The Apprentice
Week 8 – France
Melody's irritating everyone. "I used to speak six languages. I taught myself Italian as well. As well as the other six? So, seven then? "Obviously when we do work at a UN level, you use a lot of the languages there, but I run a global business (you don't say?), so I'm looking forward to seeing what this is about." Yeah …
Leon was star-struck though. "It's so impressive, like, that you can speak to them and understand what they're saying back," he gushed. Pity she translated the words of the four people she asked who all said that the car seat was a good idea into 'They don't like it, and they don't use cars very much." Made it even funnier that she ended up running late for her appointment because she was stuck in, er, traffic!
Susie's pitch for PM was marvellous. Now what was it again? Ah, yes: "I know nothing about France. I've never been there, I know nothing about the people or what sort of food they eat. I don't know where it is, or even what language they speak and I don't care. I'd be perfect for PM. Vote for me, yay!" And they did.
I'm liking Zoe's dry sense of humour. "Organic growth is another word for 'Not done very well,' isn't it?" was one of her rye little observations this week.
Am I being cynical in thinking that it was hardly beyond the realms of fantasy that Helen – a stylish, fashionable young woman – might have previously bought stuff online from the stylish, fashionable (and convenient!) Online Store La Redoute, so would have been able to confidently pitch to them with that prior knowledge of their branding/target-market under her belt? (To be honest, even I've heard of them, so I find it very hard to believe that none of Tragic had, and that none of them could even be bothered to look them up online before the pitch.)
Helen said 'Convenient' quite a lot during the pitch, but certainly came across as professional, warm and friendly. It feels as if we're all seeing her for the first time, and hasn't she got a lovely smile? I think it's her first one in the whole eight weeks. She's self-effacing, pretty, has good presentation skills and is cool under pressure. That's quite a lot of boxes ticked, isn't it?
The rest of them suddenly twigged that Helen was this week's 'Star Pupil' at the end too, and it'll be interesting to see who decides to cling to her skirt-tails and who tries to trip her up next week. (By the way: it's funny, but the character Helen in my book is exactly the same sort of professional business-woman as this Helen is!)
So: it was bye-bye Leon then. SirAlan liked Melody's ruthless streak, but would he want her as his partner? I can't see it myself. I reckon the front-runners now are Jim, Helen and Zoe. (Only two men left!) Let's see who 'Takes the biscuit' in the stupidity stakes next week …
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Jamie's Food Revolution Hits Hollywood …
What a happy ending (of sorts) to this Series, as Jamie finally gets a break when a new Superintendent takes over the Schools' Department and is actually 'open' to what Jamie's trying to do: move a mountain almost single-handedly.
Even more impressive is that he's done it in a Country where he was viewed as a merely another 'Celebrity' who'd come over to earn himself a few dollars at their expense (like others before him), both financially and personally.
It's been a moving and disturbing look at a ticking dietary time-bomb, and we can only hope that his efforts might go some way to start a backlash (although flavoured milk's been banned in the LA District, so that's a start).
The worst bit of this week's final show was where Jamie invited some top chefs for a meal and served them up the sort of food that American children were eating every day. They were barely able to bring themselves to even put it in their mouths (some wouldn't), so what does that say about how disgusting it was? It's enough to put you off processed food for life.
I might be a bit heavier than I should be, but I don't eat that sort of food and would certainly NEVER give it to children. To me, it's the equivalent of force-feeding geese, and the poor little mites have NO CHOICE. How can that be right?
This series has been very inspiring for me personally, and Jamie's "Baby Steps" mantra is something I've adopted and now repeat several times daily. It's on C4 catch-up. Why not take a look if you want to see a wonderful example of someone who's simply refused to take 'No' for an answer.
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