You can check out more of the artists’ work through this link on the official show site.
Leah’s the only one with work that I actually like; Andrei and Meghan I think are fine, if not my cup of tea. For different reasons, of course.
Does anybody know what Trump’s educational background is? I get a gut feeling that Trump does not have an MBA. And maybe not even a BA. I think he’s pretty much like Troy, but on a bigger scale. These players with the MBAs haven’t shown me too much so far, by the way.
IIRC, he went to Wharton. Also, I believe The Donald had a pretty substantial leg up in his career. His father was also a real estate developer and left Trump with a medium-sized fortune for seed money.
Trump has an MBA from Wharton. And I believe his father died long after Trump became successful and well-known. “The Art of the Deal” was published prior to his father’s death.
True, his father was in the construction business and Trump learned a lot from him, and he may (or may not) have had some financial assistance from his father starting out, but The Donald is one sharp cookie and his accomplishments, especially at such a young age (he was only 44 when “The Art of the Deal” was written) are truly astounding.
There’s no doubt Trump plays with the big boys, but Horatio Alger, he’s not.
One of the more intriguing things about the show for me has been disovering that the Donald does have substance. I find his critiques insightful and informative. He doesn’t always focus on what I expect him to focus on. For example, he doesn’t seem to care as much whether they fail at the tasks as he does about how the contestants respond to their failures.
He doesn’t suffer whining or excuses, that’s clear, and he doesn’t respect anything he perceives as weakness. He seems to value self-confidence, directness (and that’s a biggie too, I think. If he asks you a question, he wants a direct answer, not a lot of waffling or weaseling. These people need to figure that out. If Trump says “Who sucks the most?” Just say “Omarosa.” Don’t hem and haw and qualify it. He hates that, it’s obvious), responsibility (if you fucked up, just admit you fucked up. The more you make excuses, the more you’re going to irritate him) and courage. I think he likes to see a set of balls on somebody. taking a risk isn’t going to hurt you as long as you don’t try to distance yourself from it it doesn’t pan out.
I really think I’m learning something by watching Trump’s (and his assistants’) evaluations. The really great thing about this show is that it’s been unusually meritocratic in its elimination of contestants. The ones who get ousted are the ones who deserve to get ousted. Trump gets it right. He knows who sucks and who doesn’t.
If these contestants were really smart they would emulate Carolyn in every way possible. She seems like the quintessential Trump emloyee. Become Carolyn and you will win.
That place is a horror. Did you see the movie Devil’s Advocate? Much of it revolves around the murder trial of Craig T. Nelson’s Trump-like character (i.e. multibillionaire NYC real estate tycoon- I’m not in any way impying Trump’s a murderer). His apartment in the movie was clearly designed by somebody who had seen the inside of Trump’s Palazzo di Liberace penthouse- the gilded everythings, the floor to ceiling skyscraper windows, the general “too much by about 400%” nature of the whole beast.
Oh Dear Og, if a bajillion dollars buys that for decorating, I’d rather be poor. Trumps place was the height of ostentatious, Pretentious over decorating that this small town gal has ever seen.
Thanks, Diogenes, for that insight. Very interesting.
Explain to me something about Carolyn. I don’t get it. I barely notice her. What’s so extraordinary about her – she’s nameless, faceless, and keeps her mouth shut. Is that why they should become her?
Well, I’m on the Carolyn and George lurve-train and part of what I think really impresses people about Carolyn is how she seems to truly represent a strong business woman. Aside from Amy (sort of) (and to whom I send no love for her ‘Carolyn hates me becuz I am pretty’ comment from the Gold Course Smackdown), the vast majority of these women have based their task-based success on the use of tacky flirting and whining rather than intelligence, planning and coordination. Not that these tasks are really representative of anything other than a reality show-but still, they sink far below the level of professionalism that I’ve seen successful women display in the workplace. On the other hand, Carolyn (who is pretty but not in a skanky way, let’s say) obviously conducts herself with dignity-dresses and acts like the part. Besides, I love her snark. The expressions on her face when looking at the Apprentices? Classic. Her snide asides to the Donald (“I don’t think so tough”), are hysterical.
George is another star. Gentlemanly, sharp and cynical looking-love how he refuses to take it from the Apprentices, points out details they want to avoid and seems to really be looking for a good candidate.
**anu-La1979 : The expressions on her face when looking at the Apprentices? Classic. Her snide asides to the Donald (“I don’t think so tough”), are hysterical. **
Heidi, especially, needs to take a page from Carolyn here. She mugs way too much, and that eye-rolling is going to get her smacked down one of these days. That kind of stuff is just as much an interruption as speaking. I like Heidi but it’s too bad that she can’t keep some thoughts to herself in the board room.
Omarosa was on Leno last night. Did anyone see it? Tom Arnold was on ahead of her (and does he ever look jittery) and he commented on her phony concussion. She still doesn’t get it – she’s not defensive, just delusional.
I don’t think she keeps her mouth shut. She doesn’t seem given to small talk but she speaks her mind when she feels like it.
I guess what strikes me about her is her self-possession, her intelligence, her directness and just an over all projection of authority. The fact that she does it with few words is one of her strengths.
Doesn’t seem direct, strong or self-possessed to me. Just quiet. Seems like a mindless henchwoman.
I kind of doubt that either George or Carolyn are really all that powerful in the Trump organization. They’re certainly high-profile. But following these teams around to be Trumps “eyes and ears” is a little bit like being seconded to run the United Way drive. If they had really critical jobs, they couldn’t be spared.
Well, according to this Carolyn is an executive VP of the Trump organization as well as GM and COO of two Trump National Golf Clubs. I read somewhere else that she’s responsible for bringing the LPGA tour to Trump National in Briarcliff, NY.
Take that for it’s worth, but he wouldn’t have picked these two if he didn’t trust their advice.
Apparently, the final challenge is live on April 15. I am now going to reveal who the final two will be. Since this is based on more than just guesswork, I’ll put it in a spoiler box.
The final two contestants are Amy and Troy.
I saw it. And even though I was in an allergy-medicine-induced state of drowsiness, she still managed to piss me off. I fell asleep thinking about what an idiot she was.
But this show is great. It’s got my boyfriend hooked, and he usually doesn’t like reality TV. He commented on Thursday during the show that he’d love to have 10 minutes with The Donald, just to hear some of his thoughts and ideas.
I dunno about this. I mean, it’s sort of like the reason why the eliminations have been so merit-based so far: Trump is putting his personal reputation on the line with this show. He’s been getting tons of exposure from this, and the results of this show reflect directly on his business acumen and ability to tell a good businessperson from a bad one. Millions of potential customers and investors are watching this, and every decision he makes is scrutinized by each one. Sure, the results may not have a serious impact on his bottom line, but image and perception is a huge part of business, and I’d say he’s risking a lot doing this show.
Given all that, if I were in Trump’s shoes, I’d make DAMN sure I respected the ability and opinions of the people I sent out on this thing.
I just wanted to chime in on the somewhat debate that was being made early on about the fact that Omarosa performed well in the given task and Troy did horrible. Kwame, chose well, but that’s not what I’m getting at.
I think Omarosa was going to be fired, even without the retarded barging in thing she did. Trump is using the previous boardroom meetings to teach people lessons or improvements they can make. Omarosa’s last meeting should’ve told her to be a team player, don’t be a bitch, and don’t act high and mighty. Did she act on these lessons? No, and therefore she got the boot.
The boardroom is a great place to see where you need to improve. I think the great players are the ones that learn from what they hear in the boardroom and take to heart the changes that they need to make upon the criticism given.
Oh and on the final thing about Amy and the “pretty girl” thing she said. I think it was said in jest after hearing or the outing of the tactics the girls were exploiting. I would like to believe it’s was a light-hearted comment. If not, that would seriously hinder her chances.