All-Star Celebrity Apprentice Power Rankings: Why Did That Seem Like A Good Idea?

The year of the utterly bizarre boardroom decisions continued this week with the losing project manager making a horrible choice and bringing the wrong people back with her to fight it out. Trump was once again flabbergasted by the foolish approach, and the poor project manager never even had a real chance to talk her way out of it. More on that later, however.

Prior to all that drama, the teams were greeted by Apprentice veteran Farouk from Farouk Systems. He tasked the groups to put on two competing displays inside and around glass trucks to hype his hair products Chi and Biosilk. Claudia Jordan was pushed to the forefront because of her modeling experience, and Marilu Henner stepped up and took on the responsibility for her team. The former’s group, pushed on by a brilliant idea from Lil Jon, used the slogan “Chi Wants You To Be Beautiful”. The rapper purchased an Uncle Sam costume, and he and his teammates took some wonderful promotional pics. Farouk loved the branding and the American theme. Unfortunately, the team set up hair testing stations outside of the truck and converted that show space into a place for people to take pictures, which the executives hated.

On the other end of the spectrum, Marilu’s team wasn’t so hot at brand messaging. They went with the mediocre slogan “Experience Silk”, which the executives weren’t particularly excited about. Fortunately, they used the truck to actually give quick makeovers using the products, and they created a crazy spectacle with Penn juggling fire and Trace standing on top of the truck and singing.

Based on this main element of the challenge, you would think Claudia and company would have had it in the bag, but because their truck got so much less foot traffic and because they didn’t properly use the truck itself, they lost. Claudia was asked which two players she wanted to bring back into the boardroom, and despite continually bitching about Omarosa and telling Don she was horrible because she contributed nothing and took way too long to get props, Claudia decided to bring back Lil Jon and Dennis Rodman.

Of every single player on both teams, Farouk raved about Lil Jon the most. He absolutely loved everything he did from the Uncle Sam costume to the slogan, continuing his run of awesome creativity. So, naturally, Trump and company deduced that Claudia was scared to bring Omarosa back (like they did with LaToya last week), and whether that was true or not, she was given the big ugly axe.

The Celebrity Apprentice Power Rankings are an ordered compilation of weekly lists put together by TV Blend writers Mack Rawden and Jessica Rawden. Each week after viewing the episode, they each rank the competitors in order. Fourteen points are given for a first place vote, and this week, five were given for a last place vote. Four competitors have already been eliminated; therefore, those already eliminated 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) Lil Jon (28): Lil Jon was a little miffed this week when Claudia brought the rapper back to the boardroom with her. After all, he is the creative force on his team, and he was praised this week not only for his performance but for his ideas. Currently, Lil Jon seems to be the strongest force on his own team and unless he messes up during a run as project manager, I don’t foresee him going home anytime soon.

#2) Penn Jillette (24): Penn did his best Teller impression this week. More often than not, he was completely silent, though, judging from context clues, he accomplished things. Marilu asked him to write some copy, and since no one complained and this wasn’t an issue, we can assume he did so effectively. He also juggled and attracted quite a crowd, which was a huge asset in creating a spectacle. Penn is definitely one of the stronger players, but he really needs to win as project manager to solidify his place.

#2) Trace Adkins (24): Trace was great again this week, but he did have one flub, challenging Stephen Baldwin on an advertising slogan. While the judges hated Baldwin’s slogan after hearing it, they also didn’t like Trace’s and it seemed like he might have been in trouble had the team lost. Luckily, that turned out to not be the case and the country music singer will be able to move forward and continue to show strength in the future.

#2) Marilu Henner (24): Stephen Baldwin attempted to compare Marilu to Gary Busey this week, which didn’t take, thankfully. The actress talks a mile a minute and spits out any momentary idea she has. However, that doesn’t mean she isn’t competent. She delegated tasks and bounced ideas all afternoon, even managing to beat the other team’s project manager, Claudia, to signing Miss USA for the challenge. With a win under her belt, things are looking good for Ms. Henner.

The Contenders

#5) Brande Roderick (20): Earlier this season, Brande’s turn as project manager didn’t go so well. She earned plenty of money for her charity, but she showed no capacity to delegate, whatsoever. However, Brande’s a hard worker and she reminds me a lot of former Celebrity Apprentice contestant Summer Sanders because she seems to be a great #2. That could keep her in the game for a while.

#6) Lisa Rinna (17): Lisa is a hard worker, and she’s always busy as a bee. She’s willing to take on responsibility, and she rarely causes any waves. That being said, she hasn’t quite had a brilliant moment yet. She hasn’t quite throw herself out there, taken a big risk and saw her team victorious because of it. Until she does, it’s hard to be anything but cautiously optimistic.

#7) Stephen Baldwin (16): Stephen insert himself into challenges and does his best to help out where he can. That being said, there’s just something about his behavior and/ or face that puts people on edge. He just screams underhanded and untrustworthy, and whether warranted or not, that quality will likely cause everyone else to roll over on him at some point during a boardroom.

#8) Dennis Rodman(15): Dennis is a good foot solider. Given the right instructions, he’s a very valuable team member. In fact, a case could be made that he’s one of the two or three most famous people on the entire show, which adds a huge amount of value every time there’s a challenge dealing with the general public. It would be a surprise if Dennis won but certainly not if he stayed another few weeks.

The Dark Horses

#9) Omarosa (12): It’s upsetting to watch Omarosa’s team chicken out on bringing her into the boardroom week in and week out. However, I guess it saves the audience from having to listen to her inane arguments. What confuses me most about Omarosa is why she isn’t a hard worker. This week she took four hours to get a partial list of props. Last week, she disappeared for half the task to deal with nonsense. In short, she’s lazy. Her team may be scared of her, but she’s a weak individual who doesn’t really garner respect from anyone. It’s about time for her to go.

#10) Gary Busey (10): Busey is sort of like the anti-Omarosa. His teammates aren’t afraid to continually single him out in the boardroom; yet, no one really dislikes him. Everyone agrees he’s a good dude. He’s just kind of a well-intentioned weirdo that can be distracting if he’s not given enough to do. For his sake, I hope his team keeps winning.