Last night it averaged 8.9m, peaking at nearly 10m. Depending on how Corrie did, it could've been the most watched programme of the day. :o

I knew Lee would win, but I thought he was 2nd best behind Claire

Glad Lee won. I think it would have rubbish if clare (kerry katona) got the job. She has just been a complete arse ever since she started.

Claire :( :wub:

 

Lee was my second choice to win though. A excellent series on the whole i think ^_^

Yes indeed, a good series.

 

The cream of business acumen successfully managed to:

 

Unable to identify fish and price them correctly.

Cook simple food, and sort out how many tomatoes they need.

Give away exclusive rights to ice cream which they had no right to do basically cutting off the farmer's hopes of expanding much further.

Get a chicken blessed by Allah for Kosher chicken :rofl:

Forget to do the key point in the task - pricing (over and over again).

Unable to identify photos (not exactly difficult to organise - then again if you decide to setup 20 minutes from the back end then serves you right).

Pitch ENVIRONMENTAL cards made of PAPER which comes from TREES.

 

 

 

Gosh our country is in safe hands!

once more the best candidate came second

Don't forget last week Karen Brady said she'd offer her a job if Sralun didn't. If I was Sralun I know I'd rather get shot still give her the opportunity to have a great job without having to employ her.

 

And she really wasn't the best contender!

Don't forget last week Karen Brady said she'd offer her a job if Sralun didn't. If I was Sralun I know I'd rather get shot still give her the opportunity to have a great job without having to employ her.

 

And she really wasn't the best contender!

 

None of them were very good though were they? I mean, the show was superb entertainment ... but we aren't seriously expected to believe that these people are any good at a job are we?

 

Glad Helene stayed true to form right to the very end by doing what she did for most of the series ... passing the buck. As much as I detested Alex (and he's only 24 don't you know :lol: ?) he did seem to do all the work on the project. She couldn't even think of a bloody name for the scent - which delayed them by about three hours. Every name Kevin and Alex came up with she said 'we hate that one' and yet didn't suggest any alternatives. For me, Helene looked like she wouldn't be out of place in Stepford.

 

Norma

Helene was vile, how she made the final i'll never know. Sir Alan was clearly never going to hire her and she was clearly only there to make up the numbers in the final.

Well, late with my comments as usual...

 

Anyways, Helene seems to be getting a bit of abuse here, and there's no denying she looked bad in the final week.

But according to a recent interview given by Alex; "Helene's very good. I think she got a bit of a short cut in the final. She was portrayed quite differently to how she actually was. There were a lot of positives and very few negatives, but unfortunately, they decided to focus on the negatives."

To be fair, there HAD to have been something good about Helene; although Sirallun was never shown to say anything positive about her, there must have been a reason she made the final 4, and he did say he had "four very good candidates".

Perhaps it was editing rather than Helene's actual performance?

 

Anyways; series rankings...

 

1. Lucinda

BERETS.

Entertainment-wise; Lucinda was GOLD. Give her a TV series now! It was very refreshing having such an air-fairy character in the Apprentice. So many comedy moments...blurting out in the boardroom that Helene had called Jenny M "vindictive, EVIL and DETRIMENTAL"...telling the owner of Amstrad that she was "technically USELESS"...and then those rows; "DO NOT SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT. HOW DARE YOU!". Even when she wasn't mouthing off, she was fantastic to watch...just the sight of her running through the streets of Morocco in a fluroscent pink cape had me in giggles.

Work-wise; Sirallun's advisors had it right to be honest, she would NEVER have lasted in the Apprentice role. Briliant team leader, dismal team player. She struggled to take orders from anyone. Although, to be fair, whenever she did try to raise an issue or make a contribution, she was ignored or her contributions attributed to someone else (Alex taking the credit for the raffle idea in the car-selling task, Helene ignoring her warning that she wasn't good with computers, etc.)

I think what also appealed was that she was very much the series underdog. The first few weeks, and you were just waiting for the inevitable Lucinda firing. But then came week 5, and she showed just how capable she was, and she went from strength to strength. It's ALWAYS satisfying when the underdog comes good.

However, Lucinda did disappoint me a bit in the "You're Fired" interview with Helene. In their conflicts during the series, Lucinda generally came off looking the better person. Not so this time. Helene was trying to be diplomatic and calm, whilst Lucinda sat in the audience trying to dredge up an old argument from months ago, and tried to drag an uncomfortable Raef into it. Heckling Helene like that did Lucinda no favours at all.

 

2. Raef

Proof that first impressions aren't to be relied upon. The first task, and it looked like he was going to shortly head the same way as fellow toff Nicholas. But then Raef showed that he was a thoroughly nice guy; he was just posh where Nicholas was a snob. Raef was one of very few where you could imagine liking him in real life (Simon, Lee and Lucinda being the others). And he seemed to be a very positive figure on the majority of the tasks he took part in. He came up with the winning "Singles Day" idea, he was possibly the only contestant never to start up an argument, and he defended anyone if he thought they were being ganged up on.

His firing left a bitter taste. Firing Raef for being "full of hot air" seemed plain wrong when Michael was still in the room. And every mistake that Raef had made in that advert task, Michael had made ALSO. Raef's better previous form and more trustworthy character should have seen him through.

 

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3. Helene

Like I've already said, I believe she was a victim of editing. Despite never appearing to say so, Sirallun must have had something positive to say about her, otherwise he'd have put Lucinda through to the final.

She seemed to have developed a reputation for being a backstabbing b**ch. Now she could be a b**ch if she wanted to be, but I don't think she was ever really two-faced. She didn't seem to have any problem telling people what she thought of them, but she was very happy to give credit where credit was due aswell. She praised Alex and Lucinda in the boardroom when they had put in good performances, despite her previous problems with Lucinda. It would have been easy for her to have held a grudge, clearly Lucinda did. Generally, Helene seemed to be one of the more grounded contestants.

 

4. Simon

The nicest guy to appear on the show? Probably.

The final assessment of him was probably correct though. A fantastic worker, but not a leader. Really, Simon and Lucinda would have made a DREAM team.

Still, Simon left well before his time. He should at least have outlasted the likes of Michael and Kevin, and he could certainly be doing better for himself than earning a living installing satellite TVs.

 

5. Lee

You know, first impressions of Lee seemed to suggest he was going to be yet another aggressive, arrogant t***. "LEE McQUEEN IS WORRIED". But despite the odd flash against Lucinda and Sara, Lee was quite a likeable character; very fair and positive.

Since his victory, the media has chosen to focus in on only the one aspect; the fact that he lied on his CV. Whilst this was undoubtedly a stupid move, it seemed to be for reasons of insecurity rather than deviousness. It's not a hugely uncommon occurence, and it's not like nobody else in the series ever made a single mistake.

You suspect that the writers of most of these negative articles hadn't watched the series all the way, because few seemed to pick up on the fact that he was frequently the hardest worker, and was the most enthusiastic throughout most of the tasks. And the CV aside he rarely put a foot wrong. It's a shame he's only going to be remembered for the CV incident.

 

6. Claire

The Marmite character. By the end of week 4, I HATED her, as did most of the nation. But fair is fair, she proved able to take criticism and actually do something about it. Whether genuine or not, she did manage to tone herself down. What does it matter if she genuinely means it or not, as long as going forward she continues to use the more serene, capable Claire as opposed to the "Bulldog" persona?

 

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7. Sara

Not spectacular no, but she didn't deserve the mauling she received in week 6. Like Lucinda, any contributions she made were often ignored and forgotten by her more aggressive team members.

However, with Lucinda this appeared to be because she was a "zany" character and a bit out of place. With Sara, it was because she was weak. In all of the one-to-ones with the camera, Sara had no problem acting aggressively. "Business is about one thing. Making money, making money, and MAKING MONEY". And then even after she had been firing, she was off saying she could never work for anyone? Why apply for the Apprentice then love? And why did you never use that aggressiveness in the tasks? She was incapable of standing up for herself, in the boardroom she would just moan or splutter.

Having said that, Sara shouldn't have been fired over Michael. As with Raef, every mistake Sara had made Michael had also made. Sara was fired for alienating potential customers...hmmm..at least she didn't tell a bride-to-be that her wedding was going to be "dull" because she didn't buy her cupcakes. Or declare all customers to be "dum-dums".

 

8. Jenny M

And oh look, another one who should never have been fired ahead of Michael. Sensing a theme?

Yes, Jenny was completely disorganised, but as she said, surely better that than hiring a liar and a cheat?

Other than Morocco week, Jenny was pretty unremarkable though, and was atrocious in the ice-cream task offering exclusivity about. But a ROFL at her trying to insist she wasn't an "ice queen" to the others and being met by stony silence.

 

9. Nicholas

Why so high? Because despite being a rubbish snob, there was SO much potential for him as the series comedy buffoon wandering about in a monocle with that RIDICULOUS name, trying to discuss culture and art with Sirallun, and telling the former owner of Tottenham Hotsupr FC why he hated football.

And to be fair, the fish pricing disaster wasn't completely his fault, Alex had been quite aware of the lobster pricing issue but did nothing but shift the blame at the end. If only Nicholas hadn't been so abysmally USELESS in the boardroom :(

Apparantly he was put into hospital recently when he was crushed by a falling wall. Is it wrong I find that FUNNY? Give Nicholas De Lacy Brown his own show!

 

10. Shazia

Not much to say except this was possibly one of Sirallun's most unpopular decisions with the public who all wanted Celery's head on a platter.

 

11. Lindi

Again, USELESS at business, but made up for it with comedy of the 24 hour laundry hotline. And showing she'd learnt NOTHING by still insisting she was "special" and "sizzling hot" after being unceremoniously fired. FABULOUSLY deluded, but more suited to Big Brother than the Apprentice.

 

12. Ian

And yet another useless wally. Surely he must have known he was going to be heading home as soon as he let KEVIN hold a team pep talk?

On a totally superficial level though, Ian was hotter than the supposed hunk Alex.

 

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13. Alex

Yeah, in case you hadn't guessed, I didn't like Alex. The shirker of responsiblity.

Even from the first week he didn't come off well. He was only saved by Nicholas De Lacy Brown's LUDICROUS attempts at defending himself.

There's no denying he was good at sales, fair enough. But what else was there to him? NOTHING. He was awful at organising the team, and won by luck in the card task despite alienating 1/3 of his team. He took credit for ideas which weren't his (that raffle again), he avoided answering for his failings by hiding in the background and blaming others, and was incapable of listening to anything that wasn't glowing with praise. It said a lot about his own abilities that he frequently had to fall back on that "I'm only 24" line.

DREADFUL poser. One who believed he would get the job by making others look bad rather than by his own merit.

 

14. Jenny C

A rare case where the outside DID match the inside (that chin).

How I laughed when she declared it was her birthday with the biggest grin in the world, only to be shot down by an uncaring Sirallun. Sirallun often seems to feel slightly bad about having to fire someone. Not Jenny. You could tell he was gunning for her the previous week demanding to know why Kevin hadn't brought her in.

Apparantly the other contestants had all been very surprised when she went. HOW? Most of them had been on the sharp end of her tongue at some point, it should have been clear to all that she was a vindictive, blame-shifting foul piece of work.

Appearances post-show (You're Fired and the Weakest Link) have shown a completely different Jenny C, a very meek, quiet, almost humble character. So I suppose at least she learnt something.

 

15. Michael

UGH. I'm not even sure I want to go into this one, he winds me up so much. It's sort of satisfying though to hear Sirallun admitting he'd made a mistake in keeping Michael in so long. Why he did still beggars belief.

Who would ever contemplate hiring someone with so few morals, and so little ability?

 

16. Kevin

I'm almost surprised that someone beat Michael in terms of pure dislikability. But even the sight of Kevin disgusted me, and that voice. That clip of him boasting about his house and his Porsche was cringeworthy. And then there was another clip of him telling how he "inspired" people. Erm...to do what exactly? Commit mass suicide?

How did he ever get to be a bank manager? He had no people skills, no common sense, no realistic sense of his own abilities, everything about him was wrong. It was like he'd taken all the worst aspects of everyone else (Alex's inability to take criticism, Michael's unfounded arrogance, Claire's domineering nature, and Ian's complete incompetence) and put it all together in one highly unattractive, useless mess.

You just knew that Alex and Helene were doomed in the final week when Kevin declared he was going to have "inject a bit of his own personality" into them. VILE creature.

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmm...I seem to have gone a tad overboard with comments here, what am I going to do with myself now the show's over?

Edited June 15, 200817 yr by Shoat

Some very funny comments there. I think i might agree with you on most of them, just that id rank Claire second after Lucinda.