Survivor: Palau

Survivor: Palau is the tenth season of Survivor. It was filmed in the island-country of Palau in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania. The main theme of the season was the Pacific Theatre of World War II.

This season ended with New York City fire lieutenant Tom Westman defeating advertising executive Katie Gallagher in a 6-1 vote.

Survivor's 10th season earned the show a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2005.

Production
Applications were due June 22, 2004. Around 800 applicants were selected for an interview between the latter part of July and August. Out of these 800, 48 were chosen as semi-finalists for an interview in Los Angeles during September. From these semi-finalists, 20 were chosen to participate the show between October to December 2004.

Twists/Changes

 * Expanded Cast: This is the first season to feature twenty contestants.
 * Schoolyard pick and elimination: The contestants start the game by competing for two individual immunity necklaces awarded to the first man and the first woman to reach them. The winners then pick one member of the opposite sex to join their tribe and add another contestant to it. The last man and the last woman who are not picked are eliminated from the game.
 * Double Tribal Council: On one occasion, both tribes have to vote somebody out of the game.
 * Tiebreaker challenge: A fire-starting contest is held in case of a tie or if there are only two people left on a tribe.
 * No Merge: Ulong was absorbed into its rival tribe after being reduced to only one member.
 * Exile Island: Exile Island is introduced for the first time. Used only once as punishment for a loser of a challenge, the exiled contestant is sent to a remote location with minimum supplies to live there for a certain period of time.

Season Summary
The twenty contestants began the game by rowing to the beach they would live on, with the first player of each gender to reach shore winning Immunity. However, once ashore, they received no additional instructions nor were divided into tribes, and began to work on a common shelter. The next day, Jeff Probst announced that they would now pick tribes via a school-yard pick, with those who had won immunity getting to choose first. The last man and woman remaining would immediately leave the game. Eventually, Jonathan Libby and Wanda Shirk did not get picked, and were sent home. The two tribes, Koror and Ulong, then participated in the first reward/immunity challenge, with the winner, Koror, deciding to leave their present beach to another one they had not seen.

As the challenges continued, it quickly became apparent that Ulong was the weaker tribe, while strong leadership by Tom Westman and Ian Rosenberger at Koror kept their tribe intact. Ulong would win no Immunity Challenges and only three Reward Challenges. Koror had to vote one of their own out only once during the first 21 days, when both tribes had to attend Tribal Council.

This season, unlike several previous ones, did not have a Tribe Switch, and Ulong's numbers continued to dwindle. With only two members left, Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard, they faced off in a fire-making challenge, with the former emerging victorious. After spending the night alone, she was instructed to travel to camp Koror, and was given a Koror buff. No merge occurred.

Koror developed a core group of five: Tom, Ian, Gregg Carey, Jenn Lyon, and Katie Gallagher, and those on the outside saw them as a threat but were not able to break them. Despite making an immediate strong impression on her new tribe, Stephenie was targeted due to her strength and for being the outsider. She was able to buy herself some time when the Koror alliance decided to get rid of Coby Archa. As part of a new twist, one individual Immunity Challenge required the first player to drop out to spend a night alone on an isolated island (Exile Island). Janu Tornell, the most disliked member of the tribe, was the one exiled. She found the experience liberating, and decided to quit the game at the next Tribal Council, effectively sparing Stephenie from being voted out. Stephenie's run lasted for only one more round, as she was finally sent home after not winning Immunity or being able to break Koror's bond.

When Koror was down to six, Tom and Ian worried that they would fall against a potential Immunity threat, Gregg, and his close ally Jenn, and plotted with Caryn Groedel and Katie to vote him out when they had the chance. Katie, feeling betrayed by Ian, became even more distraught when Ian took Tom with him on a reward instead of her as he had promised. Ian attempted to make amends, but Katie still held bad feelings towards him. After eliminating Caryn from the game, the final four opted to allow the next vote to end in a tie between Jenn and Ian. In the subsequent fire-making challenge, it was Ian who prevailed.

The final Immunity Challenge required players to hang onto buoys for as long as possible; Katie dropped out early, but both Tom and Ian remained in the challenge for nearly 12 hours. Eventually Ian decided to step down. Despite Tom's offer to take him to the final two, Ian made his own offer to step down in order to gain back his integrity and friendship. Foregoing the usual tribal council, Tom voted Ian out of the game on the spot. At the Final Tribal Council, Tom's leadership and physical ability against Katie's apparent riding-of-coattails, led the Jury to vote Tom as the Sole Survivor, 6–1.

Trivia

 * For the first time in the series' history, one tribe "conquered" the other by winning every single Immunity Challenge and absorbing the other tribe's last member. Had Koror and Ulong merged, they would've been given a new green buff.
 * This is the only season where the pre-Jury boots outnumbered those who reach the Jury phase.
 * It is the first season of Survivor to start with 20 people instead of 18 or 16.
 * Palau is the first season to eliminate 3 castaways in the first episode. Jonathan and Wanda were eliminated in the schoolyard pick, while Jolanda was voted out normally at the first Tribal Council.
 * This is the last season to lack the hidden immunity idol.
 * On January 19, 2010, Survivor: Palau contestant Jenn Lyon died at the age of 37 after a 5-year battle with breast cancer.
 * This is the first season is to have three tie votes occur.
 * This happened again in Survivor: Caramoan.
 * If you count Ulong's final tribal council, there were four ties this season.
 * Palau is the first season to have only two contestants win individual immunity.
 * Palau is the only season to have two fire making challenges occur.
 * The font used for the tribes and Palau subtitle is "Stencil."
 * Palau is the first season to have Exile Island.
 * However, Exile Island was only used for one episode. was the first season to use it as a full season twist.
 * Palau is the first season where contestants were eliminated before Day 3.
 * This season features the least amount of different tribes, as all except Palau feature at least three, whereas Palau featured only 2.