OK just for a change I thought I would do a post on a TV show (which I use to blog about) and this one is about The Apprentice as it reaches the penultimate episode, which is my favourite stage of the show, where the final five candidates are interviewed by four of Lord Sugar's toughest advisors.
As we may all know the format of the show has changed over the years as Lord Sugar is no longer offering a job, he is now offering to become a business partner with one of the lucky 16 candidates, but they must go through a rigorous 12 week process in order to do so. So as I said the candidates have been whittled down to five which leaves, three ladies, the feisty Luisa, the efficient and cool Leah, and the down to earth and likeable Francesca. Then the two guys, Neil Clough (or Cloughy as he was nicknamed!) who is serious and determined and Jordan (who to me is a cross between Leonard from The Big Bang Theory and a hobbitt, no offence Jordan!). And at this stage they had to hand over their business plans to be scrutinised by Lord Sugar's advisors as well themselves in some gruelling interviews. The advisors are the ruthless bulldog, Claude Littner, Lord Sugar's former associate, Margaret Mountford, and Mike Soutar and Claudine Collins.
In the interviews for starters, Luisa who has basically for the most of the show been a real pain in the arse, as she is quite confrontational and headstrong, did get some credit for her business plan, which was to create and promote a market for bakeries, but there were some concerns that she came over as being bit spoilt and opinionated and even if her CV she referred to previous boss "a total idiot" (yep that's not idiotic!). Leah's plan to put her profession as a maxiplast sugeron to use as a business raised some ethical concerns, that Leah might try to exploit people who are vunlernable and use her business to make a quick buck, which he denied she would do so as it was against her ethics as a surgeon. Francesca's business plan which was something to do with promoting different types of dancing/workout classes was seen as practical but she got into trouble from Claude for not knowing her figures.
As for the men well they didn't favour so well, starting with Neil, who's plan was to set up a real estate business website so that people could sell their own house, yet at the same time he also would invite real estate agents to do business on it as well. Neil's plan was criticised as being deeply flawed as clearly it would cause conflicting interests between the people selling their houses and the estates agents who are potentially losing business as a result of this. Jordan however did worst of all, as it was revealed his business plan, which was to create new ways of utilising immersive multimedia, was in fact not his business at all, as he didn't even have a share in it! Jordan was quickly shut down in his interview by Claude who point blank refused to carry out the interview as he called him a "parasite" since he had no stake in the proposed business, and he therefore asked Jordan to leave. Jordan also rather amusingly was asked by Mike Soutar to solve a Rubiks cube in three minutes, as it was a claim he made in his CV that he could complete one in that time, but Jordan in the end failed to do it!
In the boardroom after Lord Sugar spoke with the advisors, he straight away fired Jordan for his false claims of the business plan being his own, which was no doubt the right decision and once again it shows just how naive some of these candidates are, as Jordan is another classic example of a candidate on this show that didn't do his homework. And it was a shame in a way that Jordan didn't read the small print before he went on the show, as he could have saved himself alot of time, even though he was as strong candidate if he had been up for a job with Lord Sugar he would have had a chance, but as it is he had no hope unless he came up with a plan that actually was his. Neil was next up in the firing line as Lord Sugar, who had high hopes for him, was bitterly disappointed in his business plan, as he said trying to combine two different parties i.e. the member of the public selling their house and the real estate agent on his website just would not work. And in the end Neil dug his own grave as he was stubborn and inflexible on his plan, and he would not even accept an alternative, as Lord Sugar even suggested that he could have just ended it at the seller looking to sell their own home on the website, so Neil got the boot. Neil had a chance to actually save his business plan had he followed Lord Sugar's suggestion, but in the end Neil's own pride and stubborness cost him, which in a way was a shame as he was one of the strongest candidates.
Next up Lord Sugar had the tough decision to choose between the three remaining candidates, as he realised that Leah's surgery business was ethically questionable, but Leah remained adamant that she would turn people away and not compromise her ethics or just try make a fast buck out of anyone, but he also realised it was worth a risk, so he decided to let her stay in the final. And in the toss up between Luisa and Francesca, Lord Sugar opted to fire Francesca, as he felt her business plan lacked any edge and that she didn't quite have the entrepeneaurial flare he was looking for.
So this sees the two finalists: Luisa and Leah go head to head to win the right to be Lord Sugar's business partner. Personally out of the two them I would go with Leah, as she is more level headed and her business proposal is worth a risk and Lord Sugar stand to make more of a return out of her should it be a succeess, plus I think Luisa could be a real handful for him if they were to work together. However the final episode will see the two finalists launch their own businesses and come up with brands and campaigns, and from there Lord Sugar will finally decide who will be his business partner.
And that's it for now, and next week we will get the winner of the show and find out who will be Lord Sugar's business partner.
Bye for noowww.
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