Last week on "America's Next Top Model," the girls did an aerial kung-fu shoot that Bianca refused to participate in. They also shot a Cover Girl commercial. Heather, who is autistic, needed to be fed each of her lines and still didn't do a very good job. Lisa, who is not autistic, also got twisted up and failed. Even though I'd guess there's little potential for Heather to improve her presentation skills, Tyra and Co. send Lisa home.

I caught up with Lisa yesterday for an interview, and here's what she had to say:

MSN: Lisa, sorry to see you got eliminated last week. You were one of my early favorites to win it all.

Lisa: Oh, thank you.

MSN: Why do you think things went south for you?

Lisa: Definitely I was being really hard on myself because I did start off strong and I wanted to maintain that throughout the whole competition. I felt the harder I tried, the harder I fell. I would climb up and fall back down. It made it hard for me to remain consistent. It was my own critique. I would take what Tyra would say and what the judges would say and but then I would be really hard on myself. Overall, I think that's what brought me down.

MSN: Why did you take things so personally?

Lisa: The best way to explain it is you tend to take the reality TV world so seriously because you're blocked off from everything else. You forget that there's a real world. You get caught up in that moment. That was the only thing that mattered to me. That was the only thing I wanted. I'm very competitive. That made it that much more work because I want to win this. I just really wanted to wow the judges every time and as I went on it was harder and harder for me to do that.

MSN: What made you try out for "America's Next Top Model" in the first place?

Lisa: Ever since it came on, I did want to be on it. I wanted to do it, but there were so many things against it, like I wasn't of age then, I wasn't a citizen, just things like that. I'm actually from Connecticut but I moved to Jersey because it was close enough to New York City and I was going to try to be a model. I thought it would be easy. I go. And it's not. Then I found out the show was coming up again, so I thought, "Well, let me give it a shot this time." I went to an open call, and they kept calling me back and I kept going and eventually I was on the show.

MSN: Wait, so you said you aren't a citizen? Where are you a citizen of?

Lisa: I was a Jamaican citizen. Actually, just last November I got my citizenship. Trust me, they put you through a lot for citizenship. ... 

MSN: What was the highlight for you, being on "America's Next Top Model?"

Lisa: For me, it was definitely every time I got the opportunity to do something with Seventeen Magazine...because that was something that would be shown even after the show. But also, going to China, I never thought I'd be going to China. I planned on it in the future, but not so young in my life. To be able to experience that was amazing for me.

MSN: What would you have changed if you could do it again.

Lisa: I definitely would have had more fun with it. I wouldn't have overgeneralized myself so much. And I think if I had done that, been more relaxed and let it flow and be more natural about it, then if they did want to kick me off, I wouldn't have beaten myself up over it. On the show I wouldn't have been so hard on myself. That's about it.

MSN: Lisa, somehow you managed to stay outside of all the drama on the house. How'd you do that?

Lisa: The thing about me, I live my life as a very open-minded person. I really don't like confrontation and I tried to be as fair with the girls. Even in my confessionals I really tried not to bash anybody because I just don't do that. ... The drama was uncalled for because I was there to be a model and I was there to prove myself, to prove to myself that I could model.

MSN: When it came down to it, there was you in the bottom two and there was Heather, which was odd because you two had been two of the strongest throughout the competition and suddenly you find yourself in the bottom two.

Lisa: I know, right?

MSN: What was going through your mind at that point?

Lisa: I actually kind of prepared myself for it. You tend to see a pattern when you're there. The critiques they would give us and things like that. After being in the bottom two last week and being in the bottom two again, I was like, "OK, I get it." There's no way they're sending Heather home so quickly. I tried to take it the best I could. I think I did. I think I did a good job. When I left, it was bittersweet. I really wanted to keep going. I knew I would be so good at the go-sees. And I wanted to experience China more. At the same time, it was good to know I was going home to my fiance who loved me and the friends and family who supported me.  

MSN: What stood out in your time in China?

Lisa: The city [of Shanghai] itself, it's like a futuristic version of New York City, and I love New York City. Going there, seeing the lights, the life that's there, the people seemed so friendly. They'd smile at us and wave. ... People were just so welcoming.

MSN: What was it like getting to know Tyra and the rest of the judges?

Lisa: I probably know, even to this day, as much about Tyra as anyone else does. But my favorite one would be Miss J, actually, because he would come to us and he'd talk to us even when the cameras weren't around. He treated us like humans, and come and talk and he gave us really good advice. He was one of my favorites. I found out I was his favorite, which I didn't know. (laughs).

MSN: I wanted to clear something up, because you had a past as a dancer, and I wasn't quite clear on what type.

Lisa: It was exotic dancing/go-go dancing. I never got nude and I really tried to stress that so they could understand that. It was just to make money. I did what I could to get by, and it got me to the next step.

MSN: Did that make you wonder, "Are they really going to let America's Next Top Model be a former go-go girl?

Lisa: You know, I try not really to think about that and I would hope that they wouldn't be so judgmental. It never really got brought up in panel ever. But then you would wonder because Cover Girl is the one who would sign you and maybe Cover Girl is too conservative to have a dancer. Overall, they're the ones you have to please. But overall, I think I did my best to prove I am a model, and I'm more than my occupation. It's not even my occupation any more. ... I didn't intend for the whole world to find out, but being on the show, I figured it was better to just say it than to lie about because I hate having things to hide. I'm glad I came out and told.

MSN: Are you worried, though, that 20 years down the line or whatever, your kid's going to be able to get "America's Next Top Model" on the Internet or DVD or whatever they'll have then, and be able to find out, "Hey, my mom was an exotic dancer?"

Lisa: Being young, sometimes you don't think. I stop at five years when I think ahead. I have four sisters and I had to explain to them that I did it, and not it wasn't necessarily the right thing to do, but it was something I had to do. I did it so they would never have to do that because any money I ever made went to my family, went to trying to better myself. I felt bad having to stay there, but I'm not perfect.  A lot of people aren't perfect and a lot of people've done worse in their life, people who were drug addicts and things like that. They're going to have to tell their kids they were that. But then I can say, "Well look at me now, though." I made a mistake and I'm not perfect, but I didn't stay in that mistake. I made a better person out of me. 

MSN: So what are you doing besides modeling?

Lisa: I'm exercising, trying to build myself up and getting prepared to go out there. If modeling doesn't work out the way I plan for it to, I plan to go to college and just going about my life that way. I could try acting.

MSN: So which of the girls are you going to be rooting for to become America's Next Top Model?

Lisa: Heather or Jenah, because I feel out of the girls who are left, those two are the strongest when it comes to modeling potential.

MSN: Lisa, anything else you'd like to add?

Lisa: I'm just thankful for the opportunity that was given to me. I feel so blessed. I'm also thankful for my fans I get to meet. It's really flattering when people recognize me and they're like, "Oh, Lisa!" I feel really blessed.

- posted by Raoul