Celebrity Apprentice Power Rankings: Arsenio Hall Tries To Manage Aubrey

This week’s task focused on the loveable Sam, the affable, smiley mascot of Good Sam, the largest RV organization in the world. I was kind of hoping teams would have to give RV tours just like last season, but instead, the teams were forced to delve into yet another live presentation, this time surrounding the writing and producing a jingle for Good Sam's Roadside Assistance brand.

This task was in both Aubrey and Clay’s wheelhouses; however, the two had taken over as project managers only a week before, leaving Arsenio and Dayana to step up to the plate. When Dayana walked back through the boardroom door at the start of this week’s episode, escaping Trump’s firing once again, it looked like Lisa had hit the end of her tether. It only got worse when Dayana really did not have the creative skills needed to come up with a jingle, nor the assertiveness to truly manage the task.

On the other team, Aubrey and Arsenio were still enjoying tormenting one another as they came up with a “wholesome” cheerleading theme for the jingle and presentation. One thing was for certain: Aubrey can rock out a lot of work in a very small amount of time. The details are what is separating Aubrey's team from the other at this point, and Aubrey’s jingle was detailed in its product information, the group once again had handouts, and a clearly rehearsed performance. The other team likes to fly by the seat of its pants a bit more, and in the last two tasks, it has shown.

With Aubrey at the helm, Arsenio pulled through with his second win this week, but even before Trump announced the winner, it was clear Lisa would say whatever it took to ensure Dayana went home this week. It’s easy to see Lisa’s frustration with Dayana, especially during this past challenge, but it is not even a guilty pleasure to watch Lisa bully Dayana in the boardroom. Lisa is the same lady who freaked out two or three episodes ago about men calling women bitches, and then hypocritically dropped the term on Dayana multiple times this week. It’s both disheartening and pathetic to watch a woman with such a capacity to bring light and laughter to audiences to come off stage and have no capacity for self-control, no understanding of the difference between lacking in the creative department and being stupid, and no empathy for anyone but herself. It’s never good to have more chips than shoulders, but this week it apparently paid off, and Dayana was finally sent home.

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, thirteen were given for a last place vote. Thirteen 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 Contenders

#1) Clay Aiken (34): Partway through the challenge, both Clay and Lisa were at the end of their ropes with Dayana. The Miss Universe winner was giving Clay tips on how to perform, Lisa instructions on how to write and the backing group strange commands like make the song more pink. The way Clay and Lisa responded to the situation is a good indication of why he’s on top and she’s noticeably lower. Apart from one angry exchange with the model to prove his point, Clay largely stayed out of the fray, put his head down, did his job and acted respectfully in the boardroom. Lisa, well, she was another story. It takes at least a bit of professionalism to succeed on Apprentice, and Clay is wonderful at knowing when to bite his tongue.

#2) Aubrey O’Day (32): After one week of trying to act like a team player, Aubrey decided to tread on Arsenio’s rights as a project manager during the task. In some ways, this made sense: Aubrey is definitely the creative brains of the bunch and, anyway, this task gave her the opportunity to take the spotlight in a musical way. In other ways Aubrey being so uncompromisingly Aubrey might get her into trouble. Her capabilities have earned her spot number two on this list, but when the teams are cut down, will she be able to rein herself in enough to make the final cut?

#3) Arsenio Hall (29): On paper, Arsenio Hall should win Celebrity Apprentice. He has the best record on the show after winning both his first and second go as a project manager. He’s affable, a hard worker, and fairly creative. The reason Arsenio has consistently scored lower than his winning record has more to do with his predominance on his team week in and week out than his capacity to win. Sometimes Arsenio gets pushed around, sometimes Arsenio does not speak up when he needs to, and sometimes he is too eager to please. He definitely has a shot at a win if he just becomes a little more assertive, but he has very little time left to make that call.

#3) Lisa Lampanelli (29): Lisa is a hard worker. Often, she’s a very competent worker too, but her inability to let things drop or know when she’s said enough should prove to be her ultimate downfall. There’s a difference between setting the record straight and verbally berating someone unnecessarily, just as there’s a difference between sticking up for oneself and being a bully. Throughout the competition, Lisa has consistently found herself on the other side of the line. More often than not, her basic opinion was correct, but the way in which she delivered it, was frequently so far over the line it washed away any upper hand she might have had.

#5) Teresa Giudice (26): Because she lost the task, Dayana needed to go home this week; however, the cameras did not spend much time with Teresa at all. Trump at one point even said she wasn’t worth anything to her team. He immediately recanted, stating he was joking, but I highly doubt he was. If Teresa is not the next person to go home, someone else is going to have to really fuck something up. We love Teresa and she’s a whole lot of fun to watch, but that’s all she’s really bringing to the table.

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