‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ spotlight: Does Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi have the fire to win?

The moment that it was clear that Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi was announced as a cast member on “The Celebrity Apprentice” this season, it was easy to be excited. The first two seasons of “Jersey Shore” before things started to become egregiously meta were reality TV gold, and they turned the show’s cast into household names. The show was an odd phenomenon that hasn’t existed in the genre ever since.

Obviously, the Nicole that we have now isn’t the same as the Snooki that was around many years ago, and that’s fine — Snooki circa five or six years ago probably would not do well on this show at all. What we hope is that some of the same zeal and enthusiasm she had way back when is still here, but in a package that is well-suited to take the bull by the horns and do very well in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s boardroom.

In discussing this further, we present the latest one of our contestant spotlights below!

Claim to Fame – Reality TV icon. In addition to filming six seasons of “Jersey Shore,” she also had a separate spin-off in “Snooki & JWoww” for some time in addition to competing on “Dancing with the Stars.” She’s written books and owned a wide array of merchandise since starting the show, which should serve as a sign of her business acumen.

Charity – North Shore Animal League. Any charity that supports animal care is an easy one to get behind.

Strengths – Self-awareness is a value trait for any reality star, and at this point Nicole likely understands her own image better than almost anyone understands theirs. She knows that much of her appeal comes from being this pint-sized entertainer who can be outrageously funny, while also incredibly passionate about what she believes in. There are great ways to exploit this. You can put her in comedic positions during creative tasks, or you can put her out on the street during a fundraising task to draw a crowd. She’s one of the most recognizable people on the whole season, and that should prove to be an asset.

Weaknesses – Like several other celebrities from the East Coast, it feels like there is an inherent disadvantage here when it comes to calling up contacts. Most of Nicole’s fundraising sources likely are over a thousand miles away, and that could hurt her during these tasks.

Also, you get a slight sense of insecurity at times in the video below that she struggles with being there and speaking up in the right situations; we’ve seen her do this if her back is against the wall, and she is going to need to do so here. Even just the slightest pretense of vulnerability will send some of the lions and lionesses this season pouncing.

Prediction – From a story perspective, Nicole making it far is amazing since it bucks some of the perception that still exists out there brilliantly, and we know she has some of the skills to do well. The big concern with her is just her getting in her own way at times, and not having some of the obvious contacts for support in Los Angeles that some other people do. Right now, we see the ceiling for her being around fifth place.

Do you think that Nicole could do very well this season? Share below, and head over here to get some other news and spotlights on this “Celebrity Apprentice” season. (Photo: NBC.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yPj3egqP_k