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Celebrity Apprentice

February 19, 2012 by · Comments Off on Celebrity Apprentice 

Celebrity Apprentice, Raleigh’s Clay Aiken is competing on the new season of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” which debuts at 9 tonight on NBC.

On “The Celebrity Apprentice,” figures from the entertainment industry form teams – usually men vs. women – and compete in business-themed tasks around New York City to prove their worthiness to host Donald Trump. The contestants compete for charity and, in many cases, for the chance to rejuvenate a stalling career.

Some of the celebrities who will compete alongside Aiken are Lou Ferrigno, Arsenio Hall, Dee Snider, Cheryl Tiegs, Debbie Gibson, Lisa Lampenelli, Penn Jillette, Adam Carolla, Michael Andretti and George Takei. Several reality show stars are also involved.

The first task will be running a midtown sandwich shop for a day. In a preview released by NBC, Aiken is shown convincing a businessman to pay $1,000 for a sandwich instead of the already generous $500 he offered.

“Wait a minute, this is a platinum card,” Aiken says. “I think you can do more than $500! What about a thousand?”

Aiken should go far in the competition. Trump told “Today” host Matt Lauer recently that Aiken is a “tough” and “nasty” player. And Trump means “nasty” in a good way.

“Clay Aiken is totally different than I thought,” Trump said. “I figured he wasn’t going to be that strong of a player. He’s a really strong player. Great singer, but he’s a tough guy, and he’s nasty. You wouldn’t think it.”

Aiken, the runner-up on the second season of “American Idol,” has sold more than 4 million albums since 2003, written a New York Times bestseller and starred in”Spamalot” on Broadway.

In 2011, Forbes ranked him No. 9 in its list of top-earning American Idols, estimating the singer makes about $1.5 million a year.

He’s competing on “TheCelebrity Apprentice” for the National Inclusion Project ( www.inclusionproject.org), a charity Aiken started with Diane Bubel to help kids with disabilities be mainstreamed into programs for children.

Celebrity Apprentice

January 4, 2012 by · Comments Off on Celebrity Apprentice 

Celebrity ApprenticeCelebrity Apprentice, Michael Andretti looks to become Donald Trump’s next Celebrity Apprentice as he competes on the NBC show. The former IndyCar champion and current team owner is one of 18 contestants on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” the television show hosted by Trump, who in Central Indiana is remembered for being “fired” as the celebrity pace car driver of the 2011 Indianapolis 500.

Three episodes of the show have been taped. The premiere is Feb. 12.

The cast was introduced this morning on NBC’s “Today Show.”

Among those Andretti will be competing against are American Idol winner Clay Aiken, comedian Arsenio Hall, bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, supermodel Cheryl Tiegs and singer Debbie Gibson.

Andretti’s race team actually has some hiring to do. With Danica Patrick gone to NASCAR and Mike Conway signed with A.J. Foyt Racing, Andretti Autosport has only two drivers signed for the upcoming Izod IndyCar Series season: Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Andretti has said the Indianapolis-based team plans to have four cars this season. IndyCar Rookie of the Year James Hinchcliffe is believed to be one of the top candidates to join the team.

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