"The Celebrity Apprentice" title goes to Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall, left, and Clay Aiken face host Donald Trump in a final boardroom scene on "The Celebrity Apprentice."
/ NBC(CBS News) Comedy trumped song on Sunday night.
That happened when "The Celebrity Apprentice" host Donald Trump hired comedian and former talk-show host Arsenio Hall as this season's apprentice.
Pictures: "The Celebrity Apprentice" finale
Pictures: This season's competitors
Pictures: "Celebrity Apprentice" titleholders
Hall was competing with singer and "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken for the title and for the prize - $250,000 for his charity, the Magic Johnson Foundation for AIDS and HIV research. Akin was competing for a the National Inclusion Project, a children's charity he started to promote the inclusion of disabled youngsters in activities with their able-bodied peers.
Hall joins a roster of celebrity apprentices from four previous seasons - country singer John Rich, rocker Bret Michaels, comedian Joan Rivers and talk-show host Piers Morgan.
Aiken and Hall engaged in a friendly rivalry in Sunday night's two-hour episode that included both taped segments showing how they completed their final task and a live awards show, featuring all of the season's competitors as well as Trump, his daughter Ivanka, and his son Eric.
The task before the two rivals was to make a public service advertisement for their charities and to screen it at a party/entertainment event to raise money for the charity. Each competitor had a team of four previously fired contestants to help him.
On Hall's team was comedian and radio personality Adam Corolla, "American Choppers" star Paul Teutel Sr., comedian Lisa Lampanelli and "Real Housewives" star Teresa Giudice. Helping Aiken were singers Aubrey O'Day, Debbie Gibson, Dee Snider and magician Penn Gillette.
Each team played to its strength. Hall's group created a comedy show with the comedians feeding some lines to novices Teutel and Giudice. Even so, it was Teutel's unscripted quip that brought down the house.
Behind the scenes, Hall exhibited a laid-back management style, but he had a moment of misgiving when the team Carolla hired to shoot footage of basketball legend Magic Johnson in San Diego came in with the wrong camera angles. Luckily, they were able to work around it.
Aiken's team chose a musical/variety format for their show and a carnival theme for their party. Snider and Debbie Gibson teamed up for an unusual duet, Aiken and O'Day had solos and Snider infused energy into the party with a rousing rendition of Twisted Sister's signature song, "We're Not Gonna Take It." Gillette recruited his partner Teller to perform their most-requested magic act.
An anxious Aiken managed to upset many of his team members with what they called his micromanagement style, but their differences were forgotten once the party started.
Aiken's party raised just over $300,000 for his charity and Hall's raised $167,000. Aiken's total included a $10,000 donation from Lampanelli, who was working on the other team, something which Aiken, Hall and Trump said spoke to Lampanelli's generosity.
Before the confetti rained down on a jubilant Hall, Trump quizzed some of the other contestants about different events that took place during the season. It was clear from their biting comments that some animosity, particularly among the women, still lingered.
"The Celebrity Apprentice" 2012 finale
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Or at least wonderfully parodied on "In Living Color"...
Clay's "party" was far better than Arsenio's. No comparison. And as for the rest of the season, Arsenio may have won when he was project manager, but that was mainly because of his team. I love Arsenio, but as far as I'm concerned, he didn't put as much EFFORT into it as Clay did. Arsenio wasn't as "involved" in the projects, where Clay was always involved.
I believe Clay did a better job as project manager. He was more involved and he was on top of each team player, checking on what they were doing. Clay gave it his ALL. I love Arsenio Hall too, but when it came down to the finale, Clay's party was much better than Arsenio's, and his performance with his team was also better!!