Latricia, a single mom from Inglewood who wants to improve the life of her kids, had been complaining about Yvette, who she thought wasn't taking herself seriously, and was trying to be a slut more than a socialite. In most cases, I would say that Latricia, who is probably at least three bills, is jealous of Yvette, who is younger and thinner, and only complains because she couldn't fit into the same outfits, but this is not the case. Yvette is a dancer in Vegas, which either means she is a show girl or works for tips at Crazy Horse. I would say the former because even though strip clubs are dark, her face is not worth looking at if you are any closer than 50 feet. And Kathy did have a few words about how skankish Yvette looked, but when your daughter is on DVD is doing it doggy style and taking a pop shot right in the face, just how much complaining can you do about a revealing skirt? Yvette also didn't like Latricia, who she thought was too bossy and would be a hindrance to a team that needed to rely on working together.

Kathy asked if anybody else had any final words to say, which let Latricia get in a quick "I'm doing this all for my kids" plea, which probably only pissed off her teammates a little more. It also gave us a chance to see Ann in action. Ann is a former Miss Tampa, and said that she was going to treat the competition like a pageant, meaning should would do anything to win. I though to myself "Hmm, she's going to give Kathy Hilton a blowjob to advance?" but soon learned it just meant doing crazy shit to get herself noticed. In this case, that crazy shit was breaking out into song like she was in a musical or a, well, pageant, which left Kathy quite unimpressed by the whole thing. I thought she could have been a little harder on them though, because it's OK to make reality contestants cry.

With all of that on her head, Kathy went on to make her list. Those who were on the list would move on and enjoy a dinner that evening with Kathy, and the person left off would, well, leave. The choice came down between Alain and Latricia, and since he wasn't able to make himself noticed in any way, Alain was left off the list. I kind of like how they didn't put too much into the catch phrase, just a simple "I'm sorry, you're not on the list," none of the awkward dual catchphrase strangeness we get with Hilfiger. It might have been nice to sort of have a velvet rope to close off as the contestant left, or perhaps show the loser riding the bus back home to their normal lives, but maybe that's just too much to ask. Latricia was really happy that she made it, and as she entered the dining room and started to cry, some people came over to give her a hug and let her know it was OK. Naturally, these people were from the thoughtful Park team and not her own teammates of self-absorbed Madison.

Overall, I think this show has potential. I do think the cast is good, and it looks like the personalities will lead to plenty of drama later on down the road. The challenge was interesting, although I wish they could find some better personalities to pluck from the NBCUni celebrity bin. Ted Allen is OK, because he is a food expert, but who cares about Billy Bush? And Yugoslavian royalty? Luckily he has diplomatic immunity, because he should have been shot for how worthless he was to the show. As for the worst part of the show, Kathy Hilton, I do have to say that she did get better throughout the episode, and during Elimination Time(!!!) she actually looked comfortable, and in the end, it is those elimination moments that makes a great benefactor-to-be host and separates them from the wannabes.

Next week, Paris and Nicole join everybody for a romp in the Hamptons - panties optional, of course.

What do you think? Does the show have potential? Who is your favorite or least favorite contestant?

Posted by J-Unit on June 26, 2005 7:52 PM