Article from Reality Blurred

Survivor Tocantins: The Brazilian Highlands will be the show's 18th season

For its 18th season, Survivor is heading back to Brazil, but to a place very different from the one that hosted Survivor Amazon. Survivor Tocantins (pronounced "toe-can-cheens") is, as the subtitle suggests, set in the Brazilian highlands, north of Brasilia in the state of Tocantins along the Rio Novo River, where a crew member drowned before production began.

The new location will be officially announced at the end of the live reunion, but Jeff Probst pulled the trigger early. On his radio show Friday, Ryan Seacrest asked Probst [MP3] where he's been, and Jeff said, "Brazil. That's for the next season. That's the show we can't talk about yet, but we were out there."

In addition, because of the crew member death; the location's proximity to people and roads; local media reports; and a Brazilian crew member who apparently didn't read his contract carefully and posted location photos and even a sketch of the logo online on Orkut (they've been deleted but are reproduced on Survivor Sucks), the location hasn't exactly been a secret.

As many of you guessed, I traveled there in late October for the first few days of production, and while the location is beautiful-and, in some places, stunning-it was also miserable, with temperatures well over 100 even in the shade. By comparison, Gabon in the summer was cooler and more pleasant than Florida. The one rainstorm we had was like a tropical storm, not a thunderstorm. In other words, the environment will, I'm guessing, play a much more significant role next season.

The geography is kind of like high desert, although there are some trees, so kind of like savanna. Around the river, though, it's much more jungle-like. The Brazilian location is remote but less so than Gabon, as power lines run along the road that base camp sits on, and there's a small village nearby. Both tribes will live on the same river, and not too far from one another, although they'll never know that.

CBS will probably announce the cast mid-January, when I'll have a new round of interviews and analysis, and the new season debuts Feb. 12.

1. Sandy Burgin, 53, bus driver from Louisville- This hyper, tattooed grandmother knew she was perfect for Survivor, so she flew to Seattle to be the first to audtion. "My willpower is phenomenal," she says. "On a scale of one to 10, it's a 12."

2. Stephen Fishbach, 29, corporate consultant from New York City- Call him a speechwriter, a spam master or a Muppet. (He thinks he looks like Kermit.) But don't call him "Fish." "That's my nickname at home," he says. "I can't [use it] here because when I can't fish, I'm going to look like an idiot."

3. James Thomas Jr., 24, cattle rancher from Samson, Ala.- Warning: This cowboy knows how to take down prey. "Deer, turky, wild hog, coyote-everything you're allowed to hunt in Alabama I've hunted," he says. "I'm a country boy."

4. Spencer Duhm, 19, college sophomore from Lakeland, Fla.- Survivor fan Duhm has been studying the game since he was 11. That's why he plans to trust no one, saying, "You have to assume they're going to screw you before you screw them over."

5. Sydney Wheeler, 24, model/interior designer from San Diego.- How will she outlast the competition? "I plan to make alliances with the athletic guys," she say. "They are cute and they'll be good at the challenges." And plan B? :If I've gotta flirt, I'm gonna flirt. Work with what you've got. Right?"

11. Carolina Eastwood, 26, bartender from Los Angeles- How did this fire-spitting Panamanian-American prep for Survivor? "I got lasered from head to toe," she says. "Because I'm ethnic in the hairiest sense of the word. And I did not want to scare people with my overgrown armpits."

12. Taj Johnson-George, 37, former member of the Grammy-nominated R&B group SWV from Nashville- "There's a stigma that comes with being married to an NFL player," says the wife of former Tennessee Titan Eddie George. "People think we're pampered. But I'm not. I'm a 5'9", 190-pound tomboy. I'm gon' tear 'em up when I get out there."




6. Jerry Sims, 49, U.S. Army sergeant from Rock Hill, S.C.- First Sergeant Sims may have charmed his 100 soldier Army Reserves company "with a smile and a little manipulation," but things will be different on Survivor. "I don't want to be the boss," he says. "The leader gets axed too early."

7. Candace Smith, 31, lawyer-turned-actress/event planner from Los Angeles- Fertilized eggs? Insects? "I'll swallow it," says Smith. "Having to eat something [weird] for a chance to win a million dollars is nothing to me. I grew up eating chitlins."

8. Tyson Apostol, 29, bike-shop manager from Lindon, Utah- Why do Survivor? "Because I'd be good at tit. May as well go and win," says the former pro cyclist, who rides 31 mph. "And $1 million in two months isn't a bad paycheck." All he has to do now is perfect his strategy of "pushing people's buttons."

9. Sierra Reed, 23, model from Los Angeles- Not only did this beauty not have to try out to get on Survivor ("I was at a taco stand when the recruiters came up to me," she says), she doesn't need the prize. "Money comes and goes," says Reed, who turned down a Tommy Hilfiger campaign to do the show. "If I'd saved when I was just starting out, I'd be a multimillionaire by now.

10. Erinn Lobdell, 26, hairstylist from Waukesha, Wis.- Lobdell says she can get a stranger to trust her within five minutes. It's a gift she hopes will pay off. "I work at a nice salon, so if this works out for me, I'll be the new owner when I get home."

14. Benjamin Wade, 37, soccer coach/part-time orchestra conductor from Bolivar, Mo.- "I'm in this game because I want to change it," says Wade, who kayaked 6.132 miles from Baja, California, to Colombia-alone. "it's become survival of the weakest. I want the strongest to survive. I want to team up with worthy opponents. May the best man or woman win."

15. Debra Beebe (aka MERHAG the glorious), 46, middle=school principal from Auburn, Ala.- "The potty thing is freaking me out," says the self-described adventure seeker, who left the comfort of her eight bedroom home to rough it. "Digging a hole and going Big Bathroom in the middle of nowhere...having to wipe with your hands...Is my body going to shut down because I can't do it?"

16. Brendan Synnot, 30, entrepreneur from NYC.- First he sold his Bear Naked Granola business to Kellogg's as part of a $122 million dollar deal. Now Synnott's got to test his mettle. "I think it's healthy to have everything taken from you and then have to rebuild" he says/ "That's good character building.




Thanks to Katy Carney over at sucks for this.