It is Sunday night and millions of people just finished watching Episode 9 of Celebrity Apprentice.  The show, titled Puppet-Up was filled with tears and drama and laughs and great talent.

To most of the reviewers, the true star of the evening was Clay Aiken.  For those who only know Clay as a singer, they were surprised and pleased that Clay is intelligent, able to speak in many accents, funny and quick with “off-the-cuff” remarks…perfect for a night of Improv.

It is late, but I do want to post some reviews that I found on the Internet within hours of the broadcast of the show.  I am not taking the time to make it “pretty”, just making sure you have the links to these sites.  The quotes that I list are only parts of the articles and will only be about Clay.

Clay’s Celebrity Apprentice Blog

I am so glad that Clay writes some back-stage information in his blogs.  He has a way with words and it is always fun to read what he has to say about the show.

You can read the blog by clicking on CLAYSBLOG

E-Online –     Celebrity Apprentice Recap: Which Celeb Wocka-Walked Away From the Boardroom Empty Handed? by NATALIE ZURAWIN

… Right before the show began, Lisa blew up at Dayana, who finally broke down and cried. She explained that she tries to treat Lisa better than Lisa treats her, and couldn’t take it anymore. Meanwhile Lisa cried too. Clay Aiken suggested that Lisa is constantly intimidated by Dayana’s beauty.

…As we know, the show must go on, and Team Forte seemed to pull all the right strings. Lisa and Clay performed with their puppets, and the audience went wild. Clay practically stole the show.

You can see the entire article by Natalie at EONLINE

NJ.com   By Vicki Hyman/The Star-Ledger 

…At the start of the episode, Lisa and Dayana Mendoza return from the boardroom sans Lou Ferrigno, and Lisa is crowing about it, which Clay Aiken finds obnoxious. Lisa then threatens to direct her yapper at Clay, so he shuts up. Aubrey O’Day says she hopes Trump splits up Clay and Arsenio Hall. Indeed, Clay moves over to Lisa’s team.

…Clay says that if he were Lisa, he would have given Dayana more to do.

…In the dressing room before the show, Clay suggests that Dayana should stand to the side and help people get their puppets on and off, just so she looks like she has something to do.

…Lisa sobs. “Is it all my responsibility to handle her every (bleeping) task? And no one here can step in, ever?” Um, isn’t that what Clay was doing? Giving Dayana a task?

…We only see bits and pieces of the show, but Clay and Lisa seem to do well. Lisa nitpicks that Penn didn’t signal the end of a particular scene soon enough, but it was a professional show — as it should be, with two professional comedians in charge.

…The judges thought Penn, Lisa and Clay did a great job, and that Dayana’s puppets were well done, but they dinged Penn for missing a couple of cues and felt one of the skits was a little too blue.

The link to this article is  NJ.COM

Hollywood Life  by Andy Swift

…Right away, Lisa clashed with her nemesis, Dayana Mendoza.  Lisa figured that with years of experience under their belts, she should take the stage with Penn Jillette and Clay Aiken, placing Dayana behind the scenes.  Of course, the former Miss Universe had hoped to be front of the audience, so she copped a little ‘tude that carried into the boardroom.  And that’s when things really got weird.

If you want to read this short review, visit HOLLYWOODLIFE

Buddy TV – The Celebrity Apprentice’ Recap: Stuffed and Unstrung 

Esther Gim
Contributing Writer

…This week on Celebrity Apprentice, with the team of Lisa, Penn and Dayana (Forte) down to three, Clay is moved over to join them for the latest task…create, design, and execute a puppet/improv show.  Lisa volunteers as project manager for FOrte…she says she’s the only one who hasn’t won a task…while Paul bites the bullet for Forte, albeit very reluctantly.

…Clay thries to cool down the fire but doesn’t really try, which later Lisa gets pissed off about.  If Lisa has something against you, there’s no middle ground.

… I’m so impressed with Clay’s improv skills.  He even changes his voice at one point, and I didn’t even realize it was him!  He and Lisa have a lot of chemistry on stage.

BUDDYTV is the link for this article

EW.Com – The Celebrity Apprentice’ recap:  The Puppet Masters

Dalton Ross ( Always a fun read – don’t skip this one)  EWCOM

…When we last left Lisa and Dayana, they had kissed and made up after Dayana proved herself to be a competent Project Manager. And when things first started this week it appeared a Lisa-Clay feud could be brewing instead. “We did it. Good riddance,” Lisa bragged after returning from Lou’s firing. “We did it?” Clay responded. “You act like you had some accomplishment of some kind… He’s still a person.”

When Trump then moved Clay over to team Forte to even out the numbers, one had to expect trouble, but instead of Clay, it was Dayana that once again placed herself right in Lisa’s line of fire

…Clay chalked Lisa’s anger up to possibly being jealous over Dayana being “beautiful, screw beautiful — stunning.

…Hot damn, Ivanka looked crazy hot in the Boardroom this week in her red dress and flowing locks. Her beauty even enraged the normally mellow and normally homosexual Clay Aiken. I really have nothing to add to that but thought it would be nice to go on out that image of Ivanka to carry me through the week until we meet once again in the Boardroom under the watchful and somewhat befuddled gaze of Donald Trump.

A.V. Club  By Margaret Eby

… Trump walks into FAO Schwarz like he’s about to condemn the place, and announces to both teams that Clay will be migrating over to Forte. Arsenio and Clay had begun to form a Lisa and Aubrey-like alliance, minus thebitching about Dayana, so Trump’s move was clearly to shake them out of their clique. It’s certainly not as serious a move as switching Aubrey to Unanimous, though. Clay’s nature is far more conciliatory, and he manages to work in well to the unhappy little family that Lisa, Dayana, and Penn created.

…Clay learned some puppetry at church long ago, but it serves him well. His southern lady voice kept pace with Lisa’s wisecracks laudably. Penn does the ringleader thing well, but doesn’t quite cut the skits at the right time. Still, it’s no surprise when Trump announces that Forte wins, much to the relief of Lisa…

The following is the link:  AVCLUB

Reality TV Magazine  by Shayla Perry

…To Aubrey’s delight, Clay Aiken will be moving to Team Forte, where Lisa’s going to serve as Project Manager; kind of an obvious choice considering the task

…Both Dayana and Lisa are in tears, but by the time they hit the stage(well, Lisa, anyway) everyone is all smiles and Penn gets the show off to a great start, followed by an almost flawless performance from Lisa and Clay.  And Dayana did a really good job of um-watching.

You can read the entire article at REALITYTV

Have You Heard – Posted by Mandi Nowitz

… Clay is actually really awesome at puppeteering and Penn is a great host.

The link to this site is HAVEYOUHEARD

Did you enjoy the show?  What was your favorite moment?