Yau-Man Chan, a Fan Favorite of “Survivor” TV Show Applies Resourcefulness as a Real IT Leader - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership By Tom Kaneshige

The reality television series “Survivor” may seem like an improbable teaching tool for an IT executive. But in today’s changing workplace — where business users wield more tech choice and power — Yau-Man Chan has found kindness and smarts can be powerful weapons in an IT leader’s toolkit.

April 08, 2008 — CIO — What does IT have in common with the reality television game show Survivor, which tests contestants’ survival skills in remote locations as they compete for the grand prize?

For Yau-Man Chan, quite a lot. Both call on his defining traits of kindness and intelligence.

Here’s one illustrative scene. Last year on a deserted island in the South Pacific, burly men tried to open a wooden crate filled with supplies. Their muscles were flexed for cameras filming the first episode of Survivor: Fiji, but their attempts were in vain.

Then, a slim Asian man with glasses picked up the crate and smashed its corner against a rock. The crate broke into pieces. “The corner is a rectangle’s weakest point,” says Chan.

“Muscle for muscle, I know I cannot compete with them, so I have to use every resource to advance things to the next level,” says Chan, who holds a physics degree from MIT. Intelligence and resourcefulness, particularly as an underdog, were two of Chan’s best tools during Survivor: Fiji—and at his full-time job as CTO of the College of Chemistry at the University of California Berkeley.

Chan bolsters his smarts with kindness. In Survivor: Fiji, Chan, 55, wasn’t expected to last long against his younger, more athletic rivals. But thirty-nine days after the crate bashing, Chan finished the show in fourth place, he also became a favorite of millions of techies’ and reality-television viewers, receiving the highest popularity rating on that season’s show. More… »

‘Survivor’ star Kwon decides against congressional bid - Examiner.com

San Mateo County (Map, News) - It’s official: One of People magazine’s sexiest men of 2006 will not vie for the congressional seat the late Tom Lantos held for nearly three decades.

Yul Kwon, a San Mateo management consultant better known for winning the $1 million prize on “Survivor: Cook Islands” two years ago — an honor garnering him a sexy spread in the celebrity magazine — opted not to file for the San Mateo-San Francisco House of Representatives seat vacated by Lantos, D-San Mateo, who died from cancer in February.

Kwon, a Yale Law School graduate and former legislative aide to Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., considered running in recent months but did not file before Friday’s general election deadline. He said he’s sticking with television and will soon appear in another popular show he wasn’t allowed to name.

“I feel there are other opportunities and ways I can have an impact,” Kwon said. “Media is a very powerful tool for getting people, particularly young people and minorities, engaged in politics.”

Read the entire article at ‘Survivor’ star Kwon decides against congressional bid - Examiner.com.

SFist: Survivor Winner Yul Kwon Speaks About Law School in S.F.

Survivor Winner Yul Kwon Speaks About Law School in S.F.
Famous local Yul Kwon spoke to college students and recent grads today about the pros and cons of entering law school. Larger photo here.

Survivor winner and yogurt loser Yul Kwon spoke to a crowd of aspiring law students about the advisability of making that choice. The Asian American Bar Association Law Day for Minority Youth gave a chance for young people to weigh their options.

It seems Yul is thinking about going back to public service. Is elected office in his future? In the meantime, he’s still out promoting the Asian American Donor Program.

He says that he isn’t necessarily a “cheerleader for law school” and that Yale was “depressing”, but he values the experience of law school because it can “sharpen your ability to think critically.” Fair enough. Choose wisely.

Read the entire article at SFist: Survivor Winner Yul Kwon Speaks About Law School in S.F..

Jeff Probst Talks ‘Survivor: Micronesia’

Next month, Survivor returns for a new season and changes things up.  Originally intended to be a second All Stars season, executive producer Mark Burnett decided to take a different route.  Instead, he took 10 Survivor superfans and pitted them up against 10 Survivor players of the past.  The fan favorites include: Johnny Fairplay, Yau-Man Chan, James Clement, and Ozzy Lusth.  The 20 players headed back to a familiar location, the island of Palau, where season 10 was filmed.  Today, Jeff Probst participated in a conference call with the media to talk about the exciting upcoming season of Survivor.

This season, Survivor fans get the opportunity to play the game against people with lots of past experience in the game.  Determining who should be on the show as a fan became a tough task for producers.  “We wanted to find the biggest fans that we had like Kathy, who applied 7 times,” Probst said.  “We almost put her on Vanuatu.  She’s crazy to the point of being so wacky, that it’s peculiar, but at her core, she is a huge Survivor fan.  She knows everybody that ever played and she wants to play.  That’s what we were looking for in everybody.”  Probst describes the first time the fans met the favorites like a rock concert, saying that they were screaming and cheering to see the returning players … until they realized that they weren’t there to make friends! More… »

CBS orders more ‘Survivor’ - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety By JOSEF ADALIAN

‘Survivor’ host Jeff Probst and his reality skein will return for two more years.

CBS and Mark Burnett Prods. have pacted on a deal that will keep “Survivor” on the Eye through at least spring 2009.

Eye has greenlit two more cycles of the reality warhorse. Deal will take the show through its 18th edition.

In addition, “Survivor” host Jeff Probst has inked a deal to continue as host.

CBS reality supremo Ghen Maynard credited the “creativity and passion” of Burnett and Probst, along with the show’s production team, for its longevity.

” ‘Survivor’ is a show that defies ratings gravity,” Maynard said. “It is truly remarkable feat to be winning your time period in all ratings categories after 15 editions.”

While “Survivor” has suffered ratings erosion in recent years, skein’s most recent edition still won its 8 p.m. Thursday time period in viewers and all key demos, despite fierce competition. Skein averaged 15.2 million viewers and earned a 5.1/14 among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen.

The 16th edition of “Survivor,” featuring a battle between fans of the show and past stars, premieres Feb. 7. It will square off against another Burnett-produced hit, Fox’s “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”

Casting has already begun for the 17th cycle of “Survivor,” which helped launch the current reality bonanza in 2000.

The Star Online eCentral: Reality king By MUMTAJ BEGUM

From paratrooper to nanny, Mark Burnett has done it all.

One wouldn’t expect a former British military man who has actively served his country (in Northern Ireland and then in the Falklands War) to look the way Mark Burnett does. The ex-paratrooper and decorated war hero appeared both youthful and stylish during a recent visit to Singapore. Burnett, 47, looked dapper in a pinstripe suit, not unlike a successful businessman from the West visiting a thriving division in Asia.

Burnett may easily be mistaken for an American. After all, he has fully immersed himself in the Hollywood lifestyle, having lived in Los Angeles for over 20 years. He is top dog in TV-land, the brain behind huge reality series, including Survivor, Rock Star, The Apprentice and The Contender.

Getting up close and personal with him is a tad intimidating. Burnett does not mince his words and he is very daunting when he decides to give you his undivided attention. One just knows that he has high expectations of the people around him and he lets them know it, too. More… »

8Asians.com » Yul Kwon Actually Fails at Something (Opening a Yogurt Shop): An Asian American/Asian Canadian Blog By Ernie

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think 8Asians.com was a blog about Yul Kwon. Winner of Survivor this, possibly running for Government that. Between all that and his refined jaw line, is there anything Yul Kwon CAN’T do?

Open up on a frozen yogurt shop, apparently.

Accordingly to the San Francisco Chronicle, Yul and a couple of his buddies are trying to open up a Red Mango franchise (a copycat of Pinkberry, as previously discussed by John) in the trendy, picturesque North Beach district of San Francisco. Except for one thing: North Beach’s “formula retail” ordinance, which prohibits chain stores from coming into the neighborhood to preserve a “neighborhood’s unique character.”

[Marsha Garland, founder and executive director of the North Beach Chamber of Commerce] found that Red Mango had continued to add franchises in the time since Kwon’s group was granted a building permit. So by now - and even Young admits this - there are more than 11 locations across the country. Case closed, said the North Beach watchdogs.

More… »

‘Survivor’ champ may not make it in S.F.

When he was a contestant on the reality show “Survivor,” Yul Kwon cruised through the rain forests of the Cook Islands with ease. In fact, as the CBS show’s motto says, he was able to “Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast” the other contestants to win the $1 million grand prize.

But navigating the jungle of San Francisco politics is proving to be a tougher challenge.

Kwon, who was voted “favorite ‘Survivor’ winner” by Entertainment Weekly readers, wanted to open a yogurt store in North Beach with a couple of friends. But last week they ran afoul of the neighborhood’s strict “formula retail” ordinance, which is designed to protect the neighborhood’s unique character. The point of the law is to keep large retail chains - Starbucks is the evil empire most often cited - out of the traditional North Beach neighborhood. The question is what defines a “chain.”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s the Shah of Iran or the winner of ‘Survivor,’ ” said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district includes North Beach. “The law’s the law’s the law.” More… »

WHMI 93.5 FM Radio Station for Livingston County Michigan with News, Traffic, and Weather Service for Howell and Brighton

A former ice cream scooper from the tiny hamlet of Hell in Putnam Township is going back to his roots for the premiere of the latest “Survivor” television show. Eric Reichenbach (pictured) is competing for the $1 million prize in “Survivor: Micronesia-Fans vs. Favorites”. He’ll be at the Dam Site Inn for the first episode that will begin airing at 8 pm on February 7th on CBS. The 22 year old Pinckney native worked at Screams Ice Cream in Hell and was a cross country star at Pinckney Community High School, where he set the school’s 400 yard record. Reichenbach is currently in his senior year of studying art at Eastern Michigan University and is a member of the college’s track team. (JM)

Survivor Returning to Palau || Jaunted

After running all those seasons of The Amazing Race and Survivor, seems like CBS has finally run out of places to film. The upcoming Fans vs. Favorites season of Survivor will return to Palau, where season 10 was shot a few years back. The producers are hoping that we don’t catch on by calling it Survivor: Micronesia.

While you know what to expect from the competitors on the show–now in its 16th iteration–you probably don’t know as much about the South Pacific archipelago. First and foremost, it’s a long way from, well, everywhere, and that keeps tourist traffic relatively light. That said, you can get there from New York in about 26 hours, from Houston in about 20 hours and from Sydney in about 19 hours.

Once you’re in the islands, the thing to do–if you’re not on a hit reality show–is go scuba diving. The Palau Visitors Authority has a big list of all the local outfitters. You can also check out WWII history: The islands of Peleliu and Angaur are littered with materiel from fierce battles that killed thousands in 1944.

Survivor: Johnny Fairplay Is A Dad!
- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer

Congratulations are in order for former Survivor contestant Johnny Fairplay and former America’s Next Top Model competitor, Michelle Deighton.  According to PageSix.com, the reality couple welcomed a baby daughter this morning and named her Piper Addison.  Piper was born at 9:34am this morning at Danville Regional Medical Center, weighing in at 6lb 7oz.  Both mom and daughter are reported to be doing very well.  More… »

Jonny Fairplay & Michelle Deighton Welcome a Daughter - Babies : People.com by JESSICA HERNDON

A new reality star is born!

Former Survivor star Jonny Fairplay and his fiancée, ex- Top Model contestant Michelle Deighton, have welcomed a daughter, Pagesix.com reports.

The little girl, named Piper Addison, was born Wednesday. Mom and daughter are doing well, according to the report.

Up next for Fairplay, aside from the inevitable diaper duty, is another stint on reality TV. He stars in Survivor: Micronesia as part of its fans vs. favorites edition, which premieres Feb. 7.

Asked about how fatherhood would influence him, Fairplay told PEOPLE at a press day for Survivor recently: “It definitely changes the way you go into the game. The last time I went in I was playing for me. Now I’m playing for my little girl.”

Still, he says that fans can still expect him to be the guy they love to hate. “Motivation wise I’ve got to do the best thing for my little girl, but at the same time I’m still the same scumbag as I was before,” he said.

After a gaffe on live TV, Denise Martin must play survivor all over again - The Boston Globe By Don Aucoin

After a gaffe on live TV, Denise Martin must play survivor all over again

DOUGLAS - Denise Martin stood in the doorway of her home and smiled weakly in response to a friend’s solicitous query about her return to work at a local school: “You doing OK? How did it go?”

Martin gave a thumbs-up and replied “Good.” Then she admitted the more complicated truth that was already evident on her face: “It was kind of rough.”

An understatement, that. It has been a wrenching and tumultuous few weeks for the erstwhile “lunch lady” of “Survivor: China” fame, who was thrust into a national spotlight - and then got burned by its glare.

During her stint on the CBS reality show, Martin became something of a folk hero in this small Blackstone Valley community. Residents eagerly tuned in week after week to watch one of their own - a 40-year-old, blue-collar, mullet-wearing mother of three - compete with younger, sleeker, and yuppier con testants on her way to an eventual fourth-place finish. In Douglas and nationwide, viewers accustomed to the deceit and double-dealing of reality TV responded to Martin’s underdog grit and straightforwardness.

Then last month she uttered a few ill-chosen words on the “Survivor: China” live reunion show, and it all went kablooey. Martin erroneously suggested she had been demoted by school authorities after completing her “Survivor” run, when actually she had been promoted before she took part in the show and had returned to that position.

“It was just an honest mistake,” said Martin, her eyes watering slightly as she sat in her kitchen with her dachsund (named Tedy Bruschi) on her lap. “But some people have lost respect for me. They think I’m a liar. . . . I’m not a liar. I’m just a human being.” More… »

Photos and cast descriptions below!

Entertainment Weekly By Dalton Ross

For its 16th season, the reality staple brings back favorites from previous seasons to compete against newbies who idolize them

When producers initially began mapping out season 16 — yes, 16! — of Survivor, they considered making it their second All-Stars edition. But then they considered something else. ”None of us felt like a full-on All-Stars was the right choice, because we did it once and since then so many other shows have done it,” says host Jeff Probst. ”It felt like we needed a twist.” And when has this seminal reality show not embraced a twist? Enter the Fans vs. Favorites concept of Survivor: Micronesia (debuting Feb. 7 on CBS at 8 p.m.), featuring one tribe of former Survivor standouts, and another tribe of newbies who idolize the players they are about to compete against.

So who was lucky enough to make the cut? The Favorites tribe features contestants going all the way back to season 7, including two from the recently completed Survivor: China — gravedigger James Clement and the person who engineered his ouster, Amanda Kimmel. Survivor: Fiji sends its most popular player, 55-year-old Yau-Man Chan, while the Cook Islands season is responsible for three contestants: flirt-tastic Parvati Shallow, triple-crossing Jonathan Penner, and challenge dominator Ozzy Lusth. Rounding out the tribe is Survivor: Panama ’s Cirie Fields, Vanuatu’s Eliza Orlins and Ami Cusack, and Survivor’s biggest villain ever: Pearl Islands ‘ Jon Dalton (a.k.a. Jonny Fairplay), who once famously faked his own grandmother’s death to further himself in the game. ”You can’t do the season and not invite your most notorious person,” says Probst. ”And Fairplay delivered, I will say that.” Does that mean he delivers a victory? Don’t bet on it, laughs Probst. ”This guy is no threat to win this game — zero.”

No people from the highly regarded Palau or lowly regarded Guatemala seasons made the trip. That is in large part because two popular contestants — Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard — already appeared in both those seasons, and Palau’s winner, Tom Westman, declined to participate. (No other past winners were chosen.) Survivor: Micronesia was shot on many of the same beaches as the Palau season, and will also feature the return of Exile Island, which was absent from Survivor: China.

The Fans taking on the Survivor two-timers include a large-and-in-charge firefighter (Joel Anderson), a beauty pageant coach (Chet Welch), a golf course vendor (Kathleen Sleckman), and a man who scoops ice cream for a living in Hell…Michigan, that is (Erik Reichenbach). In contrast to recent seasons, where contestants were heavily recruited and largely unfamiliar with the program, the new players of Micronesia are all followers of the show. How they fare against their heroes remains to be seen.

Survivor: Micronesia will feature a new twist on the tribal competition: Fans vs. Favorites. In this 16th season (premiering Feb. 7), former Survivor standouts will take on a tribe of newbies who idolize the players they will now compete against. Click the link for the inside story of the Survivor Fans vs. Favorites concept. And read on to meet this season’s competitors, and see what host Jeff Probst has to say about their chances.

Fans
1. MICHAEL BORTONE
2. TRACY HUGHES-WOLF
3. JOEL ANDERSON
4. KATHLEEN SLECKMAN
5. ERIK REICHENBACH
6. MARY SARTAIN
7. CHET WELCH
8. NATALIE BOLTON
9. JASON SISKA
10. ALEXIS JONES

Favorites
11. CIRIE FIELDS
12. JONATHAN PENNER
13. AMANDA KIMMEL
14. JAMES CLEMEN
15. OZZY LUSTH
16. YAU-MAN CHAN
17. ELIZA ORLINS
18. JON DALTON (A.K.A. JONNY FAIRPLAY)
19. PARVATI SHALLOW
20. AMI CUSACK

THE ROOKIES: JOEL ANDERSON

AGE: 32

OCCUPATION: Firefighter

HOMETOWN: Avondale, Ariz.

JOEL SAYS: “Bottom line, I’m here for my family. If I just wanted to go on vacation and hang out on the beach, I’d take my family with me.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Joel is the one guy who might be able to give James [Clement, the returning Favorite from Survivor: China] a run for his money, because he is every bit as big as James. He’s a fireman, he’s a father and a husband, and when I met with him the thing that really struck me is how he does everything for his wife and his family. And I like that about him. He’s a big, big guy, and these challenges start off physical right from the get-go. Sometimes being a physical threat works against you early; I think in Joel’s case it’s going to be advantageous.”

HE ROOKIES: NATALIE BOLTON

AGE: 32

OCCUPATION: Personal trainer/bartender

HOMETOWN: West Hollywood, Calif. (originally from Houston)

NATALIE SAYS: “I need to be fearless again. I want to unearth all those things when I was 8 and didn’t give a s— about what people thought, and I did it anyway.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “I’m on the fence with Natalie because I can’t figure out if she has any business being in this game or not. On paper she sounds great - she’s a personal trainer and she’s young and she’s attractive - but when I watched the first few moments on the show, I’m not sure her attitude is going to be able to survive. You have to have a sense of humor or you’re going to be a miserable person if you can’t laugh about being hungry at some point. I’m not sure Natalie’s had to go through anything as difficult as what she’s about to go through.”

THE ROOKIES: MICHAEL BORTONE

AGE: 34

OCCUPATION: Writer/actor

HOMETOWN: Los Angeles (originally from Boston)

MICHAEL SAYS: “I’m good at reading people. You got to be everybody’s best friend.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “I like Mikey B. a lot. He’s Boston, and Boston is so damn good to Survivor. He’s got a colorful way of saying the most mundane thing, and that makes him somebody I will love to go to at Tribal Council.”

THE ROOKIES: TRACY HUGHES-WOLF

AGE: 43

OCCUPATION: Commercial builder

HOMETOWN: Fredericksburg, Va.

TRACY SAYS: “I’m a thrill seeker. I want to push myself to that point where I know I can do it.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Tracy should be very valuable because of her background, because she’s a woman who works in construction. I don’t know how much she wants to share about what she does, because there’s a part of her that thinks if she comes on too strong [she] could be seen as a threat. But on paper, this is something you rarely get: somebody who knows how to build. Boston Rob knew how to build things and that made him hugely valuable. I think Tracy could be the same way.”

THE ROOKIES: ALEXIS JONES

AGE: 24

OCCUPATION: Motivational speaker

HOMETOWN: Beverly Hills (originally from Austin, Tex.)

ALEXIS SAYS: “People will see the Southern belle in me. But I’m fiercely competitive - despite my dimples.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “When she came in she was so excited. And I launched into this speech about how you need to drop the excitement and get your head in the game because these other people out here, they’re already playing, they’re already playing you, and they’re already seeing you’re this little simple girl from Texas that they’re going to run right over. And she looks at me and says, ‘I’ve read every person here.’ And she had a pretty good read on everybody. I thought, This is all I need to know. This girl knows how to play. As a fan, I picked this girl to win.’

THE ROOKIES: ERIK REICHENBACH

AGE: 22

OCCUPATION: Ice cream scooper

HOMETOWN: Ypsilanti, Mich. (works in Hell, Mich.)

ERIK SAYS: “I want to do this for myself, to grow up more. I haven’t experienced a lot of life. I haven’t experienced a lot of stress.” (Trust us, Erik - you will.)

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Erik loves the show more than anyone I have ever met. He remembers things that I did that I don’t remember. He’s a young kid, and that young exciting energy is what’s going to keep him in this game and could easily be what gets him knocked out, because he doesn’t have the maturity of life to know when he’s being played. That’s what he’s going to have to watch out for. Because you could see people looking at him on Day One and going, ‘Who is the kid in the green shoes, for crying out loud?”‘

THE ROOKIES: MARY SARTAIN

AGE: 29

OCCUPATION: Real estate entrepreneur

HOMETOWN: Emeryville, Calif.

MARY SAYS: “This is closer to $1 million than I’ve ever been. I’m definitely in it for the money. I’m largely money-driven.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “I think Mary coming into the game is going to be on the bubble. She’s either going to learn where to fit in this group quickly or she’s going to be on the outs for the whole time. Mary’s best play is to hide in the middle, not become a nuisance, just hang out and see if you can hang out long enough that your vote becomes valuable.”

THE ROOKIES: JASON SISKA

AGE: 22

OCCUPATION: Student teacher

HOMETOWN: Fox River Grove, Ill.

JASON SAYS: “I’m not evil or devious. But I can be. If it comes down to lying, I have no problem.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Jason loves to compare himself to Ozzy [the returning Favorite from Cook Islands]. He thinks Ozzy is the greatest player to ever participate in Survivor - I think he’s kind of got a man-crush on him. He’s coming on strong in the beginning saying, ‘I’m going to go toe-to-toe with Ozzy. I can climb coconut trees just like he can, I can swim just like he can, and I’m just as athletic as he is.’ My response to that is, it’s one thing to say it and another thing to do it. So he can talk the talk, but the big question is, can he walk the walk?”

THE ROOKIES: KATHLEEN SLECKMAN

AGE: 45

OCCUPATION: Golf course vendor

HOMETOWN: Glen Ellyn, Ill.

KATHLEEN SAYS: Sleckman’s ideal alliance? “I’m tending to look for misfits, people who are psychologically or emotionally damaged, like myself.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “We almost put Kathy on Vanuatu and we didn’t. It’s one thing to have a positive attitude, it’s another to survive 39 days eating some rice, clams, and an occasional fish. I think Kathy’s going to be tested enormously, and the longer she lasts, the tougher it’s going to be unless she can embrace it. It’s not an easy season out there. It rained almost every night we were there, and if you get sent to Exile, it can be brutal.”

THE ROOKIES: CHET WELCH

AGE: 48

OCCUPATION: Beauty pageant coach

HOMETOWN: Ford City, Pa.

CHET SAYS: “I play outside the box. I know how to stand out, and I know what I need to do.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Chet works in the pageant world. He produces winners and he will do whatever it takes to get his pageant girl to win. If he plays this game the way he plays in the pageant world, then he is definitely a force to be reckoned with. If he doesn’t, he could be going home soon. He has sort of been playing a version of Survivor for the past 20 years in the pageant world, and he gets this game.”

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: YAU-MAN CHAN

AGE: 55

SEASON: Survivor: Fiji

YAU-MAN SAYS: “Last time, I was able to play the weak old man under the radar before the merge. I definitely cannot do that [this time].”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “You can’t do a favorites season without Yau-Man. He’s sort of the Rudy of this season. He’ll be the oldest guy and the most frail and probably be one of the most popular. Yau-Man’s problem is going to be those things. He’s so popular, everyone there knows that he’s popular and well liked, and everybody knows what happened to him in Fiji. But I think Yau-Man’s going to have to come out and play aggressive. I don’t think he can play that same game of just chopping coconuts and being everyone’s friend.”

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: JAMES CLEMENT

AGE: 30

SEASON: Survivor: China

JAMES SAYS: How has he altered his strategy from last time? “I’m going to have to hustle a little bit more, and smile a whole lot earlier.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “I feel like the reason James is likable is there is a sense of authenticity there that you don’t see that often - he’s just going to tell you what he thinks. I don’t think James is that great of a Survivor player, as we saw in China. He made, without question, the single biggest blunder in the history of the show. I don’t think he gets how to play, but he’s so strong and he works so hard and he is so likable that it’s really hard to vote him out. I think James could do really well this season.”

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: AMI CUSACK

AGE: 34

SEASON: Survivor: Vanuatu

AMI SAYS: “I’m going to slowly peel away each alliance that I see building. I’m going to start chipping away to keep the numbers in my favor.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Ami will betray you; she’ll do whatever it takes to get deeper in the game. But she’s sexy, and she’s got this ‘Everything’s beautiful in the world until I stab you in the back’ thing. And that’s what we want on this show. And if Ami has her way, I guarantee you there will be a women’s alliance, because that is what Ami wanted in Vanuatu and that’s what’s she’s going to try to make happen here.”

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: JON DALTON (A.K.A. JONNY FAIRPLAY)

AGE: 33

SEASON: Survivor: Pearl Islands

JONNY SAYS: “I’m either the first one out or the last one here.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “You can’t do the season and not invite your most notorious person. And Fairplay delivered, I will say that. He delivered, and I think we got what we expected we would get, which is that character he created called Jonny Fairplay. What gets me is just how effective it can still be. He can call you stupid and somebody will get mad. And I’m looking at this going, ‘Why are you getting mad at this guy? He’s created a character, he’s trying to get under your skin - and it’s working!’ This guy is no threat to win this game - zero.”

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: CIRIE FIELDS

AGE: 37

SEASON: Survivor: Panama

CIRIE SAYS: “If I go before Jonny Fairplay, something is really wrong. Nothing against Jonny, but damn!”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Cirie represents the kind of people I love to see on the show. You look at Cirie and you think, ‘How are you going to survive? You don’t have the tools, you don’t come from this background, you’re not physically fit enough.’ But there’s more to this game than that. My hunch is Cirie played a very good game the first time, and I expect her to play an even better game the second time.”

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: AMANDA KIMMEL

AGE: 23

SEASON: Survivor: China

AMANDA SAYS: “I know things about [fellow Favorite and China castmate] James he doesn’t want people to know. And he knows stuff about me. We could be worst enemies, or we can become allies.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Amanda knows how to play Survivor. She knows how to build an alliance, how long to keep it, when to get rid of it. She’s very good at looking at odds, she’s very good at assessing if [she’s] better off against this person, or with this person. And you need that. Survivor only thrives when you have people who will continue to turn and switch and make moves. Amanda’s in great shape, she does well in the challenges, she’s beautiful, and she knows how to play

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: OZZY LUSTH

AGE: 26

SEASON: Survivor: Cook Islands

OZZY SAYS: “My mistakes last time were basically being too much of a loner. I’m never going to go anywhere by myself except to use the bathroom.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Ozzy’s big problem’s going to be the fact that he’s Ozzy. Ozzy played a brilliant physical game - the only thing Ozzy lacked was the social skill of how to play Survivor. And that’s probably going to be the deciding difference. If he can figure out a way to survive socially due to the kind of targets he’s going to have on his back due to his physical strength, then he can do really well. Otherwise it wouldn’t surprise me if Ozzy went out really early because you just don’t want him around.”

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: ELIZA ORLINS

AGE: 25

SEASON: Survivor: Vanuatu

ELIZA SAYS: “I need to watch myself a little bit in terms of talking so much. I think I should do a little bit more listening.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Eliza is one of the most enjoyable people to have on the show because she gets it. Everybody knows Eliza will betray you at the drop of a hat, and Eliza knows you know that. Eliza is a Favorite because she can be so charmingly annoying. It’s fun to watch Eliza get mad, and it’s fun to watch people get mad at her, and she doesn’t take it personally. That’s the most beautiful part about her; she knows it’s only a game: ‘I have a life, I have a boyfriend, I’m going to be an attorney, I have a dog, that’s my life - this is only a game. Of course, I’m going to try to cut your throat. I’ve got knives coming out of every part of my body.”‘

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: JONATHAN PENNER

AGE: 45

SEASON: Survivor: Cook Islands

JONATHAN SAYS: “These are serious players now,” says Penner of the increased competition. “There are no players with names like Chicken who are just there to get blown up.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “Penner only plays to win. He’s not interested in third. He’s not interested in second. And you saw that at Cook Islands. And Penner is gold. At Tribal Council I can just look at him and know that he’s ready to light somebody up. And Penner is the biggest complainer that we’ve had on the show. He complains about every challenge, and I get a kick out of it. I’m so happy he’s on the show. And Penner could win - absolutely. He’s a smart dude, and I think he probably learned a couple things in watching his season’s playback.”

THE RETURNING FAVORITES: PARVATI SHALLOW

AGE: 25

SEASON: Survivor: Cook Islands

PARVATI SAYS: “I have tricks up my sleeve like you would never know. Not just the flirting game this time, at all.”

JEFF PROBST SAYS: “To me Parvati is this season’s Amber. Last time, Parvati used her flirting, and it got her a long way. But we didn’t really see her do a whole lot more than that, and the question was, what if underneath that she’s got a strategy? What if she’s figured out how to play this game - could she last long enough to become a threat? Parvati’s a question mark. She could be the same thing, come out and giggle a couple times, eat some chocolate cake, and go home. On the flip side, if Parvati’s figured out how to play this game, and maybe she teams up with somebody…

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News By Steven H. Foskett Jr.

Douglas woman haunted by miscues

DOUGLAS— Denise Martin has apologized to school officials and has apologized to the town.

She gave away $50,000 she received for a story that erupted into a national controversy last week.

Regrets? She’s got a few. But one thing still eats at her, she said.

“If only I had put that cup upside down,” Mrs. Martin said in an interview yesterday.

She was referring to the final immunity challenge as a contestant on “Survivor: China,” where contestants had to balance porcelain cups. The contestant who could keep the cups balanced the longest would basically ensure themselves an opportunity to make it to the final three and possibly win $1 million. She had balanced some cups on top of each other, and was going to switch it up and stack one upside down, but decided against it at the last second. Her cups, along with her chances of a guaranteed shot at the $1 million, fell and shattered.

If she won the immunity challenge, she would have made the final three and probably would have never discussed her job during the live finalé. More… »

Best, worst of reality TV in 2007 - Ask the reality TV experts- msnbc.com

The best and the worst of reality TV in 2007 - ASK THE REALITY TV EXPERT, By Andy Dehnart

It’s an Ask the Reality TV Experts tradition to welcome the new year by looking back at the outgoing year. Reality television offered too much entertainment (and craziness) to cover it all, so these are just a few highlights — and lowlights.

Best Winners: ‘Survivor winners Earl Cole and Todd Herzog

Earl and Todd couldn’t have been different “Survivor” players, but they both earned $1 million. During “Survivor Fiji,” Earl earned the series first — and so far, only — unanimous vote.

The jury wasn’t happy with his decision to vote against Yau-Man, but otherwise, Earl didn’t rub anyone the wrong way, playing the cleanest game possible. Todd, on the other hand, annoyed a lot of people, but made perhaps the best argument that’s ever been made at a final Tribal Council,  and thus won the jury’s support. They both proved that “Survivor” remains the most compelling strategy-based reality show, in large part because it can have winners as different as Earl and Todd.

reality blurred

At number two was the Ford truck that played a controversial role in Survivor Fiji’s finale, and between the Fiji and China seasons, Survivor took three of the top 10.
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2. Survivor Fiji: Ford, May 10/13, F350 Super Duty truck is the prize in reward challenge
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5. Survivor China: Charmin, Oct. 25, Ultra Strong bathroom tissue is included in challenge prize
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8. Survivor Fiji: Olay, April 26, Ribbons Body Wash and spa trip are awarded as challenge prize