The Apprentice 3: A Look at the Final Four

Tana

Original team: Street Smarts

Last job: Sales Executive

Wins/Losses: 9/4

Record as PM: Two wins (Airstream, American Eagle)

Trips to the boardroom: One (Dove)

Tana is another reader favorite, and fellow candidate Angie seems to be a Tana fan as well - she gave a "go Tana!" in her final speech. From the beginning, Tana has shown herself to be creative, personable, a hard worker, and an incredible saleswoman. In the Burger King task, it was Tana who came up with the winning idea of giving away a trip to Las Vegas. She also had a friendly and effective sales technique that convinced quite a few customers to try the new burger. In the hotel task, she was in charge of customer service. Tana was at the front desk greeting customers with a smile and welcome packet. When some of the hotel guests complained to her, she attempted to smooth things over by offering them breakfast. Free food can go a long way in making things better. In the Domino's task, Tana was the one who came up with the meatball pizza flavor and its catchy Italian name. And as I mentioned before, she and Kendra worked together on several challenges doing market research that allowed the team to pinpoint exactly what their customers needed.

Tana first lead her team in the Airstream challenge. She was the one who came up with the creative and unique idea of having a casting director meet actors. Once the trailer was set up, she was able to explain the service they were offering to people on the street very clearly. The task wound up being a big win for her team and went off with relatively little friction, impressive given some of the big personality clashes Net Worth had in the previous challenges.

Tana really rose to the occasion in the Fuse task. She negotiated some truly impressive donations from the musicians she met with. Craig was with her, but Tana seemed to be taking the lead. Her success was especially impressive given the fact that, as a 37-year-old mom from Iowa, she was out of her element talking to rappers. Tana did her best to adopt their slang, and although we all laughed, her dorkiness was endearing, and you can't argue with the results. In that task, Tana, was also the on-air talent and impressed Donald Trump. Her incredible salesmanship and natural charm were quite evident on this task.

She took charge of her team again in the American Eagle challenge. The contrast between her team and the other team was huge. They were focused, having polled AE customers about what kind of gadgets they liked to use. They had a simple, recognizable logo on all of the clothing. Tana called her line of clothing "Wearable Tech," and sold it as a "line extension" for American Eagle, showing that she was able to see the big picture. And Tana made great use of her team, putting Bren in charge of what was a very strong presentation. Perhaps even more impressively, she put a stop to a brewing argument between Craig and Kendra before it became a distraction.

Tana's nerdy "aw, shucks" attitude has worked for her so far, but will interviewers think that she's just not very smart? After all, this is the same woman who called Uma Thurman "Uma Thurma" and coined the phrase, "It's not rocket scientist." If Tana misspeaks at the wrong time in front of the wrong person, it could cost her dearly.

The biggest negative Tana has demonstrated was in the Pontiac task. Kendra wanted Tana and Craig to stay up all night to get the project done, and Tana simply refused. She said that she needed her sleep. To make matters worse, she added that because she had an exemption from the previous task, she didn't need to work as hard on the task at hand because she wouldn't be fired no matter what. That is a terrible attitude. Trump definitely wants an Apprentice who will work hard, no matter what the circumstances. Slacking off isn't acceptable, ever, especially when you're trying to make a good impression.

Predictions

Since the show started, I've received emails from readers saying that no way will Trump hire someone who doesn't have a college degree. Other people have said that because the past two winners have been men, Trump will want to hire a woman this time around. I can't say what's in Trump's head (otherwise, I could explain the hair), so I'm only operating on what we know for sure, which is that Trump wants to hire a smart, talented, hardworking person. So who is it going to be?

Right now, Alex is a one-man team. I suspect Trump will let him pick someone from the other team to join him, and I bet he'll choose Kendra, both because she's good and because of old Magna loyalty. If, on the other hand, the other team gets to send someone to Alex's team, Kendra and Tana will give Craig the boot. The two women work well together, and getting Kendra and Craig away from each other is to everyone's advantage. Who will be fired next? My gut tells me it will be Craig. Of the four remaining candidates, he has the most working against him. He doesn't communicate clearly, has a tendency to talk down to others, and is perceived as not being a hardworker. Craig will come in fourth place.

That takes us to the final three, and to the interview stage. As far as I'm concerned, Kendra is a lock. Her record is very strong, and she hasn't made any real mistakes. That brings us to Alex and Tana. There is a chance that Tana will say the wrong thing, come across as a hayseed, and blow the interview. But I think that it's more likely that Tana will charm the executives with her friendly attitude, positivity, incredible sales ability, and will beat out Alex to the final two.

Now things get tough. Who is the better qualified candidate - Kendra or Tana. Tana admitted that she didn't work her hardest in the Pontiac task because she had an exemption, and that is a huge black mark on her record. And chances are, she will have to stay up all night to get the final task done. I don't think that staying up all night will be an issue this time around - Tana will do it if her own job is on the line. As for Kendra, her biggest negative is that she didn't make her full effort for the first several weeks, opting to fly under the radar to protect herself before making her move at endgame. In the end, I say the advantage goes to Tana. She didn't make a full effort on one task. Kendra didn't make a full effort for weeks. One thing that Bill and Kelly have in common is that the two of them worked their absolute hardest on every single task, took risks, and stood out from the beginning. Nobody every said, “Wait, which one is Bill? There’s a Kelly on this show?” they way they might have with Kendra in the first several episodes. Kendra's own play it safe strategy will be her undoing and will land her in second place. Tana had better plan to pack up her family and try to figure out how to fit two kids in that Solstice convertible, because she will be the next Apprentice.

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. Kendra, Alex, and Craig fans can send her hate mail at betsywasser@gmail.com.

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