"It's (snap) competition, Bay-buh!"

The TV Land modeling/reality show, She's Got the Look, had given me a freakazoid that I loved to hate, Paula. Striking and beautiful, she's also highly muscled and very tattooed. Oh, and she has virtually no hair. She had a memorable freakout last week, saying that she resented being judged on her appearance. OF COURSE YOU DO, Paula! You entered a modeling competition to show us your intellect. She also lied. She explained away her less than glam portraits by saying she was uncomfortable because she's never been photographed professionally before. Then how do we explain this portrait of "Whip Snap," her alter ego on the Sci-Fi Channel's "Who Wants to Be a Superhero? Sorry, but I don't believe it was snapped with a disposable camera picked up at CVS. And while I could describe her look in this shot as many things, "self conscious" is not one of them.

But this week, my heart went out to her. It was a runway competition and this poor woman could not walk in heels. Could not. She was so awkward, so frightened, so pathetic that I couldn't even bring myself to laugh at her. It was a relief when she was voted off.

So now I'm left with Chicago-girl Celeste as my show villain. More conventionally beautiful than Paula, she's graceful and has decades-ago modeling experience. She's positioning herself as the tough-as-nails, battle-hardened one to beat. When one of the women expressed sadness that her best "show buddy" had been eliminated last week, Celeste pooh-poohed it. "It's (snap) competition, Bay-buh!" And when the women had to reveal something about themselves no one knows, one talked about putting her modeling aspirations on hold for her kids … one talked about a miserable marriage … another was stabbed when she was in junior high … But it was Celeste who really opened up. Yes, she bravely ponied up with, "I play a mean saxophone." I wept.

I'm still pulling for Hope. She's real, she's funny, and she's short (like me). Best of all, I admire how willingly she throws herself into each challenge and changes her look. She's loves fashion and she's going for her dream, and it's fun to watch her.