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Survivor: Micronesia, also known as Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites or simply Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites in later seasons, is the sixteenth installment of Survivor. This season featured ten new contestants, dubbed as "the super-fans", facing ten of the most popular castaways at the time.

The season concluded with Parvati Shallow defeating Amanda Kimmel in a 5-3 jury vote to win the title of Sole Survivor. It featured two medical evacuations, one quit, and has to date produced seven returning players (Amanda Kimmel, Cirie Fields, Erik Reichenbach, James Clement, Jonathan Penner, Ozzy Lusth, and Parvati Shallow) for subsequent seasons.

Production[]

Casting for this season was originally done as an "All-Stars" season with all returning players, but that idea was scrapped in favor of the "Fans vs. Favorites" format.[citation needed]

Coby Archa, Shane Powers, and Yul Kwon were considered for the season but were not chosen. Tom Westman was also asked to compete but declined.[3]

Twists/Changes[]

  • Fans vs. Favorites: One tribe, Airai​​, is composed of ten Survivor "superfans", while the other, Malakal, is composed of ten popular castaways from past seasons.
  • Temporary Immunity Idols: At the beginning of the game, the contestants vied for two individual Immunity Idols, one for each tribe. The first person who gets their tribe's idol will be immune at his/her first visit to Tribal Council.
  • Exile Island: Exile Island returns after being absent in Survivor: China. This season, both tribes will send one of their own to Exile Island to compete to find the Hidden Immunity Idol.
  • Hidden Immunity Idol: Hidden Immunity Idols return this season, however only one is hidden on Exile Island at a time.
  • Tribe Switch: On Day 12, both tribes swapped four members each.
  • Eight Person Jury: This season marked the first time that a jury is comprised of eight members.
  • Final Tribal Council: The standard two-finalist Final Tribal Council returns after three seasons of having a three-finalist finale.

Castaways[]

Contestant Tribe Affiliation Finish Votes
Against
Original Tribe Switched Tribe Merged Tribe
S16 jon t Jon Dalton
33, Los Angeles, CA
Pearl Islands
Malakal 1st Voted Out
Day 3
9
S16 mary t Mary Sartain
28, Emeryville, CA
Real Estate Manager
Airai 2nd Voted Out
Day 6
6
S16 yauman t Yau-Man Chan
55, Martinez, CA
Fiji
Malakal 3rd Voted Out
Day 8
6
S16 mikeyb t Mikey Bortone
33, Los Angeles, CA
Aspiring Writer
Airai 4th Voted Out
Day 11
9
S16 joel t Joel Anderson
32, Avondale, AZ
Firefighter
Airai Malakal 5th Voted Out
Day 14
6
S16 jonathan t Jonathan Penner
45, Los Angeles, CA
Cook Islands
Malakal Airai Evacuated
Day 15
0
S16 chet t Chet Welch
48, Ford City, PA
Pageant Coach
Airai Malakal 6th Voted Out
Day 17
15
S16 kathy t Kathy Sleckman
45, Glen Ellyn, IL
Golf Course Vendor
Airai Airai Quit
Day 19
0
S16 tracy t Tracy Hughes-Wolf
43, Fredericksburg, VA
Residential Builder
Airai Malakal 7th Voted Out
Day 20
7
S16 ami t Ami Cusack
34, Golden, CO
Vanuatu
Malakal Malakal 8th Voted Out
Day 21
4
S16 eliza t Eliza Orlins
24, Manhattan, NY
Vanuatu
Malakal Airai Dabu 9th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 24
8
S16 ozzy t Ozzy Lusth
26, Venice, CA
Cook Islands
Malakal Malakal 10th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 27
9
S16 jason t Jason Siska
22, Fox River Grove, IL
Gymnastics Coach
Airai Airai 11th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 30
9
S16 james t James Clement
30, Lafayette, LA
China
Malakal Airai Evacuated
4th Jury Member
Day 31
3
S16 alexis t Alexis Jones
24, Beverly Hills, CA
Motivational Speaker
Airai Airai 12th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 33
2
S16 erik t Erik Reichenbach
21, Ypsilanti, MI
Ice Cream Scooper
Airai Malakal 13th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 36
7
S16 natalie t Natalie Bolton
31, West Hollywood, CA
Personal Trainer
Airai Airai 14th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 37
3
S16 cirie t Cirie Fields
37, Norwalk, CT
Panama
Malakal Malakal 15th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 38
3
S16 amanda t Amanda Kimmel
23, Los Angeles, CA
China
Malakal Malakal Runner-Up 4
S16 parvati t Parvati Shallow
25, Los Angeles, CA
Cook Islands
Malakal Airai Sole Survivor 4

Season Summary[]

The 20 players were divided into two tribes: Malakal consisting of ten favorites, and Airai consisting of ten fans. On Malakal, a "couples alliance" of Amanda, Ozzy, Parvati, and James seized control after Cirie became their fifth, opposing a minority group led by Jonathan. At the same time, the fans tribe was caught in a silent power struggle between Joel and Mikey B., which was exploited by Tracy in order to keep her own three-person alliance safe.

After 11 days, with the tribes equal at eight members each, the tribes were swapped through a Schoolyard Pick. The new Malakal quickly proved to be the weaker of the two tribes, resulting in multiple fan eliminations as the favorites remained united. The new Airai struggled in different ways, with Jonathan being evacuated for a knee infection and Kathy quitting after suffering a mental breakdown. These setbacks for Airai kept the tribes relatively even in numbers, with Airai entering the merge with six members to Malakal's four.

At the start of the merge, the original Malakal couples alliance held the majority, recruiting Alexis and Natalie to eliminate the outsiders. However, the women soon formed their own alliance at the behest of Parvati, leading to the blindside of Ozzy. With the numbers on their side, the women's alliance voted out the remaining men until only Erik remained, who thwarted their attempts at eliminating him by winning multiple Immunity Challenges.

Finally at the final five, the remaining women convinced Erik that he was safe at the next vote regardless if he won individual immunity; Erik, having won this immunity, gave it to Natalie to engender her trust, allowing the women to vote him out. After eliminating Natalie, the trio of Amanda, Cirie, and Parvati falsely believed they had made it to the Final Three, only to be surprised with a Final Two. After Amanda won the Final Immunity Challenge, she voted out Cirie for being the largest jury threat. At the Final Tribal Council, Amanda was criticized for being melodramatic and superficial, while Parvati was castigated for her deceptive and occasionally mean-spirited gameplay. In the end, Parvati was ultimately awarded the title of Sole Survivor by a vote of 5-3.

Episode Air date Challenges Exiled Eliminated
(Vote)
Finish Viewers
(in millions)[4]
Rating/Share
(18-49)[4]
Reward Immunity
1 "You Guys Are Dumber than You Look" February 7, 2008 None Yau-Man Jon
(9-1)
1st Voted Out
Day 3
14.02 4.8/N/A
Kathy
Airai1
2 "The Sounds of Jungle Love" February 14, 2008 Malakal1 Kathy Mary
(6-2-2)
2nd Voted Out
Day 6
13.18 4.6/N/A
Cirie
3 "I Should Be Carried on the Chariot-Type Thing!" February 21, 2008 Malakal Airai Kathy Yau-Man
(6-2-1)
3rd Voted Out
Day 8
12.66 4.1/N/A
Ami
4 "That's Baked, Barbecued and Fried!" February 28, 2008 Malakal Malakal Kathy Mikey B.
(4-4-1;
5-2)2
4th Voted Out
Day 11
12.53 4.2/N/A
Ozzy
5 "He's a Ball of Goo!" March 6, 2008 Airai Airai None Joel
(6-2)
5th Voted Out
Day 14
12.64 4.0/N/A
6 "It Hit Everyone Pretty Hard" March 13, 2008 Airai Airai Chet Jonathan
(no vote)
Evacuated
Day 15
13.22 4.3/N/A
Jason Chet
(5-2)
6th Voted Out
Day 17
7 "Like a Wide-Eyed Kid in the Candy Store" March 19, 2008 Malakal Airai Jason Kathy
(no vote)
Quit
Day 19
11.56 3.8/N/A
Tracy Tracy
(5-1)
7th Voted Out
Day 20
8 "A Lost Puppy Dog" April 3, 2008 Ozzy3 Ami
(4-1)
8th Voted Out
Day 21
12.87 4.0/N/A
Alexis3
Airai1
9 "I'm in Such a Hot Pickle!" April 10, 2008 None Jason None Eliza
(8-2)
9th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 24
11.59 3.9/N/A
10 "I Promise..." April 17, 2008 Amanda,
Erik,
Jason,
Ozzy
Parvati Cirie Ozzy
(5-4)
10th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 27
12.01 3.9/N/A
11 "I'm Ruthless... and Have a Smile on My Face" April 24, 2008 Survivor
Auction
Erik Jason Jason
(4-3-1)
11th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 30
12.90 4.3/N/A
12 "I'm Gonna Fix Her!" May 1, 2008 Alexis
[Cirie,
Natalie]
Erik Amanda James
(no vote)
Evacuated
4th Jury Member
Day 31
12.32 4.0/N/A
Alexis
(2-0)4
12th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 33
13 "If It Smells Like a Rat, Give It Cheese" May 8, 2008 Erik
[Amanda]
Erik
(Natalie)5
Parvati Erik
(4-1)
13th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 36
12.62 4.1/N/A
14 "Stir the Pot!" May 11, 2008 None Amanda None Natalie
(3-1)
14th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 37
12.98 4.1/N/A
Amanda Cirie
(1-0)
15th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 38
Jury Vote Amanda
(5-3)
Runner-Up
Parvati
(5-3)
Sole Survivor
15 "Reunion" 10.42 3.8/N/A
Notes:
^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^2 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence.
^3 Before the Immunity Challenge, both tribes were tasked to send one member from the other tribe to Exile Island, preventing them from competing in the challenge. Although the person exiled from the losing tribe would attend the subsequent Tribal Council, they would be immune from being voted out.
^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.
^5 Erik gave up his immunity to Natalie at Tribal Council.

Voting History[]

Original Tribes Switched Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Voted Out S16 jon t
Jon
S16 mary t
Mary
S16 yauman t
Yau-Man
Tie S16 mikeyb t
Mikey B.
S16 joel t
Joel
S16 jonathan t
Jonathan
S16 chet t
Chet
S16 kathy t
Kathy
S16 tracy t
Tracy
S16 ami t
Ami
S16 eliza t
Eliza
S16 ozzy t
Ozzy
S16 jason t
Jason
S16 james t
James
S16 alexis t
Alexis
S16 erik t
Erik
S16 natalie t
Natalie
S16 cirie t
Cirie
S16 amanda t
Amanda
S16 parvati t
Parvati
Vote 9-1 6-2-2 6-2-1 4-4-11 5-2 6-2 No vote2 5-2 No vote3 5-1 4-1 8-2 5-4 4-3-1 No vote4 2-05 4-1 3-1 1-06 5-3
Parvati Jon Yau-Man Eliza Ozzy Jason Alexis Erik Natalie None Jury Vote
Amanda Jon Yau-Man Joel Chet Tracy Ami Eliza Jason Jason Alexis Erik Natalie Cirie
Cirie Jon Yau-Man Joel Chet Tracy Ami Eliza Ozzy Jason Amanda Erik Natalie None Parvati
Natalie Mary Mikey B. Mikey B. Eliza Ozzy James Amanda Erik Cirie Parvati
Erik Mary Chet Mikey B. Chet Chet Tracy Ami Eliza Jason Jason Amanda Parvati Amanda
Alexis Mary Chet Chet Eliza Ozzy James Amanda Parvati
James Jon Yau-Man Eliza Jason Parvati Evacuated Amanda
Jason Chet Chet Chet Ozzy Ozzy James Parvati
Ozzy Jon Yau-Man Joel Chet Tracy Ami Eliza Jason Amanda
Eliza Jon Yau-Man Ozzy Parvati
Ami Jon Cirie Joel Chet Tracy Erik
Tracy Mary Mikey B. Mikey B. Joel Erik Ozzy
Kathy Mary Mikey B. Mikey B. Quit
Chet Mary Mikey B. None Joel Erik
Jonathan Jon Parvati Evacuated
Joel Tracy Jason Mikey B. Chet
Mikey B. Chet Chet None
Yau-Man Jon Parvati
Mary Tracy
Jon Ozzy
Notes:
^1 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those involved in the tie.
^2 Jonathan was medically evacuated over an infected knee wound. No vote occurred for his removal.
^3 Kathy elected to quit the game due to depression and boredom. No vote occurred for her removal.
^4 James was medically evacuated over an infected finger. No vote occurred for his removal.
^5 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.
^6 Cirie and Parvati did not vote as they could only vote for each other. By virtue of winning the Final Immunity Challenge, only Amanda voted.

Trivia[]

  • Micronesia is the last season to not be filmed in high-definition.
  • Micronesia is the only returning players season to feature returning players from Vanuatu and Fiji.
  • Micronesia set the record for the most openly LGBT contestants at the time of airing, with 3: Ami, Chet, and Natalie. This record would be tied by Game ChangersDavid vs. GoliathIsland of the Idols, and Survivor 41 before it was broken by Survivor 42, with 5.
    • With Ozzy coming out as bisexual in 2022 and Parvati coming out as queer in 2023, Micronesia officially contains 5 LGBT castaways.
  • Micronesia is the first season to have two tribes of 10 players each, despite there being 20 contestants in two previous seasons.
  • Micronesia is the first season to have an equal number of returning players and new players at the beginning of the game. It would be followed by Caramoan and Blood vs. Water.
  • Micronesia is the only season with returning players to feature Exile Island as a season-long twist.
  • Half of the contestants in this season would visit Exile Island.
  • Micronesia is the first season to have an even-numbered jury, with eight members.
    • This is the only season with a Final Two and an even-numbered jury. It is unknown how a potential tie would have been broken.
  • Micronesia is the most recent season with a Final Two to produce a female winner.
  • Micronesia is tied with Kaôh Rōng for the most contestants leaving the game without being voted out, or eliminated in a tiebreaker, eliminated by a twist or duel, with 3. Both Jonathan Penner and James Clement were evacuated, and Kathy Sleckman quit.
  • Micronesia is the first season to have two contestants be medically evacuated. It would be followed by Samoa, One World, and Caramoan.
  • Micronesia is the first season where the final four was comprised of castaways of the same gender.
    • However, this would be surpassed in One World, whose final five was comprised of castaways of the same gender.
  • Micronesia is the second season to start with 20 contestants and have a Final Two, following Palau.
    • Coincidentally, both seasons were filmed in Palau, both featured Exile Island, and both had at least three contestants leave the game through means other than being voted out.
  • Micronesia is the last season to date to feature still headshot images of the contestants in the opening credits.
  • For this season, once a player was eliminated, their name and images would no longer appear in the opening credits. Then, in continuing what was started in China, once the game reached the jury phase, only the players remaining would be shown, divided into "the jury" and the "the merged tribe".
  •  Amanda KimmelCirie Fields, and Parvati Shallow are the only returning players to place higher than they did on their original season.
  • Micronesia is the first season to have Ponderosa videos, released after every episode following the start of the jury phase.
  • Micronesia introduced the fewest first-time players who have reached the Final Tribal Council, with 0; no Fans who debuted on this season have made it to Final Tribal Council in this season or any future season.
  • The returning players from Panama, Cook Islands, and China would go on to become three-time players.

References[]

Survivor (U.S.) Seasons
BorneoThe Australian OutbackAfricaMarquesasThailandThe AmazonPearl IslandsAll-StarsVanuatuPalauGuatemalaPanamaCook IslandsFijiChinaMicronesiaGabonTocantinsSamoaHeroes vs. VillainsNicaraguaRedemption IslandSouth PacificOne WorldPhilippinesCaramoanBlood vs. WaterCagayanSan Juan del SurWorlds ApartCambodiaKaôh RōngMillennials vs. Gen XGame ChangersHeroes vs. Healers vs. HustlersGhost IslandDavid vs. GoliathEdge of ExtinctionIsland of the IdolsWinners at WarSurvivor 41Survivor 42Survivor 43Survivor 44Survivor 45Survivor 46
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