First, I have to say that the finale of Apprentice 2 had to be the most dragged out episode of a reality show I’ve ever seen. It made the extra 30 minutes tacked on to the end of every episode of The Biggest Loser look like a commercial break. Thank God I have a DVR and watched the thing time delayed so I could skip over much of the junk, like Trump asking regular members of the audience (as opposed to professional acquaintences) for their opinion on who should win.

Ok, so I didn’t pick the actual winner way back before the season started, but I did select Kelly as one of the top two finalists way back in August. Once my other selection for top two got booted on the very first episode I’ve never wavered from my remaining prediction. I must admit that Jennifer M. was on my short list of folks to go first, but after skating through the first half of the season she toughed it out to second place.

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I couldn’t believe what I saw last night on The Apprentice. Bradford was on the losing team, but he received immunity from The Donald ™. (Is this show looking more like Survivor or what?) He was so confident in his performance that he gave up his immunity and made himself vulnerable to being called into the boardroom. Ivana chose to bring him into the boardroom, at which point Trump fired him. I was shocked. I knew Trump was a better entertainer than a businessman, but to fire the best guy on the team?! That was insanity. Let me get this straight — mediocrity is okay, as long as you play it safe? What a great message to send. Ivana and Stacie J. were so entrenched in “catfight” mode that they might as well have begged Trump to fire them, but he chose to fire the guy who brought in most of the business for the team?! What a disappointment. I just lost most of my interest in that show. Trump has no interest in choosing the best business mind. He doesn’t want someone who will take risks and stand behind his performance. He wants people who will play it safe and blame other people for their mistakes. What a letdown…

Brian

First off, one of my predictions (albeit based on just what I read online) was WAY off as one of my top two picks was the first to get the axe (Rob). Overall, I’m sticking to my predictions though.

The topic of this particular rant is that the show seems to be headed for another racsim controversy.

It seems to me that the producers were so happy with the buzz generated during last season’s accusations by Omarosa of racism, that they’ve put in another ringer. This season they’ve included yet another apparently wacky black woman: Stacie J.

Anyone ready for round 2 of The Apprentice?

Here are the new contestants according to E! Online:

The women:
Pamela, 32, an investment firm partner from San Francisco
Jennifer C., a 31-year-old horse-loving real-estate agent from New York
Stacie J., 35, a Harlem Subway franchise owner and former model
Lawyers Jennifer M. (a 29-year-old from San Francisco) and Stacy R. (a 26-year-old from New York)
Business owners Sandy, 28, who hails from Rockville, Maryland, Elizabeth, 31, from Marina Del Ray, California
Virginia Beach-based marketing exec Maria, 31
Ivana, a Subway franchise owner

The men:
Raj, 28, a bow-tie wearing real-estate developer with homes in Philly and Vail, Colorado, who claims not to watch TV
Bradford, a 32-year-old lawyer from Fort Lauderdale
Chris, a 30-year-old stockbroker hailing from Long Island
Andy, 23, a newly minted Harvard grad from Boca Raton, Florida
John, 24, a marketing director from San Francisco
Wes, 27, an Atlanta-based wealth manager
Kevin, 29, a law student in Chicago
Rob, 32, a Texas branding salesman
Kelly, 37, a software exec from Carlsbad, California.

Here are my early predictions…

It’s funny how the entertainment world works. First, William Hung is singled out on American Idol as one of the worst singers of the past season. Then everybody starts tripping over themselves about his sincerity, his determination and his laid-back, “can-do” attitude. Next thing you know, he’s appearing on just about every talk show you can imagine. I can almost swear I saw footage of him on The Arsenio Hall Show, and that show was cancelled 12 years ago. To say the guy is ubiquitous would be an understatement. Well, lately his TV exposure has dropped to only two or three appearances every day, so it seems his 15 minutes are drawing to a close. Except…

It’s not over yet. People are still reeling about the fact that William was signed to a record deal, despite the fact that many of the people who made it into the American Idol finals weren’t even afforded that luxury. Not only that, but the album has actually sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide. The guy has been lucky, to say the least, but it’s not stopping there. This year, prepare yourself for William’s sophomore effort — a Christmas album. It seems to be an immutable law of nature that every single musical artist must record a Christmas album at some point. I’m still in therapy for the time I accidentally saw one of Mariah Carey’s Christmas videos on MTV.

As soon as I heard that the theme on Tuesday’s American Idol was going to be big band, I feared that George was going to choke on that musical style and end up going home. The good news is that he actually did much better than I thought he would. The bad news is that he received the fewest votes Wednesday, helping me to maintain my reputation as the worst oddsmaker on the planet. Vic has been calling them right, while I have been… well, let’s just say it’s a good thing I still have a day job.

Ironically, if John Stevens had lasted another week (heaven forbid), he might have actually shown some genuine musical talent with his big band performances. But compared to LaToya…? No contest.

I was disappointed to see George go, not just because he failed to step up and show us what he could do, but also because there aren’t any guys left in the competition. It feels like the battle of the divas now, and I think I speak for almost everybody when I say that The Apprentice had enough diva nonsense for one lifetime.

I don’t see how Diana or Jasmine will win this. For one thing, Jasmine is not very good. She was the worst singer on Tuesday, hands down. Paula likes her, but the other two judges have lukewarm things at best to say about her. Diana is more talented than Jasmine, but Simon doesn’t want her to win. He thinks she’s too young (she’s 16), and on Tuesday he called her a 16-year-old who sounds like a 50-year-old. He wants Fantasia or LaToya to win this, and I think he will get his wish.

Just for once, I want to see America vote for someone totally off the wall, just to stick it to the judges and let them know who’s in charge. (Actually, that sort of happened two years ago when tone-deaf Nikki McKibbin made it to #3). Sadly, I don’t think that will happen this year. It’s looking like LaToya will win this. Fantasia is just too creepy and annoying in my book, and Diana and Jasmine aren’t good enough. We shall see…

Brian

It’s not exactly a secret that The Apprentice winner Bill Rancic was almost the third Bachelor (Andrew Firestone ended up being chosen), but I think the public’s perception of reality TV (sorry, unscripted drama) deserves a rant.

Everybody keeps talking about what a coincidence it is that Firestone’s former fianc?e, whom he chose from The Bachelor, is now dating Bill. Yeah… coincidence. Anyone who believes that a single contestant on The Apprentice went on that show for the love of the job, as opposed to seeking their own 15 minutes of fame, raise your hand.

The original season of The Bachelor featured Alex Michel, who was some kind of management consultant, as I recall. He was looking strictly for love, right? Nope, he was looking for 15 minutes too, because he tried out for Survivor Marquesas. The worst part is that he was rejected for appearing “too effeminate.” D’oh!

Former Apprentice wannabe Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth is just not feeling the love from the American public. These days, even the media thinks it’s trendy to snub Omarosa, but it’s a two-way street.

Not long after she ended up on the cutting room floor of Clairol’s latest commercial amid howls of protest that she was even considered for the job, she made a last-minute departure from Jimmy Kimmel Live because she thought she was going to be hooked up to a polygraph machine. I’m sure it can’t be much fun to be stood up by one of your guests on a live show.

Kimmel’s response was good enough to be a “Quote of the Day” in my book:

“Apparently her 15 minutes ended the second before I introduced her. I felt like Jessica Simpson standing alone at the airport.”

Source: E! Online

Now that Bill has been chosen as The Apprentice and he has chosen to oversee the construction of a building in Chicago, one question has been going through my mind. When exactly does this project start?

Apparently, not anytime soon.

What The Donald ? didn’t bother to tell his TV audience during the finale was that his Chicago construction project has yet to secure financing. The spinmeister swears up and down the project will happen, and that he has money people lining up outside his door waiting to get started.

In addition to the little detail about the project not getting off the ground, it is extremely unlikely that Bill, who has no real estate experience, will be given any significant responsibility. He had better hope his purported $250,000 annual salary is written down in a contract somewhere. Otherwise, that trademark smile of his may be diminishing over the next few months.

I’m starting to become more interested in Mark Burnett’s other show, The Restaurant. How can you go wrong with a reality show (oops… unscripted drama) about a business that’s being run straight into the ground? As the recent success of William Hung proves, Americans will take screw-ups over success stories any day of the week. For now.

Source: E! Online

Brian

I have to say I really enjoyed the season finale of The Apprentice. Thank goodness I have a DVR because my wife and I were “pausing” the episode every 5 minutes to add some comment.

I can see that “The Donald” and I have the same thought processes when it comes to reading people. So why is he a billionare and I’m running this website?
Selecting Bill was a very good call…

He has a combination of street smarts, education, and business experience that’s hard to beat. I was rooting for Troy early on, but Troy, I know Bill, and you’re no Bill. (Sorry, don’t know where THAT came from)

My comments yesterday reflected part of Kwame’s downfall: His selection and handling of Omarosa. Those two items definitely made him a questionable leader. I hate to say it, but it felt great to see Omarosa get her just desserts at the live gathering. Trump asks her a straightforward question about getting caught lying, and she immediately starts to tap dance around it… whereupon Trump says “Excuses, excuses. Enough with the excuses.”

One shining moment was the (in my mind) complete vindication of Ereka Vetrini concerning the slander suit against her by Omarosa. Erika positively glowed as she sat right next to “The Diva” and stated that Omarosa is a liar, and has been a liar throughout the entire series run. You go!!!!
As a testament to the selection process, I have to say that given the building project that Bill selected, I would run screaming from the room in terror at the prospect of managing that. Supervision or not.

On a final note I have to say I was VERY disappointed to see Omarosa shown as a returning person for next season. Fine, she adds tons of drama and she’s “the person we love to hate”, but I just thing it’s plain wrong to reward her hideous behavior by keeping her in the limelight.

It’s the same issue I have with athletes who act like complete asses, but because of their skill (and the controversy they generate), they continue to be rewarded.

P.S. Sam slays me. $250K to Trump for the opportunity to work for him? Brilliant.
Vic