Eurovision 2012 Semifinal 2

Serbia
I think this is ok, it's pretty soothing but that can also be seen as boring.

8.25


F.Y.R. Macedonia
Her voice is quite nice, I like the whole style of this song.

8.75


Netherlands
I like her voice and it's pretty sweet. I like this folksy tune but she really can't do high notes.

8.5


Malta
Sounds quite Eurovision, I quite like it though it's a bit samey.

8.5


Belarus
I'm not sure about this. I think it's quite catchy but the vocals are totally not working, it sounds a bit messy. But I think this might attract the female vote in that it's a hot guy in a vest in a band. Enough said.

7.75


Portugal
This song is pretty boring, nothing really stands out. The vocals are ok, the track is ok, the performance is ok everything is just ok which makes it forgettable.

7.75


Ukraine
She's a bit screamy tbh. What the hell were the graphics about? Anyway I don't know what I think of this. It sounds a bit messy but I've heard worse.

7.25


Bulgaria
Ok I have to admit it, I like the track but not the singing. She sounded really screechy.

7.25


Slovenia
Her voice is decent but the song is pretty boring. I was literally about to fall asleep.

7.5


Croatia
I quite like this track, it sounds a bit Final Fantasy to me for some reason. It's quite game music because it's quite dramatic and has a strong instrumental track.

8.75


Sweden
I do like this but I don't get the hype. I guess I can hear this in clubs and it's quite a nice mix of a club track with decent vocals.

8.75


Georgia
This is so random. The song just doesn't work and the vocal is odd.

4.5


Turkey
erm... what the hell is this? He sounds like he has some sort of nasal infection or something and the song doesn't make any sense.

6


Estonia
Beautiful voice, I think this year is all about the big voices. Quite mesmerising even though I have no idea what he's saying.

9


Slovakia
SCREAMO! Definitely not my type of music.

6.75


Norway
I think he's trying to be the Eric Saade of Norway. I actually find this better than 'Popular' and danceable though not very catchy, it's one of those types of songs which you try to sing but then forget the lyrics and start humming.

8.5


Bosnia and Herzegovina
I love her voice and the track is so beautiful. However it might be a bit too low-key to do well at Eurovision.

9


Lithuania
Vocals are decent though it's pretty bland and I hate how it suddenly goes into this very cheesy pop track.

8


So my Top 10 in order

Estonia (Top 10)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Top 10)
FYR Macedonia (Top 10)
Croatia
Sweden (Top 10)
Norway (Top 10)
Netherlands
Malta (Top 10)
Serbia (Top 10)
Lithuania (Top 10)

Rest of Actual Top 10
Ukraine
Turkey

A bit disappointed Croatia didn't make it but I knew Ukraine and Turkey would make it as they always do. Turkey did however suffer a blip last year.

Ok my favourite 5 from the two semifinals I think are Albania, Romania, Estonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cyprus.

The winners of the last five years also performed. I have to say out of the 5 years I think I like Ell and Nikki the least by far. I didn't like Satellite when it won but Lena kind of redeemed herself to me last year. My favourite by far is Alexander Rybak and Molitva is a pretty good ballad.

I'll be looking forward to these acts in the final...

France
Italy
Spain
Germany
Albania
Romania
Cyprus
Denmark
Russia
FYR Macedonia
Sweden
Estonia
Norway
Bosnia and Herzegovina

see you on Saturday!

The Apprentice UK Series 8 Episode 10

Finally Stephen is out but sadly she dragged out Gabrielle as well.

I have to admit I never found Gabrielle that strong a contender but I loved her personality and she's an Architect so I have to support her! Stephen was really grating me with his manipulative tactics, it was nice to see him more human in You're Fired but I think that might be more just damage control for his reputation.

So with the double elimination we have our Top 5. I thought Jade was the weak link but with this episode I think she's redeemed herself in Lord Sugar's eyes. So now we have our Top 5 who will win?

Nick - He's like the 'saint' of this series. He's never been portrayed badly and everyone seems to like him but then again we have seen very little of him which seems quite odd if he were to win this.

Tom - Around halfway through this series Tom began to be portrayed as a spoilt brat, I find it hard to imagine Lord Sugar would want to work with him from the way they're portraying him but then he does seem like a favourite.


Adam - He seems like Lord Sugar's favourite and people are starting to like him, however I find it difficult to imagine him winning based on his clueless-ness in most of the tasks but they are editing him quite well.

Ricky - Ricky is my favourite because he's competent and seems like a good guy overall. However Lord Sugar doesn't seem to like him so unless he amazes him next week he'll probably not win.

Jade - I don't know about Jade anymore, I thought before this week she had shown no strengths but this week she's obviously been portrayed in a good light.

It's really difficult to predict who will win, I find this year to be pretty week in general. I think at the moment Adam and Nick look the more likely to win.

Eurovision 2012 Semifinal 1

I missed the semifinals but I'm here blogging about it just before the finals, which I'll probably miss as well but I'll definitely blog about it.

Montenegro

WTF! Weird costume and even weirder song. He wasn't even on time and was tuneless!

3/10

Iceland

It's ok I guess but it's a bit bland and reminds me of a Danish duo a few years ago

8/10

Greece

This is pretty typical, the kind of Greek pop you come to expect from Eurovision.

7.5/10

Latvia

This is really odd. The lyrics are so random and the song is pretty boring.

6.5/10

Albania

I like her voice but the song is a bit erratic, stops and starts quite a lot. I'm amazed she pulled it off though because I thought this could sound horrible live from the MV. I do love the power of the song even though I don't understand it.

9.25

Romania

I find this really catchy and totally Eurovision. I love it!

9/10

Switzerland

Switzerland likes sending these pop-rock entries but they never do well at Eurovision. I quite like this though but I've heard better from Switzerland. It sounds so generic and hate the repetitiveness.

8.5/10

Belgium

I like the tone of her voice but she was slightly off key. However I remember liking this song when I heard the MV. I just wished her voice was stronger.

8.75/10

Finland

It's ok, quite nice and sweet but is pretty forgettable.

8.25

Israel

I can't believe this is coming from Israel! It just doesn't seem Israeli to me - maybe I don't know Israel enough. I'm slightly disturbed by the lead singer!

5/10

San Marino

Sorry this song is totally shit. Why couldn't she sing in Italian at least I wouldn't know what she is singing. This is like San Marino's Rebecca Black.

3.5/10

Cyprus

This sounds like a song Rihanna would sing to me. It's ok, pretty generic pop song though I think the lead singer is a bit too growly.

8.75/10

Denmark

I remember this was one of my favourites when I listened to the MVs. I still like this song sadly the lead singer can't handle this song. I still like this though.

8.5/10

Russia

Russia can send in one of those talking cards and they'd go through. They'd probably win though, it's worrying. I do find them adorable but this is borderline scary. However I do like the line "come on and dance" when the Russian grannies sing it. Adorable - 7 for cuteness!

7/10

Hungary

He sounds constipated. I like the music but the song overall is pretty boring. I think the song would be better if the lead singer sounded better.

7/10

Austria

OMG I love this! It's total shit but soooooooo catchy! I want this in the final just so I can sing 'WOKI MIT DEIM POPO' in the final! Ok on a serious note only the chorus is memorable everything else is shit as POPO!

8/10

Moldova

Randomness can either be fun or boring and this was on the boring side, there was nothing that hooked me.

5.5/10

Ireland

Where are their quiffs! Now they have a bird's nest for hair! I find Lipstick catchier. It sounds kind of 90s to me and there isn't a memorable chorus or anything. Not as entertaining as last year because the song is quite bland.

7.25/10

So my Top 10, in order, are...

Albania (Top 10)

Romania (Top 10)

Belgium

Cyprus (Top 10)

Denmark (Top 10)

Switzerland

Finland

Iceland (Top 10)

Austria

Greece (Top 10)

Rest of Actual 10

Ireland

Russia

Hungary

Moldova

Don't understand how Moldova made it and maybe Hungary as well. I think I'll come to love Russia by the final. Slightly sad that Belgium is out but she really didn't perform that well. Anyway I'll update Semifinal 2 in a bit.

Gloves Come Off

Gloves Come off is the first series of 2012 that I have watched from start to finish so I wanted to post a few words about it.

I think Gloves Come off is the most annoying series I've watched in a while it started off so good but it collapsed into the usual TVB melodrama after the 15th episode. I think TVB tried to make this into a bigger drama than it needs to be adding all the silly nonsensical drama. I'm so disappointed with TVB this series could have been so good, a contender for the best series this year. I think TVB's series this year have been pretty ok, on an upward trend. However the last two episodes did bring it back a bit to what I had initially loved about the series.

Vicky's character was one of the first things that saw the downfall of this drama. There was no reason for her existence in this drama she just created more stupid drama however her demise made me pity her.

The way that characters changed had no development or precursor. Power just suddenly became this good for nothing prat, a little back story would have been nice. Edwin's change might have had reason but was totally unnecessary and overdramatic. I don't understand why they wrote in so many awful characters e.g. Power and Katy and Raymond, Edwin and Florence for a few episodes as well as that evil rich man. How and why does Katy suddenly become this good girl? TVB just makes everything so convenient, it's always drama up until the finale and then everything happens to tie up at the end, however Power's transition back into someone with some morals was a quite well written I thought.

I think Natalie Tong was my favourite character and whilst her death was unnecessary it was sweet how they treated the aftermath.  Nancy however was probably the best actor/actress in the whole series for me. What Gloves Come Off did well was pull at our heartstrings, all three couple pairings were distinct which made it easy to like all three but I just wish it all had more involvement with Muay Thai. The way they wrote all the love relationships were pretty good but Gloves Come Off tried to be something it was not meant to be, there were moments near the last few episodes which kind of reprieved the earlier nonsensical madness but nothing could really make up for what they tried to do.

Gloves Come Off will leave a love-hate relationship for me I think it was TVB trying to be fresh but still holding onto some very annoying TVB traits. If TVB still had the Best Couple awards I think all three pairings would be a good nominee but as individuals I'd only support Nancy Wu for Best Supporting Actress and maybe Selena and Natalie for a Top 15 nomination in the Best Actress category.

The Apprentice UK Series 8 Episode 9

So Jenna is out, not too surprising actually for her track record but in the boardroom it did look like Stephen.

I'm starting to hate Stephen, he has got to be one of the most despicable Apprentice characters ever on TVB and that's a very strong word for a TV personality. I hate the way how he tries to drag people into the boardroom over him such as with Gabrielle,  how he tries to say "you're sitting there very quietly" etc etc. He's so annoying!

My favourite is still Gabrielle followed by Ricky then maybe Tom.

Nick: 90%

Tom: 85%

Adam: 85%

Ricky: 70%

Gabrielle: 50%

Stephen: 40% 

Jade: 30%

I think Nick is now the outright favourite, he hasn't been shown in a negative light at all.

Despite Tom's win the series is editing him with more flaws than before.

People are starting to like Adam and I think Lord Sugar sees a lot in him.

I think Ricky is a decent candidate but he has two PM losses and Lord Sugar thinks he has a defeatist attitude which is surely not good if you're going into business.

Gabrielle is starting to look more and more likely as a Top 5 candidate, it would be amazing to see her get there, she has always been an underdog.

I think Stephen's last chance will be next week.

I think Jade is on her last thread, if she's on the losing team next week she'll probably be sent home.

The Apprentice UK Series 8 Episode 8

The time was up for Laura, she was on Lord Sugar's books and with another unimpressive performance she was booted out.

We were reminded on You're Fired that Laura is a good salesperson, regularly among the Top 3, but this is no longer orientated on sales and since Laura didn't provide any other strong reason to stay the failure of what she is supposedly strongest at meant she had to go.

I think Pure Evil was definitely the best choice, love the artists name! I think Tom was so excited that he could showcase his knowledge about the field he forgot that the task was mainly to endear yourself towards the artist. Yes knowledge is great but you also need to be enthusiastic about the work. Nathan Bowen was the best choice for the corporate client out of the five and with a good sales pitch could have won them over whilst Copyright was a good choice for Renault. Though besides a few of his works on show I wasn't keen on Copyright's work. Does anyone feel that it was a bit unfair that the budgets for the corporate clients were different.

I think the Jessop works were the best of what Phoenix had left, SPQR would have been a great talking point but whether they would sell well is another question. It was either play it safe or gamble and I think Tom's decision was not wrong it's just that it didn't work out on the night.

My opinion on the 8 have definitely changed since last week so here's my updated view on who will be the Top 5.

Tom: 90%

Nick: 90%
Adam: 85%

Ricky: 75%

Stephen: 45%
Gabrielle: 45%

Jenna: 35%

Jade: 30%

Tom might have been hit but I think he's a strong enough contender to stay until the Top 5. Unless of course he fails to deliver in next weeks task which should be up his alley.
With Nick's continued success it's hard to doubt his Top 5 position.
I still don't like Adam but Lord Sugar obviously does. Lord Sugar sees a lot of himself in Adam I think so he might not win but will definitely stay longer than what I initially expected.
Ricky stays within good chances because he's undoubtedly shown strengths
Stephen is now the weakest male of the five I think, I wouldn't be surprised if he's the next guy to leave.
I highly doubt there would be no females in the final 5 and out of the 3 left Gabrielle has shown more potential than the others. What is problematic is despite showing enthusiasm and creativity she often manages a major fall as well, it's like two steps forward and then one big step back for her.
I think I talked up Jenna's beauty business, she has yet to been heavily featured, even when she was PM, so she's probably leaving soon.
More and more questions are propping up for Jade and she has yet to really prove her worth, if she finds herself in the boardroom any more she'll have a lot to speak up for.

So I think there's a clear scramble between the girls and Stephen for a place in the Top 5 atm. Yet again there are no favourites to win atm until we see the final proposals I think so until the final few are set it's going to be interesting seeing who gets fired.

The Apprentice UK Series 8 Episode 6 + 7

I didn't post last week so today I'll make a quick catch up. So Katie and Azhar are now out.

I don't think Azhar was responsible for the failure of the task but Azhar was definitely the weakest of the 10 left. So my brief opinion on the final 9.

Adam Corbally - he's somebody out of the 60s honestly. I think his sole strength is sales but small consumer products, I don't think he is strong in any of department and that's why he should go before the Final 5.

Gabrielle Omar - It seems like she'll be PM next week and I feel this could be the be all or end all for Gabrielle. If she loses the only thing that would save her is if she outsold all of her team if not she'll be on rocky ground.

Jade Nash - I think this week has shown us that if Jade doesn't sharpen up quick she'll be leaving the process very soon. She hasn't shown her strengths besides being a strong motivator.

Jenna Whittingham - I find Jenna weak to be honest but having been reminded that Lord Sugar is interested in the beauty business and Jenna having experience there maybe Lord Sugar will keep her around till the serious competition begins.

Laura Hogg - In all honesty what has Laura done? I love her but I really can't remember anything that she has excelled at. I'm sorry to say but out of the 9 she has the least noticeable strengths.

Nick Holzherr - He's a nice guy and has been able to glide his way through the competition but he's still very much an unknown to me. However with two PM wins he's got to have left an impression on Lord Sugar.

Ricky Martin - His strength is his sales and leadership qualities but he can also rub people the wrong way. He's a contender for the Top 5 but there's still a long way to go.

Stephen Brady - His manipulative powers reminds me of Jim last year and that could serve him very well if he avoids the boardroom for the coming weeks. He's yet to feature in the bottom 3 so all if looking good at the moment.

Tom Gearing - I think he's the obvious favourite at the moment no doubt. I don't remember any time where Nick or Karen have talked negatively about him but I think he hasn't built up a substantial enough lead to be seen as the outright winner yet. It all comes down to the proposals but if you ask me the first one with a shot at the Top 5 is Tom.

So out of the I'd say Top 5 looks like

Tom: 100%

Nick: 85%

Ricky: 75%

Stephen: 55%

Jenna: 50%

Adam: 45%

Gabrielle: 35% 45%

Jade: 30%

Laura: 20%

I'm hoping Gabrielle has a good business plan under her sleeve to keep her around for a bit longer but actually maybe Jade has one too. I definitely think it'll be a male dominated Top 5.

Still rooting for Gabrielle after that I'd support Tom.

n.b. I upped Gabrielle's chances a bit after doing a little browsing around the internet, feeling more positive towards her chances now.

The Apprentice UK Series 8 Episode 5

Duane was fired this week, yet again I'm shocked. I think Duane was starting to get ahead of himself and trying to take charge of everything but I thought he was a likely candidate for the final 6 at least. For the final 3 brought back I'd say he did seem to be the person who was responsible for the failure of the task but as an overall candidate I felt that Laura has yet to show her strengths.

So five weeks in and I've been shocked four times out of five with the firing, what is happening this year. I can't believe that Bilyana, Maria, Jane and Duane are out before Adam, Azhar, Jenna and arguably Gabrielle. I still don't have a favourite yet this year but I just hope Adam, Azhar and Jenna disappear soon.

Binibining Pilipinas 2012 Review

I finally managed to review the show, the results were not the best but not awful either but then again I can see why many are saying it's a "cooking show", not really sure why cooking show specifically but I'm guessing it's relating to things being pre determined.

Anyway to quickly sum up I thought MJ, Nicole, Patricia, Ali and Jaine were the best in swimsuit followed closely by Jill, Fer, Ayelee, Janine and Roxane. In terms of evening gown I thought Patricia, Jaine, Rose Ann, MJ, Angelee and Katrina were best in evening gown whilst Ali, Jill, Ayelee, Janine and Karen follow.

I thought the top 12 were decent but I didn't understand Gina's inclusion as I didn't think she excelled in any way. I was disappointed Jaine missed out from a spot because she was actually among my Top 3 from the two rounds. She performed amazingly in both rounds, showing fighting form so I don't understand why she missed out. Rose Ann, Jill and Ayelee were also part of my Top 12, Fer also just missed out.

My Top 12 in order

MJ - Patricia - Jaine - Nicole - Ali - Rose Ann - Jill - Ayelee - Janine - Angelee - Katrina - Karen (13th Fer)

Anyway onto the Q&A, here's my comment on each delegate.

30. Sherlyn Gonzalez

Sherlyn provided a very predictable answer but I guess there's no problem with predictability. This question has been asked time and time again and 90% of delegates answer the way Sherlyn did but at least she managed a good delivery. I was just hoping Sherlyn would have the creativity of producing a more interesting answer because predictability also equates to being boring and that never gains any points.

16. Liezl Alcantara

I like Liezl but I found her slightly disappointing throughout the pageant. I found her answer ok, the main problem for me was the delivery she just didn't convince me with the way she spoke and that's why her answer didn't sound convincing when she said it.

7. Patricia Ejercitado

Patricia provided me with one of the most compelling answers of the night, it wasn't the most intelligent or well phrased but it was true to herself and that's what I loved about it. She also said it with conviction that's why, in my opinion, she gave the second best question and answer performance of the night and truly deserved a Top 5 finish but like Patricia Tumulak last year she didn't get anything.

29. Annalie Forbes

Annalie performed beautifully until the Q&A section where she fumbled massively. The main problem was that she didn't actually answer the question, instead of the disadvantages of social media she talked about the advantages. I think she was in such a muddle that she tried to pull out a quote to sound more clever but without backing it up at all it made her answer even worse. Her inclusion in the Top 5 was probably one of the side reasons why people called this a cooking show.

26. Angelee De Los Reyes

I was never a fan of Angelee but she did perform well in evening gown but her Q&A performance quickly turned me against her again. Her overconfidence was not attractive at all and in fact she didn't answer her question anyway. She tried to stand out like MJ did last year but whilst MJ impressed viewers she shocked them. Humility is also an important factor in winning but she did not show that at all.

9. Mary Jean Lastimosa

I think when she won Miss PAL and Miss Avon everybody thought she would finally win a crown, to be honest I don't get why she didn't make the Top 5 if she managed 1st RUP last year but anyway her answer wasn't bad and she said it with conviction however if we dig deeper into the answer I find it inadequate. MJ said the most pressing problem in the world today is the curiosity we have, but there was very little reasoning as to why and in fact she didn't answer the latter part of her question. This is an example where sticking to the protocol might have helped her.been better (like Katrina). However MJ seemed much more down to earth than last year.

13. Katrina Dimaranan

Katrina stuck to protocol but managed to make the answer her own by tweaking a few things, she stuck to the book and because of that she did well. However I also thought there was a lot of potential in her question to be creative and focus on the aspect of only being president for one day so therefore making a quick impact rather than trying to promote education which would definitely take more than a day of presidency.

18. Janine Tugonon

I really don't like questions which pigeon hole the candidate to chose from only two options because it restricts creativity but anyway Janine did the same as Katrina and also came off well in general. Mentioning God in the Philippines always draw votes so Janine definitely studied well. In the end she managed a good enough answer to a common question. 

15. Elaine Moll

I didn't like Elaine's answer because it wasn't developed well and she didn't deliver it well either. However to her benefit she did get a tough question because wanting to change something about one's culture can easily sound derogatory and I think that's what caused Elaine the most trouble.

14. Gina Howell

This question is pretty similar to Janine's. Gina answered decently but it wasn't really memorable to be honest. It was a crowd pleasing answer but then again it's easy to do that with this type of question. I think when these simple "pageant-patty" questions are asked the delegate should try to be a bit more creative in their answers or they might fade into the background.

8. Nicole Schmitz

In my opinion Nicole produced the best performance in the Q&A of the night. Her answer was well structured and she backed her statement with reasoning. She also delivered it with conviction and didn't stumble or blabber on. If she didn't win a crown with that answer there would be no justice.

1. Karen Gallman

Sadly Karen had the worst performance of the 12, not only did she not answer the question there was also no structure to her answer making it sound like a jumble of words. Even if you don't know what you are saying you need to say it with conviction like Ali did but Karen did neither therefore scored the lowest for me.

My ranking of the girls Q&A performance

Nicole - Patricia - Janine - Katrina - MJ - Sherlyn - Gina - Liezl - Elaine - Ali - Angelee - Karen

My final ranking of the Top 12

BP Universe - 7. Patricia Ejercitado

BP International - 8. Nicole Schmitz

BP Tourism - 9. MJ Lastimosa

1st Runner Up - 18. Janine Tugonon

2nd Runner Up - 13. Katrina Dimaranan

6th - 29. Ali Forbes

7th - 16. Liezl Alcantara

8th - 30. Sherlyn Gonzalez

9th - 15. Elaine Moll

10th - 26. Angelee De Los Reyes

11th - 1. Karen Gallman

12th - 14. Gina Howell

Not going to dwell on why I thought certain contestants should have placed differently but I felt that the results in general were decent however there were obviously better choices than Janine for the BPU title. I'm so happy for Nicole and I think Katrina has potential as well.

This year I was definitely less excited than last year, the pageant also seemed more muted than last year. When they started announcing the winners it seemed less exciting compared to last year as well. I wish Janine the best of luck at Miss Universe because I think it will be tough for her to repeat the success of Venus and Shamcey.

Binibining Pilipinas 2012

I haven't really followed this year but I have my own favourites list so before the final I wanted to post it.

My Top 12

01. Karen Gallman

05. Rose Ann Aguilar

15. Elaine Kay Moll

16. Liezl Alcantara

18. Janine Tugonon

19. Roxanne Joy Jesalva

My Top 6

04. Jaine Hidalgo

07. Patricia Lae Ejercitado

08. Nicole Schmitz

09. Mary Jean Lastimosa

10. Jillean Orbina

29. Ali Forbes

Wildcards

21. Giselle Munoz

24. Fer Mary Baliquig

The Apprentice UK Series 8 Episode 4

In yet another bizarre turn of events Jane McEvoy is the 4th victim on the Apprentice. I really don't know where Lord Sugar is going with this because in my opinion Jane did nothing wrong on this task and was yet again caught out by sales figures but if you're out doing PR the whole day when are you supposed to sell? Lord Sugar simply puts too much emphasis on selling and everything else becomes pointless.

I really felt Laura would be gone, if not it would be Gabrielle, Jane was last on my list but there were precursors to her exit like Lord Sugar picking up on her sales figures. I didn't expect Jane to leave this early, I thought she had another three episodes in her at least. This means my new favourite has to be Gabrielle as everyone else annoys me.

I guess Lord Sugar just didn't see Jane as a viable business partner but his reason for firing her confused me because what has Laura done that has impressed him. No offence to Laura, she is a lovely girl, but she really hasn't shown any business acumen on the show yet.

Anyway I liked this weeks task as it involved a bit of creativity, good for you Tom and good for you Gabrielle for trying to reupholster 200 pieces of crap. Next weeks task looks very odd but I'm interested to see the result and hopefully the exit of some of the slackers.

The Apprentice UK Series 8 Episode 3

This week was finally more predictable with Michael Copp leaving the Apprentice.

Michael played the nice guy on the show but was also very quiet, that was his downfall as three weeks into the show we've barely heard anything from him, even when he was in the boardroom to be honest.

I totally agree that Michael needed to go, he wasn't the reason why the team failed, it was down to production, but he was not suitable to be Lord Sugar's partner. I believe Lord Sugar is starting to warm to Katie, if she puts her head down and avoids the boardroom for a few weeks we might see a resurrection. I don't have much else to say about this episode so here is a short take on how I rate the candidates.

My favourites

Jane, Gabrielle, Jade

Ok

Duane, Katie, Laura,

In Between

Nick, Ricky, Stephen, Tom

Who?

Azhar, Jenna

Hates

Adam

As you can see I favour the girls team more, the boys have shown that they are pretty incompetent but have managed to smash out wins as a group. Jane is my current favourite whilst I obviously support Gabrielle because she's an Architect! I love Jade because she is just comedy to me.

Duane is my favourite out of the guys but he really has to deflate his ego. Katie wasn't my favourite initially but I've come to like her. Most of the guys fall in my I don't care section but Adam infuriates me, he is rude and has a huge ego. He really needs to be fired soon.

I think Azhar, Jenna and Gabrielle are just waiting to be fired, sorry Gabrielle but you just haven't pulled your weight. Most of the others could be fired whenever really as nobody is really a frontrunner at the moment but Duane is carving himself out as a favourite though he wasn't great this week.

The Apprentice UK Series 8 Episode 2

I was shocked again by Lord Sugar's decision this week to fire Maria because whilst she didn't contribute that much on the team, Katie provided absolutely no contribution in the first task so why wasn't Katie fired over Bilyana for contribution last week. In all honesty I found it very difficult to pin down who I thought would be fired but I ultimately believed Jenna seemed the most vulnerable because of her ludicrous costings but it seems like if Lord Sugar could fire a second person it would have been Jane. Whilst the girls' product was terrible, I thought they didn't perform as badly as Lord Sugar thought. The main problem were costings and product. It was also rather odd of them to make a u-turn on the tap-cozy after market research loved it. Yes there would have been problems with the aspect of having a one size fits all design but I think they should have explored that option further before dismissing it.

Anyway both ideas were pretty shoddy. The boys' idea, championed by Duane, sounded pretty standard to me and I found it hard to understand the use of the product they created. Yet again none of the boys particularly impressed me but it is evident that Duane is showing himself in the best light at the moment.

After the first episode Maria was a character I thought would last on the show so I was shocked with her dismissal. Yes she had yet to show her use but Lord Sugar has always loved those with a voice so firing two of the strongest characters on the first two shows seems irregular to me.

Now that we are two episodes in I have some opinions on each of the candidates so...

Adam Corbally - Seems like one that would push his idea to no end and bend those around him to think the same, not keen on him at the moment.

Azhar Siddique - Supposedly he created a rift in the group but I think the only thing he lacked was communication, however he has yet to show me his strengths.

Duane Bryan - Obviously a strong voice in the boys group, I'll be interested to see his leadership qualities.

Gabrielle Omar - Sadly in both tasks she has shown lack of ability, unless she turns it around our resident architect will be fired soon.

Jade Nash - She strikes me as someone who could potentially go far but with how Lord Sugar has been doing things lately she might be a huge miss also.

Jane McEvoy - Whilst I don't have a favourite on the show yet Jane is probably the closest for me. Whilst she lost this task she showed good leadership qualities and has a great way of speaking which commands attention but doesn't force it down your throat.

Jenna Whittingham - I can't see longevity in her, she doesn't stand out as a threat.

Katie Wright - I am more and more intrigued by what she has to offer, she can either be a great success next week or ultimately fail terribly and get eliminated. Ultimately Lord Sugar has given Katie her last chance by, I believe, delegating her project manager for the boys team - it's all or nothing for Katie as I think if she were to lose it would mean immediate firing from Lord Sugar.

Laura Hogg - She seems pretty charming and a potential threat but I need to see more of her.

Michael Copp - WHO? I can't see where this one is going.

Nick Holzherr - I don't have a particularly strong opinion on him

Ricky Martin - I think he could go either way to be honest.

Stephen Brady - Obviously he's already set himself out as a leader and has shown good as well as bad qualities but he should be in this for the long run considering only Duane (in the guys team) has been featured in the show as much as he has.

Tom Gearing - I have yet to see what he can do but he doesn't strike me as a threat as of now.

But at this moment I think I'd be stupid to predict a winner as nobody has really shown any true potential but if I was to outline people to look out for I'd place Duane, Jane, Laura and Stephen and maybe Jade and Nick as dark horses.

I won't be able to watch the next episode of the Apprentice as I'll be in SPAIN! But I'll do my best to update right after I'm back.