Survivor: Vanuatu

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Survivor:Vanuatu
Filming location	Efate, Shefa Province, Vanuatu
Winner	Chris Daugherty (5-2)
Original run	September 16, 2004 – December 12, 2004
Filming dates	June 28, 2004 – August 5, 2004
No. of episodes	14
No. of days	39
No. of survivors	18
Tribes	Lopevi      Yasur      Alinta
Fans vs. Favorites	Ami Cusack Eliza Orlins
Season chronology
Previous	Survivor: All-Stars
Next	Survivor: Palau

Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire (also known as Survivor: Vanuatu for short) is the ninth season of the United States reality show Survivor. Filmed in Summer 2004, the game took place on Vanuatu, a chain of volcanic islands in the South Pacific.

Survivor: Vanuatu debuted on September 16, 2004. Also debuting that day was Survivor Live, an hour-long Internet talk show hosted by the original Sole Survivor Richard Hatch and Entertainment Tonight correspondent Chris Booker. The talk show, airing every Thursday and Friday on the CBS website, interviews former contestants and reviews the players' gameplay.

On December 12, 2004, Chris Daugherty defeated Twila Tanner by a vote of 5-2 to become the sole survivor. The DVD for this season was released on December 5, 2006.

For the first time outside of the All Star edition that preceded it, there were eighteen contestants. In the first seven seasons, there were only sixteen contestants. This was the second season to initially divide the tribes by gender. It was also the first season to feature an amputee (Chad Crittenden, who had lost a foot to cancer) and not one, but two open lesbians (motivational speaker Scout Cloud Lee and former Playboy model Ami Cusack).

The season began like Survivor: The Amazon in that the tribes were divided by gender. The male tribe was Lopevi, after one of Vanuatu's volcanic islands; the female tribe was Yasur, after Mount Yasur. On Day 11, there was a "tribal shuffle" like in other seasons, which ended up moving two people from each tribe over to the other tribe.

On Day 20, the tribes were merged; the tribe was christened Alinta, a name proposed by Scout meaning "people of fire."

Eliza Orlins and Ami Cusack were selected from this season to return for Survivor: Micronesia as members of the Favorites tribe, where they placed 10th and 11th respectively.

[edit] Gameplay

The players were brought into the game at a native gathering, with the natives dividing the group into men and women. The men were clearly revered at the ceremony, suggesting they would have the advantage in the game. After the ceremony, the men were named the Lopevi tribe, and the women the Yasur tribe, and sent to find their camps in the dark. Lopevi lost the first challenge mainly due to Chris, however, the older men of the tribe conspired into an alliance and worked to vote off one of the younger men, Brook. This would continue through the next two tribal councils that Lopevi took part in. In Yasur, a strong clique formed around Ami, and those women that did not fit in were voted out.

A tribal switch occurred on day 11, mixing the two tribes; subsequent voting only strengthened Ami's alliances. On Day 19, the two tribes, now with 6 women and 4 men, merged into Alinta. The men were quickly targeted over the next three tribal councils, leaving Chris as the sole male. By this time, Ami's core alliance consisted of her, Julie, and Leann, while Twila and Scout had formed a closer pairing, with Eliza as an outsider amongst the women. When Chris was unable to secure the next immunity necklace, Twila brought Chris into a plan to vote out one of Ami's group if they could bring Eliza into their foursome. Chris was successful at this, and Leann was voted out at the next tribal council. Ami and Julie soon followed despite their last minute attempts to swing Chris. The final four was Chris, Eliza, Twila, and Scout. Chris won the last two immunity challenges, and ultimately took Twila with him into the final two. The jury saw Chris' ability to effectively stay in the game with the odds against him, both from the first challenge and as the last man standing, and voted him the Sole Survivor 5-2.

[edit] Contestants

The Total Votes is the number of votes a castaway has received during Tribal Councils where the castaway is eligible to be voted out of the game. It does not include the votes received during the final Tribal Council.

[edit] The game

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

Note 1: John K. had to spend a day with the other tribe for the point of giving immunity to one of them at tribal council that night. He chose Ami because he thought she was safe even without immunity.

Note 2: When Eliza won the reward challenge, she received her own car and the castaways who finished second and third in the challenge were able to join her at a spa retreat.

[edit] Voting history

[edit] External links

• Official CBS Survivor Vanuatu Website