The Apprentice: final

Welcome to the final of The Apprentice. The four remaining candidates will do battle to become Sir Alan's apprentice and earn the right to become a D- or E-listed celebrity. Sorry, that should read, a £100,000 salary.

The task for the four contenders is to launch a cologne for men. Who will come up smelling of roses . . . and who will reek of the stench of failure?

Opening scene with the contenders and Sir Alan in a restaurant having dinner. An attempt to show that they are all human? They failed.

The four are split to head up the two teams - Alex and Helene; Lee and Claire.

Some of the fired contenders have returned to help out. In a scene reminiscent of the school playground where kids pick football teams - each of the team leaders take turns to choose a helper. Jenny is the last one to be selected - she is the tubby kid with two left feet.

Eau no - Helene and Alex cannot come to a decision over the name of the cologne. Surely Eau d'Alan?

Kevin Shaw demonstrates just why he was fired. He suggests that the bottle should be shaped like a Rubik's Cube.

Alex and Helene are in trouble, they're stressed out and have nothing on the table. Lee is pretending to be a human beat box to demonstrate his drum and bass presentation idea. This guy is good, no really.

Day 2:

They're filming commercials for the products. There's something about video cameras that makes ordinary people think that they are Dickie Attenborough.

Lee's, while directing the advert, sounds like he's putting together a porno movie with a screenplay adapted from a Mills & Boon novel.

Lee and Claire's product is called Roulette where the o is green (like the number zero on a roulette wheel). Did you see what they did there? Worth £100k of anybody's money.

Claire thinks Lee has gone all 'fluffy' as he prepares his presentation. I think she's wrong - he looks on form to me. Alex's presentation has as much life as England's Euro 2008 campaign.

Lee appeals to the metrosexuals out there - was that a tear in his eye when he said: "I've worked my tits off to be here?"

Maybe not. Their product is aimed at men who want to be men (not metrosexuals). It rather reminds me of Brut - well the sentiment does. Here's a reminder of what Brut is.

Lee and Helene's product looks like the mobile phone that Dom Jolly uses in his sketches. But wait - the comments from the floor are really positive. Are they turning this around? I thought they were toast.

Decision time. We're in the boardroom. Lee and Claire get the thumbs up from their team. Sir Alan needs some help defining the metrosexual man. It's beginning to unravel for the pair - the experts are slating their product and say that there's a touch of the 1970s about it. I quite agree. Here's a Denim ad from the 1980s. Remind you of anything?

Sir Alan's giving them a hard time for not doing their research properly. I'm not surprised - they've only had two days to do everything.

Sir Alan wants to put them (and us) out of their misery. Eau dear - Alex and Helene are out. Tears before bedtime for Alex. Helene prefers to bitch about the team's failure (not her inadequecies) to put together a proper product. I never did like that woman.

I'm not surprised that Alex has gone - he was on the losing team just about every week. He is a loser and he's fired.

They're back in the boardroom. Lee's my man (not in a metrosexual way  - but a man's man way) - get in there my son!

The soundtrack is very similar to the final showdown scene from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I'll let you figure out which is which.

Claire is playing the:" I got it wrong at the beginning - Ive changed my ways." Good call and she makes a good point. Lee isn't playing this well - he sounds a little wet behind the ears. SIr Alan thinks he might be a one trick pony. He could be right.

Sir Alan's concluded: "Lee - you're hired!" And for once - Lee's lost for words . . .

A good choice. I thought Lee was just a big mouth in the early weeks - but he can organise teams, has good ideas and can really get people going. Seem's like a decent fellow - and the best of luck to him.

Was this the right choice? Should Sir Alan have gone with Claire? Let's have your thoughts.

Comments

[Carly Chynoweth]

Disappointing. Can't help thinking that Sir A just chose the person who is most like him rather than, well, er, the person ... oh God.
Just realised in typing this that I might like Claire because she's a bit like me rather than because she's necessarily any good. So, I'm just like Sir Alan only without the beard or the enormous self-built fortune. Only not as much like him as Lee, which is why Mr McQueen has the £100k job and I am sitting in my pyjamas in front of the telly.

[Ms Ferozi]

I was right it was down to Claire and Lee. Lee's lie over the CV did get overlooked due to his winning (it was embellishment probably because of insecurity about not having a degree). I think it would have been a different matter if he had lost. As i said before in the "Apprentice - Final Countdown" Helene and Alex were their to make up the numbers. They had no strategy and their product evolved haphazardly.

http://ferozi.blogspot.com

[Gary McCartney]

Hearty congratulations must go to Lee McQueen for winning the highly entertaining 4th series of The Apprentice. I am pretty sure he was the best candidate for the job, as he has a huge range of skills that will be invaluable in the road ahead. Claire Young was an exceptional runner up but, ultimately, she is less of an 'apprentice' in the strictest sense. I am still laughing at her comment in the restaurant with Sir Alan and the finalists. Upon opening the menu, she casually turns to Sir Alan and says "Are we having 3 courses Sir Alan?" Priceless stuff.

[Helen]

I think that Sir Alan only hired Lee because he knew that Claire would land herself a pretty fine career elsewhere... and was perhaps too hot to handle; didn't the interview panelist Karren Brady tell him "If you don't give her a job-I will!"?
Clearly with Lee's sparse CV and lack of educational credentials this really was a drink at the 'Last Chance saloon' for the poor grafter. Sir Alan always seems to have a soft spot for the under-privileged types who seem easier to manipulate aid mould...perhaps it's just a sign of his age, he wants a quiet life and easily influenced 'yes men/women' working for him. Tim, Lee and Simon are like peas in a pod, and Sir Alan certainly had his fingers burnt when he chose Michelle Dewberry who lasted a couple of months before tendering her resignation.

[Barry]

Sir Alan shouldn't have brushed aside so easily Lee's CV fib. A lot of people work very hard for the right to put qualifications on their CVs. Sir Alan is an inverse snob.

[PAUL]

Congratulations to Lee and I'm sure he will do well. Claire has her qualities but perhaps gets on the wrong side of people which may have been in Sir Alan's mind. Lee only lied on his CV because he felt inferior to people who went to university. I'm glad Lee has dispelled this snobbish myth that exists in the UK that you can only get on in business if you have a degree or work the corporate ladder. No wonder the economy has gone downhill being run by university toffs who have never done a proper job. Lee has some rough edges, but he can sell, he is great with people (a skill sadly lacking in many businesses today), he has no ego problem and wants to learn. He is a perfect apprentice. He'll learn more about business by being involved in business which is more than some university or college could teach him. The toffs don't like it that a working class guy who struggles with literacy has trumped the hooray henrys, the lazy gits and the ones who are just all talk.
Claire will do well for herself if she can get on better with people. Maybe she should team up with Ruth Badger. As for Lee, he deserves his chance and good luck to him.

[Jackal]

VINDICATION!!!! Alex -- far too snakey, chews his lips too much, had no ideas for the men's perfume so appropriated the only novel idea (the 2-part bottle) from the designer. Sooooo glad this proved his downfall. Helene -- what did she do apart from whinge & moan and try to undermine Alex the night before??? No names, no ideas -- she didn't even do the basic figures to show the bottle design was unprofitable. And she had goggly eyes.
Sorry Claire, but you could be obstructive if things weren't done your way. Claire will be good wherever she goes, but I never forgave her for her base bullying treatment of Simon in the photography task.
So well done Lee; proves he can manage people, can sell, has a good idea of marketing, inspirational leader and motivator. Not my first choice as the show progressed, but a good result in the end.

[ian payne]

An Alpha Male organisation where women don't seem to get a look in !!! Why did a liar get chosen for the top job also ?

Never mind Alex's constant references to his age - 24, all we seem to hear as well, is how many years Sir Alan has been in business - 40 !!!!!

[Darren Young]

Is £100k the starting salary at Mr. Sugar's establishment? 5 years qualified doctor don't even earn that much saving lives... Travesty!

[C]

I can only laugh at how Mr Sugar so readily accepted Lee's CV lies, not only this but gave him the top job, and effectively advertised this fact to the whole country! Anyone applying for a job at his company? - you know what to do!

[Chris]

Yes Lee lie's about is CV.
People saying it was insecurity about not having a degree). So what if he as no degree, that does'nt mean I cannot do a good job!.At the end of the day a degree is a just of paper, that say you can do the job. But does it? Why do companies want a piece of paper now a days then people with experience. Good on ya Lee, now show them you don't need one! Claire was too gobbyand full of her self.