OK. I looked and looked and didn't see any posts this morning on last night's finale. No 'be the' or any editing, etc. Not that I intend to do any of that.

I just have a few comments. And it's mostly about Piers.
I honestly think he was totally dissed by at least 90% of the people on this show, dispite his bringing in an unbelievable amount of money for an incredible charity. AND helping so many of his co-contenders line the pockets of THEIR charities!

For the Donald and a few others to say that he is 'unlikable' would not put his life on the line for his country, is basically 'soul-less', etc, I find outrageous! This man took a HUGE bullet for this show, and got very little in return.

Need I even bring up the carp that Omo gave him? OK. Just wanted to say CONGRATS to a job well done-sure, getting the bidders a bit tippsy may not be quite so ethical, but it's THEIR choice to drink, is it not?

And to Trace-great job to you, too! Yes, you do define America, hot dogs, baseball, apple pie. I love you, man! And I envy Ivanka's date with you! I envy your wife!! But you lost, fair and square, because you just didn't have the contacts that your competitor did.

Which brings up my very last point: how do you be or become the devil when you KNOW so many people, are liked well enough by those people that they are willing to fork out THOUSANDS of dollars to your effort? HUH? Don't get it! Piers, if you are reading this (which, I'm sure you would never do), you were stomped on, spit on, and left for dead. But you rose above, and you deserved to win!!! Right on!

• RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),Snidget, 08:29 AM, 03-28-08
• RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),aquariaqueen, 09:06 AM, 03-28-08
  • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),Snidget, 09:12 AM, 03-28-08
    • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),Loree, 09:27 AM, 03-28-08
      • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),mindy23, 09:30 AM, 03-28-08
        • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),Wacko Jacko, 06:44 PM, 03-28-08
          • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),Cathy the Canadian, 07:56 PM, 03-28-08
    • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),aquariaqueen, 08:17 AM, 03-29-08
      • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),Oscirus, 02:26 AM, 03-30-08
        • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),Snidget, 09:46 AM, 03-30-08
• Did we watch the same show?,Cathy the Canadian, 07:50 PM, 03-28-08
  • RE: Did we watch the same show?,Loree, 07:55 AM, 03-29-08
  • RE: Did we watch the same show?,Snidget, 08:13 AM, 03-29-08
  • RE: Did we watch the same show?,alliebaba, 10:13 AM, 03-29-08
• RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),aquariaqueen, 08:23 AM, 03-29-08
  • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),Cathy the Canadian, 09:37 AM, 03-30-08
• RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),Scarlett O Hara, 10:16 AM, 03-30-08
  • RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),jadzia3999, 11:57 AM, 03-30-08
• RE: Bittersweet victory? (spoilerish for those who are weeks behind),mattben, 06:16 PM, 03-30-08

He ran a tabloid. He probably has pictures none of them want him to publish.

I'm not quite sure how he got famous for being famous, but it does kinda seem that has what he has done. I'm not sure what talent he has other than knowing people. I know in the tasks it seemed to me the main thing that worked was his rolodex. He didn't do his team any good other than being able to know who to call to get one or two big contributions that pushed his team over the top.

As far as the money....Piers had TWO people who spent a ton of money. Trace had many people who forked over 5-10K each. Piers had two heavy hitters, but Trace had a team of people.
I really don't consider that a true win.

Piers' indignation made me dislike him. And while he may be right about things, his lack of tact proves to be quite vile. His self inflicted superiority is unbecoming. I have a brother just like this guy.

I would have loved the food. I shop better on a full stomach.

The most frustrating thing for me is that people in the boardroom aren't allowed to finish their statements.

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it" - Albert Einstein

I do agree that it is a money raising competition, and as much as I may dislike him I think he had to get the win based on $$ raised alone. Doesn't make me forgive any of his bad behavior, other bad business decisions, or attitude.

I would have liked to see some sort of # of people who donated, not just $ amount raised be taken into consideration. Most of Piers' wins seemed to be from 1 or 2 insanely wealthy people who gave way more than any other donor. No other person had the time in any of these challenges to get 10X as many people donating money to make up the difference.

LAST EDITED ON 03-28-08 AT 09:29 AM (EST)

Donald set the rules for this season. And because of how Donald always wanted them to use their contacts. He had to give Piers the win. Piers basically did what Donald expected.

Now... I hope things are changed for season two. I would rather the celebs really have to have talent (not just contacts) to win challenges. Set a limit on how much each contact can donate per challenge. And have more challenges where the teams have to use their skills not their contacts.

ETA: Gene Simmons could have rivalled Piers in the contact challenge if he had chose to stay on the show.

>LAST EDITED ON 03-28-08
>AT 09:29 AM (EST)
>
>Donald set the rules for this
>season. And because of
>how Donald always wanted them
>to use their contacts.
>He had to give Piers
>the win. Piers basically
>did what Donald expected.
>
>Now... I hope things are changed
>for season two. I
>would rather the celebs really
>have to have talent (not
>just contacts) to win challenges.
> Set a limit on
>how much each contact can
>donate per challenge. And
>have more challenges where the
>teams have to use their
>skills not their contacts.
>
>ETA: Gene Simmons could have
>rivalled Piers in the contact
>challenge if he had chose
>to stay on the show.
>

I do like that idea!

A big disjustice would of been served if Trace won. Piers truly outperformed Trace. After listening to both candidates closing statements it was very clear Piers should win. I give Donald a lot of credit because when everyone was asked who should win 80% said Trace....even Gene Simmons which really really surprised me....of all people Gene Simmons should of seen Piers was a class above Trace. I almost got the opinion that people were going to boo Trump if he picked Piers.....so when Trump picked Piers I was so glad...and people acted very cool about it.

I like Trace bought his single, but to appoint him the winner would've been wrong.

I agree with you 100% Wacko Jacko, and I also was surprised by Gene Simmons. I too though out of everyone, he would appreciate Piers's business savvy.

Trace may just be the most likeable guy in America, so I can see where all his support comes from, but this was a business competition, and Piers was unequaled in that reguard.

LAST EDITED ON 03-29-08 AT 08:19 AM (EST)

He relied on two people...what would have happened if they didn't show up? (Just saying)

I am not saying Piers didn't deserve to win. I am just comparing two donators vs. many. Deep pockets vs. many donators.

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it" - Albert Einstein

LAST EDITED ON 03-30-08 AT 02:28 AM (EST)

Piers made more money during that task than Trace even without those two "big donors."

In some challenges that may be true, but his crush the competition bragging is pretty much because of one or two big donors, not from getting 10X more donors/buyers, etc.

I assume that Piers' "regular donors" are probably giving on average more than everyone else's because of who he can bring it that may not be TV worthy enough are likely still richer on average than everyone else's phone list can muster. It is unlikely he knows a couple of absurdly rich people but everyone else is of normal income.

Snidget, aquariaqueen, I can't believe you feel Piers was only good for his infamous "rolodex". He had great ideas on each task that had nothing to do with just calling up celebrities. He clearly has great business instincts, and knows what he's doing.

Things off the top of my head - the quiznos sandwich challenge - it was his idea to ask them what their most popular sandwich was, and base their sandwich on that. Smart.

The broadway ticket challenge - the guy put on a ridiculous knight costume. He's willing to go all the way to win.

The skin cream campaign. It was his idea to use Carol Alt as the model, instead of a twentysomething. Smart.

The horse & carriage challenge - Piers took the calculated risk of keeping some of the carriages empty, so that they would be there when the big spenders turned up. It worked perfectly. And by the way, I thought it was smart of Piers to fire Omarossa on that task, when it became clear he couldn't work with her. That she wouldn't accept the firing was her own problem. I though she looked like an absolute idiot that episode, not Piers, who was if anything restrained, given the horrible things she was saying to him.

And think of how he was when it came to presentations to company bigwigs. He was outstanding every time.

I think he won this hands down. I do think some of his unlikeability came from his misunderstood British sense of humour. I though he was a riot. And such a good sport, I mean, like mindy23 said, he basically let the show portray him as the "ugly Brit", and took it with a smile.

I was so happy Trump picked him. I was afraid he would buckle to the overwhelming support Trace had. But at the end of the day, Piers and Trump are very much alike, and this was indeed a Business competition, not a popularity contest. It's like the tagline of the show reads, "it's not personal, it's just business".

And Loree, do you seriously not want the celebs to use their contacts? First of all, this show is about raising as much money as possible for charity - celebs have money! Lots of it! And second of all, that's half the fun of casting celebrities in the first place, to see what other celebs they can get to make cameos on the show.

>And Loree, do you seriously not
>want the celebs to use
>their contacts? First of
>all, this show is about
>raising as much money as
>possible for charity - celebs
>have money! Lots of it!
> And second of
>all, that's half the fun
>of casting celebrities in the
>first place, to see what
>other celebs they can get
>to make cameos on the
>show.

It would be different if Trump had cast celebs who all had alot of contacts. But especially on the female team he picked alot of players that had no contacts. They just did not have the famous backing. It was so unfair that it wasn't enjoyable. If Trump wants to use big name contacts as a way to win. Then he needs to even up the teams with celebs that all have rich contacts.

LAST EDITED ON 03-29-08 AT 08:19 AM (EST)

I know he put on the knight costume, but I remember mostly him seeming to be turning a lot of people off with it other than those that already recognized him.

I don't think every idea he had was bad, but compared to some of the others I don't think he would have survived had this been a regular season where you can't rely on one or two really big checks to win a challenge.

I just don't see his business brilliance being what won all those challenges, a lot of the other celebs, IMO, did much better on the business side of things.

Just no one, other than maybe Gene Simmons, could call on someone who would drop 10-100K without batting an eye every single week.

ETA. I think there were a couple of weeks where he might have been up for elimination, but the big check saved his butt. He was about middle of the pack for me on the business end of things, but the reason he won wasn't that he was that much better than everyone else business wise, or sales wise. He won because he had the best contacts. Had he only had people who had $1-5K to drop on charity at a time I don't think he would have won the season.

I am glad he raised a ton of money, it just isn't enough for me to declare him the best business person in the game.

Alliebaba

I rather liked Piers. I have been a fan of his since "America's got talent". I believe to some degree, he has been edited to look worse. I also believe his very sarcastic sense of humour is misunderstood by many. I think he does have integrity and a good heart. I won't even comment on Omarosa and her disgusting performance.

I think he was set up from the get-go to be the bad guy and I don't think Donald expected the superb performance by Piers on his tasks.

What really bothered me is that Donald Trump -- the Donald Trump who mixes it up with Rosie and bad mouths so many people, could sit there are bash Pier's style.

I say congrats to Piers. Trace is a wonderful, considerate, caring person -- but unfortunately it wasn't a personality contest.

I don't want Rolodex's next season.

I like projects like the Croc's one, or the mattress one.

Also, I would have liked to have known on the Quizno's shops, what were the stores typical sales at each shop. Were they pretty even in sales? We have many McDonalds around here, two are busy, but 5 never are.

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it" - Albert Einstein

Actually, I'll agree with you on the Quizno's challenge - that was unfair.

Irreguardless of the sandwich choice, Trace (who isn't well known in New York) and Stephen Baldwin (who obviously doesn't have much star power anymore either) just couldn't compete with the celebrity draw that Lennox Lewis had.

If he had been on Trace's team, they probably would have won that task just based on his star power.

Of coarse, one could also argue that this just meant they should have tried harder to think out of the box and come up with clever ideas to draw people in......

Hands down, I thought Piers blew his competition away! He deserved the win. Trace was a nice guy, but Piers was the better business man! Woot! I'm glad he won.

Trace was complaining about piers' rolodex and that Trace didn't have friends who can plunk down that kind of money?

What? Country stars who sell millions of records don't make money?

That makes absolutely no sense.

Piers had friends from 1000s of miles away and they still delivered through their assistants who represented them in the US.

Again, Trace doesn't have nashville contacts who had reps in NY?

Cmon!!

Trace obviously didn't know how to use his resources well.

Piers is famous in Britain. He had many british tourists donate money during the broadway task.

Piers is also known for making other celebs famous because of his tabloid newspaper, which he no longer works for.

I think the man has integrity, and played the game right.

He deserved the win.

Trace was too laid back, but other than coming up with great ideas and slogans, what else did he do?

Piers worked the hardest. IMO!

Ditto