by Todd Betzold

 

The teams will be partying it up this week on The Celebrity Apprentice...mocktail style, of course, as they take on promoting Crystal Light's two new mocktail flavors.

 

The women come back from the boardroom an even more divided team...it's Patricia and Dayana against the rest of the women. We follow that with Lou presenting his $50,000 winning check to his charity, Muscular Dystrophy Association.

 

Now for the task this week: throw a Crystal Light Launch Party for their two new mocktail flavors (Pomtini and Peach Bellini). The teams will be judged on creativity, brand messaging and overall party atmosphere they can create at the launch party. The project managers this week are Aubrey for the women (she finally stepped up) and Clay for the men. They each get to pick one of the flavors...Aubrey picks Pomtini and Clay takes the Peach Bellini. The winning project manager will get $50,000 for their charity.

 

The men, not much party-goers, try to come up with the theme and are struggling. The women come up with the theme of a Garden of Eden-type theme...using the pomegranate as the unforbidden fruit. The Crystal Light executives come in and they want a sassy, vibrant and fun concept for the party. The men decide to go with a beach theme.

 

Teresa is taking a big lead with this project, seeming she is known for throwing parties. Aubrey puts Debbie in charge of coming up with an original jingle for the new drink. She puts Patricia in charge of the brand messaging and Lisa asked Patricia if she could look it over before she sends it out, since she was an editor at Rolling Stone before, but Patricia ignores her.

 

The men get to putting their beach party together. Clay sends Arsenio and Penn out to get some props for the party while the others stay back to work on the party room. He puts Dee in charge of the signage for the party. Not only do they have to put the party together, but they are responsible for the guests at the party. They call all their friends in the New York area and Dee is trying to get some women in bikinis there.

 

Donald Jr. comes in to check out the women and he is questioning where the fun is in their party. Teresa says she doesn't like the "stir your healthy desire" idea, but comes up with nothing to replace. Lisa says she mentions it to cover herself in the boardroom...come up with an idea or keep it quiet.

 

The women will have pictures of gardens to hang throughout their party...she sends out Debbie and Dayana to take pictures and they come back very good, so Aubrey is happy. Then Debbie and Dayana go to the studio for Debbie to record her Pomtini remix. Aubrey then asks Patricia about the signs and brand messaging and Patricia is very short with her and doesn't want to be micromanaged. They are focusing big time on these signs, so they will probably be messed up.

 

It's the end of the night and the men's party room is a mess...Clay is worried that they can pull it off tomorrow.

The women are trying to get things in place before the party. The sings arrive and there are signs without the Crystal Light logo, so Aubrey is ticked. They do not have the carpet for the floor, which Teresa is responsible for...she gets on the phone and gets to yelling at the carpet guy. The men, meanwhile, are getting things together very nicely. Everything is coming together, as Paul and Lou use their big muscles to open the little umbrellas for the drinks.

 

The women get it together and their party looks very elegant. They have people in attendance and it seems very much like a party. The men get their party started and have very few guests when it started. Clay sends Arsenio and Penn out front to try and get people to come in and party.

 

It turns around for the men, as people (including Claymates) start arriving for the party, including men and women in beach attire. They are trying to keep the party atmosphere high, as Arsenio gets the people pumped...they do a limbo contest.

 

The women have a decent crowd and have the people fill out comment cards to tell of their healthy desires, which Lisa read on stage and put some jokes to it...love it! The executives arrived and they get Debbie up there to sing the theme song she came up with. I think the executives loved it and I think that might get them the victory.

 

Meanwhile, the men's team gets some special guests at their party...Kathie Lee and Hoda from The Today Show. The executives come in and the party is going strong. Clay starts singing "Under The Boardwalk" and gets the whole party involved...the room is pumping. The executives seem to be smiling, but who knows who they will choose.

 

Trump meets with the Crystal Light executives and they enjoyed both teams. The men's team seemed like just a regular party among friends and the women had the classy, NYC-type event. They loved Debbie Gibson's song and thought Aubrey did a great job. They wanted to see more branding from the men's team...they had signage, but they wanted more of it. Same for the women because they wanted more brand messaging from them as well.

 

Time for the boardroom and the women start out being all about team love, but I am sure that will change. He asks Teresa what the party was and she stumbles through her answer, which she has in the past also...spit it out girl. So, the women make it through the first round of questioning with no arguments...impressive.

 

The men are all good vibes as well, because they are staying positive. If fired, Clay said he would bring back, based on this task only, Dee and either Paul or Lou. For Aubrey, she would bring back Dayana and Patricia. The executives thought the women did great, but absolutely loved the men's party and they are the winners this week...the women lose and the fighting will start soon...I think Patricia will be fired, based on the signs and not getting them approved and that played a huge part in their loss.

 

Aubrey starts out crying and Trump agrees to give her charity, GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, for the heart she shows and then Lisa sheds a tear because of how quickly Trump gave that money over. It starts out everyone was working together and no one is bringing up the signs Patricia made. Ivanka asks who was in charge of signage (finally) and Patricia says she...finally someone to blame. So, Aubrey will bring back Patricia and Dayana to fight it out to stay for one more week.

 

They come back in and Aubrey has the tears flowing again. Aubrey says she would fire Dayana, even though Patricia had the printing mistake. Aubrey says that is because Patricia is a stronger player moving forward and they question it is this task and Patricia screwed up. Dayana said Aubrey is thinking of the concepts, but they have lost 4 of 6 tasks...good point. Now we get to the branding and they start fighting...finally! Trump likes Aubrey and she has fight in her...Patricia will be a goner. The executives like the party, but didn't like the details...Patricia is fired.

 

The Celebrity Apprentice airs at a special time next Sunday at 8/7c on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

Follow Todd @tbetzold