Qualified to cook food but not the books

I hate to contradict a man that has been a successful entrepreneur, has made it big in the consumer electrical goods Market, has made millions of pounds and now has a seat on the Government via his ascendency to the House of Lords. But why did he choose a glorified Chef to become the next BBC Apprentice. Jasmina, won through quite predictably because of the dogged tenacity she must have had to run a successful business. Her own Restaurant, where she manages up to twenty staff is just the sort of yarn that Sir Alan likes to hear. With each year, in each series we are treated to another tale of how he defied the odds of a Hackney upbringing and made good. But Jasmina's story is not as similar as his own as Sir Alan likes to think.

For twelve weeks Jasmina and the other Apprentice hopefuls completed tasks to prove that their own interpersonal and business skills were worthy enough for Alan Sugar to pick them for a £100K job in one of his corporations. Each week they were tested on their ability to market, to sell, how they communicated and how well they performed in the imfamous boardroom showdown against fierce competition that was more than happy to stab them in the front in order to survive another week.

Many fell at the first hurdle, some were out of their depth, while others were plain bonkers, but when it came to the final with just Kate and Jasmina to choose between it looked like Kate was going to walk it by a mile. Wrong. Kate was just too polished they said, too perfect, she must have had faults they just could not see them. Jasmina on the other hand had run her own business, had started it with her Brother after they had convinced their Mother to re-mortgage her house. But she was to demonstrate that she had all the business acumen of a garden worm.

When she was interviewed by one of Sir Alan's Cronies in the penultimate week she flustered over really knowing the difference between what is Nett and Gross Turnover; and was blissfully unaware that company accounts are recorded and can be accessed by anybody. Important things to know if you run a modern business, you'd think?

Jasmina showed throughout the series that she was a personable young woman with definite social skills suited to run a group of young people who wait tables, but business savvy and a complete entrepreneur as Sir Alan suspects, she is not.

Underside to Success as ITV is Blasted by the PC police

Susan Boyle has been admitted to the Priory Clinic, because it's claimed, that she is suffering from exhaustion after the relentless pressure she's been under since her singing talent was discovered on ITV's “ Britain's Got Talent.” However, the story is not all about her. Instead the knives are out for ITV producers of the talent show. The Questions being asked are were ITV bosses acting responsibly when they let her sing in the shows final? and “Should the ITV have done more to help what would appear to be delicate person who is not quite ready for all of the public reaction she has received over the last two months.

My question is: Is there really any point to this News Story. When the programmes judges, Cowell, Holden and Morgan heaped praise on her unique talent she must have known if she was able to cope with being in the limelight. Being a modern day recluse she obviously displayed limitations that would be highlighted by the pressures and the expectations from having an extraordinary talent? Why start blaming the ITV for her frailty and why bring in more regulation to stop it from ever happening again. People can be vulnerable, that's what makes us human and we you can't handle singing in front of an audience of 19 million people, I know I couldn't, don't bother, go back to Scotland and look after your cats.

I wish Susan Boyle all the best and I really hope she makes a speedy recovery so she's able to showcase her talent again soon, but lets not start pandering and protecting people who want to pursue fame. It is within them to find the strength to cope with the pressure not for TV producers to hurd weak-minded people on to a show and then be blamed for not looking after their mental state.

Should we be shocked by Ross and Brand's Prank

Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand, the BBC’s A list TV and Radio presenters have landed themselves in hot water again. This time they have made obscene phone calls to Andrew Sachs from Fawlty Towers and boasted that Brand had slept with the actors Granddaughter. They’re used to creating controversy by themselves, but have this time teamed up to bash another celebrity with their quick wit and originative insults. Since the news went public via just a few newspaper inches dedicated to the prank, it is estimated that there have been 30,000 complaints registered to the BBC about the incident. What’s surprising is that almost all of these were made two weeks after Russell Brand’s Saturday night Radio two programme was aired. The show was even recorded and was later aired without the BBC’s bosses taking such potential upsetting comments too seriously and allowed it to be heard. To some, this prank was a step too far and outrageously offensive. However, to others it was entertainment, but to what extent?

Jonathan Ross is paid a fortune by the BBC; an estimated 18 million for a three year contract. His detractors believe he is not worth anything near that figure. But others might agree with a view that defends the BBC that there is simply no one better, funnier or more cutting edge in entertainment right now than Wossy and his mate Russell Brand. Ross is paid to be funny, to be entertaining. His quick wit, tempered by what some consider to be insults have made him a figure of controversy. He is used to making people laugh by being close to the line of what is and what is not acceptable to say. He knows that what makes us laugh is what entertains us and this has always been a factor where comedy is concerned.

Insults and picking on people have always made people laugh. Being abusive is far funnier than saying a kind word about someone. It gets a bigger reaction and ultimately a bigger laugh. Celebrities are no more immune from this than anybody else, in fact in terms of having a target, they are the easiest of them all. We idolize the famous, but we are as fickle as we are Human. Its so satisfying to see the celebrity dethroned and sent to the bin of “Yesterdays News.” One minute your an A list star, the next your treading over other former stars in a mad stampede to be on the next “ I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here.”

For Brand and Ross, its not the first time they have been criticized for courting Controversy. In 2006 while speaking at the Q awards, Ross, afterwards came under fire from disability groups when he called Heather McCartney a “Fucking Liar and wouldn’t be surprised if she had two legs.” Another time when discussing Abi Titmus he quipped that she’s been tied to more bed posts than David Blunkett’s dog.” Its as entertaining as people feel about such issues. If not most us will hide the instinct to laugh. We suck in breath, defuse a cry of laughter and smile innocently inside. Jonathan Ross is not alone in his attempts to walk the line between what’s funny and what should not be said at all.

Brand himself caused a heated reaction at another awards event when he confessed that he’d been “having a go” on Rod Stewart’s daughter. Hardly a subtle statement and not taken in jest by Rod Stewart himself who was in the same room at the time. People still laughed, being offensive is it seems another form of giving entertainment. Who can forget Julian Clary’s immortal words on another TV awards programme in 1993? When asked how how he was hanging by the well-versed Jonathan Ross, he replied Oh very well…in fact I’ve just been fisting Norman Lamont. Such statements on TV are soon forgotten and no one lost their job over it

Ross and Brand don’t have to strive to be the best entertainers on UK TV, they are that and they have done this by playing on celebrities insecurities. In 5 years time when Piers Morgan interviews Russell Brand on TV for “ You can’t sack me I’m a celebrity. “ He won’t be impoverished or short of work. In fact, I have a feeling that the BBC will employ him again one day in the future.

Was it right for Ross and Brand to be reprimanded for their prank calls to Andrew Sachs? The BBC producer even rang Sachs about the Broadcast, but still made the decision to air it. Subsequently, a number of BBC controllers have stepped down because of the decision to let it be heard. They must have at some point found the whole thing a gas or been blindingly stupid to believe it would not offend someone. Sachs and his Granddaughter did not make the most fuss about the whole matter. In fact, Sach’s Granddaughter has done very well out of it and I look forward to seeing her on Celebrity Big Brother, real soon.

It’s the 30.000 people who complained; those who came to the defence of Sachs who have been responsible for people losing their jobs. Was the prank in bad taste? Yes, most definitely, but where did 30,000 Mary Whitehouse’s appear from. I thought we had moved on as a nation and had all become crueller.

It would seem so when a young man in Derby stood on top of a Multi Storey Car Park and threatened to end his life by jumping. What happened next was perhaps one of the most sickening episodes in the history of the British People. Some on the ground that day were heard to goad him and encourage him to follow through with his threat and jump to his death. He did and those who could have saved this distressed man committed the biggest insult they could have to him and his family. Do the lewd comments of a few BBC presenters add up to more than the comments of a baying crowd who enjoyed the entertainment in Derby that day.

We live in a TV age where bigger laughs mean better entertainment and this means higher viewing figures. The paying audience will always enjoy the comical exploits of the people in the media that take the greatest risks. Brand and Ross do this with certain ease. They know and so did the BBC that these players come with an element of danger but pack a dynamite case of laughs and entertainment. People will always complain about sick jokes for as long as people keep writing them. It’s human nature to poke fun and in some way feel superior to the victims, on this occasion Brand, Ross and most notably the BBC found out just how far they could push it.