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The Apprentice: Week Three

Majid Nagra in The Apprentice
  • Posted at 1:39pm
  • 09 April 2009
  • by PaulJones-RT
  • 3 comments

Design and build a piece of home fitness gear? Absolutely. Prepare a pitch? No problem. You'll give us a day to do it? Um…

Sir Alan sneered at Empire's boxy product and, yes, it did look a bit like "an old TV with some wires hanging out the back". But what did he expect when he'd given them 24 hours to come up with something that would normally require months of research and product testing?

All the more incredible, then, that Ignite's "Body Rocka" looked so good. With its smooth, gleaming white curves, it was as if Apple's plans for world domination had extended into the gym. It even seemed to have some value as a piece of exercise equipment. It certainly did the trick for product demonstrator Mona, who yet again leaves me ruing the fact that her name is not actually pronounced "moaner".

Anyway, first impressions were backed up by sales figures and it was a hop, skip and a jump to the boardroom for Empire's Ben, Maj and project manager James.

I'm warming to James and his giant face, with its perpetual look of astonishment. He's calmed down a bit, started to articulate his thoughts better, and now his earnestness comes across as genuine enthusiasm rather than blustery guff.

I'm with Margaret in thinking that James did a reasonable job as Empire's team leader, too. His hands-off approach to product design seemed appropriate given the degree of fervour Ben was expressing. And, after all, he'd made the core concept - "keep it simple" - pretty clear, hadn't he? "Don't go crazy and turn it into a home gym," were his instructions. Enter Ben, with the all-in-one Home Multi-Tone.

Ben's an ass. Arrogant, pompous - and completely blind to the comedy value that results from ferocious macho posturing by a nasal-sounding man who looks like he's been slightly squashed. Then again, he does have a way with words. Discussing his prospective opponents, he gave us the wonderfully evocative "their arseholes are going to be twitching like rabbits' noses". Plaudits, also, for the somewhat impractical, yet undeniably horrific threat "I'll bite his bloody teeth out!"

But to fired Maj's cost, Sir Alan saw something he liked in Ben. Maybe the man responsible for the Amstrad email phone sympathised with someone who'd also designed a product that was 20 years too late. Or maybe he was just impressed by Ben's bulging biceps. After all, it's survival of the fittest.

**

So what did you think of last night's show? Did the right man go? Post a comment below and let us know.

And don't forget to check out the rest of our Apprentice content.

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Comments

  • Posted on 15 April 2009
  • at 5:57pm
  • by Summer Wilson

Am I the only one who would say to candidate Mr Alan SUgar each week that "You're Fired". He's not a touch on the superior candidates, all of whom could teach Mr Alan Sugar a thing or two. BUT.... Hey... diudn't Mr Alan Sugar fail to achieve anything other than O levels at school ? Perhaps the next series should feature Mr Alan Sugar attending comprehensive school, and building up his credentials. "Mr Sugar studies A GCSE".

  • Posted on 10 April 2009
  • at 4:03pm
  • by Michele

Maj did not deserve to go last night, yes he was in the background but so were many others, ben should have got he is such a pompus twit I actually only like one of the apprentices this year, they all seem like a right bunch of arrogant idiots I love the show though and it is very addictive, I love Sir Alans silly comments, His comment about the fence last night was hilarious

  • Posted on 09 April 2009
  • at 2:09pm
  • by Frankie

I'm always suspicious when someone goes out in the first few weeks for 'not contributing enough', it usually means 'you're not cazy enough and we want to keep the programme interesting for the next ten weeks'.

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