Celebrity Apprentice week 10, 3/6/08: Omarosa's fired

...and to that, I say better late than never.

Task: Choose an artist, and price and sell his or her art.
Eyes and Ears: Ivanka and Junior.

Morgan is bitterly disappointed to discover that Ortiz, not Omarosa, was fired. He blames Adkins and calls him a backstabber. Omarosa mutters to her teammates that she needs to "kick that British schmuck's ass." I'm not even going to talk about the wide white belt and go-go boots she wears the next day.

The teams meet in Trump's apartment to receive their next assignment. Trump tells them, "Some people consider it to be the greatest apartment in the world; I would never ever say that myself." (Who says the guy's not funny?) He introduces his current wife Melania and latest offspring, Barron, who I reluctantly admit is very cute.

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Empresario: Omarosa (PM), Trace Adkins, Stephen Baldwin

They say that those who don't learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them; I guess Omarosa's not a quick learner. She starts off by pointing out that this was the task that got her fired in the first season, but she still wants to manage it.

When the team meets with the gallery manager, Omarosa asks if there are any "secrets" that could help them. He simply tells them to follow their hearts in picking an artist. She gives him a blank look at first (heart... heart... where have I heard that word before...) and makes a pathetic comment about hoping it doesn't end her up in the boardroom.

Adkins is not enthusiastic about most of the art. Baldwin tries to metagame by predicting that Morgan would pick the most expensive artist and sell fewer pieces at very high prices. Omarosa is depressed to realize that Morgan has the wealthiest contacts. They unanimously choose artist David Kramer because they think that he has the most pieces and a lower price point; this gives them room to set a higher, more profitable price.

They set a price range of $2000 to $5000 and start calling friends. Baldwin's friends complain that it's too high. Omarosa tells him to stop making calls and do some online research about the art. (If this was ever mentioned during the boardroom meeting later on, it didn't make it on the air.) She tells him he can still make his calls, as long as he does his research at the same time; he disagrees that this is possible. She tells him she can do it, but I don't see a phone in her hand. Baldwin feels that she's setting him up. (Adkins shakes his head slightly and leaves the room in disgust.)

At the gallery, Adkins wanders into Hydra's room by mistake. Omarosa sees that it could be easy for visitors to get confused, and tells Baldwin they need to be careful about keeping their customers in the room.

Adkins asks about putting up the price stickers. Omarosa says they don't have time and that working from the price sheet will keep them in control. Not satisfied with the PM's answer, Adkins asks Baldwin, who disagrees and thinks they have to post the prices. The gallery manager says they should put up the stickers because that's the way things are done at the gallery.

At first, things look good for Empresario as Omarosa directs all visitors into their room. Someone even says she brought cash and is looking for art for her new apartment. Adkins forces a crooked grin and seems out of place; but as usual, he comes through for the team and quickly sells two pieces. Omarosa sells one piece.

The rest of the evening does not go so well; Omarosa works on one indecisive customer for a long time, practically begging him for the sale. He bites his lip and eventually says no; the price is too high.

Baldwin spends a lot of time socializing with a few of his visitors and neglects others; since no one else from Empresario is tending to them, Lewis lures one away. A few more of Baldwin's friends show up looking buzzed and wanting advice on where to go for dinner. Baldwin gives them some advice, but no sales pitch; Omarosa, who has sold only one piece herself, is unhappy with him and says that at least her friends showed up wanting to support her.

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Hydra: Piers Morgan (PM), Carol Alt, Lennox Lewis

They choose artist Shirley Shor - the only artist who offers multiple pieces of each item. The team is excited by this, even though it would seem to defeat the purpose of paying big bucks for a unique piece of art. Because of the multiple pieces per composition, Shor actually has more pieces than the artist Empresario chose. Morgan gloats, correctly guessing that Empresario wouldn't have figured that out.

He starts calling his friends, including popular foulmouthed chef Gordon Ramsay, quoting them prices of around $10,000. He pushes the charity angle hard, and hopes that Omarosa will be defeated so decisively that she never works in TV again.

When they're shown their room in the gallery, they worry that they'll be at a disadvantage because it's in the back. They ask for a change of venue and are told that the room was based on their choice of artist. Despite their fear that no one will find the room, however, they're offended when Adkins wanders in by mistake.

Morgan continues making calls from the gallery and is annoyed to find Baldwin lurking around. Baldwin claims that he was just on his way to the bathroom, but Morgan accuses him of spying and tells him to take the long way around. He says that it's okay with him if Baldwin wants to cheat; he just doesn't like that Baldwin pretends to have higher moral standards. He promises "severe violence" and threatens to hit Baldwin.

They scramble to prepare the exhibit. In my opinion, the Shor pieces, though abstract, are far more appealing than Kramer's; Morgan tells Lewis to stay in the front to direct people into the room as they come in. He thinks they probably need to sell only four or five pieces.

When the gallery opens, Morgan sends Lewis to the front when they realize that Omarosa has been directing all traffic into Empresario's room. Morgan gets on the phone and looks nervous. However, once people find Hydra's room, the team starts making sales. They even manage to poach at least one of Baldwin's contacts, who Baldwin failed to greet in a timely manner; Alt makes a sale to this guy. She also nearly sells something to one of Omarosa's customers, although Omarosa intervenes in time. Morgan, whose own friends have brought cash and an appetite for art, is delighted with the extra sale.

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In the boardroom

Omarosa knows they got crushed. Inexplicably, she claims to have sold two pieces instead of only one. Empresario makes $7,000, selling 3 of 16 pieces. Hydra makes $164,000, selling 14 of 20 pieces. Trump says that it's the worst slaughter in the history of The Apprentice. (I recall a task a few seasons ago, at a sporting goods store, when one team sold nothing and Trump fired several people. Maybe the opposing team didn't do much better and that's why he doesn't consider that a worse slaughter, but I think a total shutout is pretty bad.)

Morgan brags that he's a bigger celebrity than Omarosa. He asks Trump to "kill two of them" - Omarosa and Baldwin - and calls it a "catastrophe of biblical proportions." Trump lets the winners watch the entire proceedings from the suite (instead of blacking out just before the firing as usual). Morgan crows ceaselessly.

Baldwin complains that Alt poached one of his customers; this man was a friend of a friend and didn't understand that he was supposed to buy from Empresario. Adkins declines to agree that Trump should fire two people. Naturally, Omarosa doesn't think so either... she thinks Trump should fire only Baldwin. (I hate to admit this, but Baldwin really did fail the worst in this task, since he brought in the most people yet failed to sell to any of them, and even lost one to Hydra.)

Omarosa tells Trump about Morgan's threat to kick Baldwin's ass. She and Trump agree that Morgan won because he was "fired up," i.e. motivated by resentment against Omarosa. Ivanka points out that Omarosa armed him by engaging in personal insults. Omarosa claims that Morgan called her a tramp, bitch, and whore (he never called her a whore). She admits to calling him some names, and claims that she "knows things" about him.

When pressed, Omarosa says that Morgan's gay because he used to ask Lewis to take his shirt off. Trump disapproves of Omarosa's gay-bashing and invites Morgan back to the boardroom to answer to Omarosa's comments. Morgan practically teleports himself to the boardroom, kisses Adkins on the cheek, and calls him a beautiful cowboy. Then he returns to the suite. Adkins does not seem to appreciate or even understand the joke! Omarosa first claims that Morgan proved her point, then tries to laugh it off. Trump tries to reassure Adkins that Morgan was just kidding.

Baldwin says that, because of his faith, he's honest and doesn't backstab... UNLIKE HIS PROJECT MANAGER. Trump asks Adkins whether Baldwin should be fired over Omarosa. Top-seller Adkins explains that Baldwin's friends seemed to be there for the free wine, and some didn't even bring money.

Junior agrees that Baldwin should have been able to raise some money; on the other hand, Omarosa has lost three times. Ivanka wants Omarosa to explain her poor performance and defeated air, but she can't. Omarosa makes a weak jab at Ivanka's beauty, wealth, and intelligence, and says she's a hard worker. Trump cites Omarosa's defeated air as confirmation of his decision: she's fired, and Morgan adds a profit of $51,300 to the $65,000 he won in the buggy-ride task for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

In the cab, Omarosa laments her failure to raise money for her chosen charity, the Tomorrow's Aeronautic Museum's Positive Vibrations Program, which helps at-risk youths.