The Celebrity Apprentice 4 Episode 6

Aside from the fact that his whole team cited Gary Busey as the person needing to be fired in The Celebrity Apprentice 4 Episode 5, Trump instead fired Richard Hatch without giving him a chance to defend himself, in spite of his oft-used reasoning for firing people being that they don’t fight for themselves.

The men aren’t happy that Gary’s still around. Then again, La Toya, who did a great job last week, still feels like the women don’t want her around either.

The task is to create a glass box or, uh, something, for Australian Gold sunscreen. They will be judged on creativity and originality, brand messaging, and marketing theme outside the box.

La Toya will be the project manager for the women because either way she’s in the line of fire regardless. Mark McGrath will be the project manager for the men.

The men are focused on hot chicks, but eventually they come up with a pirate theme. Their treasure will be the half dressed girls. Gary’s never seen a pirate movie like this. Surely there’s a NC-17 movie along these lines, though.

La Toya doesn’t have any ideas for a theme, nor any decision what sounds good.

The executives say that their demographic is anyone and everyone that loves to have fun outdoors. Thanks for narrowing that down.

After their meeting, John Rich joins Gary in his protest for the pirate theme, but the others are stuck on it. Probably too late to change anyway.

Lil Jon has been put in charge of costumes, props, and Gary.

La Toya makes her decision: she wants a man and a woman inside the box painted gold. The smart thing here would be to make Hope, the Playmate of the Year, that woman. Hope volunteers to do just that, but La Toya would rather have her do the accounting and shopping. Surely she can play do both roles.

Star has a concern. They are more than double their budget for printed materials. La Toya doesn’t care. She wants everything they have can get, whether they have the money or not.

The women go shopping, but none of them have any idea what they’re supposed to be shopping for because they still don’t understand the concept. La Toya shows up at the designers without a plan. She starts giving them random ideas off the top of her head.

Lil Jon has decided to leave the koala bear outfit behind because it’s not exactly like the one the company uses for their mascot. Having heard the execs stress how important the koala is to them, the women, however, make sure they get the koala suit.

Ivanka likes the way Mark is leading, although she doesn’t think he’s the idea generator. She views the women’s idea as safe and obvious, which leads La Toya to want to add something else, though she doesn’t know what.

La Toya calls the shoppers to ask them to buy 125 bags of sand, 50 pounds each, so 3 tons of sand. This does not sound at all insane to her.

The morning of the event, La Toya has decided to add a winter element to the summer theme. A little late for that, even if it is more original.

Don Jr. is confused by what he’s looking at when it comes to the women, but he likes the brand integration. La Toya says there’s no togetherness. The never shy NeNe says La Toya is not good, and she’d be surprised if they win, just hoping that the guys suck. The men, meanwhile, have a defined theme, a lot of energy, and are mostly a cohesive unit.

Meat Loaf greets the executives for the men. Gary drags them off to the side, and he won’t let them leave. Somebody better go save them before he talks any more. The others come up and try to distract them, but he refuses to stop babbling, shoving Mark aside.

NeNe thinks La Toya was just okay. Marlee says her energy and style were different, with less control.

Mark says that, if they don’t win, he’ll take full responsibility for the loss.

For the women, the executives liked the messaging, use of the mascot, and the motto, but they did not like the public interaction and not making Hope wear a bikini. For the men, they liked the crowd interaction, the job they did with the product, and John’s chant, but they didn’t like the pirate theme, lack of a mascot, or Gary’s presentation.

The women may have been safe and boring, but the men thought too far outside the box, so the women have won. As the winning project manager, La Toya will receive $20,000 from Trump and $20,000 from Australian Gold for her charity, AIDS Project Los Angeles.

In spite of their win, NeNe doesn’t take time to celebrate, instead opting to get into a screaming match with herself about La Toya.

Mark’s willing to fall on the sword as the project manager, but this is yet one more opportunity for everyone to gang up on Gary. Meat Loaf strongly defends Mark and goes after Gary. Lil Jon agrees.

Ivanka doesn’t think Gary cost them the task, but nonetheless he is viewed by the team as a liability. The women don’t think Gary’s going to go, as he knows what he needs to do in the moments he has clarity, mostly in the boardroom. John echoes those sentiments.

Mark will be taking only Gary back into the boardroom with him. In regular The Apprentice, the reward for that is being fired. Let’s see how it works out here.

The men have brought up an issue they had during the meeting with the executives, two of whom were women. Gary said the product makes him feel very sexual, which made everybody uncomfortable. He doesn’t remember saying that.

Once again, Trump does not care that Gary is a loose cannon. On the contrary, he likes it, for the sake of the drama it creates. Having come up with the losing theme, Mark has been fired.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Celebrity Apprentice 4 Episode 7, which airs Sunday at 9/8c on NBC.

The Amazing Race 18 Episode 7

Following a breakdown on the road block, Margie & Luke were eliminated in The Amazing Race 18 Episode 6.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Gary & Mallory – 1:18PM
Second: Jet & Cord – 1:52PM
Third: Ron & Christina – 1:53PM
Fourth: Zev & Justin – 1:54PM
Fifth: Kent & Vyxsin – 1:55PM
Sixth: Kisha & Jen – 2:03PM
Seventh: Flight Time & Big Easy – 3:45PM

Teams must now fly to Varanasi, India. It’s pretty safe to say everybody will be on the same flight. That safe bet, however, is not what some teams stumble upon. Cord says he’s just going to take the ticket agent’s word this is the earliest flight. It sure is the earliest flight… for that airline.

First flight (arrives at 10:45AM): Gary & Mallory, Kent & Vyxsin, Kisha & Jen, Flight Time & Big Easy, Ron & Christina, Zev & Justin
Second flight (arrives at 11:45AM): Jet & Cord

Varanasi’s a lot smaller than Kolkata at just over 1 million people, but that doesn’t make it any less hectic. Every vehicle is honking nonstop, but that’s not stopping the cows, elephants, and various assorted animals from roaming the streets.

The road block is a search for holy men using pictures. They will have to find all six men and arrange their six clues to learn the meaning of life, which they must tell to the final sadhu.

Road block (in order of arrival): Kent, Big Easy, Jen, Gary, Ron, Justin, Cord

In this season of giving the enemy a helping hand, Big Easy lets Jen follow him for a time, and later helps Justin. Kent then decides to follow Gary, although Kent quickly takes off once he has all the clues. Can’t blame him, but I wouldn’t be so keen to help him again either. While they’re waiting for their partners to complete the task, Mallory, Vyxsin, and Christina see cowboy hats. This is especially bad news for Ron & Christina as Ron wanders around aimlessly.

For those who are curious, the meaning of life is: once you’re over the hill you pick up speed.

The detour is a choice between feed the fire or feed the buffalo. In feed the fire, they must make 50 traditional fuel patties out of buffalo manure, slap them on a wall, load a stove with patties, and light a fire to boil milk. In feed the buffalo, they will pick up a large load of hay to deliver it to the address they have been given.

For the sake of cleanliness and somewhat improved smell, avoiding the manure task seems the wisest. At least they have been provided with gloves. Undeterred by her previous time wearing this outfit in manure in Russia, Mallory has again decided to wear it, only to be in the manure again.

Feed the buffalo: Zev & Justin, Flight Time & Big Easy, Jet & Cord, Ron & Christina
Feed the fire: Kisha & Jen, Kent & Vyxsin, Gary & Mallory

Whatever happens at the detour, once again the road block has already been the deciding factor. Jen throws a bit of a tantrum, and Vyxsin jumps out of the water taxi (probably the fastest way) and into the water that’s probably not intended for humans. But it’s all irrelevant in spite of the drama that an effort is made to create.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Ramnagar Fort.

First: Flight Time & Big Easy (win a trip to Hawaii)
Second: Zev & Justin
Third: Kisha & Jen
Fourth: Gary & Mallory
Fifth: Jet & Cord
Sixth: Kent & Vyxsin
Eliminated: Ron & Christina

Ron & Christina have been eliminated, but they say they’re closer than they were before.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 18 Episode 8, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

American Idol Season 10 Episode 25

The top 9 performed in American Idol Season 10 Episode 24. Tonight one more will go home.

It’s anybody’s game. Unless James, Scotty, or Pia go home, I won’t be very surprised by whatever happens. I can’t see that happening, but this leaves us with a lot of choices. Haley was the bottom three queen, but she’s come on strong, especially last night. Paul’s worster support seems to be on its last legs. Jacob’s struggling to be the stand out he was initially. Lauren’s kind of just there, but for her sake hopefully somewhere in the middle. Casey fell hard and already got voted out once. Stefano, meanwhile, wasn’t even voted in to begin with, relying on the wild card to make it to the top 13.

Stefano Langone, Lauren Alaina, and Casey Abrams step forward first. Lauren is safe. Casey is also safe, leaving Stefano in the bottom three.

Paul McDonald, Pia Toscano, and Scotty McCreery are up next. Scotty is safe. Paul is safe. Really, America? Really? That means Pia is in the bottom three.

James Durbin, Haley Reinhart, and Jacob Lusk are the final group. Because he’s got a following already built, James is safe. Haley is also safe. That makes Jacob the final person to join the bottom three.

Stefano, Pia, and Jacob have formed the bottom three. Pia notwithstanding, this is not too unexpected. Jacob is safe. Stefano is also safe. That means that Pia is leaving us. The judges are angry. Should have saved their save.

Okay, contestants. Reality check. Thia was told to do up tempo by Randy. She obliged. She was sent home the following week, having never previously been in the bottom. Pia was told to do up tempo by Randy. She obliged. She was sent home the same week, having never previously been in the bottom. Ballad singers, do what you do best and don’t focus on impressing Randy by listening to his bad advice. Granted, when he keeps harping on his opinion that you’re boring, he’s pretty much torpedoing any chance you have anyway since it’s not like another judge on the panel is capable of countering him without Simon around any more. But you may as well go down swinging.

In his parting (cut off by Tivo) plea, Ryan asks the audience to stick around this season. So begins the damage control.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 10 Episode 26, which airs Wedensday at 8/7c on Fox.

American Idol Season 10 Episode 24

The double elimination in American Idol Season 10 Episode 23 meant the end of the road for both Naima and Thia. Tonight the top 9 perform songs from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Jacob Lusk
Song: Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson (not Let’s Get It On)
Jennifer: You can do anything if you believe in yourself.
Randy: So proud of you. That was hot.
Number: 1-866-IDOLS-01

He tells us that if he’s in the bottom three, it’s because America can’t look at themselves in the mirror. Really?

Haley Reinhart
Song: Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin
Jennifer: You’re a contender.
Randy: That’s the Haley we loved when we first saw you. Welcome back.
Steven: Nothing wrong with that. Took it up a few notchees.
Number: 1-866-IDOLS-02

Casey Abrams
Song: Have You Ever Seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Randy: Made CCR proud. Making the upright bass cool.
Steven: Not just a singer. A true musician.
Jennifer: I’m paying top dollar to be in the front row.
Number: 1-866-IDOLS-03

Lauren Alaina
Song: Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin
Steven: Tonight you are a natural born woman.
Randy: Probably picked one of the most difficult songs. Not jumping up and down, but you did a good job. Some people in past seasons (Kelly Clarkson in season 1) really laid it out.
Number: 1-866-IDOLS-04

James Durbin
Song: While My Guitar Gently Weeps by George Harrison
Jennifer: Nice to see that other side of you.
Randy: Loved seeing the emotional side of James Durbin.
Steven: Good to see you gently weep.
Number: 1-866-IDOLS-05

Scotty McCreery
Song: That’s Alright Mama by Elvis Presley
Randy: Scotty is in it to win it. You can perform.
Steven: Brought Elvis into the house. Heard girls screaming in the audience.
Number: 1-866-IDOLS-06

Pia Toscano
Song: River Deep, Mountain High by Tina Turner (as promised, though I’d have rather heard another ballad)
Steven: Murderer. You killed it.
Jennifer: Proved you can sing an up tempo.
Randy: Showed what I already knew. You can deliver on an up tempo.
Number: 1-866-IDOLS-07

Stefano Langone
Song: When a Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge
Jennifer: Felt maybe for the first time you were singing to somebody.
Randy: First part felt a little jerky but liked it.
Steven: Nailed it. Lot of passion.
Number: 1-866-IDOLS-08

Paul McDonald
Song: Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash
Randy: I loved it.
Steven: I loved it.
Jennifer: I loved it.
Number: 1-866-IDOLS-09

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 10 Episode 25, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.

Survivor: Redemption Islande Episode 8

With the Zapatera tribe doing something somewhat unpredictable for the first time in Survivor: Redemption Island Episode 7, “the six” turned on Sarita rather than David.

Matt says he’s been hearing some horror stories from Zapatera, but Sarita doesn’t want to bag on the tribe that just got rid of her, instead going on about how great they are.

Both tribes will be attending the duel in full. This marks Matt’s sixth and final duel, which he’s going into with a cut on his foot that he indicates is a big deal. For the duel, they will use their arms to brace themselves while their bare feet are on narrow footholds. After 15 minutes, they drop down to the second foothold. 15 minutes of being tortured by listening to Phillip babble leads into the move to the last foothold. Sarita’s tribe is rooting for her as if they didn’t just turn on her. She falls, and Matt wins again, buying himself a ticket back into the game, which for the record has nothing to do with God’s will.

For Boston Rob, this is not good news. This is a guy who could flip on their tribe at merge. That’s what Rob would do. Speaking of which, we are now merged, and everybody will be heading to a new beach. One more thing: beginning with the next tribal council, Redemption Island starts again.

Murlonio means united from the sea, or so Rob tells his new tribe. That sounds like a good thing to call themselves then.

Matt wants some splainin from his old tribe. He’s the only hope for the Zapatera tribe, which was stupid enough to throw that challenge to get rid of Russell, leading to their own downfall. As far as I’m concerned, they deserve to get Pagonged on the basis of stupidity alone. Don’t lose on purpose and give Boston Rob momentum. That said, Mike makes a pitch to Matt that them, Andrea, and Steve should be the final four. I wouldn’t trust this guy any more than I’d trust the tribe that got rid of me early.

Matt has come up with a pecking order. First, he wants to get rid of Steve and Phillip. Then he wants to get rid of Rob. Huh? I don’t get it. He’s basing this randomness not on it being wise but rather his theory that the game respects big moves. However, he’s not so sure God wants him to do that. Oy.

Rob wants this Christian coalition broken up. He doesn’t like any group that likes the same thing.

For the first time, individual immunity is up for grabs. They will stand on a log while balancing balls on a disc. Phillip’s struggling already. Julie’s the first one out. They add a second ball. Ashley is out next, closely followed by David. A third and final ball is added to the mix. This all just seems like a matter of luck to me. Andrea’s out. Grant follows her. Matt’s the next one out, followed by Matt and then Rob. In spite of his attempt to whistle to his balls to get them to return, Ralph drops. Steve is next. Mike hasn’t budged this whole time, but eventually his feet go numb. Natalie wins immunity.

Ralph is okay with playing the idol. Mike’s plan is to get rid of Rob’s right hand man, Grant.

Rather than join up with the other tribe, Matt has decided to rejoin his old tribe. In the process, he tells Rob the whole story, which Rob views as an excuse to get rid of him. He says he’s not morally capable of flipping. That’s a good person to keep around. Somebody crippled by their ethics is unlikely to turn on you. Granted, they’re also likely to hold a grudge if they make the jury. Andrea takes this as him throwing her under the bus, since in his story, her name came up.

Grant doesn’t want to target Mike. Instead, he’d rather target Steve, who he doesn’t think they’d give the idol up for. Rob would rather get rid of Matt. Again. Unlike the first time they got rid of him, this plan is contingent upon Andrea voting with them.

Mike’s new deal for Matt: final three. In spite of his limited options, how do you seriously trust someone who claims to be willing to screw over 4 other people just for the sake of saving himself this one night?

The merged tribes are not so much a merged tribe as two tribes living on the same beach. Ometepe was pretty comfortable in the rain, seeing as they won the tarp and all. David’s complaint about this is that there should be an asterisk on that victory, since his tribe threw that challenge, which once again is coming back to bite them.

As planned, Ralph gives his hidden immunity idol to Mike.

Votes
Grant
Grant
Grant
Grant
Grant
Steve
Matt
Matt
Matt
Matt
Matt
Matt

With 6 votes, Matt will be heading back to Redemption Island.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Redemption Island Episode 9, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Biggest Loser Season 11 Episode 14

Jen hit a plateau and was eliminated in The Biggest Loser Season 11 Episode 13 after losing no weight, which according to her trainer was because she did not have a workout with him.

Although her team is now gone, Courtney asks Olivia, Hannah, and Irene to support her.

Each team will have a flag. The team that plants their flag closest to a mile away will win. Their reward will be a night of luxury, Hollywood style. For anyone who does not win, they will have to clean the campus. They all depend upon the assumption that they know how long their paces are. Green team based their decision on Ken’s paces. Courtney is alone, doing her own thing. Black team tries to have one person doing normal paces while the others try to count footsteps, but the two going slowly realize halfway through that they don’t have the time to do that. Blue team will all be trying to do their own paces and go from there. Olivia hits her mark. Irene’s still got a couple hundred to go, so they proceed forward. Moses is way behind when he hits his spot, but they can’t see nor hear him when he tries to stop. Green team did not win. Courtney did not win either. The difference between first and second place is 4 feet. Black team wins, in spite of their fear that they were 1/4 of a mile off their target.

Bob’s happy with the fact that his team has to clean. Good way to burn calories. Black team joins him in the gym, minus Rulon. That means Rulon’s getting a lecture from Jillian. His justification for eating junk is that he wants it, and he works hard. While his concept is not flawed, 900 calories of chips is excessive. Although Jillian would prefer he reward himself with non-food things, she’s willing to work with him and teach him to eat in moderation.

During the training session, the black team has decided to hide their reward from Jillian until the last possible second. They are not at all surprised to find out that she considers their prize to be more of a punishment.

The black team goes to Hollywood to see the sights. Of course, along the way, they have to stop by Geisha House, Mike Boogie’s restaurant. While there, they seem to make smart choices. In the middle of dinner, a guy walks up to meet them, or at least to meet Hannah. If that wasn’t his intention, it is now, as Jay and Rulon decide to leave them alone. Very subtle. Hannah has now decided she feels comfortable saying she’s pretty.

Courtney’s worried that she’ll continue with her plateau. If she’s below the yellow line, she’s gone, no need for a vote. Then she wonders what will happen to Brett. I’m sure they’ll find something to do with him, although I never could quite figure out why there are two new trainers this season.

Hannah: 168 pounds (-4, 2.33%)
Jay: 270 pounds (-6, 2.17%)
Rulon: 318 pounds (-7, 2.15%)
Black Total: 756 pounds (-17, 2.20%)

Olivia: 174 pounds (-2, 1.14%)
Moses: 286 pounds (-7, 2.39%)
Irene: 164 pounds (-6, 3.53%)
Blue Total: 624 pounds (-15, 2.35%)

Ken: 253 pounds (-4, 1.56%)
Kaylee: 168 pounds (-1, 0.59%)
Austin: 263 pounds (-2, 0.75%)
Green Total: 684 pounds (-7, 1.01%)

Courtney: 231 pounds (-1, 0.43%)

Black and blue teams did well, but the green team put up lackluster numbers. In spite of that, Courtney’s struggles mark the third red team member elimination in a row, as she is automatically eliminated because she is the last team member standing. She retains her positive mental attitude, in spite of all the emotions from the trainers, fellow contestants, even Alison. She departs with three friends for life. But she’s not the only person leaving tonight. With nobody left to train, Brett will have to say goodbye as well.

From her starting weight of 323 pounds, Courtney is down 113 pounds to 210 pounds today, for a grand total loss of 225 pounds. Her family owns a Dairy Queen, and she hopes that DQ will be able to get more healthy choices on the menu. More power to her, and certainly the market is potentially there, though I just don’t think of Dairy Queen and healthy in the same sentence.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 11 Episode 15, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Celebrity Apprentice 4 Episode 5

Seemingly tired of the process and at least some of the people from her team, Dionne Warwick became the latest person to put her hand up to leave in The Celebrity Apprentice 4 Episode 4, although she did not leave with the same grace Niki did the week before, instead opting to call NeNe a coward on her way out.

The women return to the suite in turmoil. NeNe’s still upset by Dionne, while La Toya’s frustrated by the lot of them.

Trump calls everybody back into the boardroom for another task. They will create their own works of art, whatever they want, whatever will sell. Each team will sell them in their own gallery. Additionally, they will design and decorate 7 baseball caps. These proceeds will go to their team’s totals, plus the celebrity that makes the best hat will receive a donation for their charity.

La Toya would like to step up as project manager, but Marlee shoots her down. John Rich will be the project manager for the men.

Before even getting into planning for the task, John makes a call to start fundraising. His folks in Nashville will get a jet, and he guarantees $500,000. He says this is called Celebrity Apprentice for a reason. If they don’t bring in a donation, he will hold it against them at some point. To be fair, some people have friends with deeper pockets than others, but everybody should be able to bring in something, even Jose Canseco, who once again claims he cannot get any donation of any size.

Marlee hopes to bring her team together for the first time. Having said no to La Toya’s request to lead this task, Marlee immediately turns to her to get something, which she’s afraid she can’t do on such short notice, so she instead offers to do some things in memory of her brother.

Jose says there’s an illness in his family. He will be leaving the show. Trump agrees to give $25,000 to his charity, B.A.T. (Baseball Assistance Team). Richard Hatch asks: would Jose make this up just to save face, seeing as he hasn’t raised anything and doesn’t seem to be trying to do so? I’ll admit, the thought crossed my mind as well.

Everybody goes to the art supply store. John Rich does a PSA: don’t sniff glue. Cue Gary Busey. While shopping, Gary seems to have done something to upset Meat Loaf, who warns his fuse is about to blow, and it will not be pretty.

La Toya says she has a shirt of her brother’s. There were only a couple of them made in the world before he passed away. She has one of them and is willing to give it for the task in his memory.

Meat Loaf doesn’t have any paint when they get back. Did Gary buy all the paint he’s using? All of a sudden, Meat Loaf goes psycho crazy on the taking it very calmly Gary. As crazy as they make Gary out to be, Meat Loaf’s a raving lunatic and/or putting in a show. After much shouting and threatening, it turns out Meat Loaf’s bag was just in a corner. John Rich asks that this embarrassing energy and language be stopped so that they can focus on the kids instead.

The women make a painting with each of their handprints. Everybody’s going to get their hands dirty today, even Star, though she ain’t happy about it.

John doesn’t know anything about New York, but what he does know is traffic is crazy. He doesn’t want to try to get across it at any point after 3:00. Meanwhlie, the women are still doing their paintings 20 minutes later.

Don Jr. shows up to talk to the women. Star says it’s nerve-wracking, and NeNe responds that’s what Star thinks about every task. Marlee just got a call for $133,000, but she’s worried about John. Don thinks everybody seems down and out.

George got kicked off the show when Trump made it a family affair, but he’s back for his occasional cameo. He thinks the men’s spirit is good.

The women were going to leave at 3, then 4, then 4:30. They have 3 hours to get to the gallery in bumper to bumper Friday night rush hour traffic. The men, however, are ready to go and don’t have anything to do, so they take a trip to see what the girls are doing. Uh, sitting in traffic.

While they wait for selling to get underway, Meat Loaf apologizes to Gary for how he acted earlier.

With half an hour until their gallery opens, the women finally arrive. Now they just need art. The art delivery guy’s stuck in traffic, too. With minutes to spare, the art arrives. They’re not going to have time to fuss about placement and such, so they just get what they can where they can.

The men open their doors to a line waiting to come in; the women open their doors to about 5 people. Unlike the party town with open bar that the men have going on, the women look like they’re ready for a funeral. Eventually, though, business starts to pick up.

With multiple $5,000 donations, the men are not doing too badly so far, but now the cavalry is here. John sells a hat for $50,000 and another $50,000 for the boots. Seeing the money pour in, Richard Hatch is getting desperate, so he slashes his prices in hopes that somebody will buy something, with both of his paintings now on offer for $1,000.

The women don’t have a plane full of hillbillies, but they are lucky that the rules are pretty lax for this task. The person or their representative does not have to show up, and they can take credit card information by phone, fax, or e-mail. They are limited by their max credit card amount, but seeing as that’s $99,000, the three donations in a row they get of that size should go a long way. Marlee had one donor for that amount, and La Toya’s T-shirt also got that.

While they are focused on selling, Federico Castelluccio shows up. He says he’s not just from the Sopranos, but he’s also a painter, who will be judging the hats.

The prize possession of the men’s auction is a guitar. The bid: $470,000. No matter how impressive a showing the women put up, it would seem that should cement the men’s victory.

Trump asks about the argument that happened with Meat Loaf and, well, Meat Loaf, for which they have now kissed and made up. The net result is that the men were very impressed with how their project manager handled a volatile situation.

Star says it was an honor to work with Marlee. La Toya says Marlee was the star.

Before we get to the main event, it’s time to reveal the winning hat: La Toya. Her charity, AIDS Project Los Angeles, will receive $25,000.

Trump would like to make a deal. If they both agree, the losing team will keep his or her money for their own charity. They agree.

The men’s team raised the most money of any team in The Apprentice history: $626,908. That money will go to John Rich’s charity, St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. The women did very well, and they actually pulled out a win with $986,000, which will go to Marlee’s charity, Starkey Hearing Foundation. Trump offers $14,000 to bring it to an even $1 million.

Seeing as how Jose left already, which probably helps the men more than it helps the women, Trump has another offer. Do the women want to forgo firing one of the men? Marlee has to make a decision, but Star’s whispering won’t help her any. Because they have lost so many tasks in a row, the women think it would only be fair that one of the men gets fired. They can now stick around and offer their input.

John says the weakest player, based on fundraising, was Richard.

Hope would fire Richard. Star agrees.

Money aside, Gary, with his lack of focus, is pointed to as the weakest. Meat Loaf agrees. Mark, too. Lil Jon gets on the bandwagon. Marlee interjects to come to Gary’s defense.

Ignoring the pleas from every member of the men’s team and not allowing him the opportunity to defend himself, Trump fires Richard Hatch for not raising enough money.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Celebrity Apprentice 4 Episode 6, which airs Sunday at 9/8c on NBC.

American Idol Season 10 Episode 23

The top 11 performed again in American Idol Season 10 Episode 22. Tonight two will go home.

Naima’s days have been numbered for some time, and she didn’t do herself any favors last night. Paul’s been questionable for weeks, but like Sanjaya, I don’t think it matters. Thia and Stefano seem to have lost favor, and Lauren wasn’t very high up the totem pole to begin with. Haley may actually be safe for a change. Casey’s shock bottom place finish last week is unlikely to happen again, not now anyway.

Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina step forward first. They are both safe.

Naima Adedapo and Jacob Lusk are up next. Opposite ends of the spectrum here. It goes without saying that Jacob is safe, while Naima is in danger.

Fantasia’s apparently still singing. Well, thanks for giving me something to fast forward.

Pia Toscano, Thia Megia, and Haley Reinhart step forward. Pia’s clearly safe in spite of and/or because of the fact that she ignored Randy’s advice. Any other week, I’d say Haley’s in the bottom, but her rave reviews from the judges may have saved her. So it is, with Thia falling into the bottom three.

Now the boys. Paul McDonald, Casey Abrams, James Durbin, and Stefano Langone are the last people to go up. Somehow, Stefano is safe, while Paul is not. Been waiting for that for weeks but didn’t think I’d see it so soon.

That leaves Naima, Thia, and Paul in the bottom three. Paul is safe. It’s the end of the road for Thia and Naima.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 10 Episode 24, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.