Who will win ‘The Apprentice’?

On “The Apprentice 2,” despite Donald Trump’s erratic behavior in the boardroom this season, the pack has thinned into a group of eight reasonably strong contenders.

No longer will they be able to hide behind another contestant, skirting the watchful eyes of Carolyn or the eagle-esque ears of George. Instead, they’ll have to prove their worth week after week, or at least pray that someone else gets on Trump’s bad side before their mistakes come back to haunt them.

Although it seems obvious this group, which is less than half of the 18-person group that began on the show, would contain the best contenders, that’s not exactly the case.

In fact, some of them have no chance at all. Their past behavior and future potential combine to make them stand out from the crowd, where they’ll be seen as either frauds or potential apprentices, or just idiots.

Here's an unscientific breakdown of who really has a shot of hearing those two perfect words: “You’re hired.”

Ivana

Odds: 1:100

Bottom line: Chickens will fly out of Trump’s hair before this unfortunately named and utterly incompetent woman is picked.

Only if the other contestants collectively try to burn down Trump Tower while Ivana pushes a fire truck to the scene and single-handedly extinguishes the blaze will she have any chance.

Let’s admit it: She had no shot because of her name. Every time Donald Trump says “Ivana,” you can see him throw up a little bit in his mouth. He even acknowledged his disdain for her name early in the season.

Thankfully, though, Ivana has given Trump more reasons to fire her, primarily that she is utterly incompetent. Her teammates don’t like her, and she’s come thisclose to being fired repeatedly; most recently, Trump asked her, “Why are you so nasty?”

Only if the other contestants collectively try to burn down Trump Tower while Ivana pushes a fire truck to the scene and single-handedly extinguishes the blaze will she have any chance. Circumstances beyond her control have saved her in the boardroom, but her good luck will run out sooner rather than later.

Andy

Odds: 1:13

Bottom line: He’ll be fired sooner or later, but we’ll hear a lot about the “potential” that he does, in fact, have.

Andy stood out for a single reason: his age. Although he graduated from Harvard at 22, he quickly became his teammates’ favorite sacrificial lamb, mostly because they assumed his lack of experience was more damning than their incompetence on a particular task. But their efforts backfired in the boardroom, and Trump kept him around. Still, he screwed up frequently, and has barely escaped firing a few times.

We weren’t sure that he had what it takes to stand at Trump’s side until last week, when he decided that his team would create an NYPD recruitment ad campaign with a “When was the last time you...” theme. It was a brilliantly executed campaign, and the credit was his. Still, ultimately, Andy has too many check marks in the negative column. One major success doesn’t overcome many little screw-ups, and thus he’ll be let go sooner or later. But he’ll go on to do great things, certainly.

Maria

Odds: 1:6

Carolyn once noted, in nicer terms, that Maria looked like a streetwalker while washing dogs.

Bottom line: Screwed up early on and there’s only a slight chance she may be able to recover.

Maria’s early performance wasn’t impressive. Remember that whole $5,000 over-budget fiasco? She still has Crest toothpaste all of her face after it, and it’s not likely that Trump will want to hire someone who can’t keep track of a couple grand, even if it is for a pretend job.

Additionally, Carolyn once noted, in nicer terms, that she looked like a streetwalker while washing dogs. And Maria also insisted that her team add more sex to their NYPD recruitment ads, and when team leader Andy ignored her, it proved to be the right decision, as their team won without infusing sex into the ads.

Still, Maria is assertive and generally straightforward, and Trump likes that, so if has some stellar performance the next few weeks, she could just pull it off. But probably not.

Wes

Odds: 1:2

Bottom line:  Needs a win to prove he's not a 'lousy leader.'

Wes was project manager once, and he lost once. And although Stacy got fired for being annoying, Donald Trump’s proclamation that Wes is “a lousy leader” doesn’t bode well at all.

He seems competent, self-aware, and together, but clearly didn’t have what it took to lead his team. A decisive win would help to shatter that image, but he’s really going to have to push himself.  He’s also going to have to stop being so pushy sometimes.

Sandy

Odds: 3:5

Bottom line: Needs to prove her worth, maybe more than once.

Sandy has never once been into the boardroom as a failed project manager or a failed project manager’s scapegoat. While this is an impressive achievement, it’s also probably indicative of the fact that she’s never really put herself on the line. It’s now crunch time for contestants like Sandy, time to show that they have what it takes, or else end up on the other side of that awful finger-pointing thing Trump does.

During the bridal salon challenge, she took the reins from Kelly and used her expertise brilliantly and efficiently when it mattered most. Still, her performance here might not give her too much momentum, because as a successful bridal store owner, she was in her element. Can she do it again in a more foreign situation? If so, she might have a shot, but she’s still climbing a pretty steep hill.

Kevin

Odds: 1:1

Bottom line: Driven and honest, he has a solid resume, but his failure to stand out doesn’t bode well.

Kevin should be leading the pack right now, but he’s not, so he needs to show his stuff quickly.

Kevin’s team won in the third episode, successfully pimping Crest vanilla-mint toothpaste to New Yorkers. This was good. But then he screwed up the pricing of the clothes during the fashion challenge, splitting blame equally with Wes. That was bad.

However, he did take responsibility, and that earned him points with Trump. And because John failed to bring Wes into the boardroom alongside Kevin, Kevin was spared, but Trump ultimately wasn’t happy.

Still, on paper, Kevin is ideal: degree from Wharton, MBA from Emory, a forthcoming JD from the University of Chicago. He clearly has the drive and intelligence. But is that enough? He should be leading the pack right now, but he’s not, so he needs to show his stuff quickly.

Jenn M

Odds: 5:1

Bottom line: A serious contender for the final two.

Jenn’s resume is nearly flawless. An attorney for the past five years, she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University.

On the show, she’s been equally as strong, pulling her team to a decisive lead in the dog challenge, being an unwaveringly constructive team member, and never once being dragged into the boardroom by a PM. While some of her teammates resent her, she hasn’t managed to really tick off the three people on the other side of the boardroom table.

Trump clearly respects her opinions; after he asked her who she would fire and she identified Chris, who’d just granted her immunity, Trump didn’t jump down her throat for being disloyal. Instead, he thanked her. (Later, though, Trump did hint at some disagreeable feelings about Jennifer, saying, “And frankly, I might have fired Jennifer if you didn’t let her go. ... She continues to slip under the radar.”) However, her record is impressive, and if she can pull one or two more turns as a winning PM, Trump may have no choice but to hire her.

Kelly

Odds: 7:1

Bottom line: Who? Oh, him. Yeah, he’s pretty amazing.

At 37, he’s the oldest and therefore presumably most experienced among the group; when Andy was a fetus, Kelly was well into his teenage years.

And Kelly has that under-the-radar thing working for him. We’re not too sure he’s actually been on the show these past six episodes or so. His occasional lack of visibility and consistently strong performance will probably work in his favor.

He did do well during the fashion challenge, and led his team to victory during the ice cream challenge. And as project manger this week, he smartly let his ego take a back seat to Sandy’s experience. That led to a victory that was beyond decisive; it was a slaughter. His delegation, particularly to Wes and Maria, also gave him the perfect opportunity to fairly place the blame on others if his team had lost. Of the remaining men, Kelly has the best shot at making it to the end.

Andy Dehnart  is a writer and teacher who publishes reality blurred, a daily summary of reality TV news.

MORE FROM THE APPRENTICE

Cameras follow ‘Apprentice’ to campaign

Cameras follow ‘Apprentice’ to campaign ‘Apprentice’ winner not engaged ... yet Raj Bhakta admits to drunk driving arrests Viewers to offer Trump ‘Apprentice’ advice Ex-‘Apprentice’ hopeful running for Congress Trump jokes that he’d date daughter Trump chooses his man on ‘The Apprentice’   Add The Apprentice headlines to your news reader: