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. It was discovered by the website Survivor Maps, before it was revealed on the Survivor: Panama Reunion Show. The show will premiere on September 14..

For the first time in Survivor, the contestants are to be divided into tribes by means of race (African-American, Asian-American, Caucasian and Hispanic). Previously, tribes have been divided by gender and by age group.

On the September 4 issue of TV Guide, the names of the four tribes were revealed: Aitutaki (Hispanic-Americans - red), Rarotonga (Caucasians - blue), Manihiki (African-Americans - yellow) and Puka Puka (Asian-Americans - green). All four tribes are named after the many islands in the nation.

For contestants' biographies, see List of Survivor Contestants (season 13)

Contestants

Contestant	Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Total votes
File:T rebecca.jpg Rebecca Borman 34, Laurelton, NY	Manihiki
File:T anh.jpg Anh-Tuan “Cao Boi” Bui 42, Christiansburg, VA	Puka Puka
File:T sekou.jpg Sekou Bunch 45, New York, NY	Manihiki
File:T john.jpg John "JP" Calderon 30, Marina Del Rey, CA	Aitutaki
File:T cristina.jpg Cristina Coria 35, Los Angeles, CA	Aitutaki
File:T stephannie.jpg Stephannie Favor 35, Columbia, SC	Manihiki
File:T virgilio.jpg Vergilio "Billy" Garcia 36, Miami, FL	Aitutaki
File:T adam.jpg Adam Gentry 28, Fredericksburg, VA	Rarotonga
File:T nathan.jpg Nathan Gonzalez 26, Los Angeles, CA	Manihiki
File:T jenny.jpg Jenny Guzon-Bae 36, Lake Forest, IL	Puka Puka
File:T yul.jpg Yul Kwon 31, Flushing, NY	Puka Puka
File:T rebekah.jpg Rebekah "Becky" Lee 28, Pittsburgh, PA	Puka Puka
File:T oscar.jpg Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth 25, Venice, CA	Aitutaki
File:T cecilia.jpg Cecilia Mansilla 29, Arequipa, Peru	Aitutaki
File:T sundra.jpg Sundra Oakley 31, New York, NY	Manihiki
File:T jonathan.jpg Jonathan Penner 44, Los Angeles, CA	Rarotonga
File:T parvati.jpg Parvati Shallow 23, Atlanta, GA	Rarotonga
File:T jessica.jpg Jessica Smith 27, Chico, CA	Rarotonga
File:T brad.jpg Brad Virata 29, Seattle, WA	Puka Puka
File:T candice.jpg Candice Woodcock 23, Fayetteville, NC	Rarotonga

File:SurvivorCooksIslandsCast.jpg

Filming locations

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

Gameplay

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

		Challenges				Tribes
Title	Air Date	Reward	Immunity	Exiled	Eliminated	Original	Merge	Vote	Finish

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

Controversy

The decision to divide the teams by race has made this series of Survivor controversial before even airing. Members of the New York City Council's "Black, Latino and Asian Caucus" have called on CBS to dump Survivor, saying "Cook Islands is a stupid and racially divisive program." 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 by implication conceded a small difference in that racial segregation had actually been practiced in US history.

External links

• Official site