Team Tenacity Vs Team Rock Solid
Sounds like a wrestling match, but its just the newest teams formed for the Trump boardroom in the Celebrity Apprentice. Tonight was the premier of the Trump fire-fest, starring:
Team Tenacity (Ladies)
Cyndi Lauper (Project Manager)
Carol Leifer
Sharon Osbourne
Summer Sanders
Selita Ebanks
Holly Robinson-Peete
Maria Kanellis
Team Rock Solid (Men, and Bret Michaels thought of the name)
Bret Michaels (Project Manager)
Sinbad
Rod Blagojevich
Michael Johnson
Darryl Strawberry
Bill Goldberg
Curtis Stone
In a new twist Trump had the teams of men vs. women choose each others project manager for the first Celebrity Apprentice task. The ladies chose Bret Michaels (just as the men expected), the men picked Cyndi Lauper.
The 1st Celebrity Apprentice task:
Sell food from a diner like location in a downtown NYC restaurant for charity (as all tasks are). The real event is to get on your phone and call as many people with money that will come down and donate. Those with few major money ties are cut early, so we already have some front runners (Sharon Osbourne & Curtis Stone most notably).
The men took the correct path with a high price point, but to be fair they have celebrity chef Curtis Stone in the kitchen. Bret Michaels was merely the PM on paper as Curtis took full control in the winning effort for Rock Solid (ugh, gonna get tired of that team name!).
The ladies of Celebrity Apprentice took the path of the common man, not the right path for fund raising. They priced the food so low that the common man took over the diner and they wound up leaving big money donations standing in a long line to get in. Bad, bad fund raising etiquette. Cyndi Lauper, in her love of the starving artist, cost team Tenacity the challenge (but a lot of fans were made happy, so....).
Donald Trump called on Joan Rivers, winner of the last Celebrity Apprentice, to go to each diner and decide who should win an extra $10,000 added to their total. Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, was too busy defending his honor (ick) to serve Joan Rivers' food while it was hot. Her cold gourmet food did not go over well. Joan was loyal to the ladies and gave them the bonus. It was still not enough for a Tenacity win.
Before revealing the totals in the boardroom, it was a bit of a pleasure to watch Trump make the celebrities squirm (some of them anyway, you just don't mess with Sharon Osbourne). Trump asked the men who the weakest was, in a round about way, and Bret Michaels laid the groundwork for his Diabetes defense. We also heard the "I don't recall..." speech from Rod Blagojevich (practicing?).
The first Celebrity Apprentice task totals:
Rock Solid: $57,905
Tenacity: $39,559 (including the Joan Rivers bonus)
All proceeds go to the Project Manager's charity. Bret Michaels' charity is the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Trump made it an even $100,000 donation.
The men were asked to leave the boardroom to watch the proceedings (until the final decision) on TV while drinking champagne.
The gloves came off in a wishy-washy way as the team tried half-heartedly to throw Carol Leifer under the bus. The only convincing argument came from Sharon Osbourne. "She's a little...under the radar..." said Osbourne of Leifer. She is right, that's exactly how Carol played this task. Whether she meant to or not.
Cyndi Lauper was the obvious choice as Project Manager and confessing to not knowing anyone with money.... except one person. Then she even said that person's name in Trump's boardroom. I thought Trump might peel off his vapor cover skin and reveal the alien inside... but he held it back as he asked Lauper, "What one person?"
Cyndi Lauper said, "Rosie O'Donnell" in the voice of a small child in a lot of trouble.
"Achhhh.... she's disgusting!" repeated Trump over and over. We get it, you two are still not tennis partners. "She came to my wedding, did you know that?" Trump spat.
When none of the other ladies of team Tenacity, including Lauper, could name anyone else to come back to the boardroom Trump made his decision with all of them sitting there. First telling them, "I wish you people would answer the g** d*** f***-ing question!" Apparently he forgot this is just a charity show, but then again people...play along.
Finally Trump fired Carol Leifer on the basis that most of the team had said her name. New York City should have been Carol's big money place, and she did not bring in nearly enough. Plus Mama Sharon says so.
That's it for the first Celebrity Apprentice, join me here next week. Tell me who you think should win this season of Celebrity Apprentice. My vote goes to Sharon Osbourne. Leave me a comment to support your fave!
Copyright @ 2008 TV Review
Was Carol Leifer's sexual orientation in any way a factor in her being the first fired on 2010's Celebrity Apprentice? I missed the first hour but I don't see where she was any worse than several of the other pretty (and straight) female team members of Tenacity. Did some of the straight ladies feel a bit phobic of Carol? Just a thought from a fellow lesbian...
ReplyDeleteHi Barb, I did not even know Carol Leifer's sexual orientation and I wrote this recap. So I sure did not pick up on that, but they do the editing so who knows what we missed.
ReplyDeleteI thought Sharon Osbourne made the right assessment of Leifer's game play when she said she was flying under the radar. I saw that, like she was not really into the team thing. Not saying she didn't work hard, just didn't seem as involved as the others.
Thanks for the comment! Chris