"The Celebrity Apprentice": Three cheers for the jingle
(CBS News) The two teams competing on "The Celebrity Apprentice" this week had to create a jingle for a roadside assistance company, and the biggest surprise in the two-hour episode came at the start when the musical stars were not chosen as project managers. (SPOILER ALERT)
Pictures: "The Celebrity Apprentice"
Read more: Debbie Gibson takes us behind the scenes of "The Celebrity Apprentice"
Talk-show host Arsenio Hall led one team, which included former Danity Kane singer Aubrey O' Day. Former Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza led the other team with "American Idol" alum Clay Aiken and comedian Lisa Lampanelli as her partners.
Both teams suffered as the project managers tried to exert control on a task they had no business leading. But Arsenio did it better. His team ended up winning the challenge and Mendoza took the fall for her team's failures. After setting a show record for the number of times one contestant was taken back to the boardroom, she finally was fired.
What did she do wrong? For starters, she put herself, and not her team, first by pleading to lead the task. It was clear from the start that it was beyond her. In the van after getting the task, she showed that she had no idea what a jingle was when she asked her teammates whether it wasn't a Christmas task (think "Jingle Bells").
- When Aiken suggested a '60s sound, she agreed but suggested they could bring it up into the '80s.
- When the band played a sample song, she asked if they could add more pink. (Was she talking about the singer or the color? Who knows?)
- She asked for lyric changes that would have thrown off the timing of the melody.
- She kept insisting on using the word "track," when the Good Sam assistance they were promoting wasn't for trains but for RVs.
But it wasn't any of these failings that caused Lampanelli's meltdown in front of Donald Trump Jr. It was because she failed to give Lampanelli credit for writing the lyrics. Their epic battle spilled over to the boardroom, even before the winners of the task were announced.
To her credit, Menoza remained calm and collected and called Lamapanelli out for inappropriate language and unprofessional behavior. Aiken told the Trumps he wouldn't use the same language but he did suffer from the same feelings as Lampanelli.
On the other team, Hall also tried to rein in O'Day but he did concede her expertise and allow her to flourish in her element. O'Day, for her part, tried not to be overbearing and to work with Hall's ideas. When her team - which also included Teresa Giudice - nixed her cheerleading idea, she wisely brought it up to the executives, who seemed to like it. And it was the cheerleading jingle and skit that won the challenge, although company executives thought O'Day's cheerleading outfit was a tad risque. No surprise there.
And for the second week in a row, O'Day took Doanld Jr. aside to complain that she was doing all the creative work for the whole team.
What did you think? Did Mendoza deserve to go? Was Lampanelli out of line? Is O'Day digging her own grave with her complaints to Donald Jr.? Take our poll, discuss in the comments below and return here next week for more commentary.
Also, get the inside scoop on "The Celebrity Apprentice" from former contestant Debbie Gibson:
