Here's my bit:

Contenders to at least make the interviews:

Susan
Tom
Jim
Helen

Possibles:
Leon
Melody


No chance:
The lovebirds (Glenn and Zoe)

Thinking about the prize -

Tom and Susan have to be right up there. LS has already said that the beauty business is a big industry (and I think he said that if he wasn't in the sector he's in atm, then that's where he would have gone? Or words to that effect) so Susan has a very good chance there. Also, the plus side with Tom is that he's not in a "niche" field so to speak. I think these two could well make the final, because with the other candidates, you (at the moment, anyway) have no idea what business LS' money could be invested in - apart from possibly Melody.

So, on the prize front, apart from the 3 mentioned above, the others don't have much chance, looking at their current jobs in particular.

Helen - executive assistant, she would have done better in previous series

Jim - sales and marketing manager

Leon - fast food marketing

Natasha - recruitment manager

Glenn - senior design engineer, for what exactly?

Zoe - project manager for a drinks manufacturer

But Susan didn't want to pay 50 quid. She was urging Zoe to offer more than 100.

And then they couldn't have done whatever it was they did instead. If everything else was equal, and they got what the other team got for the furniture and the other team did what they did instead, then they'd have lost by £56 instead of by £6. Or by £106 if Susan had her way.

Currently I think Loen and Glenn are the weakest, and the rest are all pretty good, and it's hard to tell which is best.

She has a great chance of winning next week, as it would mean that 6 out of 7 tasks have been won by female PM´s (all different females, must be some record already).

Still, I can see her being fired over any of her teammates (she is basically on the wrong team, ironically) next week or the week after.

As for Jim, I see him as the Stella of this year (impressive in the first few tasks and then slumming it in the second half of the series). In other words, he will go far.

P.S. The guy (or girl) who writes the summaries of the task for every candidate (on the official BBC site) really has it in for Melody

Contenders

Tom
Jim
Helen
Glen

Possibles:
Melody
Susan



No chance:
Natasha
Leon
Zoe

Contenders:
None of them

Maybe's:
Tom
Helen
Glenn
Melody

No Hoper's:
Susan
Leon
Jim
Zoe
Natasha

Contenders:
Melody
Helen

Maybes:
Tom
Glenn
Leon
Zoe

No-hopers:
Susan
Jim
Natasha

Susan is too young and a little immature and naive (I predict she'll get a very gentle firing though). Jim and Natasha have had their cards very clearly marked.

Contenders

Helen
Susan
Tom

Maybe

Natasha
Glen
Zoe


No Hopers

Leon
Melody
Jim

so far id say:

Contenders
Jim
Melody

Maybes
Natasha
Helen
Tom


No-hopers
Leon
Glenn
Susan

Possible Winners
Tom
Helen
Melody

Close but No Cigar
Glenn
Natasha

Out without a shout
Jim
Zoe
Leon
Susan

Contenders:
Melody
Glenn
Helen

Maybe:
Natasha

Less likely:
Jim
Tom
Zoe
Leon

No Hopers:
Susan

I can't see beyond Tom, Jim, Helen, or Melody as the winner.


Not the right thread to discuss this, but I don't agree with that assumption.

I think Glenn and Helen could well be dark horse's. Susan out next.

Contenders

Tom
Melody
Susan

Maybes

Jim
Natasha
Helen

No-hopers

Leon
Glenn

Your two no hopers in Leon and Glen are my tips to go next and both appear absolutely usueless compared to the rest

To be honest I think they all have a shot at it, simply because no-one is out-performing the rest. Everyone has been shown to have clear flaws and reasons why Lord Sugar wouldn't want to go into business with them.
The question is, whose mistakes are those that they can learn from and improve on?

The person who has had a 'meh' edit along with not much of a story is Glenn, which doesn't look good for him. Especially because all the previous invisib*tches suddenly popped up as proper characters.

The winner is just too hard to predict because I manage to talk myself out of whoever I consider.

Yes - Susan is definitely NOT a no hoper.

However she seems more suited to be an apprentice (as per the previous series) rather than a business partner (this year's prize).

For LA:

Contenders: Melody, Susan, Helen;
Maybes: Glenn, Tom, Zoe, Natasha;
No hopers: - Leon, Jim.

If I were LA:

Contenders: Melody, Glenn;
Maybes: Tom, Natasha; Susan, Helen;
No hopers: - Leon (jeez, what is he still doing there?), Jim, Zoe.

Contenders
Helen (the winning machine - seems to keep out of the petty stuff too, looks the most capable of working with Al, but would've been even better in the old style apprentice show)
Glenn (despite a dreadful effort as PM, could see Al siding with him - did well in trying to remotivate the team after Zoe's flop in the pitches for contracts)
Melody (Not that she deserves it, but just see her going the distance...)

Maybes
Natasha (got praised last week, but still a stroppy madam)
Tom (nice bloke with good ideas, but think Al sees him as a bit of a flake - would like to see him do well though, but think he's too nice a bloke for Al)

Deadwood
Susan ('so i was right after all'...!)
Leon (after bottling it over Jim)
Zoe (not a hope in hell, her card not so much marked as stamped upon)
Jim (Al definitely doesn't like him after trying to weasel out of the blame for the everydog fiasco - even if he lasts a while, he'll get a grilling in the interviews and go then).

Contenders:
Jim, Helen and Tom

Maybe's:
Glenn, Susan and Melody

No Hoper's:
Leon, Zoe and Natasha

Contenders
Tom
Helen
Melody

Maybe's
Susan
Natasha
Leon
Glenn

No Hopers
Jim
Zoe

It depends exactly what sort of business proposal they have to put in front of Lord Sugar!

I'll eat my hat if they didn't have to submit a fully thought out business plan as part of their application - and LS already has shortlist of who has presented him with something he's interested in. He will be watching those on his list closely to see how they perform in the tasks and interviews, but as he has sole charge of who gets fired in any week, those on his shortlist are safe in the boardroom unless they screw up royally.

That being the case I think the players are:-

Contenders
Susan
Tom
Jim

Maybe's
Melody
Natasha
Helen


No Hopers
Leon (fatally flawed after his lucky escape)
Glenn
Zoe (as Leon)

The only way I can see either of that pair surviving the next couple of weeks would be if they manage to be on the winning team, and so escape the Boardroom - some fairly poor candidates have gone a long way in previous series because they were lucky enough to be carried by a winning team!

I found that quite funny.
Tom said that there were things like old trainer shoes in some of those extra bags.
It was a good lesson for the candidates to learn. They were far too trusting.

It is a poor season for candidates compared to previous seasons.

However as I see it.

Contenders

Susan
Leon
Helen


Maybe's

Melody


Also rans

Jim
Zoe
Natasha
Tom
Glenn