Celebrity Apprentice Power Rankings: Clay Aiken Finally Proves Himself

Even though this week’s challenge was light, well, about Crystal Light, the task was also pretty heavy for the Celebrity Apprentice contestants for a number of reasons. First, very few contestants had not given project manager a run for its money, and any of the remaining contestants should have frankly been clamoring for a spot. Secondly, while the men and women were on equal footing going into this challenge contestant wise (due to Trump firing two a couple of weeks ago), the women had lost one more challenge than the men. They desperately needed a win, and Aubrey O’Day felt she could pull one out of a hat.

Turns out, she was not counting on Clay Aiken as a fellow project manager rival. When both teams were told the challenge would revolve around creating a party to celebrate the launch of two brand new Crystal Light flavors, it seemed as if the women had it in the bag. Teresa pulled out some decorating skills, Patricia nabbed signage, Lampanelli micromanaged, Dayana called fellow pageant winners to attend, and Debbie wrote an original Crystal Light composition. The men, on the other hand, had no experience putting together parties and had a team nearly full of males who do not imbibe.

What the men were experienced in was knowing how to entertain. When the Crystal Light executives showed up to the men’s party, Penn was busy juggling peaches (the flavor of the evening) and the men jumped into a rousing chorus of “Under the Boardwalk” by the Drifters as part of their beach party theme. The women were polished and organized with their pink pomegranate party, but the men had spontaneous fun and that spontaneity bought them another win this week.

Despite the women losing yet again due to creative concept, there was no way Aubrey O’Day was going home. Come hell or highwater, she would angle for her continuance on the show. Watching her whine and coo and cry and fight and complain was sort of like watching a really bad improv class, but it worked, I guess, because Aubrey not only did not head home, she also convinced Trump to give her charity $10,000. In the end, it was the calmer, more-interested-in-fair-play Patricia that got the boot, due to her signs focusing the Pomtini drink and not the Crystal Light brand. Good thing for the women the teams will be shuffled together next week.

The Celebrity Apprentice Power Rankings are an ordered compilation of weekly lists put together by TV Blend writers Jessica Grabert and Mack Rawden. Each week after viewing the episode, they each rank the competitors in order. Seventeen points are given for a first place vote, and this week, seven were given for a last place vote. Seven competitors have already been eliminated; therefore, those people automatically occupy the bottom slots. Here is how this week’s voting panned out, complete with analysis on how the celebrities might fare moving forward.

The Favorites

#1) Debbie Gibson (33): Debbie was asked to play to her strengths this week. Besides bringing people to the women’s party, she wrote and later recorded an original jingle about Crystal Light. The women even handed out the jingle on CDs as party favors. There has not been a challenge so far where Debbie has not been an integral and hardworking faction of the women’s team. If she can keep up the work effort and maintain her composure, she has a good chance of taking home the prize.

#1) Penn Jillette (33): Last week, Penn and Clay Aiken went at it quite a bit. The former American Idol star called the magician condescending, and much awkwardness abounded. Given Clay’s position as project manager during the party task, the relationship could have easily gone further south. Luckily, it did not. Penn put his head down and worked hard prior to the challenge and juggled with peaches and sang back-up during the event. Three weeks ago, I probably would have been willing to bet money Penn would wind up in the finale. Now, I’m confident enough to say he’s one of several capable of getting there.

#3) Clay Aiken (29): Clay rocked out as project manager this week. He could easily take this whole thing if he plays his cards right (read: does not pick three people he felt did a poor job in the board room). The relative lowness of his score compared to the higher slots stems more from this power ranking’s high votes for a couple of other contestants this week and less due to his actual performance. If he keeps up the hard, calculated work, next week, he could well see himself on top.

#3) Aubrey O’Day (29): Aubrey is a spectacular person to stick on a reality TV show. She is vicious, outspoken, and extremely polarizing. Despite losing this week, it was clear the women did a fairly good job, which is why Aubrey made it out with her head held very high. Dayana did get one shot in, however, pointing out Aubrey is often responsible for the creative component of challenges the women have been losing. Aubrey is a survivor, and she just needs to keep her chin up to continue powering through the challenges.

The Contenders

#5) Dee Snider (26): The Twisted Sister frontman had his first real hiccup this week, creating signs that were a few inches too small. The executives from Crystal Light had some serious problems with the height as well, but luckily, Patricia and the women had a whole lot more problems with their signs. I still feel good about Dee’s capabilities as a leader, but if he lets Arsenio be project manager next week, he’ll likely drop even further. At some point, you need to step up an lead, or at least let people know you’re ready to be top dog. Thus far, Dee’s just been content to play a pretty big role in each task.

#6) Paul Teutul Sr. (22): For the life of me, I don’t understand why Paul Sr. didn’t help Dee with the signage. The work he did for Ivanka Trump during the window display challenge quite possibly could have been the best single contribution any player has made during any task. Regardless, Paul Sr. did make a cabinet and opened hundreds of those little umbrella things. The latter may not have been skilled labor, but someone had to do it.

#6) Lisa Lampanelli (22): Lisa is stuck smack dab in the middle of these power rankings because she is more polarizing than Aubrey and less of an idea machine. While Lisa is a hard worker and willing to put her ass on the line to complete a task, she really lacks the ability to rally her teammates and be a competent manager. If she sidelines her mean-spirited comments, she might stick it out for a while. She’s a wild card, for sure.

#6) Arsenio Hall (22): Arsenio’s biggest asset so far has been his willingness to bring the party. That might sound stupid, but surrounded by middle aged men, it’s something his team sorely needs. Like Dee, he has to step up and lead to get more credit though. Apart from the clothing mishap with George, Hall hasn’t really been in danger of winding up in the boardroom at any point, but he also hasn’t won his team any challenges either.

The Dark Horses

#9) Dayana Mendoza (17): Dayana was stuck defending herself in the boardroom, again, despite pulling her weight this week. However, it was pulling her weight and not making any mistakes that kept the model in the game. Dayana’s ability to slip through the cracks thus far, despite being one of the less idea-oriented and generally less hardworking women, is an impressive feat. Like last season’s Hope Dworaczyk, Dayana keeps sliding through due to the mistakes of others. We’ll have to wait and see if she keeps it up in the weeks to come.

#9) Lou Ferrigno (17): You know what the best part about Lou this week was? When Clay said he might bring him into the boardroom, he shut his mouth and let the scenario play out. There are only six men left. Three will wind up in the boardroom after the next loss. Somebody has to get called out, and considering Lou was mostly a worker bee this week, it should have been him had the Crystal Light executives gone the other way. There’s a time to fight and a time to sit back and watch. This week’s boardroom was better served with the latter.

#11) Teresa Giudice (14): Teresa needs to lead next week. She’s the only woman who hasn’t taken charge, and considering how mad she was about being called slow, it’s time for her to prove her worthiness. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect. She just hasn’t done a lot so far, either positively or negatively. She hasn’t been responsible for any losses or wins. Let’s hope next week she can finally either shit or get the hell out of the boardroom.

Here’s a look at how the ballots shook out…