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

Nicole, a former punk rocker from Minot, ND, has been eliminated from the third cycle of UPN's dramality series AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, reducing the pool of girls competing for the grand prize from six to five.

After receiving Tyra mail, all six girls discovered they were going to spend the day at a studio with acting teacher Sande Shurin. When they arrived at the studio, the girls participated in an acting exercise and were taught to reach into their innermost thoughts to see with their mind's eye. When Sande asked Nicole what she was seeing, Nicole replied that she saw nothing. Later, Nicole confessed, "The first thing I saw was not appropriate, so I had to just say I didn't see anything."

Later that day, the girls were blown away by their next test, a chance to act opposite Taye Diggs, star of the UPN drama KEVIN HILL. After evaluating each girl's performance, Taye and Sande realized they had completely skipped over Nicole. After backtracking to provide Nicole with her constructive criticism, Yaya was announced as the winner of this challenge. Tyra then joined Taye on stage to reveal that the girls would all be embarking on a trip to Tokyo.

After arriving in Tokyo and settling into their not so spacious living quarters, the girls met with Jay Manuel and director Zente Yoshie for their next challenge, a commercial for Campbell's Select soup. Not only did the girls have to utilize their acting skills after a long trip abroad, but they also had to act with a Japanese script. "I'm definitely more nervous today than I've ever been�period," Nicole commented about the challenge.

During the next evening's elimination ceremony, the girls were asked to act out another commercial for a Japanese food product. The panel of judges then critiqued their performances along with the best take from their Campbell's Select Soup commercial. For the second time during the week, Nicole was overlooked. After providing Nicole with feedback from the commercials, the judges felt that although she is a beautiful woman, Nicole's lack of personality and presence ultimately ended her chances of becoming AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL. "Nicole is blah when it comes to really connecting to a very broad audience," Tyra noted to the judges.

This season, Tyra Banks once again leads the panel that will narrow the field of girls each week as they take them into a high-pressure, high-stakes series of competitions that will determine the series winner. The world's first supermodel Janice Dickinson, renowned photographer Nigel Barker and Nol� Marin, an acclaimed fashion editor and stylist, also serve as judges. This week, the judging panel welcomed respected director Zente Yoshie.

The third installment of UPN's hit dramality series AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL follows 14 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"). Anthony Dominici ("The Amazing Race") serves as co-executive producer.

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 Cover Girl. Finally, the winner will appear in a fashion spread in Elle magazine.

AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL airs Wednesday (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on UPN. For more information about AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, log on to www.upn.com.