Team Valor Prevails, Two More Go Home On ‘Apprentice’ Episode 9
ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has been hard at work trying to uncover his future Chief Of Staff and winner of the US$250,000 one-year contract to work under him as his protege in Singapore.
This week, he further narrowed down the seven global candidates to five, sending two more Team Conquest members home after an emotional scenario on the chopping block.
In case you missed it, here’s what went down on Episode 9 of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.”
The Big Bounce
When the seven candidates entered AMPED Trampoline Park in Singapore for the physical challenge, 12-time Flyweight Mixed Martial Arts World Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson was waiting for them, bouncing up and down on a trampoline among a pile of dodgeballs.
The teams had to compete in a series of dodgeball games, where the first team to win two out of three games would be declared the victors of this week’s physical challenge. Task Captain Dom Lau then announced that he’d play on Team Valor, and Demetrious went with Team Conquest.
Team Valor won the first round after Paulina Purnomowati took out “Mighty Mouse.” However, Team Conquest evened the score in the second round after taking out the rival squad’s last-standing member, Dom.
The final game came down to the wire, as Team Valor’s Paulina, Monica Millington, and Louie Sangalang were pitted against Team Conquest’s Irina Chadsey.
Monica took out the Russian – her old “MoRina” alliance member – to secure the victory for her squad. As a result, Team Valor was treated to a fine-dining experience at Ocean Restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa.
TUMI Esports Bag Challenge
At the TUMI store in Singapore, Adam Hershman, Vice President of TUMI Asia Pacific and Middle East, handed the candidates their next challenge.
Both teams had to create a global launch campaign for the first-ever TUMI luxury gaming bag collection aimed at young gaming enthusiasts – the Alpha Bravo esports collection.
However, Niharika Singh then stepped in to let the bunch know they only had one business day to execute this.
Gamer At Heart
On Team Conquest, Kexin Ye volunteered to be the Project Manager for this challenge because she’s a self-admitted gamer at the core of her being.
Kexin thought it would be best to create a campaign aimed at amateur gamers that revolved around a tournament called the Alpha Bravo World Championship.
Under Kexin’s leadership, however, Irina felt the German was lost as a Project Manager because she was trying to balance a breakup with her boyfriend at the same time, and Jessica Ramella thought Kexin was underutilizing her.
Return Of An American
Monica stepped up to be the Project Manager once again, and she decided it would be best to come up with a campaign revolving around the journey of a champion gamer.
The team met with Estonian professional Dota 2 player Clement “Puppey” Ivanov to get some ideas, and the team seemed to be working well together.
However, Louie started to get irritated after Monica took his laptop without asking him and he was left to work without it. The Filipino then began questioning Monica’s leadership skills, which caused some friction.
Team Conquest Misses The Mark
At Andaz Garden Studio, Team Conquest pitched Chatri, Niharika, and Adam first.
Nazee Sajedi started the pitch by pretending she was calling her brother to let him know about a gaming tournament called the Alpha Bravo World Championship, and that the winner would receive a TUMI sponsorship.
Niharika thought it was a good idea, but she admitted that she had a hard time actually visualizing the campaign. Chatri questioned who was going to pay for the tournament and then blasted the team, telling them this was the worst pitch since the show began.
Adam, on the other hand, said that Team Conquest caught the brand’s vision, but it was, indeed, an unrealistic execution plan.
Team Valor Delivers The Goods
When Team Valor pitched their idea, all three advisors were blown away.
Louie and Monica recapped the team’s “Champion’s Journey” story and played a video about gaming, esports, and TUMI. The video showed a tournament that would take place in TUMI’s stores in Los Angeles and Tanjong Pagar – and those stores would act as gaming studios.
Chatri loved the execution plan and said the concept could be explosive. Niharika was also impressed with the video campaign, and Adam loved how Team Valor leveraged the stores.
With that, both teams were ready for the boardroom, where they’d receive the advisors’ feedback and find out who the winning team was.
Boardroom Embarrassment
The ONE Chairman and CEO began the meeting by letting the group know that two candidates would be going home.
He then dug deeper into Team Valor’s pitch. He said that although he was blown away by their execution plan, the concept missed the mark. Feedback from the group, however, showed that Monica did an exceptional job as Project Manager.
Chatri then turned to Team Conquest and told them that they disappointed TUMI, a client of ONE Championship, and in turn embarrassed him. After hearing the team’s feedback, he thought Kexin self-imploded as a leader.
Ultimately, he declared Team Valor the winners, and Kexin took Nazee and Irina to the chopping block.
Two More Go Home
When Kexin, Nazee, and Irina sat across from Chatri, the ONE Chairman and CEO asked them one simple question: “Why should it not be you today?”
Kexin said she’d do anything if given a second chance. Nazee told Chatri that she wanted to help mentor women together with ONE. And Irina expressed that her only real purpose is to show her true values.
The ONE Chairman and CEO turned to Nazee and told her she’s not the one, although he respects her mission in life. He then turned to Kexin and told her she’s also not the one, but to go out into the world, grow, and figure out who she truly is.
Lastly, Chatri addressed Irina.
“I believe in you,” he said. “But only five candidates remain – I expect the best of you.”
Tune in to AXN next Thursday, 20 May, at 8:50 p.m. to catch all the drama on Episode 10 of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.”