Apprentice

[Ivo Skoric]

Chicago South Side Croatian-American Bill Rancic becomes Donald 
Trump's apprentice!
ivo

Bill Gets the Job on 'The Apprentice'

Friday, April 16, 2004 
NEW YORK - For one night at least, Donald Trump can really proclaim 
that he was the king of television. An estimated 27.6 million viewers 
tuned in Thursday to watch Trump say, "You're hired!" to Chicagoan 
Bill Rancic on NBC's hit boardroom game, "The Apprentice." 

That enabled Trump to knock off television's most popular show, "CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation." The CBS drama was seen by 23.6 million, 
about 2 1/2 million fewer than average, Nielsen said. 

When Rancic won, Trump gave him a choice of two plum jobs: managing a
Trump-owned golf course in California or overseeing a 90-story 
building project in Chicago. 

"In a way, I'm very happy he didn't choose the golf course, 'cause I 
put someone there about a month and a half ago, and they're doing a 
great job," Trump said after the broadcast. "It could have been a 
little bit embarrassing." 

The snag was averted. Rancic was happily homebound and his fellow
finalist, Kwame Jackson, was fired as the hit NBC series aired its 
live finale. 

"Kwame, I think you have an amazing future," Trump said. "You're a
brilliant guy, great education, and I have no doubt you're going to 
be a big success. But right now: Bill, you're hired!" 

Rancic, a street-smart 32-year-old Internet entrepreneur, had edged 
out Jackson, the laid-back 29-year-old New Yorker and Harvard MBA, 
for what Trump described as the "dream job of a lifetime" and a 
$250,000 year's salary. 

Trump insisted the decision had been difficult, and close - and one 
he shared with no one before airtime - not even Mark Burnett, creator 
of "The Apprentice." 

"I had good feelings about both of these people," Trump said after 
the show, "or they wouldn't have gotten there." 

Which did Burnett think Trump would pick? "I didn't think," Burnett
answered flatly. 

The victorious Rancic said his win sends a message. 

"The American Dream is still alive out there, and hard work will get 
you there," he told reporters. "You don't necessarily need to have an 
Ivy League education or to have millions of dollars startup money. It 
can be done with an idea, hard work and determination." 

Then, asked when his job with Trump would start, he grinned and said, 
"I believe I am on the clock, even as we speak." 

Trump's decision closed out a three-month-long competition. The
billionaire developer and host of the show put 16 would-be 
apprentices through numerous business tasks - then, in the boardroom, 
"fired" an underperformer at the end of each episode. 

At their last assignments, Bill was put in charge of a Trump golf
tournament and Kwame handled an appearance by pop star Jessica 
Simpson at one of Trump's Atlantic City casino hotels. 

These two "bosses" were each teamed with three "employees": 
previously fired "Apprentice" candidates who, possibly still nursing 
grudges, sometimes seemed as much a hindrance as a help. 

Thanks to Bill's team, a vital sponsor's sign went missing. 

Thanks to Kwame's team, Simpson went missing. Then she disappeared 
again, while Trump tapped his foot. 

That was the handiwork of beautiful but scheming Omarosa
Manigault-Stallworth, one of the breakout stars among the show's
candidates. Her feigned martyrdom after plaster fell on her head on 
one episode earned her the ultimate pop-culture salute: She was 
spoofed on "Saturday Night Live." 

Of course, not every burning issue was cleared up Thursday. For 
instance, how can 15 people be fired when they were never hired in 
the first place?
That question may never be resolved. 

But the boardroom summits with Trump, where he pronounced the now 
famous "you're fired," helped make "The Apprentice" a sensation after 
its January premiere. 

Last week, it ranked second among all prime-time shows, logging 22 
million viewers - even more than CBS' "Survivor: All-Stars." It holds 
seventh place for the season to date, according to Nielsen. 

Created by Burnett, who brought "Survivor" to the airwaves, "The
Apprentice" traded on a similar survival-of-the-fittest gimmick, and
viewers loved it for its display of competitive greed and back 
stabbing. 

Another draw, perhaps: the eight female contestants were attractive 
and tended to wear short skirts. 

"The Apprentice" launched Trump to new heights of renown. Not only 
did he dine out on the catchphrase "you're fired" (even threatening 
to copyright it), he landed deals for a Trump-brand credit card and 
as a celebrity spokesman for a telecommunications company. 

Two weeks ago he was guest host on "Saturday Night Live," and now has
agreed to come back for a new edition of "The Apprentice" next 
season, reportedly at a substantial pay raise. 

Looks like there are lots more firings ahead. 

---------------------------------------------------------
Ivo Skoric
19 Baxter Street
Rutland VT 05701
802.775.7257
ivo at balkansnet.org
balkansnet.org