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| L to R: Penn Jillette, Donald Trump and Trace Adkins on NBC's All-Star Celebrity Apprentice |
For the season 6 finale of NBC’s All-Star Celebrity Apprentice titled “One of Us Will Win, But Not By Much,” Donald Trump and finalists Penn Jillette and Trace Adkins end the series with a bang. Charged with creating and promoting new flavors of ice cream for Walgreens Delish brand ice cream during last week’s program, this week finds the All-Stars hosting big ticket events with special guests Gilbert Gottfried, Blue Man Group, Taylor Hicks, Wayne Newton, George Wallace, Teller, Debbie Harry, The Oak Ridge Boys, Tim Tebow, Billy Ray Cyrus, Wynonna Judd and Vincent Pastore along for the ride. During the night’s live portion, Trace Adkins is crowned the winner.
The night starts off live from the streets of Manhattan with Trump extolling the values of his contestants and the battle between Nashville and Las Vegas. For their part, Jillette juggles for donations to his Opportunity Village charity, while Adkins busks for the American Red Cross. Then we hear the tale of the tape: “One of us will win, but not by much,” says Jillette, giving the episode its title.
Last week, we left off with Adkins being uncharacteristically enthusiastic about his event. Jillette, on the other hand, is fretting as his 60 second commercial is nine seconds too long and he has no time for re-shoots. “You can’t cut away from magic,” says Jillette who, with teammate Lisa Rinna, agrees to trim Dennis Rodman’s performance from the commercial, and add the outtake to the night’s live presentation.
Jillette booked Debbie Harry, Blue Man Group, Taylor Hicks, Teller and Wayne Newton for his ice cream social. Adkins seems to have trouble nailing down his celebrity friends to participate in his event, but claims to have a few folk that will make bank such as footballer Tim Tebow, who will personally bring a $200,000 check to the party. “Penn Jillette is the most ethical Atheist I’ve ever met, but I’m bringing Jesus,” says Adkins. “Jillette will make magic tricks but Jesus can make blind people see.” Adkins also has Busey reprising his Oscar-nominated performance as Buddy Holly. Busey may be a “loose cannon” according to Adkins, but he’ll nail it when it comes down to performance time.
Moving from the tape back to the live event, Trump introduces some of the fired All-Stars not currently aiding Adkins and Jillette in their task: Brande Roderick, Claudia Jordan, Omarosa Manigault, Dee Snider and Stephen Baldwin. Omarosa looks the silliest with her bangs and can’t seem to make friends with the celebs she wronged in previous episodes, Jordan and Jackson in particular.
Then Trump welcomes Dennis Rodman (who is sporting a blonde Mohawk and Christmas-themed Hawaiian-esque jacket), Marilu Henner, Lil Jon, Gary Busey, Lisa Rinna and LaToya Jackson.
Back on the taped footage, celebrities and the public line up to give Jillette their money. Adkins is starting to sweat, getting embarrassed that he won’t come close to match Jillette’s donations, let alone beat it. Yet fewer donors – like the Oak Ridge Boys representing Wrangler jeans, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Tompkins Square Records – drop big amounts to the pleasure of Marilu Henner, who notes that with Adkins, “it’s quality and not quantity that counts.” Still, seeing Gilbert Gottfried, Blue Man Group, George Wallace and Wayne Newton showing up for Jillette is scary, until Tim Tebow shows up his donation.
When it comes to each man’s tasting and live event, Jillette’s Magic Swirtle and Adkins’ Maple Macadamia Mash Up are equally popular. The real trick is in each man’s video presentation and what they do with it. Jillette gets wild applause for his commercial with partner Teller and the Dennis Rodman outtake. But, Adkins' commercial starring Gary Busey doing the Twist draws even more applause, as does Busey’s off-key Buddy Holly impersonation and Adkins' live performance. “There’s power in music,” notes Jillette, regarding Adkins performance. “Nobody ever danced to Houdini.”
During a taped boardroom session, Trump and his judges Ivanka Trump and Joan Rivers grill Jillette and Adkins. The two contestants show admiration for each other, and Trump says he should get an Emmy every year for his performance because he is so natural. Walgreens loved everything about Team Jillette: its ice cream flavor, its video and performance. In regard to Team Adkins, Walgreens loved the outreach into the youth market with ideas like “mash up” and viral videos, but thought the flavor of “maple” was too specific. The amount of money that each contestant raised is announced – Penn brought in $500,003 and Adkins raised $564,000 – and then the scene changes to a live boardroom with Jillette, Adkins, Rivers and the Trumps.
The winner gets $250,000 from Trump for his charity, and Walgreens is donating an additional $100,000 to the ice cream that has sold the most since last week’s episode. 400,000 pints were sold between the two flavors in one week, but Jillette sold more and receives the Walgreens money. Then Jillette plays bass for Adkins during a live version of “Love Wins,” that Joan Rivers says makes the pair look “higher than Lindsay Lohan on a bad day.” In a surprise move, Trump gives Lil Jon an unexpected $100,000 for the American Diabetes Association and Jon, who recently lost his mother due to complications from the disease, sheds a tear. Then comes the big reveal: Donald Trump announces Trace Adkins as the winner of the first (but hopefully not last) All-Star Celebrity Apprentice.
To see all of our All Star Celebrity Apprentice coverage click here.
Photos ©NBC
Posted on Monday, May 20, 2013
