Review: BBC's The Apprentice, Episode 2

*Note: This article contains spoilers for The Apprentice Season 19 Episode 2.*

Last night brought one of the toughest Apprentice tasks I have witnessed in my time watching the show, with the candidates being tasked to write and develop their own song to go along with their virtual pop star.

Chisola shone for her team, writing the whole song single-handedly from what we saw on TV, and she is quickly cementing herself as a very strong candidate in supportive roles – it will be interesting to see whether she can continue to thrive when stepping up to become Project Manager.

Carlo on the other hand appears to be walking on dangerous territory – there doesn't seem to be any reason for him to be getting fired from a viewer's perspective, however we are only two tasks in and his whole team have already branded him as the disruptive one, something that could result in him getting fired through no fault of his own.

Praise must go to Anisa for doing a brilliant, clear pitch, and Jordan also did well for his team, saving them from what could have been a disastrous landslide.

Speaking of Jordan, I felt like his team did him really dirty on this task – first of all, if a task is somebody's particular area of expertise, then why aren't you making them the Project Manager? And he offered some useful insights into the actual creating of the characters, but was unfortunately not listened to. I completely agree with his comment – 'a slice of bread is more vibrant than them' when referring to Fred and Nadz.

Quote of the week though has to go to Keir for when he first laid eyes on his team's 'pop star': Bami...'it's just giving rubbish'.

To be fair to them, the purple hair on Bami was a great shout, and I actually liked the positive spin they were able to place on her outfit, about her ethos being modesty, which I actually think we need more of in the entertainment space today, however there's no denying the fact that the dress and jacket looked awful on her. I didn't have a problem with the microphone on the letter 'I' of the logo like everyone else seemed to, but the pink didn't really work.

The highlight of the episode for me was Jordan's facial expressions every time he either listened to his team's rap, or looked at the characters...there was someone not caught up in the delusion of having created something sensational, and his wry grins were extremely infectious.

Going back to the beginning, Anisa putting herself forward as Project Manager for the second week in a row, and getting picked, was something that I haven't witnessed during The Apprentice before. While it was certainly a risky move I believe that it could pay off for her in the long run, showing that she's not afraid to shirk responsibility, and she could even argue that it proves how she's learning throughout the process, which Lord Sugar always seems to value, having been PM week one and lost, and then the next week led her team to victory.

Of course, the most important question is, was the firing of Aoibheann the right decision?

In my opinion no, she would have been the last of the three that I'd have fired based on that task. It felt like she was being fired purely for the fact that it was her idea to add the AI voice to their rap, which yes, did not sound good, but I actually thought it was better than the original because at least you can play on the fact that it's modern and pop-style, however there's fewer ways that you can defend a poorly created rap.

I would have fired Nadia, because we're only two tasks in and already she has proved that she cannot restrain herself, even when it's for the good of the whole team, when consulting with potential clients. Lord Sugar has proved in past series' that he doesn't want to work with someone who's disruptive, so from my point of view, keeping her in at this stage is merely delaying the inevitable.

I can't wait for next Thursday's episode when the candidates take on my favourite task of the series – the bargain buying – and we will find out who is next in the firing line.

The Apprentice is aired every Thursday evening at 9pm on BBC1. You can catch up on the first two episodes here.