Episode 'Celebrity Apprentice' Season 11, Episode 11 - '7-Up Finale Part 2: Sweet Victory' Recap

Trump comes out and delivers us facts about this season, like that it had "the most entertaining competitors ever." Seems to me that's a subjective thing, but who am I to argue with a man that has his own red carpet unrollers?

This begins the live telecast, a ridiculous affair in which Trump walks onto a sound stage made up like the boardroom to a standing ovation from a strange mix of celebrities, entrepreneurs, and I think I saw a beauty contestant too. Trump delivers a monologue about the season, looking incredibly uncomfortable in that comfy-looking chair.

So, back to the past, where Marlee and John are still trying to make their campaigns for 7-Up Retro. Marlee's team is still waiting to see if Jeffrey Holder will show up, and Rich is having trouble with Def Leppard's manager. At least one of the teams gets its wish, as the Holder deal goes through, and he shows up...white suit, deep voice and all.

John's still in hot water, though, and having trouble with Def Leppard's manager, whose name is Malvin. No, seriously. Malvin.

Awkward break now as Trump wants to congratulate both his kids for having children on the way. Everybody applaud awkwardly now.

Back to John, and Malvin shows up with the band. John tries to get them to play a kick drum, which they essentially refuse to do. Dunno what's up with these guys. You write "Stairway to Heaven" and you think you own the world. What's that? Led Zeppelin wrote that? Okay, never mind then. These guys suck.

Back to the present, and the fired contestants all come out to the stage, mostly looking sharp except for Star, who looks like a peacock. David Cassidy is asked about Richard Hatch, who is not present due to the fact that he's in prison. I couldn't be less interested in what these people have to say. I am, however, thrilled with this Gary Busey medley.

Gary claims he can tell if people are lying or not by looking at their eyes. I think he's been watching "Lie to Me" and thinks he's Tim Roth. Gary and Meat Loaf hug it out, which is great, but then the downside of having Gary Busey on a live program comes through, as he won't let the Omaha Steaks bit go.

John gets a bit of a boost from the owner of The Melting Pot, who brings him a check for $25,000. Good to know their overpriced fondue is doing some good.

The two teams are starting to put their events together, and they're looking good. Marlee couldn't be cuter when the Globetrotters show up. Her event is shown first, and her presentation about the charity goes very nicely. The commercial is kind of a mess, but when Jeffrey Holder comes in at the end, there's an audible reaction from the audience. Plus, the Globetrotters event at the end goes over nicely.

John gets even more money for St. Jude's, putting him over $1 million. Things aren't going quite so well at John's event, starting with the fact that nobody greeted Trump and the 7-Up execs at the door. His commercial seems to go over well, and definitely has a better narrative at least. John fires up the crowd too early...he introduces Def Leppard at 6:40, but they aren't due to go on until 7:00.

We're less than one hour into this two-hour finale, but I think it's safe to say we all know who's getting fired, eh?

Rich makes the best of things by bringing out his acoustic guitar and playing a few songs before introducing Def Leppard...again. It's a good save, but probably still not enough. Marlee's entire event went off without a hitch.

The 7-Up execs are exceedingly nice, and say that they loved both. They think they could roll both cans out tomorrow, and surprisingly have nothing negative to say about Marlee's strange commercial. The only negative comment they have is about John's slip-up.

I'm far less appreciative of this NeNe montage than I was of the Busey one. Though it's kind of fun to see Star cower in a corner again. The bad blood is clearly still here, although it's a little more jovial now. It's probably good that they're sitting apart from each other, though.

It's boardroom time, back in the past. John makes a point of playing up his strong campaign, without making much mention of the event. When it comes down to the can, Rich seems to have the advantage...even LaToya agrees that it "pops." When it comes to the event, though, it's clear that Trump preferred Marlee's.

There's a bit of a debate about the fact that John raised extra money even though it wasn't a fundraising task. Marlee looks like she smells something bad when she hears about John's fundraising.

TIME TRAVEL to the present, where Marlee and John come out for the continued boardroom session, live on stage! How exciting! I can barely stay awake--er, I mean, in my seat!

Trump asks Meat Loaf, NeNe and Gary which one of the two they like, and none of them choose one. Star finally picks John, which considering her creepy crush is not surprising. Lil' Jon, Mark, and LaToya say John should win, but David votes for Marlee.

Now, the ultimate fundraising scene, as Marlee goes to Africa to help hand out hearing aids to children, many of whom have never heard sounds or spoken before. It's pretty powerful. We see John meet with some more St. Jude's kids...also powerful, but I don't know if anything could tug at the heartstrings like seeing kids hear sound for the first time ever.

Those are followed by a live performance by John, accompanied by Marlee and a deaf choir, signing along with the lyrics. I've had about enough touchy-feely stuff. Let's see someone get fired!

Marlee gives an impassioned speech about how she never gives up. She's been preparing this one. John pushes his charity again, and asks Trump to look at this season as a "body of work," saying that he thinks he was better on the whole, even though he might have been beaten in the last task.

Trump says he's going to do something a little different...then he names John Rich as the winner of Celebrity Apprentice. I'm not sure what he meant there. At first I thought he was going to name both of them the winner. Anyway, that's that. No explanation from Trump, just labored applause amid the storm of confetti.. I'm not toally sure he deserves it based on the last task, but he did have a point: overall, he was strong.

So, another $250,000 will go to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Congratulations to John Rich, and congratulations to all of us for sitting through all of NeNe's crap.