The Apprentice final: Who will win?

[freelancer]

I was appalled that Lee didn't even say thank you.

Sara, I hate the way he says "That's what I'm talking about!" - he's not Lightning McQueen from the movie cars, I hated his "reverse pterodactyl" and his general way of doing things - he gives me the "creeps".

haha, yes very Lightining McQueen haha. Too obnoxious for his own good IMHO

 

[DanMartin]

Verity Gough has just published her latest and final Apprentice blog. She begins: "Oh.My.God. Ohmygod. I have gone numb after the shock I received when the winner of the Apprentice 2008 was announced last night. After 12 gruelling weeks, I was certainly not expecting that. In fact, I open the question out to the floor - did anyone see that one coming? You sly old dog, Sir A."

Click here to read Verity's blog in full.

 

[CatG]

I've made my feelings clear on my Textual Chemistry blog. I believe Lee is a worthy winner. Helene seemed to me to be a bull in a china shop with no charm, Alex too self-absorbed and conniving. Claire was hot to trot in a business sense but I'm agreed with Alan that working with her 24/7 could be enough to drive you insane. Her voice would be like white noise after a while.

 

[TaxAssist]

I really disliked Lee at the start of the programme and he really bullied Sara at one point which didn't add to my view on him but right towards the end he really came through for me and I think SAS made the right choice. Alex got too offended and Claire was on her best behaviour so think about how she would be if she got the job. Not even worth thinking about....

 

[singhmohit]

No point at all Rafe was not an option anyways

 

[Business Angel]

The acid test is who would you employ in your own company? Me, I'd hire Claire and Lee in that order. But Sugar seems to hire ones he won't get too much trouble from, and Claire might be hard work no matter how much she says she has changed.

Alex I would hire but for a job well below £100,000! And Helene? NEVER! How did she make the final???

John

 

[vsa]

Michelle has left Alan sugars company though now

Michelle left the company as she fell pregnant within the first few weeks of the job.

The final four were chosen a few months ago but they didn't actually find out who had won until Monday when the final episode was filmed.

 

[betterlanguages]

This is the first year that I will say that I truly do not care. The quality of the show and candidates have fallen, and just does not have the pull that it used to and that the American version has.

I don't agree re lack of quality. I think it has been a good series, I've watched re-runs of the earlier series recently, and don't think the candidates were any better. Would I employ any of them for £100,000 per year, probably not, but then I think the opportunity only appeals to certain types of people. Would I put myself through 12 weeks of hell, don't think so.

I think this series was great telly, the Kosha chicken fiasco was especially entertaining. I thought Jenny as PM on that task really showed herself up, ran at it like a bull at a gate with no planning or organisation. Lots of managers could learn from her experience!

What amazes me is the number of times candidates make the same mistakes, if I was going on the show, I'd watch every previous episode to try to learn from others mistakes. Raif's mistake with the advert was classic, losing teams on previous advertising tasks have made the same mistake...

cheers

Mike
Nottingham translation

 

[PaulLangham]

Instinctively Sir Alan Sugar will look for someone like himself, from a background similar to himself. On this occasion he has followed his instincts.

Lee to me looks like a thirty something salesman, not at all articulate; his basic oral skills are very poor.

I wasn't able to see all the episodes but in the one where they were selling/renting cars Lee did not impress.

I agree with some of the other comments, the overall level was poor. probably plenty of candidates were chosen for their regional accents including Lee's hard London drawl, this ensured there were a good number of class/culture clashes to woe the audience.

 

[Glottenham]

...I mean AMSTRAD (italics) computers?! Very very crappy machines...but I suppose thats irrelvent in the world of ego and celebraty...thus the reason for hiring the yobbo Sugar to do the show, the thus the reason for hiring who they did. I've just cashed £150000 gross from a deal, so I thought I'd try cocaine, well you only live once, and in reality its just another drug alongside alcohol etc...you know the thing of making a line of powder and rolling up a £20 note, holding one nostral closed and quickly breathing in, through the other nostral, the cocaine. It was a bit of a buzz - not that fantastic and it was suppost to be 'good stuff'...but even this rather disappointing hit was far far better than sitting and watching the total and completly brain dead boring nonsense on the TV. It was annoying as well that the people I was with didn't want to do the full proceedure - line and £20 bill...merely wanting to piss about with a dab on the toungue...but next day it seemed ridicuals to 'need' the other folks to do the same. Weird ego drug - like being on The Apprentice I should think. Look at me do a silly wee move...pathetic really...nice blag if you can get it maybe. I'm self employed by the way because I'd never ever ever ever ever take the authority of you people! In fact I can't take the authority of the authorities, and would quite happily live in the North West Frontier of Pakistan if I could get it together!

 

[UncleWiggy]

Alex and Helena will get fired, Lee and Claire will battle it out and Lee will win...

Any prizes???

Hindsight is a wonderfull thing!

I think Clair got the best deal. She will be snapped up by either TV presenting, or a top quality head hunter and end up better off than Lee who will have to disopear into the dark with at least a year working for Sir Alan. Then like last years winner... it will be Who won last years?

Whilst I did not think anyone shined briliantly I am sure most of the candidates will be approached with job offers, someone somewhere will have seen something they are looking for.

Roll on next series.. sadly I think I am to long in the tooth to give those young wipper snappers a run out!

Uncle Wiggy

 

[Mattonella Tile Studio]

Claire has a meeting with Karen Brady to discuss working there.

 

[betterlanguages]

Claire has a meeting with Karen Brady to discuss working there.

Where, since Karen Brady is a Director of several organisations. Not Birmingham City surely?

 

[TaxAssist]

The most horrific part was when that fool Kevin Shaw said that if the people he was pitching to didn't get involved then they were basically responsible for pollution!! What class act. Good telly though...

 

[TaxAssist]

Claire a TV presenter?? Are you kidding me?? Everyone dislikes her, what will she present?

Maybe she could present that new Ski Sunday program because the guy who presents that really grates on me!

 

[Mattonella Tile Studio]

Where, since Karen Brady is a Director of several organisations. Not Birmingham City surely?

She didn't say which one. She did say that she doesn't know much about football though.

 

[Tom McClelland]

She didn't say which one. She did say that she doesn't know much about football though.

Birmingham City should suit her down to the ground then.

 

[Pressman]

I called it right. (see here) It had to be Lee. He deserved to win for the reverse pterodactyl impersonation alone.

 

[betterlanguages]

I called it right. (see here) It had to be Lee. He deserved to win for the reverse pterodactyl impersonation alone.

Agreed Steve, but you deserve a prize for being able to spell "pterodactyl". Wasn't convinced by his phoney CV though....

 

[Phild1973]

Hmm, I wanted Claire to win. Only as she was prob the best of a bad bunch. It would be interesting to see how Lee gets on in the job!!

 

[Pressman]

Agreed Steve, but you deserve a prize for being able to spell "pterodactyl". Wasn't convinced by his phoney CV though....

Mike, I have to confess, I Googled it. I had written pterAdactyl but it looked all wrong.

 

[Indie]

IMO, The Apprentice is now either hideously scripted (to try and stir up some reactions among the viewing public by intentionally aggravating anyone with half a brain) - or Sir Alan has got too old and too sentimental to correctly judge people's abilities and personalities... For instance, Michael should have been fired several weeks ago - and I wouldn't have someone like Lee represent my company even if I got paid for it!!

I will certainly not be watching if they make another series.

On the bright side though - if this bumbling band of baboons is the best of the bunch in business Britain - then we can all very deservedly give ourselves a huge pat on the back!!

 

[peebles]

BB started and they didn't look that dissimilar to the apprentices. They're bickering already (1 week into the house) so again major similarities. Next the apprentice will be hiring weirdo fame-craving joe bloggs's who want to be famous for just 'being'. Maybe I'm the strange one who thinks people should be famous 'by chance' for actually doing something.

Alan Sugar (Cannot call him sir, again, what has he done?) has come across appallingly in this series in my opinion. I don't like Claire at all, wouldn't even choose her as a friend let alone emlpoyee, but when AS said 'get out of here, i'm sick of looking at you' was just bang out of order. And of course Claire licked his a** and retreated like a dutiful dog. Come on!!! Why can't anyone say 'actually AS i'm sick of looking at you as well, how dare you talk to someone like that?'

Can you tell I'm particularly hormonal today? I was gardening earlier, had to get the chainsaw out to cut down some branches.. pregnant woman with a chainsaw 'don't f****** mess ok.' it was FAB!

So to get back on track, out of Lee & Claire I would have chosen Lee as Claire would do my head in. She also said something which I thought was incredible considering her apparently fantastic career.. she said that if she asked for something by 10am and it wasn't there then she wouldn't use that supplier again. In my experience people always let you down, and if they offer the best price & best quality then it's you who have to work your way round them.

Having said that, Lee lied on his CV and I'm not sure what message that's giving across.

I think the quality this year was abysmal and I agree that out of the lot of them I wouldn't hire any. I think Lee will come a cropper with AS's big project.

 

[JohnG]

I'm surprised we haven't had more comments about Lee lying on his CV.

Perhaps I'm old fashioned (well, I am) but I don't think that was acceptable. If I'd been recruiting him it would have put me right off. Not just because he lied but mainly because he was stupid enough to get caught.

 

[jelly3]

Did anyone read the newspapers a few weeks ago where an insider said that the winner went to work and after a few weeks vanished. Now I thought until then that the final was only pre-recorded a couple of days before but what I have been told is, it was pre-recorded some time ago. Would like to know if anyone else read that article

The actual final task is pre-recorded between 2-3 weeks depending on the series before it goes out. The boardroom 'your hired' is done 1-2 days before we see it. .

There is also a good 6 months between the final task & previous tasks. The finalists all work for him for those 6 months.
So the question is does he really base his final decision on the tasks or the untelevised work we don't see?

 

[jelly3]

haha, yes very Lightining McQueen haha. Too obnoxious for his own good IMHO

Not as obnoxious as Alex appeared to be. I'm almost certain the National News did an item on Alex going back to profesional modeling full time now. Makes a complete joke of his participation if true.

 

[cmoney]

I think Tim Campbell from the first series was the best winner out of the four winners. Not sure if he is worth £100k a year, but remember this is a TV show so the rules are slightly different.

 

[Indie]

I'm surprised we haven't had more comments about Lee lying on his CV.

Perhaps I'm old fashioned (well, I am) but I don't think that was acceptable. If I'd been recruiting him it would have put me right off.

Same here - but then all the advisors seemed to agree that everyone lies on their CVs. I know it's not uncommon, but none of the others were caught at it so it can't be true that everyone does it - I certainly never have!! I'm also surprised that the show didn't use one of those CV checking services out there - but then again maybe they did, and just sat on the info until they could get the maximum dramatic effect out of it...

 

[JohnG]

I know it's not uncommon, but none of the others were caught at it so it can't be true that everyone does it - I certainly never have!! .

Sir A is quoted in today's Telegraph as saying that "everyone lies on their CV."

Like you, I never have and I take great exception to his statement. (Perhaps that's why I never managed to earn £100K a year.)

Not sure if he is worth £100k a year

I don't think any of them is worth £100K a year. Several of the contestants said they were already earning in excess of that. What's the country come to? Don't get me started.....

 

[Jezclayton]

clare should definitely have one.

Sorry..Who should have one what? I presume you mean CLAIRE should definitely have WON.

Are not the contestants on The Apprentice just a reflection of many on this forum?

 

[Indie]

Sorry..Who should have one what? I presume you mean CLAIRE should definitely have WON.

Are not the contestants on The Apprentice just a reflection of many on this forum?

I presume you meant to write "Sorry... Who should have one what?".

 

[Jezclayton]

Guess I asked for that?

Must have run out of dots and spaces.