The Apprentice 4, Episode 9 Extras: The It Factor

Included in this week’s extras are videos of Jide and Levi’s songs, as well as audio clips of songs from two other singers the candidates could have chosen. I won’t be recapping those, since this isn’t American Idol and I slept in the day we had our class on recapping music videos at RNO Headquarters.

Capital Edge discusses their team in the suite. We see Clay act all put-upon again. I’m so sick of him.

Elsewhere in the suite, Randal tells Rebecca that he’s not surprised that Brian was fired, but he’s shocked over Marshawn’s ouster. Really? They note that anyone could go next. Rebecca explains to us that they decided not to tell Capital Edge that Brian and Marshawn were both fired. They want the other team to think that they’re still in the Boardroom so they can’t use the night to plot. I think they’ll figure it out pretty quickly, though.

On the balcony, Clay pretty much begs Randal to let him join Excel. Okay, not really, but he makes it very clear that he wants to leave Capital Edge. He thinks that his team not giving him an exemption means that he’s not welcome there. He says that he’ll work hard to go over to Excel and prove to Trump that he’s good. In the kitchen, Clay speaks to Rebecca, who easily agrees to let him come over to Excel. She interviews that Clay is motivated and knows that Trump will be watching him, so he’ll work hard.

Trump Lesson of the Week. Ho-hum.

Capital Edge meets with the XM executives. Adam tells them that he has some singing experience. He says that they met with Levi, their producer, and their songwriter. Felisha tells Levi that after they met him, they knew they wanted to go with him. Adam asks Levi about his history so they can figure out what the song should be about. Levi starts talking about how great his friends are and how much you rely on them when you’re a struggling musician. Felisha interviews that they didn’t want to change Levi, just amplify him. The “nothing can be everything” concept comes out and everyone loves it. Felisha interviews that music is about making you feel something.

Levi practices. Felisha is right in there with him and the other musicians, acting like she does this all the time. She’s taking to this very quickly. Felisha interviews that she never realized how much work it takes to record music. She’s impressed with herself for producing. At some point the song starts turning a little jazzy, which Felisha knows wouldn’t fit the station. She brings up the issue and tells the musicians that it needs to be more pop rock. Alla is happy that Felisha noticed this problem and did something about it. We see Levi and the others recording. Felisha is still changing little things like a real music executive. The whole team really likes the song. Adam says that this was about spotting the “it factor,” which is what Trump is doing with the candidates. Adam wants the song to evoke emotion and passion. The candidates participate in a little jam session and afterwards someone comments, “Not bad for a bunch of white people.” Ha!

Excel prepares for their presentation. Clay is annoying.

Rebecca doesn’t like Clay’s behavior. We see Excel’s presentation. Randal screwed up the poster.

Capital Edge gets their reward. Trump: “I rock.” Alla: “Trump loves New York.” Trump: “Actually, I own New York. Have I mentioned how much land I own here?”

Back in the suite, Rebecca asks Adam what it’s like to be in the Boardroom with Clay. She especially wants to know what he says about project managers he’s worked with. Adam warns that Clay won’t hold back. Rebecca just wants to confirm that Clay isn’t honest and will fight dirty. She knows that she might go home because of him. Adam says that Clay is all about strategy. He wanted to be a member of Excel, so he manipulated Rebecca and Randal. He notes that 17 people can’t all be wrong about Clay.

Boardroom time! Trump asks who wrote Excel’s song. Rebecca says it was a group effort. Clay’s creativity (or lack thereof) is discussed. Clay says that he tried to find out Jide’s musical style, and in doing so, he discovered that he was a middle child. In discussing the style of the song, Clay says that Rebecca likes hip-hop and R&B. Randal says that he does, too. Trump asks what Clay likes; he likes R&B and soul. The group discusses the “what about me?” line. More about Clay’s creativity and his problems working with teams. Trump says that Rebecca is always honest but Clay is difficult. He brought Rebecca and Randal down with him.

Trump asks Rebecca why she wanted to be the project manager on this task, since the project manager gets nothing out of leading (since the exemptions are now gone). Rebecca says that she wanted to step up, since she hasn’t for a while. She’s been praised for the past three tasks, but she doesn’t feel like she really stepped up during them. She also liked the concept of producing a song. She wishes, however, that this task had come after her cast was off. Carolyn asks if Rebecca wanted to be the project manager because she had the worst record out of her, Randal, and Clay. (Not like that’s hard, since Randal has won twice as PM.) Rebecca says it just sounded like a good project.

Carolyn asks how long it took the group to come up with their presentation. Rebecca says that she came up with the story first but Clay shot her down. Clay says it was a bad idea and Rebecca was telling too much. All three agree that Jide was a great artist, and Randal thought he had the it factor. Rebecca says that Clay didn’t want Jide to speak. Carolyn calls that a dumb idea. Clay says maybe it was dumb, but it was one of just a few, small mistakes he made. Trump asks whose decision it was to leave Jide outside the room. Rebecca says it was hers, since she wanted him to have an entrance, but Clay screwed it up.

Poor Randal takes responsibility for having the wrong channel on the poster. Trump says this was a big mistake. I think the producers asked Trump to play up this mistake because it was pretty obvious Clay would be going, and also because most people think Randal will win. Fortunately, George mentions that Randal’s mistake wasn’t the reason the team lost. Their song was all wrong. Randal says they were taking a risk, but George calls it suicide. He says that repeating “my time has come” doesn’t tell a story and will lose the audience. The lyrics were bad and the team chose the wrong artist.

George says that Jide was R&B, but Randal argues that the song sounded rock. George says it had a tone of R&B. Trump asks what George knows about R&B. George says that he was working with hard rock back in the ‘60s, before anyone else. Randal still thinks the song sounded rock. George replies that it doesn’t matter – it still got a lukewarm reception. The audience didn’t relate to the artist or to the song. Trump says it wasn’t a bad song and Clay says that they all liked it.

Trump asks if Excel heard Capital Edge’s song. Rebecca thinks it was too similar to stuff that’s on the radio. Yeah, but most of the stuff on the radio is similar to other stuff on the radio. Trump points out that it was better received and Carolyn adds that it fit the channel better. Trump says that all three members of Excel made mistakes: Clay is the problem child, Rebecca wasn’t outstanding and disappointed with her performance and leadership, and Randal just screwed up.

Trump repeats that he’s disappointed in all three of his children, but past performances are important. Clay is his least favorite, so he’s fired.

In the cab, Clay whines. He says that Randal and Rebecca aren’t creative and he thinks they’ll lose their next task. He lost respect for Rebecca because she said she would never work with him again, then said how much she enjoyed working with him. He thinks that people are only in this game for themselves (well… yeah, and so was he). He should have told Trump about his and Randal’s track records.

Clay thinks that Alla will go after Adam and Felisha now that she doesn’t have Clay around to beat up on. Alla could win, but in the interview process, everyone will see how elitist and snobby she is. (Because if there’s one thing Trump hates, it’s elitism. Shut it, Clay.) Clay allows that Randal and Alla might wind up in the final two, but Randal might lose because he’s not creative. Clay wouldn’t hire anyone who’s left. Good thing it’s not his show. He’s impressed with himself for making it to the final six, which is further than he thought he would go. (Me, too!) Clay was strong and thinks that’s why people wanted to get rid of him. He knows this isn’t Survivor, right? That no one voted him out? Okay, just checking. Clay’s attitude seems to be, “Oh, well.”

In his exit interview, Clay says that he thought he could be the next apprentice because he’s creative, outgoing, a hard worker, and a problem-solver. He’s talking about himself, not Alla? Really? Clay also has a background in real estate. In the beginning, his strategy was to be quiet, which is why we didn’t see much of him until he was project manager. Then, he turned on his annoying side. If people were heading down the wrong path, he would bring up a better option. He thinks that people thought he was argumentative, but really, he’s just better than everyone else.

Clay says that whenever his team won, it was because of his ideas. For instance, on the float task, the float design was his idea, and the team won. Well, they also won because Jen sucked, but whatever. On the teaching task, everyone ganged up on Clay. We get the whole Jewish comment situation again. Clay says that the comment had nothing to do with money; he meant that Adam was uptight.

Clay thinks he was fired because he was combative. He thinks Adam, Alla, and Felisha told Rebecca to tell Trump that she could never work with Clay again in order to save herself. We see Clay get fired again. Clay says that he’s not difficult to work with. He repeats that people are only in it for themselves. He thinks Alla can be great as a person, but he warns that people shouldn’t do business with her because she only does what benefits her. If something doesn’t benefit her, she’ll lie, cheat, and steal to get what she wants.

Clay continues that Markus and Adam annoyed him the most because they whined. He never knew what Markus’ abilities were because he could never communicate them. He thinks that Adam is only safe because he kisses up to Alla and she took him under her wing. Clay is glad to get back home and back to his job selling real estate. He thinks maybe Trump will offer him a job in the future. No, see, this whole show was your chance. You lost that chance. Therefore, you don’t get a job with Trump. See how that works?

Next week: Two hours? On Thanksgiving? Trump really does think he’s the king.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other Apprentice 4 Episode 9 articles: