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The Apprentice final - my thoughts |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,601
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The Apprentice final - my thoughts
Good season. Weak candidates on the whole but the last few were the right picks. Alan Sugar got it right. Karren and Claude have been on the money with their points. I wanted Courtney to win but can totally understand that Alana's business really was more safe and secure. You're Fired worked well with Rod me thinks...
I can't deny thought....it was slightly an underwhelming watch for me tonight considering i found out (SPOILER AHEAD) that Alana won based on who Alan Sugar was following on twitter, careless Mr Sugar! ![]() I had heard whispers of both Alana and Grianna but as soon as she was evicted i knew that Alana had won it and it turned out right...no wonder he didn't comment on it, he's normally quite fast to!Your thoughts? |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Agree re weak candidates. I warmed to Alana as each week passed. So glad she won and hope she does well.
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#3 |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 900
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Alana should buy Oliver a large giin. He was right about Wales and right about Alana.
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#4 |
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Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Kingston Upon Thames
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Quote:
Alana should buy Oliver a large giin. He was right about Wales and right about Alana.
But - to total shock - he actually massively helped Alana with the brand and helped fix what Rebecca and Alana had originally mucked up! Surprise hero of the week. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Dec 2002
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Quote:
Good season. Weak candidates on the whole but the last few were the right picks. Alan Sugar got it right. Karren and Claude have been on the money with their points. I wanted Courtney to win but can totally understand that Alana's business really was more safe and secure. You're Fired worked well with Rod me thinks...
I can't deny thought....it was slightly an underwhelming watch for me tonight considering i found out (SPOILER AHEAD) that Alana won based on who Alan Sugar was following on twitter, careless Mr Sugar! ![]() I had heard whispers of both Alana and Grianna but as soon as she was evicted i knew that Alana had won it and it turned out right...no wonder he didn't comment on it, he's normally quite fast to!Your thoughts? |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Quote:
I'm as amazed about Oliver as well. Every time he opened his mouth I was cringing at the thought of what would come out and when he was left alone to manage things by himself he was the spitting image of Steve Carrel's Michael Scott from The US Office and I was dreading the inevitable results he'd bring.
But - to total shock - he actually massively helped Alana with the brand and helped fix what Rebecca and Alana had originally mucked up! Surprise hero of the week. |
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#7 |
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Quote:
His face was a mix of shock and pleasure when he was complimented in the boardroom.
I was shocked that he pulled it off but was pleased for both him and Alana that he somehow managed to pull it out of the bag. |
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#8 |
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Perfectly mirrored mine to be honest.
I was shocked that he pulled it off but was pleased for both him and Alana that he somehow managed to pull it out of the bag. |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Nov 2014
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I liked this series a lot, best in years.
As for the bad candidates comments, I think a lot of this is down to the edit. The show is edited these days to highlight the bad things the candidates do, more so than ever before. |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Sep 2015
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I was chuffed it worked out as he did seem to want Alana to win, no falseness about him.
I think Courtney mucked that up royally the minute he picked Sofiane though, who really did not seem to give the slightest care in the world about anyone but him. |
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#11 |
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I liked this series a lot, best in years.
As for the bad candidates comments, I think a lot of this is down to the edit. The show is edited these days to highlight the bad things the candidates do, more so than ever before. BUT this year was also one of the first years in a long time where I can remember the canididates' showing some real humanity by being self-aware. Like when Trishna in the café blurts out that they shouldn't be fighting like school girls, or when JD said in the car ride back from the boardroom that there was a lot of BS talked, or just Paul rambling to the camera about whatever Sofiane/the team were doing wrong (which, if he had just fixed the mistakes they were making, could easily have made him one of the top candidates the show had ever had, but alas...) When I actually think back on it, the candidates this year did seem to have some interesting personalities, and yet for some reason, when I was watching it live, I really only liked Karthick, Alana and JD throughout the process and that was it. Everyone else just seemed unlikeable to me for various reasons. |
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#12 |
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Quote:
Yeah I think Alana actually picked a team that genuinely wanted her to win, so I was pleased that worked out!
I think Courtney mucked that up royally the minute he picked Sofiane though, who really did not seem to give the slightest care in the world about anyone but him.
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#13 |
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Black Country lad in Yorkshire
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Alan Sugar really liked Alana...end of
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#14 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
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Quote:
Alana should buy Oliver a large giin. He was right about Wales and right about Alana.
Courtney chose people he got on with and not those who would be better suited to helping him... |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
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Personally I thought the weak link of the series was the Tasks themselves - they were underwhelming rehashes and in some cases just ill thought out (The Watersports one was the worst task I've seen).
Alana winning was good though, 2016 has been an absolutely awful year - so it's pleasing to have someone genuine nice win. |
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#16 |
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Join Date: Apr 2009
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Very slow start for me and too many candidates at the beginning but really improved mid way through the series and from then on was an enjoyable watch. I particularly liked the almost all female final five and Alana is the best winner for me for quite a few years.
Poor start but good end! |
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#17 |
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Join Date: Oct 2010
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The candidates were weak. Their businesses weaker.
If you were picking ones for a job it probably would have been Frances. She seemed most competent and actually seemed to have a brain. Her business was simply not 'investable' on the scale of show prize though. A good small business but won't ever have huge potential. Courtney was a joke. How he got to the final is beyond me and his business is ridiculous. Selling overpriced tat. Awful. Alana won because a) she clearly isn't as thick as most of them and b) she proposed a high volume low margin plan. Sure it isn't original and she'll face lots of competition, but least Alan has a small chance of eventually seeing a return at some point. Doubt he's holding his breath, but best chance he had. When Jessica and grainne are in the final you know its a weak series. I'd not trust either of them to run a bath, let alone a business. |
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#18 |
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Join Date: Jul 2011
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I have to say I liked the final after a series of disappointing tasks.
And wow Oliver he really nailed the packaging and I was so glad Alana made changes to the brand name...etc Poor Rebecca. No comment on Courtney's. Jessica did well but boy Sofiane was so annoying to watch. He did his very best but just came up short. Overall a well-deserved winner. A safe choice but I think with LS's name on it this business will work. |
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#19 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
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Quote:
Yeah I think Alana actually picked a team that genuinely wanted her to win, so I was pleased that worked out!
I think Courtney mucked that up royally the minute he picked Sofiane though, who really did not seem to give the slightest care in the world about anyone but him. The fair way is 1-2-2-2-1 not 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 tim |
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#20 |
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Join Date: Sep 2015
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Without both of those two things she could have not won. Although he did just say we need a USP, not the Alana me concept which was her own suggestion. But he provd to be very useful and his insistent on the Wales thing was very distinctive...!
Courtney chose people he got on with and not those who would be better suited to helping him... |
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#21 |
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Join Date: Feb 2013
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Quote:
The candidates were weak. Their businesses weaker.
If you were picking ones for a job it probably would have been Frances. She seemed most competent and actually seemed to have a brain. Her business was simply not 'investable' on the scale of show prize though. A good small business but won't ever have huge potential.chance he had. |
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#22 |
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Join Date: Jan 2014
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The show remains entertaining, but the format is now illogical seeing as it's for a project rather than a person. Imagine if, say, a young Dyson entered with his prototype vacuum, and he gets bombed out in the second week for having a bad day selling sausages. Makes no sense if you're aiming to invest in the best business plan. It's left to Sugar to either decide at the start which plan is the most viable and protect that applicant throughout the process, or sit back helpless as some of the best projects disappear because of the individual tasks. If this year's group really failed to consist of better plans than a naff novelty gift business and an unoriginal cake brand, then it's a pretty dire group.
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#23 |
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Join Date: Oct 2010
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Really? She repeatedly got words wrong, I don't think she's overly bright. Alana on the other hand seemed really intelligent. The other two girls deserved to get where they did too, neither were stupid at all. Jessica could be annoying at times but I found her genuinely warm and she seemed a really nice person to me. Grainne turned out to be a nice person too, I liked her. Frances seemed a bit sly to me.
Grainne was absolutely thick as mince. Nice girl. Totally useless though. Frances knew how to organise people. Which was a rare trait this year. She was competent and seemed easily the most professional. She knew also, how to manipulate situations to her advantage. Another useful business trait. I mean, lets be honest this isn't about hiring a nice person. She was probably the best if you wanted to hire someone. She actually has a business sustaining staff which none of the other finalists did. So she is more advanced than many. Just wasn't an investment opportunity and no doubt, she hadn't done enough research to get by. Alana was nice, and had a decent business, but you'd not employ her. Too many gaps in her knowledge. But her business opportunity was best of a bad bunch. I like her, but remember, business isn't about like. Or nice. |
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#24 |
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Southampton
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Courtney was a joke. How he got to the final is beyond me and his business is ridiculous. Selling overpriced tat. Awful. |
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#25 |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 900
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Jessica - hem raged. Enough said. She was just a loudmouth. No clue at all.
Grainne was absolutely thick as mince. Nice girl. Totally useless though. Frances knew how to organise people. Which was a rare trait this year. She was competent and seemed easily the most professional. She knew also, how to manipulate situations to her advantage. Another useful business trait. I mean, lets be honest this isn't about hiring a nice person. She was probably the best if you wanted to hire someone. She actually has a business sustaining staff which none of the other finalists did. So she is more advanced than many. Just wasn't an investment opportunity and no doubt, she hadn't done enough research to get by. Alana was nice, and had a decent business, but you'd not employ her. Too many gaps in her knowledge. But her business opportunity was best of a bad bunch. I like her, but remember, business isn't about like. Or nice. ![]() Frances' problem was hiding the two failed shops rather than being open and showing she understood why they'd failed and had learned from the experience. She compounded that with her handbag statement which at best says she is careless and at worst that she is careless about paying tax. Then Claude was unimpressed with her business plan -- commenting that Frances was missing her former partner who'd handled the numbers, and complaining of missing pages. It is hard to avoid the suspicion that Frances was in it for fame rather than business, but in any case, she needed someone to run the accounts side. |
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I had heard whispers of both Alana and Grianna but as soon as she was evicted i knew that Alana had won it and it turned out right...no wonder he didn't comment on it, he's normally quite fast to!
he really nailed the packaging and I was so glad Alana made changes to the brand name...etc