Here we are again.
Cyndi is still simmering that Holly dissed her. "The younguns don't listen," she tells the camera. Cyndi and Holly hate each other. Like maybe for real.
This week Trace Adkins joins Trump for the challenge announcement. Sharon Osbourne is still out sick. They're going to take two young country stars, make them over and then prepare them for an interview with a magazine and a live performance. The teams also have to create press kits for the new stars.
Cyndi is project manager for Tenacity, she volunteered. Goldberg is handling it for Rock Solid, though Trump questions why Bret isn't doing it. Bret says it's because he's already done one and wants to give others a chance to step up.
This should be good, no?
Tenacity is already arguing in the car ride home from the task announcement. Cyndi is kind of being testy, truth be told -- probably because she's been treated badly the last few weeks. But still. She's being argumentative and condescending.
They cut to the men who seem to be listening to Bret, despite Goldberg being in charge.
The stars to be made-over are a very cute boy and girl. Luke and Emily. Emily wants to be on the girl's team because she doesn't want the men to pick her clothes. Aw.
Cut to the women: Still arguing.
Both teams, having met the stars, have to pick who they want to help. Cyndi likes the girl. Holly tries to think of a strategy to assure they get to work with Emily. It seems as if she's half-trying to help, half trying to set Cyndi up. Either way: More arguing.
Again: Following "Celebrity Apprentice" form, if judging only on the time spent with the teams, Tenancity is going to lose -- so much more camera time showing them arguing.
When the teams meet to talk about the stars, it's tense. Cyndi says she wants the girl. Rock Solid says it doesn't matter who they get, they're going to win. So they take Luke.
Back at Tenacity, Maria is now telling Cyndi she's hurting people's feelings in not taking them seriously. Cyndi is in big, big, big trouble if Tenacity loses.
In comes the happy Emily. Cyndi is still being bossy. But the other women are standing back, with a stance that makes it clear they want her to hang her self. They keep saying things to Cyndi like, "Am I allowed to talk now?" It's pretty clear after a while that they don't want to help, they just want to collect boardroom evidence. With attitudes like that, they probably will be in the boardroom.
In Rock Solid, suddenly Luke and Curtis are both shirtless. They're trying on each other's clothes. It's very YMCA. Hilarious. At Tenancity, they want Emily in leather and lace, soft and hard. They're arguing about makeup and clothes and everything -- Cyndi wants final say over all of it and won't delegate. She's also obsessing about small details like what kind of eye makeup Emily will have.
Holly and Maria think Cyndi is treating them like "two turnips that just fell off the truck." That might be true, but it's absurd that they think they're dabbling in music could be compared to Cyndi's career. To her, they are turnips. That's the essence of their conflict: Holly thinks she's as experienced as Cyndi. Cyndi rightly disagrees, but doesn't give Holly credit for being able to do anything. Sigh.
Summer, Cyndi shop for clothes. Summer, of course, tells the camera that she, too, has problems with Cyndi. Pattern? Anyone?
Bret and Luke work on his bio. Luke has issues having words put in his mouth and isn't afraid to say it when he thinks Bret is righting baloney.
Sharon is back! Just in time to watch Cyndi micro-manage the makeup. And also, perhaps, just in time to help back up Cyndi.
Trace checks in with the men. No issues. He and Bret end up chatting about Bret's daughter's potential health issues. Trace visits Tenacity and there's all kinds of activity, unlike the sleepy, men's side. Even Trace notices. He also senses the tension. Not that it's exactly hidden. He also notices that Cyndi has unparalleled experience and says, "If it was me I'd give her free rein." Exactly. Hear that Holly the Turnip?
Rock Solid's "shopping" for Luke was raiding Curtis' closet. Goldberg and Curtis get stuck in traffic in the 11th hour and Bret has to handle all sorts of last minute details alone.
It seems as if Bret is kicking ass with the photo shoot. At Tenacity, Emily's pictures are looking really good, too. It doesn't hurt that both she and Luke are gorgeous and probably couldn't take a good picture if they tried. Maria pouts to the camera that she took some pictures in third grade and something else and shouldn't she have input in the photo shoot? It's all getting very broken record-y.
A People magazine reporter comes to interview Emily. It's had to tell how it went. The same reporter goes to talk to Luke. Goldberg thinks he said "you know" too much.
At Tenacity, shockingly, Holly hates the press kit. She thinks Emily needed more touch ups. At Rock Solid Luke is having issues with all of the clothes that aren't plain. He doesn't want to wear a necklace, for instance. Trace who happens to be around tells him if the necklace "isn't his deal, he needs to broaden his deal." Ha!
Luke's show seems to go well. He wears the necklace. Emily does very well, too -- a much more mellow performance because that's the kind of singer she is. Her song chokes up folks in the audience.
Trace, the People reporter and others judge the makeovers. In the boardroom, Maria quickly tells Trump Cyndi didn't let her finish her sentences. Cyndi says Maria "sometimes sticks herself in there when she shouldn't." Maria wanted Emily edgier. Cyndi says her strongest player was "all of them." Huh? She says she would fire Maria if her team loses. Maria says "she doesn't know what I've done...she treated me as a child... the vision of my childhood idol is being ruined." Maria says Cyndi was "mean."
Goldberg said despite the girls having Cyndi and Sharon, they did well, especially because of Bret. Goldberg admits he delegated 95 percent of the work to Bret.
Trace says he likes Emily's brochure better. "You're obviously not a skin man," Trump says. Wow. He's seriously, seriously an ass.
Sharon thinks Rock Solid's package is better than her own team's. The industry insiders preferred the men's kit, too. Industry folks liked Emily's makeover better.
And overall? The winning team is Tenacity. (Well I'll be monkey's uncle!) Cyndi's charity, True Colors Foundation, gets the money and Emily and Luke's iTunes proceeds for a month (I think) go to her charity, too.
Back in the boardroom. Goldberg tells Trump he doesn't regret being project manager. Bret tells Trump he was responsible. Curtis says he'd fire Bret because he took on the responsibility. Trump says Bret wasn't the project manager -- what did Curtis contribute, Trump wants to know. Trump's son wants to know if Goldberg had been taking a free ride in the competition up to now, then took a leadership in a challenge he knew nothing about. Goldberg wants to amend the percentage of work Bret did -- 70 percent he says now.
Goldberg is fired.