Philippine Daily Inquirer

Combative stars set off fireworks in ‘Celebrity Apprentice’

- Nestor U. Torre

DONALD Trump’s TV show “The Apprentice” has become even more popular by way of its “stellar” edition, “Celebrity Apprentice,” which pits volatile and incandesce­nt luminaries against each other, with the ultimate winner getting a lot of money for his or her favorite charity.

Last July 7, we caught two of Season 12’s telecasts, back-toback, and we got more than our usual monthly fix of “star wars,” as the twin bill zapped us with scene after scene of in-your-face celebritie­s doing their best to outsmart, outmaneuve­r and outtalk each other!

The first telecast had the female and male teams competing against one another to come up with a yummy sandwich that would click the most with hungry buyers.

The ladies lost to the gents and their team leader, model Patri

cia Velasquez, was asked which of her members she felt should be “fired” by Trump from the competitio­n. She wanted Victo

ria Gotti, daughter of a notorious Mafia boss, kicked out, but Trump instead got rid of the original supermodel, Cheryl

Tiegs, who threw a fit because she definitely didn’t agree with the decision.

More acerbic

The second telecast was even more acerbic and competitiv­e, because the many entertaine­rs in the tilt were on home turf, since the challenge required each team to put on a 15-minute show at the famous “period genre” restaurant and performanc­e venue, Medieval Times.

The female team’s leader of the week, comic Lisa Lampanelli, thought up a really funny and topical spoof on the “Real Housewives” and “Jersey Shore” hit TV reality shows, transplant­ed to a medieval jousting setting, and everyone except Gotti worked really hard to make sure that it clicked with the venue’s patrons.

For their part, the male celebritie­s, led by star magician Penn Jil

lette, came up with a format that emphasized the different stellar personas of the male team’s members, like Clay Aiken singing; Lou

Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk, battling daredevil motorcycle star

Paul Teutul Sr., etc. After the smoke had cleared, it turned out that the men had won

again, getting many more votes from the audience than their female counterpar­ts, so the ladies had to face the music for a second time!

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ALESSANDRA de Rossi in “Liars”
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