CELEBRITY APPRENTICE 2- Nely Galan's Episode 7 Blog

It’s hard to write about this episode - I felt cheated! Once we got to the boardroom it was evident that Brian McKnight was sick of it all, and just wanted to leave the show. (He admitted he had gone home for two days and didn't want to return.) Trump then did what he had to do. It made me mad - why did I have to go through the whole episode only to have Brian throw in the towel?

Frankly, KOTU was the superior team from the beginning of this episode, although I predict Natalie is the next to go. Their task was well executed – period! It also incorporated the Trump CELEBRITY APPRENTICE Lesson 101 - "USE YOUR TEAM'S CELEBRITY STATUS".

Athena was off in the clouds with Brian McKnight calling it in, and ultimately suffering the consequences. Their execution of the task was just plain bad.

Here's what I got out of this episode - a foreshadowing of things to come. Joan is becoming so cranky due to the lack of food and sleep creeping in, Melissa feels betrayed by Annie and Brande (who previously never liked each other) and is coming unglued, and Annie (as predicted) is playing good poker.

In the second hour of this episode, Trump announced a second task that required fundraising. This is very difficult in the current economy, even for celebrities. Annie appears to be the frontrunner, but the women’s claws are out! Joan hates Annie, Melissa hates Annie and Brande, and Annie acting as though she likes them all... NOT! Annie is playing poker again – unlikable, but a winning strategy.

The episode ended with a cliffhanger. The task has not been executed yet, and Piers Morgan (last year's winner) comes back to help Trump. I guarantee you he will make hamburger meat out of the contestants. Piers doesn't have the need to be liked, so he will be refreshingly honest.
I can’t wait to see his “inside" report to Trump.

Too bad we had to endure Brian McKnight wasting our time to get to next week. But, it will be worth it.

Hasta next week,

Nely

CELEBRITY APPRENTICE 2- Nely Galan's Episode 4 Blog

This is the first episode this season where I thought the firing was unfair.

Claudia Jordan was fired; however, there were far worse people on her team that should have gone first. It’s a shame, as she really grew on me and I think she is talented.

After winning three weeks in a row it appeared that the women were unstoppable, but all it took was this one task where chaos ruled (as witnessed by their ill-conceived and ill-executed cheesy vignettes) for the team to quickly unravel and the fingerpointing to start. All those women turned on Claudia in the boardroom, in my opinion, to make nice with Joan Rivers – who is clearly the strongest member of the team. No one wanted to risk the wrath of Joan and therefore, by association, no one dared to mess with Joan's daughter, Melissa. Joan is a force to be reckoned with and deserving of all the respect in the world; however she is not doing Melissa any favors by keeping her under her wing. Melissa would be more likable (and respected) if she stood on her own two feet and didn’t turn to her mommy to defend her in the boardroom. She strikes me as entitled and spoiled.

If Claudia had been more Machiavellian she would have focused her energy on eliminating the weakest links on the team, so she could have lived to do battle with Melissa another day. (How could Claudia go when lazy Khloe, mousy T Boz, and inconspicuous Nancy Gulbis (although she did come through with a private plane in this episode) are still on the team?) But it’s difficult to think that way - Claudia spoke the truth and didn't play the game right. She didn't take into consideration the possibility of failure, and within that scenario, who the best candidates were to take into the boardroom so that she could have kept her spot. Her bad decision (more so than anything she did on the task) was her undoing - as a result, she’s gone.

This episode I loved watching my wild card player, Annie Duke. You can tell that she can't stand Joan and Melissa; and they certainly have no lovefest going with her. She knows that they are her biggest rivals and so she aligned with her enemy. Annie is playing good poker. She was able to play them - for now.

I’ll be curious to see what the women do in the weeks to come. How will they get around "the Melissa factor"?

The men's team (minus Dennis Rodman) was tight. Brian McKnight finally emerged from his shell and proved that he is a superstar both onstage and off. He took firm control of the team, knew exactly what he wanted, and was ready to take the bullet if his team failed. Brian was also the only project manager to date able to reign in Clint Black, and that's no small feat. Jesse James and Herschel Walker hit the perfect note with the West Point video - giving a slick presentation with just the right amount of heart. The entire product launch was like a well-orchestrated symphony. And I finally got the concert I wanted - Brian was amazing!

I’m surprised Trump hasn’t mentioned this season how he wants the teams to use their star power. As he told us last year, clients love star power, and star power wins every time. This task was the perfect example - the guys placed less emphasis on the product, and more on putting on a big show. The audience was star struck and that's all they remember, and rightfully so. Brian is a star!

Looking forward to the weeks ahead when all the dead weight is gone and the remaining competitors aren’t afraid to show their fierce and brutal nature. I predict that this is going to be a very exciting and cutthroat season.

Hasta next week,

Nely