Celebrity Apprentice: Who will Donald fire first?

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The new season of Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” starts on Sunday, and with it comes a new crew of competing famous folks.

amNewYork takes a look at some of the more interesting contestants, and how desperate they likely were to agree to be on the show.

Dionne Warwick, 70
Why she’s famous: She’s a Grammy-winning singer.
Desperation factor: Medium. The popular performer has been lighting up the airwaves since the 1960s. Maybe she can use her Psychic Friends Network connections to help.
Chance of winning: High

Gary Busey, 66
Why he’s famous: He’s a crazy, crazy Oscar-nominated actor.
Desperation factor: Low. No matter what Busey does, he won’t be able to sully his persona. People know he’s a little batty, and that can only work to his advantage. He’s the ultimate wild card.
Chance of winning: Medium

John Rich, 37
Why he’s famous: He’s one-half of band Big & Rich.
Desperation factor: Low. He’s been a big name in country music for quite a while. And he’s got a competitive advantage over every other contestant: His name is Rich, one of Trump’s favorite things.
Chance of winning: High

Jose Canseco, 46
Why he’s famous: He’s a ‘roided-up ex-baseball player and whistleblower.
Desperation factor: High. Think what you will about Canseco, but he’s been a winner in the past. Granted, he cheated, but it wasn’t until years later that all was revealed — and, let’s face it, it’s all about winning.
Chance of winning: Medium

La Toya Jackson, 54
Why she’s famous: She’s a singer and the sister of Michael.
Desperation factor: Medium. Jackson is a veteran of reality television, which means that since nobody’s caring much about her music career, she has to do something.
Chance of winning: Low

Lil Jon, 40
Why he’s famous: He’s a big-time rapper
Desperation factor: Low. He’s got a new album out, “Crunk Time,” so times are pretty good for the hip-hop star and frequent butt of jokes on “The Chappelle Show.” We can all just hope The Donald asks him lots and lots of questions. “What? What? What? Yeeeeeaaaahhhh!”
Chance of winning: Low

Meat Loaf, 63
Why he’s famous: He’s a Grammy-winning rock star and actor.
Desperation factor: Low. The histrionic singer has belted out huge hits from the ’70s on and has built himself a nice acting career as well. Considering that he’s willing to do anything for love (except that, of course), you can only imagine what he’d be willing to do to win “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Chance of winning: Very high

Star Jones, 48
Why she’s famous: The lawyer is a former co-host of “The View.”
Desperation factor: High. She’s annoying, no doubt, but she is lawyer and that gives her the skills to go far on the show. And she certainly knows how to talk.
Chance of winning: High

Hope Dworaczyk, 28
Why she’s famous: She’s a former Playboy playmate and last year’s Playmate of the Year.
Desperation factor: High. Beauty queens need to find something to do with their lives after their modeling days are over. Ms Dworaczyk has a long ways to go from there, but this could help jumpstart a new career path.
Chance of winning: Medium

Niki Taylor, 36
Why she’s famous: Supermodel
Desperation factor: High. It’s been 10 years since she’s been a big-time cover model and hosting “Make Me A Supermodel” doesn’t seem like a good pedigree for a win with Trump.
Chance of winning: Low

NeNe Leakes, 43
Why she’s famous: One of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
Desperation factor: High. She doesn’t even have her own Wikipedia page. I expect her to be gone by the second episode.
Chance of winning: Really low

Lisa Rinna, 47
Why she’s famous: She’s an actress, and star of “Harry Loves Lisa,” a reality show with her husband Harry Hamlin.
Desperation factor: Low. She’s already dipped into the reality pool a few times before, but aside from some nasty plastic surgery snafus, she’s a somewhat stable celebrity these days.
Chance of winning: Medium

Marlee Matlin, 45
Why she’s famous: Oscar-winning actress who’s deaf.
Desperation factor: Medium. The “Dancing With the Stars” album takes a chance on another reality series. It seems that things haven’t been going well for her since her pilot, “My Deaf Family,” failed to get picked up by a network.
Chance of winning: Medium

David Cassidy, 60
Why he’s famous: He’s a former teen idol from “The Partridge Family.”
Desperation factor: High. Cassidy hasn’t really been relevant since before half of amNewYork’s readers were born.
Chance of winning: Low

Mark McGrath, 42
Why he’s famous: Frontman of Sugar Ray and the host of “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!”
Desperation factor: Low. The likeable musician doesn’t have a major down-point in his career. His music career had big commercial high points and went away. He turned that fame into a nice hosting career. As long as he doesn’t sing “Fly” or “Every Morning” on the show, I think he’ll do just fine.
Chance of winning: 74 percent

Richard Hatch, 49
Why he’s famous: The first winner of “Survivor” in 2000 who later went on to be found guilty of tax evasion, and spent time in prison.
Desperation factor: High. I just don’t think that Trump is going to trust Hatch. I don’t think anyone is going to trust him, in fact. If he does win, he better declare any and everything he gets.
Chance of winning: Medium
 

On TV: "Celebrity Apprentice 4" debuts on Sunday at 9 on NBC/4.

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