Survivor: Vanuatu

Survivor: Vanuatu, also known as Survivor: Vanuatu — Islands of Fire, is the ninth season of . Filmed in Vanuatu, a chain of volcanic islands in the South Pacific, the season premiered on September 16, 2004.
The second season divided by gender, the game was largely dominated by the women, who made up six out of the final seven. Against all odds, the lone man Chris Daugherty defeated Twila Tanner in a 5-2 vote to become the ninth Sole Survivor. To date, it has produced two returning players (Ami Cusack and Eliza Orlins) for subsequent seasons.
==Production==
The season was announced at the end of where the number of players returned to the standard 16, but was eventually increased back to 18.
Survivor Live, an hour-long Internet talk show hosted by the show's first winner Richard Hatch and Entertainment Tonight correspondent Chris Booker, debuted during the season. The talk show, airing every Thursday and Friday on the CBS website, interviews former contestants and reviews the players' game-play.
The DVD for this season was released on December 5, 2006. It was the final Survivor DVD set to feature commentaries and DVD-exclusive interviews.
==Twists/Changes==
* Expanded Cast: Following its predecessor, this season also featured eighteen castaways.
* Tribe Composition: The castaways are divided into tribes of nine based on gender: The Lopevi tribe was composed of all men and the Yasur tribe was composed of all women. 
* Double Tribal Council: On Day 7, both tribes were forced to attend Tribal Council separately to vote out one of their own. 
* Tribe Switch: On Day 11, selected tribe "chiefs" were tasked to rearrange the tribes, mixing up the men and the women. Two members from both tribes joined the other.
* Merged Tribe Composition: The merged tribe was composed of ten members. 
* Final Tribal Council Format: Two finalists faced a jury of seven. The jurors individually addressed the finalists.
==Castaways==
Contestant	Contestant 	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Finish	VotesAgainst
Contestant	Contestant 	Original Tribe 	Switched Tribe 	Merged Tribe 	Finish	VotesAgainst
 	Brook Geraghty27, Winthrop, MADocument Manager 	 	 	 	 	5
 	Dolly Neely25, Mercer, PASheep Farmer 	 	 	 	 	5
 	John Palyok31, Los Angeles, CASales Manager 	 	 	 	 	5
 	Mia Galeotalanza29, Boston, MABookkeeper 	 	 	 	 	5
 	Brady Finta33, Huntington Beach, CAFBI Agent 	 	 	 	 	6
 	Travis Sampson33, Johnson City, TNSecurity Officer 	 	 	 	 	6
 	Lisa Keiffer44, Mandeville, LAReal Estate Agent 	 	 	 	 	4
 	John Kenney22, Los Angeles, CAMechanical Bull Operator/Model 	 	 	 	 	5
 	Rory Freeman35, Des Moines, IAHousing Case Manager 	 	 	rowspan="10" 	 	14
 	Lea Masters40, Columbia, SCDrill Sergeant 	 	 	 	7 	
 	Chad Crittenden34, Oakland, CATeacher 	 	 	 	7 	
 	Leann Slaby34, Kansasville, WIEquity Research Assistant 	 	 	 	8 	
 	Ami Cusack31, Lakewood, COCoffee Barista 	 	 	 	8 	
 	Julie Berry23, Gorham, MEYouth Mentor 	 	 	 	4 	
 	Eliza Orlins21, Syracuse, NYPre-Law Student 	 	 	 	9 	
 	Scout Cloud Lee59, Stillwater, OKRancher 	 	 	 	3 	
 	Twila Tanner41, Marshall, MOHighway Repair Worker 	 	 	Runner-Up 	6 	
 	Chris Daugherty33, South Vienna, OHHighway Construction Worker	 	 	Sole Survivor 	3 	
==Season Summary==
The players were brought into the game at a native gathering, with the natives dividing the group to men and women. After the opening ceremony, the men were named the Lopevi tribe, and the women the Yasur tribe. Following the ceremony's conclusion, both groups were sent to find their camps in the dark. 
At the first Immunity Challenge, Lopevi lost; mainly due to Chris' inability to cross a balance beam. This seemed like the end of the game for him; however, Lea succeeded in convincing the older men of the tribe to form an alliance and vote off the younger men. At the all-female Yasur, two factions also based around age quickly emerged, both fighting over Dolly's vote. With Dolly refusing to commit to either alliance, a concerned Eliza made a temporary jump to the older women to vote Dolly out. 
A Tribe Switch occurred on Day 11, mixing the two tribes. At the new Lopevi, the men decided to invite Twila into their alliance, who she swore that both she and Julie would side with them come the merge. On the new Yasur, there were frequent clashes between Ami (the head of the women's alliance) and Rory, the latter of whom narrowly avoided elimination when the women decided to vote out the untrustworthy Lisa over him. 
On Day 19, the two tribes merged and took the name Alinta, with the women outnumbering the men, six to four. While the men reformed their alliance, Julie and Twila broke their promise to them. The six women joined forces and eliminated the men until only Chris was left. Chris was set to be voted out when he failed to win immunity on Day 30, but the women's alliance began to crumble as they decided to vote out Eliza instead. This allowed Scout and Twila, the latter who swore on her son's life that she wouldn't betray Ami and Leann, to pull in Chris and Eliza and flip the game on its head. The plan worked, as Ami and her allies were systematically voted out. Chris won the last two Immunity Challenges, which allowed him to remain in power. He ultimately took Twila with him to the Final Two.
At the Final Tribal Council, Chris was heavily criticized particularly by Julie and Eliza for breaking promises and abusing relationships, while Twila was confronted for swearing on her son's life and attitude. Chris's ability to stay in the game despite the incredible odds against him convinced the jury to vote for him. He won the title of Sole Survivor by a vote of 5-2.
==Voting History==
==Trivia==
* This is the first season with 18 castaways where all of them are new players.
* As revealed on Survivor: America's Tribal Council special during the previews for this season, Jeff Probst stated there was going to be 16 castaways originally.
* This is the second season to feature a Battle of the Sexes format, following . It is the only Battle of the Sexes season where the women entered the merge with numbers over the men (The men had the numbers on  and , while on , the men and women merged with equal numbers).
* All eighteen contestants of Survivor: Vanuatu were present during the Survivor 10th anniversary party.
* During this season, the filming location was struck by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake.https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usp000czr9/executive
* After the Day 18 Immunity Challenge, Rory accidentally snapped the head of the Immunity Idol.
* This season featured the first amputee contestant, Chad Crittenden.
* This is the second season to have two castaways with the same first name placed on the same starting tribe.
** They also were residing in the same hometown at the time they competed on the show.
* This is the first season to have a subtitle in its name.
* Only two men were on the jury this season, the fewest men on any jury thus far.
* With the exception of the premiere and finale, every episode contained separate Reward and Immunity Challenges. 
** This is the only season in which both the final pre-merge and first post-merge episodes contained separate Reward and Immunity Challenges, and as a result the season with the most consecutive episodes with separate Reward and Immunity Challenges. 
** If the opening twist is counted as a de facto Reward Challenge, every episode contained exactly two challenges.
* This is the first season to not feature the Buggin' Out challenge.
==References==
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Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor: Vanuatu