FURONDA ELIMINATED FROM UPN'S "AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL"

Furonda, a student from Stuttgart, Ark., became the ninth girl eliminated from the sixth cycle of UPN's hit series AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, reducing the pool from five girls to four.

To help enhance their grace as models, the girls arrived at Thailand's Patravadi Theatre where they learned the strong and elegant body movements of Thai classical dance. While most of the girls found this lesson challenging, Furonda had the most difficulty and became frustrated by the complicated Thai dance instruction.

Later, the girls were challenged to put their dancing ability to the test in front of a large audience of Thai spectators, as well as a small panel of judges and dance experts. Although the challenge judges agreed that Furonda's performance was entertaining, they felt she didn't capture the essence of the dance and needed to pay more attention to the techniques.

The next day, Jay Manuel greeted the girls for a photo shoot for Venus Vibrance razors where each had to showcase the smoothness of their legs against the rough skin of an elephant. Once again, Furonda's nerves seemed to get the best of her causing her photos to appear rigid and uncomfortable. "Furonda looked beautiful," Jay said after the shoot. "But as soon as Furonda felt that she had to pose, she turned her jaw into it and she got stiff."

During the week's elimination ceremony, the girls were challenged to demonstrate three emotions while wearing a traditional Thai mask, forcing them to use the skills they had learned about body movement. Although the judges had grown to enjoy Furonda's enthusiastic spirit and personality, they felt that her lack of grace and presence was growing too strong. "The judges see a great personality, somebody that's fun and endearing. But someone that doesn't quite get it," Tyra said just before eliminating Furonda from the competition.

The winner of UPN's AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL will have the opportunity to be managed by Ford Models. She will also receive a $100,000 contract with cosmetics giant CoverGirl. The winner will additionally appear 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.