Survivor: The Amazon

Survivor: The Amazon is the sixth season of the reality show .
The season is noted for having the first reality show contestant with a disability, the hearing impaired Christy Smith. It is also regarded as being the first season with a particular theme, ultimately changing the mechanics of Survivor in the long run. The winner is Jenna Morasca, a 21-year-old swimsuit model from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who defeated Matthew von Ertfelda in a 6-1 vote. The season has produced two contestants (Jenna Morasca and Rob Cesternino) who have returned for subsequent seasons.
==Production==
The live season finale, including the announcement of the winner and a live reunion of all the season's contestants, took place at the in New York City, on stage, which was decorated to look like the set in the Amazon. The live reunion was supposed to be held at , but due to heavy rain and lack of roof, the set was immediately relocated.
==Twists/Changes==
* Tribe Composition: The sixteen castaways were divided into two tribes of eight. In a first, the castaways were sorted by gender: The men formed the Tambaqui tribe while the women formed the Jaburu tribe.
* Summit and Tribe Switch: On Day 13, the youngest member from each tribe, was sent to a summit where they decided the new tribes, mixing the men and the women.
* 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
 	Ryan Aiken23, Ellicott City, MDModel 	 	 	 	 	4
 	Janet Koth46, Manchester, MOHomemaker 	 	 	 	 	5
 	Daniel Lue26, Houston, TXTax Accountant 	 	 	 	 	7
 	JoAnna Ward31, Orangeburg, SCGuidance Counselor 	 	 	 	 	4
 	Jeanne Hebert40, North Attleboro, MAMarketing Director 	 	 	 	 	5
 	Shawna Mitchell23, Los Angeles, CARetail Saleswoman 	 	 	 	 	6
 	Roger Sexton56, Valencia, CAConstruction Company VP 	 	 	rowspan="10" 	 	11
 	Dave Johnson23, Pasadena, CARocket Scientist 	 	 	 	8 	
 	Deena Bennett35, Riverside, CADeputy District Attorney 	 	 	 	6 	
 	Alex Bell32, Los Angeles, CATriathlon Coach 	 	 	 	6 	
 	Christy Smith24, Basalt, COChildren's Adventure Guide 	 	 	 	9 	
 	Heidi Strobel24, Jefferson City, MOGym Teacher 	 	 	 	3 	
 	Butch Lockley50, Olney, ILSchool Principal 	 	 	 	5 	
 	Rob Cesternino24, Wantagh, NYComputer Projects Coordinator	 	 	 	4 	
 	Matthew von Ertfelda33, Washington, DCRestaurant Designer 	 	 	Runner-Up 	6 	
 	Jenna Morasca21, Bridgeville, PASwimsuit Model 	 	 	Sole Survivor 	3 	
==Season Summary==
For the first time, the castaways were divided into tribes split by gender. The men's tribe, Tambaqui, was quick to set up their camp under Roger's effective yet abrasive leadership. On the sidelines, Rob secretly arbitrated between Roger's alliance of Butch and Dave and the outliers Alex, Daniel and Matthew to further his interests. 
The women's tribe, Jaburu, experienced infighting and spent almost the entire first week without a shelter. Deena stepped up as leader of the women, setting things in order within the tribe while forming a majority alliance with the younger members Heidi, Jenna and Shawna. Believing they can easily defeat the women with their physical strength, the men displayed overconfidence, which was handily eroded by losing 4 of the first 5 challenges. The men later came together and won enough Immunity Challenges to even the numbers, 6-6.
On Day 13, the youngest of both tribes, Dave and Jenna traveled to an isolated location to act as tribal ambassadors. Jenna gave Dave crucial information about Jaburu, giving Dave an advantage when, the next day, they were forced to choose new tribes, equally distributing the men and the women. At the new Tambaqui, it seemed the tribe would arrive at a stalemate, but much convincing, Heidi joined the men in voting out Jeanne. At the new Jaburu, despite showing signs of giving up pre-switch, Shawna's mood somehow lit up since the men arrived, particularly Alex. Deena, believing Shawna's growing closeness with Alex could be detrimental to her game, sought Rob's help to break the two apart, voting Shawna out. The tribes merged on Day 19 where the men outnumbered the women, 6-4. 
At the merge, Roger believed the men would easily pick the women off one by one; but Heidi and Jenna, believing he will not vote for a woman if he was on the Jury, used his growing unpopularity and turned the rest of the tribe against him. At the first merge Tribal Council, Roger was blindsided, with his ally Dave swiftly going next. Rob later turned the tables on Deena when she believed she was controlling the game. 
Following Deena's elimination, it would seem that Alex, Heidi, Jenna and Rob forged a majority alliance, but when Alex hastily revealed Rob he would vote him out at the final four, Rob gathered the outsiders Butch, Christy and Matthew to blindside Alex. With the men and women even again, Christy was viewed as the swing vote but was noncommittal to either pact, allowing Rob to realign with Heidi and Jenna and voting Christy out. With the men having the majority, they voted out Heidi over Jenna, who was sick at the time.
Despite being under the weather, Jenna overcame the odds by winning the remaining Immunity Challenges, forcing the men to turn on each other. Unaligned, Butch was voted out first, then the biggest threat Rob, leaving Jenna and Matthew as the final two.
At the Final Tribal Council, Matthew was commended for his work ethic, but was criticized for his lack of strategic play while Jenna was called the opposite. In the end, for having better relationships on the jury and having more strategy than Matthew, Jenna won the title of Sole Survivor in a 6-1 landslide vote.
==Voting History==
==Trivia==
* The Amazon is the first season to be filmed in South America.
* The Amazon is the first season where the contestants were divided with a theme.
* The Amazon is the first season to include an Asian-American male contestant.
* The Amazon is the first season to not include an African-American male contestant.
* The Amazon is the first season not to introduce a new tribe color, as all three colors (yellow, blue, and red) had been used in previous seasons.
* All five contestants from California were voted out consecutively.
* The Amazon is the first season, and the only season pre-, where all contestants received a vote against them at one point during the game.
* The Amazon is the first season in which a contestant gave up an Immunity Necklace and gave it to another contestant.
* The Amazon is the first season in which a Pagonging did not occur after the merge.
* The Amazon is the only season represented in All-Stars to not have a representative make that season's final six.
** It is also the only season to not have any representatives reach the jury stage.
==References==
06
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor: The Amazon