls are really doing a connection and I feel like you're kind of surfing in the middle -- not boring, but not fire either," Tyra added.
Mikaela's portion of the photo was then viewed.
"Weakest link for me is Mikaela. You've got this bone structure, these eyebrows, but I don't feel any great drama coming up from inside of you," Andre told her.
"You definitely have very strong features and very strong bone structure, but I don't see it in the eyes," Sonia said.
"You put your energy in your mouth instead of [in your eyes]. But, you did a lot of fantastic eyes in your film, but what happens when you don't do it all the time, if you get a shot when you're not doing it because the other girls look good, so we have to find something where everybody looks good. That's a lesson," Tyra added.
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Earlier in the episode, the girls also met with runway coach Miss J. Alexander and competed in a public appearance and autograph signing challenge. They were tested on how well they could carry themselves and communicate with their fans, and the winner received a personalized dinner with Miss J. at an upscale restaurant.
The challenge followed a lesson Tyra gave the girls regarding how they should handle fame and the importance of maintaining a thick skin. Kasia, a 26-year-old college graduate from Wheaton, IL who currently resides in New York, NY, won the task and was given the opportunity to choose two girls to attend her dinner with her and Miss J. She selected Jaclyn and Brittani.
After the panel deliberated following the models' photo critiques, Tyra revealed the girls in order of the best photo to the worst of the week. Brittani, a 19-year-old student from Beech Creek, PA who currently resides in Howard, PA, received the first call-out.
Following Brittani, Tyra then revealed Kasia, Molly, Jaclyn, Hannah and Alexandria had also advanced to the competition's next round -- leaving Mikaela and Monique in the bottom two.
Tyra then recapped both girls' issues before revealing which one would get to remain in the competition.
"Mikaela, same note over and over again. Dead eyes. You don't hold on to what I call 'the handle bars of fierceness.' You hold on, you let go, you hold on, you let go, and it comes back to bite you in a group shot," Tyra explained.
"Monique, the judges see from week to week that there's somebody who's not the best and somebody that's not the worst. Somebody whose personality they kind of feel but they don't really know Monique. Somebody that sails in the middle," Tyra told her.
Tyra then revealed Mikaela's photo, resulting in Monique's elimination.
"I loved every minute of you being in this competition, because [your body] reminds me of me back in the day. I represented that. You have that body and you have a stunning, stunning face, and it's up to you to not sail in the middle though. You have to stand out," Tyra suggested to Monique.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski