Survivor: Cook Islands

Survivor: Cook Islands is the thirteenth season of the reality series Survivor. It was officially announced by Jeff Probst during the Survivor: Panama finale. Applications were due February 3, 2006. In March 2006 about eight hundred applicants were selected for an interview by CBS. Out of those eight hundred, about forty-eight semi-finalists were selected to go to Los Angeles during late April and early May. Out of those semi-finalists, twenty were selected to participate in the show between late June and August 2006 on the atoll of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. The location was discovered by the website Survivor Maps, before it was revealed on the Survivor: Panama finale. The show premiered on September 14, 2006. The two hour season finale will be air on December 17, 2006 with Reunion show live from CBS Television City in Los Angeles. For the first time ever, the Finale will involve 5 castaways instead of the standard Final 4.

For the first time in Survivor, the contestants were divided into three tribes by race (White, Asian, and Black), and one tribe by ethnicity (Hispanic of any racial background). Previously, tribes have been divided by gender and age.

Contestants

Contestant	Original Tribe	Episode 3 Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Total votes
File:T sekou.jpg Sekou	Manihiki			1st Voted Out - Day 3	3
File:T virgilio.jpg Billy	Aitutaki			2nd Voted Out - Day 6	4
File:T cecilia.jpg Cecilia	Aitutaki	Aitutaki		3rd Voted Out - Day 8	5
File:T john.jpg J.P.	Aitutaki	Rarotonga		4th Voted Out - Day 11	7
File:T stephannie.jpg Stephannie	Manihiki	Rarotonga		5th Voted Out - Day 14	9
File:T anh.jpg Cao Boi	Puka Puka	Aitutaki		6th Voted Out - Day 15	6
File:T cristina.jpg Cristina	Aitutaki	Rarotonga		7th Voted Out - Day 15	1
File:T adam.jpg Adam	Rarotonga	Rarotonga
File:T rebekah.jpg Becky	Puka Puka	Aitutaki			3
File:T brad.jpg Brad	Puka Puka	Rarotonga
File:T candice.jpg Candice	Rarotonga	Aitutaki			1
File:T jenny.jpg Jenny	Puka Puka	Rarotonga
File:T jessica.jpg Jessica	Rarotonga	Aitutaki
File:T jonathan.jpg Jonathan	Rarotonga	Aitutaki			1
File:T nathan.jpg Nathan	Manihiki	Rarotonga
File:T oscar.jpg Ozzy	Aitutaki	Aitutaki			1
File:T parvati.jpg Parvati	Rarotonga	Rarotonga
File:T rebecca.jpg Rebecca	Manihiki	Rarotonga
File:T sundra.jpg Sundra	Manihiki	Aitutaki			2
File:T yul.jpg Yul	Puka Puka	Aitutaki

The game

As said on the Panama reunion show, the concept of an Exile Island returns — with new twist(s). According to a local guidebook, pre-production began in the spring of 2006 and principal filming began on July 3, 2006 and ran through August 11, 2006, for broadcast in September.

		Challenges				Tribes
Episode Title	Air Date	Reward	Immunity	Exiled	Eliminated	Original	Ep 3	Merged	Vote	Finish
I Can Forgive Her But I Don't Have To Because She Screwed With My Chickens	2006-09-14	Puka Puka, Aitutaki, Rarotonga1,		Jonathan	Sekou	Manihiki			3-2	1st Voted Out - Day 3
Dire Straights and Dead Weight	2006-09-21	Puka Puka, Rarotonga, Manihiki1,2		Yul	Billy	Aitukati			4-1	2nd Voted Out - Day 6
Flirting and Frustration	2006-09-28	None3	Rarotonga	Candice	Cecilia	Aitukati	Aitukati		5-3	3rd Voted Out - Day 8
Ruling the Roost	2006-10-05	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Adam	J.P.	Aitukati	Rarotonga		7-2	4th Voted Out - Day 11
Don't Cry Over Spilled Octopus	2006-10-12	Rarotonga	Aitutaki	Jonathan	Stephannie	Manihiki	Rarotonga		7-1	5th Voted Out - Day 14
Plan Voodoo	2006-10-19	Aitutaki	None 4	None 4	Cao Boi	Puka Puka	Aitutaki		6-1-1	6th Voted Out - Day 15
					Cristina	Aitukati	Rarotonga		4-2	7th Voted Out - Day 15
	2006-10-26

in the case of multiple tribes or people who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one player won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets

Template:FnbThe first two challenges were combined reward and immunity challenges. In addition, the tribe that came in first got an additional reward.
Template:FnbIn the second reward and immunity challenge, Puka Puka and Rarotonga tied for first, and both won reward.
Template:FnbThere was no reward challenge in Episode 3 due to the tribe merger.
Template:FnbThis was a double elimination episode and thus there was no immunity challenge and nobody was exiled.

Elimination notes

1. Sekou - Two alliances: Sekou and Nathan, and Sundra and Rebecca, formed, with Stephannie as the self-proclaimed swing vote. In the end she decided to vote with the girls and Sekou was voted out. Sekou was seen as a tribe leader, albeit a lazy one. (3-2)
2. Billy - Believing that Billy was a liability to their tribe because of his poor work ethic, the Aitutaki tribe decided to intentionally lose the immunity challenge to vote him out. (4-1)
3. Cecilia - The newly reshuffled Aitutaki tribe lost the third immunity challenge. Ozzy, Sundra, Jessica, and Cecilia conspired to get rid of Becky, whom they perceived to be the weakest person in their tribe. However, Yul and Jonathan, who had an alliance with Becky and the exiled Candice, convinced Cao Boi and Jessica to vote for Cecilia. Their plan worked, and Cecilia was promptly voted out. (5-3)
4. J.P. - In a moment of frustration, Stephannie accepted responsibility for losing the Immunity Challenge, but soon regretted doing so. The girls took the opportunity to band together with Adam and Brad to vote out J.P. for his demanding (and somewhat lazy) nature at camp. Going into the vote, it seemed that most of the women would vote for J.P. while most of the men would vote for Stephannie, with Brad and Parvati as swing votes. However, both of the swing votes went against J.P., and mysteriously Adam voted for J.P. as well. (7-2)
5. Stephannie - Cristina's tribemates were ready to vote her out for being bossy like J.P., but Stephannie made a mistake by telling Nate that she was ready to eat mashed potatoes and gravy. Everybody took that as a second sign that Stephannie had given up, and voted her out. (7-1)

Exile notes

1. Jonathan - By losing the Immunity Challenge, Manihiki was allowed to send anyone else to Exile Island. They decided to send Jonathan after they heard that he stole Puka Puka's chicken.
2. Yul - Aitutaki chose to send Yul, believing him to be Puka Puka's strongest member. During his stay, Yul found the hidden immunity idol.
3. Candice - After the newly reshuffled Aitutaki tribe lost the immunity challenge, Rarotonga was told to choose someone from Aitutaki to go to exile. They picked Candice, protecting her from the next tribal council.
4. Adam - Aitutaki won the Reward Challenge and selected Adam to go to Exile Island because of his strength. He would later return in time to compete in the Immunity Challenge.
5. Jonathan - Rarotonga sent Jonathan back to Exile Island because he had been there once before. He suggested that the hidden immunity idol had been found upon his return to the other tribe members after this trip to Exile Island.

Voting history

Starting Tribes			1st Merge
Episode:	Episode 1	Episode 2	Episode 3	Episode 4	Episode 5	Episode 6
Eliminated:	Sekou 3/5 Votes	Billy 4/5 Votes	Cecilia 5/8 Votes	J.P. 7/9 Votes	Stephannie 7/8 Votes	Cao Boi 6-1-1
						Cristina
Voter	Vote
Adam				J.P.	Stephannie	Cristina
Becky			Cecilia			Cao Boi
Brad				J.P.	Stephannie
Candice			Exiled5			Cao Boi
Jenny				J.P.	Stephannie	Cristina
Jessica			Cecilia			Jonathan
Jonathan			Cecilia			Cao Boi
Nathan	Sundra			Stephannie	Stephannie
Ozzy		Billy	Becky			Cao Boi
Parvati				J.P.	Stephannie
Rebecca	Sekou			J.P.	Stephannie
Sundra	Sekou		Becky			Cao Boi
Yul			Cecilia			Cao Boi
Cristina		Billy		J.P.	Stephannie	Jenny
Cao Boi			Cecilia			Candice
Stephannie	Sekou			J.P.	Cristina
J.P.		Billy		Stephannie
Cecilia		Billy	Becky
Billy		Ozzy
Sekou	Sundra

Template:FnbCandice was exiled in episode three. However, she was not returned to her tribe until after tribal council, meaning she could not be voted out or participate in the vote.

Episode notes

Episode 1: Contestants were given two minutes to salvage whatever they could from a boat before having to paddle to their shore. There was a combined reward and immunity challenge. All tribes (except for Manihiki) won reward (flint) and immunity. In addition, Puka Puka, who came in first, got an extra reward in the form of a fire-making kit that included kerosene and water-proof matches. Manihiki, the losing tribe, chose to send Jonathan from Rarotonga to Exile Island. Manihiki went to Tribal Council and eliminated Sekou by a vote of 3-2.

Episode 2: Day 4 started well for Manihiki when the tribe managed to start a fire. Jonathan returned from Exile Island to Rarotonga, where nothing much has changed since he left. At Puka Puka, tribe members couldn't stand Cao Boi's jokes. At Aitutaki, feeling like his tribe could do better, Ozzy forced his tribe to throw the reward/immunity challenge to get rid of Billy, who had not been putting in much effort at camp. At the challenge, Puka Puka and Rarotonga tied for first place, so they each received two large tarps as reward and immunity. Manihiki finished third and was also safe from Tribal Council. The losing tribe, Aitutaki, sent Yul from Puka Puka to Exile Island, where he successfully deciphered the clues to discover the hidden immunity idol (a compass) in the sand. At Tribal Council, Billy confessed an apparent romance with Rarotonga's Candice, which was later found to be taken out of context. Despite his efforts, Billy became the second castaway to be voted out 4-1.

Episode 3: Instead of a reward challenge, the four tribes were merged into two racially and/or ethnically mixed tribes by school yard pick. Cecilia and Parvati were chosen by lot to start picking amongst the women and Brad and Jonathan amongst the men. The group headed by Cecilia and Jonathan were merged by chance. Yul, Becky, Jonathan, and Candice quickly formed an alliance at the newly created Aitutaki. Yul also told Becky that he found the hidden immunity idol. Aitutaki lost the immunity challenge to Rarotonga. The challenge was exactly the same as a challenge that took place in Survivor: Palau. Rarotonga selected Candice to be sent to Exile Island, thus throwing the Yul-Becky-Jonathan-Candice alliance plans into disarray. The others in the tribe banded together to try to vote out Becky. After strong lobbying by Yul and Jonathan, Cao Boi and Jessica switched their vote to Cecilia, who was voted out 5-3.

Episode 4: At Rarotonga, the women complained about the men's growing egotism, specifically J.P.'s bossing around. Aitutaki won the Reward Challenge of pillows, blankets, and a hammock. They choose Adam to go to Exile Island. After the Reward Challenge, Cao Boi went egg hunting, but instead knocked down a booby chick from a nest, which disturbed Jonathan. However, Cao Boi successfully returned the chick to the nest. Aitutaki easily won the Immunity Challenge. Out of frustration, Stephannie accepted blame for the defeat and put herself up to be voted out. However, later on, she retracted the offer to the other girls, who then used the opportunity to vote J.P. out 7-2.

Episode 5: At Aitutaki, Cao Boi complained about Becky, Candice, and Sundra being lazy. At the Reward Challenge, Rarotonga won a weight-holding competition, and selected Jonathan to go back to Exile Island because he had been there once before. After spilling an octopus into the ocean, Cristina's tribemates complained about her being bossy like J.P. Cao Boi, Jessica, and Ozzy went exploring around the bay and accidentally ended up on Rarotonga's island. Their unexpected visit did not sit well with Rarotonga. Meanwhile, back at Aitutaki, Becky, Candice, and Yul tried to pull Sundra into their alliance with Jonathan. Aitutaki came from behind to win the Immunity Challenge. Cristina's tribemates were unanimous in wanting to vote her out next, but Stephannie made a mistake in showing weakness to Nate, and the vote swung to her, 7-1.

Filming locations

Two of the four tribal camps were on Motu Rakau and Motu Rapota. Tribal Council was filmed near Vainamu, Arutanga on the main island of Aitutaki. Motukitiu was the location of Exile Island and Motu Maina was the “overnight reward” location. Challenges were filmed on Motu Akiami, which also hosted the eliminated contestants (known colloquially to some as the "Mutiny Motel").

Diversity and controversy

The decision to divide the teams by race and ethnicity has made this series of Survivor controversial even before airing. Members of the New York City Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus have called on CBS to dump Survivor. Those who work with the show indicate that as divisions by age, gender, or gender and age combined, have been accepted this should not be treated much different or it would set race apart. Host Jeff Probst conceded, by implication, a small difference in that racial segregation had actually been practiced in US history.

Conversely, previous seasons have been criticized for not having many non-Caucasian contestants. Compared to a system of proportional representation used by some affirmative action programs, and favored by many civil rights groups, this scheme represented much higher exposure particularly for Asian Americans who were only slightly above five percent of the US population in 2000, and normally underrepresented on most network television shows, as well as the other minority groups. Native Americans were not represented as a separate group. Probst has since pointed out that over 80% of Survivor's applicants are Caucasian.

According to Advertising Age Magazine, more than a half dozen major advertisers such as General Motors and Coca Cola withdrew their advertising after hearing about the teams' division. However, a New York Times report indicates that the decision by several advertisers to advertise for the current season, including General Motors, Coca Cola, Home Depot, United Parcel Service, and Campbell Soup, was made three months prior to the start of the show and unrelated to the show's racial format.

MADtv parodied Survivor: Cook Islands in its twelfth season premiere episode, which aired September 16, 2006. The parody involved giving the Caucasian challengers significantly easier tasks, such as a swimming challenge which allowed the Caucasian challengers to use their canoe, or building a fire with a 'Fire building kit' that consisted of gasoline and a DVD on how to build fire, the Hispanic contestants received flint, the Asians received a matchstick and the African-Americans were given a glass of water.

In the "Survivors Strike Back" blog on the official website, several Survivor contestants from past seasons criticized the castaway choices, saying that many of them are not good players and are not Survivor fans and thus are merely there to gain fame. Evidence of this is the fact that well over half are from California and several of them are models or involved in the entertainment industry in some way. Another reason is that there was a limited number of choices because of the low number of non-caucasians that applied to be on the show. They have also said that this season's contestants had it easy because they were given all their supplies in the first episode.

External links

• Official site