Todd Herzog took the $1 million “Survivor: China” prize tonight, beating Courtney Yates and Amanda Kimmel. The “Survivor: China” finale votes were four for Herzog, two for Yates and one for Kimmel.
Todd Herzog, the 22-year-old flight attendant from Utah, said of his win, “I wasn’t the strongest. I wasn’t the smartest. But I was definitely the most strategic.”
Wikipedia on Survivor China
Survivor: China is the fifteenth season of the American reality television series Survivor. The premiere aired September 20, 2007. Host Jeff Probst claimed the show was the first full American TV series to be filmed entirely within China.[1] The winner of Survivor: China was Todd Herzog.
Among the many aspects of Chinese culture and history included this season were a Buddhist ceremony and a 100 foot-tall replica of a historic temple used for Tribal Council. Each tribe received a copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu. As stated by Probst: "Survivor is a war. The book deals with leadership and how you defeat the other tribe. It's interesting how much it plays into the game all the way through." The show will reportedly have "unprecedented access" to several historical Chinese monuments, including the Shaolin Temple and the Great Wall of China.
The "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast" slogan used in previous season's logos has been replaced by Chinese characters. The characters translate to "compete in intelligence" (比智慧, bĭ zhìhuì), "compete in skill" (, bĭ jìqiǎo), and "compete in endurance" (, bĭ nàilì).
Contestant applications were due on January 30, 2007. Around March 2007, about 800 applicants were selected for an interview by CBS. Out of those 800, about 48 semi-finalists were selected to go to Los Angeles sometime during April-May 2007 for an additional round of interviews. Between June and August 2007, 16 contestants were selected from the semi-finalists to participate in the show.[4] The final contestants and their original tribes, Fei Long and Zhan Hu, meaning Flying Dragon and Fighting Tiger respectively, were officially announced on August 20, 2007.
Exile Island from the previous three seasons was discarded for this season, but the Hidden Immunity Idol was still part of the game. In lieu of Exile Island, the game gives the tribes the ability to "kidnap" a player from the opposing tribe as part of winning a Reward Challenge. The kidnapped player remains with that tribe through the next Immunity Challenge and would receive a clue to the location of an Immunity Idol at that camp. However, this clue must be given, unread, to a member of the other tribe prior to the next Immunity Challenge.
According to Probst, three players will go to the final Tribal Council, continuing the pattern begun in Survivor: Cook Islands and again in Survivor: Fiji. He explained that having a final three "prohibits one person winning through to the end and then taking an extremely unlikable person with them."
The winner was Todd Herzog, defeating Courtney Yates and Amanda Kimmel. During the reunion, James Clement was awarded the $100,000 prize as the most popular Sprint player in Survivor: China, with Denise Martin and Peih-Gee Law as runners-up. However, the producer, Mark Burnett, heard Denise's story backstage at the reunion and awarded her a $50,000 prize.
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Comments
#1 I loved that Mark Burnett
I loved that Mark Burnett gave Denise 50K due to her story of losing her job.
#2 Denise's Boo Hooing
I think Mark Burnett did this for the right reason but Denise tried to play on the sympathy of the other players all through the game, Oh! woe is me - I'm older, I'm a mom, I'm just a $7.00 and hour lunch lady, and on and on. SHe didn't lose her job, she just returned to a different position at the same place, same seniority etc. Do you not think that the school would have had to replace her while she was gone. The children had to be attended to. Denise made the choice herself to leave and make a play for the $1 million. SHe probably would have won if she went with the other 2 when the offer was made. She was outplayed, outwitted and out thought but she did get the sympathy of Mr. Burnett.
#3 denise
i think Denise owes Mark Burnett an apology and the school for her lies. I also think she should return the money given to her because of her lies.
#4 The Art of War
When lying is predictably always the issue at the last jury session and always seems to shock everybody hypocritically or leaves players acting with defensiveness or remorse, why do we continue to watch the last show? Because the gamble seems to be that sometimes the no-eye-contact, feel-so-bad, "I had no choice, but I played it to hurt the least people possible" types versus the "I played to outwit, outplay, outlast and had lots of fun--sorry guys (big Johnny Fairplay smile)"--can go either way. It's a big gamble. It's entertaining. It's interesting to hear players explain themselves and ve absolved, like Denise saying "it's okay" to Courtney when Courtney was confronted with her comment that Denise "sucks at life anyway." What did I just hear?!!!
Denise played a great game and I wonder what part of the art the writer of 'Denise's Boo Hooing' doesn't get. That writer's remarks are as ignorant as Courtney's and those of a big population that doesn't understand how hard it is to get above the poverty line and the $7/hr jobs. Is Denise "boo hooing" or explaining a part of her everyday life that is hard to listen to. Oops, we forgot the war on poverty? The war on Iraq and Afghanistan leave only the $7/hr people to fight the war on poverty. Time to wake up and listen, say thank you, and work in a school or a homeless shelter! Truth is art, too. So is impromptu generosity. Thank you, Mark Burnett, for artful intelligence, skill and endurance. Congratulations, Denise, for telling it like it is with graciousness and confidence.