Does Utahn have a leg up on the other apprentices?

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Donald Trump is the biggest real-estate developer in New York City. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Audrey Evans' experience as a real-estate agent in Utah is going to help her as "Apprentice 3" gets under way.

On the other hand, it couldn't hurt.

"I don't think so," Trump said when asked if a real-estate background gives a contestant a leg up, "but there are a couple of very successful real-estate people that are street-smart without education."

The twist in this incarnation of "The Apprentice," which premieres with a 90-minute episode tonight at 7:30 on NBC/Ch. 5, is that it's "book smarts" vs. "street smarts" — the contestants on one team have college degrees; the contestants on the other do not.

Evans is one of those with "street smarts" — the 22-year-old has a high-school diploma but did not attend college. But Trump seemed impressed that she is one the youngest real-estate agents ever certified in Utah. "She also happens to be very attractive, by the way, but she's also been very successful in real estate and (with) no real education," he said.

Other than that, Trump didn't seem to remember much when asked about the Utahn, which could mean that she didn't stick around long enough to make a big impression. (The show recently completed filming; the only unanswered question for Trump is which of the two finalists he will name the winner on a live finale in May.) Or he could have been playing coy and not wanted to give anything away. Or it might have been because the Utahn barely appears in the first episode.

But he did elaborate more on other individual contestants when asked about them.

The fact that the first two "Apprentice" winners are men, doesn't mean the women have an edge. Trump insisted he felt no pressure to balance things a bit this time around. "I don't think so. I can't think like that," he said.

Trump did say the whole street-smart team is "very, very smart." "We didn't just take them off the street. These are all people who have become very, very successful without having an education of any great quality. I also believe in the street smarts because I've seen a lot of really well-educated people get eaten alive by people who don't have the education. . . . They are so smart and so cunning and so driven. Maybe more driven because they have a little chip on their shoulders."

The idea to change the show came from its fans. "We really got it by people asking about it," Trump said. "We had people asking for other concepts — old vs. young, big executives vs. young kids out of college."