Candidates sing a new song when Donald Trump asks the teams to produce, write and create a song, which will play live, on-air for XM Satellite Radio.
The first order of business begins when Clay adamantly asks Trump for a change, evening out the two teams. Trump then delivers their latest task -- to choose an unsigned singer/songwriter to work with, write an original song, and supervise the production of a song to be played live, on-air for one of XM's premiere stations -- XM Cafe. Both teams will have access to professional musicians to help them out. The team whose song best fits the format of XM Cafe, as judged by XM satellite radio executives, wins.
One team hits a high note with rave reviews while the other team's song falls flat. The winning team flies with Trump in his helicopter for a private skyline tour. Back in the boardroom, Trump's frustration with the losing team is noted as he remarks, "I don't think any of you should be proud of the performance this week..."
(Somerset, N.J.) Consulting Firm Owner -- I combine a strong academic background (Rutgers, Oxford, and MIT) with more than 13 years as an entrepreneur including a multi-million dollar enterprise. 
(Chicago, Ill.) Financial Journalist -- I'm not afraid to roll up my sleeves to get the job done, but I'm also equipped to lead and manage any group of individuals. 
(Las Vegas, Nev.) Salon & Spa Chain Owner -- I have the "IT" factor. I never limit myself. I always want more and I always get what I want. 
(Kansas City, Mo.) Real Estate Developer -- I have an incredible amount of intelligence and honesty. 
(Atlanta, Ga.) Risk Manager -- My raw drive, passion, and curiosity for life are all essential talents that I possess and have propelled me to success. Coupled with strong ethics and morals, my talents will separate me from the pack and get me hired. 
(College Station, Texas) Realtor -- Good enough, smart enough, and creative enough, and gosh darn it, people like me.
(New York, N.Y.) Print Company Executive -- I'm driven, focused, loud, and I won't let anything get in my way. --- When you boil it all down, Brian was fired for being late. 
(Sarasota, Fla.) Inventor -- My relentless dedication to the highest outcome for my client would serve Mr. Trump well. --- Markus was fired for not getting to the point. Ever.
(Alexandria, Va.) Sales Executive -- My leadership, my work ethic, and my potential combined all contribute to the ability to be an outstanding Apprentice. --- James was fired for not getting out on the floor and selling.
(Los Angeles, Calif.) Ad Sales Manager -- My leadership style has proven very successful and has made companies huge, long-term profits. Mr. Trump would be fortunate to have me on his team. --- Jennifer was fired for not making sales. With a 15 minute wait, she access to a captive audience and didn't convert.
(Louisville, Ky.) Wealth Manager I blend values, education, and experience to win in any situation. --- Mark was fired for... playing ball. 
(Gainesville, Ga.) Sales Executive -- . I am a team player and an exceptional team leader. I am creative and the quality I am most proud of is my integrity. Kristi was fired because she was disruptive and negative. She wasn't responsible for the loss, but she was responsible for a lot of the conflict and dissension on the team. That's what got her fired.
(Philadelphia, Pa.) Investment Banker -- ...superior dynamic, charismatic, electric personality -- Toral didn't step up to lead the team. She didn't prove herself with ideas or concepts. She didn't put on the degrading costume. She did, however, talk WAY too much in the boardroom. Keeping the attention on Toral is what got her fired.
(Anthem, Ariz.) Realty Company Owner -- I have an excellent business background in real estate; I'm the broker for my own company grossing over a million dollars in the first year. I am a real estate investor and entrepreneur. 
(Dallas, Texas) Marketing Executive -- I am the ultimate competitor: passionate, grounded, driven, and a work-horse who is, bottom line, a winner. -- Chris missed the not-even-remotely-subtle signs Donald was giving him and got fired for it.
(Tampa, Fla.) Real Estate Investor -- I'm hardworking, honest, ethical, fun, and fair. In the clutch I am truly dependable. I have a proven track record of strong leadership, salesmanship, and being a team player. 
I guess that means Randal and Rebecca will have Clay inflicted upon them?
Darn. I wanted to see how Clay would continue getting along with those left at Capital Edge! If he stayed, we would have seen entertaining tirades that would rival the Teutels on American Chopper. :-D
Posted by: Anonymous NYer | November 16, 2005 at 11:54 PM
Frankly, such a request would torch a candidate's employability with me. A whole team can't get along with you? Maybe the problem isn't the whole team.
Clay's a goner, like we knew he would be.
Gee, when did "The Apprentice" turn into "American Idol"? Maybe I'm missing something but when did musical ability become a requirement to work for Trump? Unless I totally misunderstand the task, it seems they are asking the final six to display talent that would be of little corporate value to anyone but Danny (A3). It would be hilarious if one of the two teams outsourced that clueless hippie just to get a song written.
Some of the tasks have been a real stretch before but this one is a giant leap unless Trump is thinking of replacing Simon.
Posted by: Tall_Texan | November 17, 2005 at 12:12 AM
LOL, I guess when they present business proposals and such, they have to know how to give the "song and dance?" :-D
Yea I agree the challenge is a bit incongruous. I think they should have made the challenge more on the business side of XM Satellite Radio-- Have each team run a different channel for a day or something, and whoever ends up with the most revenue (from selling commercial time) or listenership wins.
Posted by: Anonymous NYer | November 17, 2005 at 01:39 AM
What is this? Making music? so gay! No doubts, must be another dum episode! This season sucks!
Posted by: dino | November 17, 2005 at 02:20 AM
Not only that, the winning team gets to hang out with Bill, AGAIN. Like they haven't done that last week! Sheesh, even the reward is lame!
Posted by: Anonymous NYer | November 17, 2005 at 03:01 AM
Gotta hand it to Martha though... The reward for this week's winners on her show was nice-- Weekend jaunt to Maine via private jet and boat.
Posted by: Anonymous NYer | November 17, 2005 at 03:02 AM
I dunno anon NYer.... Weekend jaunts don't do anything for me. I'd rather get something concrete like going jewelry shopping to get a new watch. That would make the teams compete alot harder.
Posted by: whatup | November 17, 2005 at 03:17 AM
Bill is the reward again! This kind of reward only makes Clay happy!
Posted by: dino | November 17, 2005 at 04:07 AM
How come George never got the chance to be the reward?
Posted by: dino | November 17, 2005 at 04:09 AM
y'know, ieisseido, i wonder if like, alla or felisha are just randomly transferred over to sort of make a dent in the allaclique. neh, i bet not...clay will just be inserted on the other team...
which would leave clay-rebecca-randal v. adam-alla-felisha.
and despite clay (and we know he's not gonna be the manager), rebecca-randal tag team could kick ass.
Posted by: Terramax | November 17, 2005 at 09:32 AM
In addition to that, we really don't *know* that Rebecca (who must be PM this task) will lose this task. It may simply be like a fluke and Felisha will be fired. O_O. Whaev it won't happen. :'(.
Posted by: Ieisseido | November 17, 2005 at 09:36 AM
whaev to what won't happen? that felisha will be fired? so rebecca will? eh, i dunno, i mean, you could be right...there could be random flukes that occur
because, a) the fantasy game always tends to make us believe some stuff that doesn't always necessarily come true all the time, and b) there's loads of contradictory evidence for why and why she won't be fired
hopefully there will be some random thing and felisha will just be fired. YES. ew to rebecca being eliminated before felisha and ... CLAY >.<
Posted by: Terramax | November 17, 2005 at 09:38 AM
So who do you think will cry?
Posted by: Grace | November 17, 2005 at 10:15 AM
Okay, so now we know the teams. Adam, Felicia and Alla vs Randal, Rebecca and Clay. This leaves Rebecca to be PM ( logically speaking) as both Randal and Clay have done it twice. I think Felicia will be the PM but it could be Adam. Who do you think it will be? The tearful boardroom has me perplexed. The only way I can see Rebecca crying is d/t pain from her foot along with the stress of the boardroom just pulling her down. Clay is a wild card. The only way I see him crying is tears of anger. The only way I see Alla crying is when it is over and she has to give Felicia a tearful goodbye. Felicia could cry but only if Alla starts making an argument and its friend vs friend and it gets to her. Interesting.
Posted by: Grace | November 17, 2005 at 12:01 PM
to whatup:
Hey, don't knock weekend jaunts until you've tried it. ;-)
It's not every weekend when you can hop onto a private jet and escape from the city for a peaceful day in the countryside and a nice boat ride to boot!
But yes, material rewards are good too.
Posted by: Anonymous NYer | November 17, 2005 at 02:06 PM
Dammit. I hate when I get my episodes mixed up. Tonight's show does not have a tearful BR. Please accept my humble apologies.
Posted by: Grace | November 17, 2005 at 02:29 PM
dino,
"How come George never got the chance to be the reward?"
That's frickin' hilarious.
Posted by: whatup | November 17, 2005 at 05:27 PM
George as the reward - I love it. Although he is very intelligent and probably would be helpful to these misfits er candidates.
So based on the previews - does that mean Da Donald will fire the whole other team? I am kinda liking these mass firings - the teams are on serious notice now.
Visit the apprenticeviews blog for a run down of tonights episode. where everyone gets fired ha! and then Da Donald fires Martha, then turns to... YOU. ha!
Posted by: stephen | November 17, 2005 at 08:16 PM
George as the reward - I love it. Although he is very intelligent and probably would be helpful to these misfits er candidates.
So based on the previews - does that mean Da Donald will fire the whole other team? I am kinda liking these mass firings - the teams are on serious notice now.
Visit the apprenticeviews blog for a run down of tonights episode. where everyone gets fired ha! and then Da Donald fires Martha, then turns to... YOU. ha!
http://apprenticeviews.blogdrive.com
Posted by: stephen | November 17, 2005 at 08:16 PM
I loved how Randal came up with the poster that was completely uncalled for to begin with just to show that he did SOMETHING on the task and then made a ridiculous mistake. Zanthura anyone???
Posted by: GUTB | November 17, 2005 at 10:04 PM
OUCH. This episode REALLY put the hurtin' on Excel.
- Rebecca bears the ultimate responsibility for the loss since she's the PM, but...
- Randal contributed big time to the loss with his advertisement material gaffe (wrong channel on the poster), which is one of those rare times he steps in doodoo (but when he does, what a big pile of doodoo it is!)...
- And of course, Clay couldn't get along with anybody.
I felt all three had an equal chance of getting das boot because of the above reasons...
...and Trump chooses to boot Clay.
Looks like Clay's inability to get along with others finally caught up with him. Meanwhile, Randal and Rebecca has to be pretty demoralized. I wonder if that will cause them to lose again next week, and if they do, it sure won't be pretty! That would be 3 losses in a row.
Posted by: Anonymous NYer | November 17, 2005 at 10:12 PM
Didn't see episode!
Question:
Was Excel's song crappy?
Posted by: X | November 17, 2005 at 10:30 PM
I always thought that Randal was going to be the next apprentice. Now I believe that I have been wrong all along. Now I have to say I think that Alla will be the next apprentice.
Posted by: CARLITO`S WAY | November 17, 2005 at 10:33 PM
What the heck? Why does Rebecca get so much credit? Why do they say there's no question she's outstanding? Her record is 0-2. She is a loser. And she complains like crazy. They lost this task cause Rebecca ultimately didn't give XM the music they wanted. And she gets away scott free basically. And she nods after Trump fired Clay?...Rebecca, you're 0-2 and Clay is 2-0, why are you nodding? Your a loser. Your overall record is probably also losing. You have to give some hats off to Clay cause whether you like the way he did it or not, luck or not, he was 2-0 as PM and had a better record than Rebecca, for that reason alone, they should taken Clay over Rebecca.
Posted by: Amir | November 17, 2005 at 10:53 PM
Randal completely screwed up this task.
1. Went along with a bad idea (granted spending your entire adult life in universities probably doesn't help your music sense)
2. Did something completely uncalled for (the poster) and then making such an embarrasing mistake. THAT is something you DON'T expect from someone with 5 degrees including a PhD from MIT.
3. Could not defend himself in the boardroom, just like I said he wouldn't be able to: he's a university student at heart, he doesn't UNDERSTAND brutal back-stabbing work politics. He's lived too much of a sheltered, privlaged life.
Posted by: GUTB | November 17, 2005 at 11:13 PM