Occasionally, reality TV gives us a transcendent character. A conniving Richard Hatch. An aggressive Omarosa. A flamboyant Adam Lambert. Last night, the world received its newest character: cracked-out Cyndi Lauper.
The Apprentice is the brainchild of Mark Burnett, the man who gave us Survivor. At its most elemental sense, The Apprentice moves the action of Survivor from a tropical paradise to Manhattan, ditching a tribe of Harvard MBAs at Trump Tower to duke it out in various “business-related” tasks. And by “business-related,” I mean selling lemonade on the streets, and shilling Dove Cool Moisture body wash.
After a few seasons, the original Apprentice puttered out, and the show relaunched as a celebrity version, which re-energized the franchise. Last night the newest edition of the Celebrity Apprentice launched, with an all-star cast. Including one Cyndi Lauper.
Why is Cyndi so great on the Celebrity Apprentice? Let’s make a list:
1) She seems entirely shocked and unaware that she’s on TV. Tasked acting as the Project Manager and running a diner for the episode, Cyndi repeatedly seemed confused that she was on TV, much less competing on a reality show. Example: after telling Donald Trump in the boardroom Joan Rivers happened to stop by the diner, Trump replied that she actually stopped by to monitor the task. To which Cyndi brilliantly replied, “What task??” Not realizing that running a diner with cameras following you isn’t part of your day-to-day? Brilliant.
Photo courtesy NBC.
2) Her hair changes constantly. Throughout the episode, Cyndi had no less than five different hairstyles. Wigs? Stylists? Who knows. Either way, it’s disconcerting and insanely wonderful.
Hair One. Photo courtesy NBC.
Who are you with that hair? Photo courtesy NBC.
3) She sang True Colors in the dinner with a guy playing the accordion, while serving hamburgers. Um, yeah. Sharon Osbourne notes that “this is like the f*cking Star Wars bar in here.” Oh Sharon, if you only knew. Check out the clip below:
4) She made almost no money on the task. Since the Celebrity Apprentice is largely about soliciting your rich friends to come down and make donations, this is a major failing. Questioned in the boardroom, Cyndi notes that most of her NYC contacts are just artists and musicians. And hobos.
5) She’s Cyndi-Freakin-Lauper!
Photo courtesy NBC.
Need more proof? Check out the Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, Sunday at 9.
