Survivor: Nicaragua

Survivor: Nicaragua is the twenty-first season of the American CBS competitive reality television series . It premiered on September 15, 2010 at 8 pm, moving to the Wednesday timeslot for the first time since . The tribes were split into two tribes divided according to age. Fabio Birza became the winner, defeating Chase Rice and Sash Lenahan by a vote of 5-4-0. It would ultimately feature two quits and has to date produced one returning player (Brenda Lowe) for subsequent seasons.
==Production==
The location of Nicaragua was announced at the conclusion of the finale of . This season and were both filmed in San Juan del Sur. Jeff Probst has stated that he and the production crew were very grateful for the natives' warm hospitality.
==Twists/Changes==
* Old vs. Young: The 20 contestants will be divided up into two tribes based on their ages. The ​​ tribe will feature contestants over the age of 40, and ​​ tribe will include contestants aged 30 years and younger. The producers deemed that they have a good slate of competitive older people, so they expected that the "Battle of the Ages" format will not agree to the younger tribe's sheer strength.
* Hidden Immunity Idol: Similar to , , , , and , one idol will be hidden at both tribe camps. Jeff Probst, has also announced that the Hidden Immunity Idol will be hidden differently this season. Realizing that idols have been found too easily the past two seasons (notoriously often by Russell Hantz), the clues of the idol's location will be rebus puzzles rather than textual. They dubbed it as "The Russell Factor." Both idols are usable up until the Day 36 Tribal Council.
* Medallion of Power: The two tribes will also vie for a new item, the Medallion of Power. The tribe that currently hold the Medallion will have an option to have an advantage in challenges (i.e. shortcuts, less workload etc.). They can either use it or save it until the next challenge. However, once the Medallion is utilized, regardless of whether the host tribe won or lost the challenge, they must surrender it to the rival tribe. The premise of the Medallions is to further even up the playing field for the tribes defined by age. After the tribe switch, the Medallion was retired.
* Less Physical Challenges: Aside from the Medallion of Power, challenges in this season will be more innovative and less physical, due to the Old vs. Young format. Instead of sheer strength, majority of the challenges will require teamwork to win. Jeff Probst said: "It's way less physical this season, so there will be no wrestling on the beach. Our challenge department has come up with some inventive ideas that are fair, still take skill and still take strategy. They're going to be the kind of things you think would be fun to do."
* Tribe Switch: Selected tribe members will be transferred to the rival tribe.
* Double Tribal Council: Both tribes will go to Tribal Council and will vote somebody out, with one member of both tribes possessing individual Immunity.
* Early Merge: Similar to , the tribes will be merged with twelve people still in the game.
* Expanded Jury and Final Three: Instead of the conventional Final Two facing the jury of seven, the Day 39 Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing a nine-person jury.
==Castaways==
Contestant	Contestant 	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Finish	VotesAgainst
Contestant	Contestant 	Original Tribe 	Switched Tribe 	Merged Tribe 	Finish	VotesAgainst
 	Wendy DeSmidt-Kohlhoff48, Fromberg, MTGoat Rancher 	 	 	 	 	9
 	Shannon Elkins30, Lafayette, LAPest Control Company Owner	 	 	 	 	7
 	Jimmy Johnson66, Islamorada, FLFormer NFL Coach 	 	 	 	 	8
 	Jimmy Tarantino47, Gloucester, MACommercial Fisherman 	 	 	 	 	5
 	Tyrone Davis42, Inglewood, CAFire Captain 	 	 	 	 	6
 	Kelly Bruno26, Durham, NCMedical Student 	 	 	 	 	8
 	Yve Rojas41, Kansas City, MOHomemaker 	 	 	 	 	7
 	Jill Behm43, Erie, PAER Doctor 	 	 	 	 	3
 	Alina Wilson23, Downey, CAArt Student 	 	 	rowspan="12" 	 	10
 	Marty Piombo48, Mill Valley, CATechnology Executive 	 	 	 	15 	
 	Brenda Lowe27, Miami, FLPaddleboard Company Owner 	 	 	 	13 	
 	NaOnka Mixon27, Los Angeles, CAPE Teacher 	 	 	 	3 	
 	Kelly Shinn20, Mesa, AZNursing Student 	 	 	 	0 	
 	Benry Henry23, Los Angeles, CAClub Promoter 	 	 	 	5 	
 	Jane Bright56, Jackson Springs, NCDog Trainer 	 	 	 	11 	
 	Dan Lembo63, Water Mill, NYReal Estate Executive 	 	 	 	9 	
 	Holly Hoffman44, Eureka, SDSwim Coach 	 	 	 	4 	
 	Sash Lenahan30, New York City, NYReal Estate Broker 	 	 	SecondRunner-Up 	2 	
 	Chase Rice24, Fairview, NCProfessional Racecar Jackman 	 	 	Runner-Up 	1 	
 	Fabio Birza21, Venice, CAStudent 	 	 	Sole Survivor 	2 	
==Season Summary==
The twenty new castaways were divided into tribes by age: the younger La Flor, and the older Espada. Both tribes also vied for ownership of the newly introduced Medallion of Power, which granted them an advantage when played in challenges. At Espada, several members of the tribe such as Jimmy J. and Jimmy T. vied for leadership, but both were swiftly eliminated at the hands of Marty, who built a strong alliance with Jill and Dan, as well as acquired the tribe's Hidden Immunity Idol.
Despite dominating in challenges, La Flor also had their own share of conflicts. Two warring alliances (one led by Shannon, and the other led by Brenda and Sash) emerged, with both sides vying for Chase's vote. A confused Shannon lashed out at Tribal Council, making both Chase and some of his own alliance members turn on him. The remnants of Shannon's group found themselves at the mercy of Brenda's alliance. Not only did they have the numbers, but Brenda and NaOnka successfully found their tribe's Hidden Immunity Idol, leaving them more vulnerable. However, their supposed eliminations were put on hold, as La Flor went on to win two more Immunity Challenges.
On Day 12, a Tribe Switch caused allegiances to shift. At the new Espada, outsider Holly bonded with her new tribemates, and formed an alliance with them. At the new La Flor, the once-powerful Marty fell from grace, thanks to Jane flipping to Brenda's alliance. Marty narrowly escaped the swapped tribe by giving Sash his Hidden Immunity Idol. On Day 19, the two tribes were merged into the Libertad tribe.
Sash and Brenda's original alliance took control of Libertad, finally eliminating Marty. Seeing that Brenda was controlling the game, Holly made her move by turning everybody else on Brenda, causing her demise. Brenda's elimination, along with the shocking voluntary exits of Kelly S. and NaOnka left Sash without allies. However at the final seven, Sash became the swing vote and managed to find a new alliance in Holly, Chase, and Jane. This new alliance soon set their sights on Fabio, but he went on to win the last three Immunity Challenges, ending up in the Final Three along with Chase and Sash, who were forced to vote out Jane and Holly.
At the Final Tribal Council, Sash was ignored by the jury because of his numerous deceptions; while Chase was castigated for his indecisiveness at several points during the game. Fabio on the other hand was chastised by the other two for seemingly coasting throughout the game, but he rebutted that he did that on purpose to not hurt anybody's feelings, and still stay longer in the game. In the end, Fabio's unconventional strategy earned him the title of Sole Survivor by a 5-4-0 vote over Chase and Sash.
==Voting History==
==Trivia==
* This is the second season to have tribes split by age, the first being , which was divided by age and then by gender.
* This season is the second to feature a duo of male and female castaways with the same first name: Jimmy Johnson and Jimmy Tarantino, and Kelly Bruno and Kelly Shinn following . However Jimmy Johnson and Jimmy Tarantino were originally placed on the same tribe and Kelly Bruno and Kelly Shinn were also originally placed on the same tribe.
* This is the first season to have a castaway born in the 1990s: Kelly Shinn.
* This season's Tribal Council set is designed after a destroyed church, with a mock graveyard pathway where the eliminated castaways walk after being voted out.
* This was the first season since to feature two castaways quit in the same season.
** This season marked the first, and currently only instance in Survivor that two castaways quit at the same time.
* This season marked the second time that Jeff bribed a tribe for something after an unfortunate event at camp. The first time this happened was in , where the Barramundi tribe suffered miserably after a terrible storm, with their remaining food supply being washed up. Jeff bribed them to dismantle their shelter for a new supply of rice.
* This season has three 4-day cycles. , , and all covered more than 3 days.
* This season marked the second time that more than one castaway used a Hidden Immunity Idol at a single Tribal Council, being Sash and Chase.
* Original La Flor members had an etched flower design at their torches, while the original Espada had saber-like etchings on theirs.
* This was the first time that tribe names were prominently displayed on the buffs, though this would be the second time that buffs were customized for a tribe, following , where their buffs had their tribe insignia drawn on it.
* This is the first season since where the jury vote has been 5-4-0. There had been three seasons with a final three and nine jury members between Cook Islands and Nicaragua.
* This season marks the third all-male Final Tribal Council, following and .
** This season also marks the first and only all-male Final Three.
* Composer Russ Landau had composed a new version of "Ancient Voices" for this season featuring indigenous flutes and elements of Spanish music, however the producers instead used an extended version of the original theme from . The theme composed for Nicaragua was later released on iTunes and is known as "Survivor: Nicaragua Unapproved."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhZuArM3ayU
==References==
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Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor: Nicaragua