The Apprentice returns (pic: BBC Online)The Apprentice returns to our television screen this evening and, if it is anything like last year's, it will be something special.
Last year's Apprentice was won by determined milkman's son Lee 'Das what arm tawkin bout!' McQueen.
I didn't like Lee first-off last year because of an incident where he spoke horribly to Sara Dhada and the charming Raef Bjayou came to her rescue.
But in the later rounds Lee won me over with his better side, showing the graft and determination, for which I wanted army man and ironing expert Simon Smith to win in the early stages, to be a worthy Apprentice.
Throughout the next series, opinions and feelings towards candidates will again change towards candidates and everyone will have their favourites and controversial characters.
So what are my first impressions?
Anita Shah
From the picture alone, it looks as though Anita is putting on a tough, ballsy-girl front, the type with which Helene Speight went to far with last year. But her age, she's 35, and that she is a lawyer will count against her. Sir Alan wants somebody who is young, to mould, and remember what happened to Nicolas de Lacy-Brown, last year? Anita is a sure candidate to be off in an early, if not the first, round.
Ben Clarke
The man who says 'making money is better than sex' looks to have some drive. With a statement like that, it is no surprise that Ben's idol is Hugh Heffner. I'm not sure how seriously to take Ben, but with a degree in economics and business and career as a trainee stockbroker, he has the skeleton and the youth at the age of 22 for Sir Alan to make an impression on him. Lee will stick around for a while for Sir Alan to see what he is about.
Debra Barr
Debra is from the same stomping ground as winner Lee and losing candidate Ian Stringer last year, Buckinghamshire. 'Mouth of the year' at her office Christmas party may or may not work in her favour, but her story is quite a determined one. She went on to achieve a degree in English Literature even though she struggled with literacy in her early years. With the determination she has, Debra could go far, but will her mouth spell trouble for her?
Howard Ebison
Strangely not dissimilar to a close friend of mine in his career path, who, like Howard, is has also done accountancy, worked in a fish and chip shop (with myself, though I'm not sure if he hated it) and did a paper round before. Howard was sacked from his paper round and his hatred for work in a fish and chip shop does not indicate that he will work well in tasks Sir Alan sets which he does not like. He will probably be fired reasonably early.
James McQuillan
James' profile doesn't really give much away. He sounds like a nice guy, but will he be interesting enough for Sir Alan? His profile sounds refreshingly frank, but Sir Alan may look at the number of jobs he has had and wonder how long it would be before he moved on from the Apprentice job, should he be hired. He claims to get 'foot in mouth' syndrome and may not have the coolest head in the board room battles. Expect another candidate to outgun this Mr Niceguy in the board room.
Kate Walsh
Kate is another candidate with a strange idol - Samantha from Sex and The City. But if she has the ballsy approach to business that she claims, she could be a strong candidate, especially as she is 27, around the age Sir Alan could be looking for, young enough to mould and old enough to have had experience, which she states, in many different areas of business. Perhaps the psychology part for her combined degree with management will give her an edge in the board room. Kate should make it through the early rounds.
Kimberly Davis
Possibly, Kimberly could be the 'Michael Sophocles' of this year's Apprentice, who Sir Alan sees a bit of himself in. Kimberly was interested in business from the age of five when she started a lemonade and ice tea stall, the kind of humbling background which Sir Alan had. Kimberly does not shy away from the big stage, having performed Mozart at Carnegie Hall. Her weakness is that it her profile reads like she has done a lot in her life and unsurprisingly, she is 33. She will last a while, but perhaps she should have careered into business earlier.
Lorraine Tighe
Another with a bit too much age on her side, but Lorraine's career sounds successful. A lot could depend on how dependent her two children are on her, but their ages are not revealed in the profile. She says she has fought against all the odds and sums up her attitude to business like having the ability to drive a dead horse to the winning line. She will defying all odds if she wins the Apprentice.
Majid Nagra
Majid is at a good age to be a strong candidate, but I don't think his profile suggests he has strong enough credentials to win. He works with youth centres, charities and runs his own car-hire business, but it doesn't seem as though he has ever really excelled. He may say that business is the back-bone of the world. It'll be interesting to see how often he uses that phrase if he is on the show for any great length. I expect him to be fired in the early stages.
Mona Lewis
Mona sounds like quite a serious candidate with a purpose to drive her on, to change her life. It's bizarre that she wishes she had been the brains behind Tesco, of all businesses. Her profile is an enigma. She is one of the younger female candidates, which works in her favour over some of the other ladies. It will be interesting to see if her purpose and big-headed attitude is a front or actually has some substance.
Noorul Choudhury
As a science teacher with little business credential but from a pipe dream of becoming a millionaire, Noorul is one of the weakest candidates. He has three years on last year's chosen one Lee as well, which Sir Alan may see as three years too many. He says that business is a dog-eat-dog world and you must play to win, which should make him interesting in the board room. He surely won't last long without much business experience and will drop a real clanger at one point.
Paula Jones
Other than a Masters in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management, Paula's profile does not have much history of how she has done in business. She was in the army, which suggests she will be a hard worker on the tasks, will do well working in a team and will be comfortable with the hierarchical system of either being led by a team leader or leading the team herself. Her great weakness is that she shys away from confrontation. She won't fair well in the board room if she is deemed at fault for anything.
Phillip Taylor
Phillip's profile suggests that he will be OK on the sales side of things as he is an estate agent used to selling and if he is as charming as he says he is. He may struggle in some of the tasks if he is not the team leader because he admits to being a power freak. If he doesn't try to take control too much and uses his sales talents, he could go far.
Rocky Andrews
Rocky is the youngest candidate at 21, which is why he will not win this year's Apprentice. If he does impress, Sir Alan may say to come back when he has more experience under his belt. With a wage above what Sir Alan is offering, his motives to win the Apprentice will also come under scrutiny. Is he that keen to work for Sir Alan that he will take a salary cut, or is The Apprentice just something he wants to win? But that's not worth worrying about. He will not win.
Yasmina Siadatan
Yasmina is a strong candidate because she has decent qualifications and describes herself as dominating yet adaptable, which is the kind of attitude which will work in her favour. She says that business is about spotting a gap in the market so we could expect some exciting ideas for products from her during the tasks. Her age, 27, and the experience of her dad's restaurant business could be invaluable. I think she may go quite far, based on her profile.
I will be watching the first show of this year's Apprentice with great anticipation tonight, preparing to see which of my predictions fall flat and which are true, and to see how the teams fair in their first task.
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