Survivor SA draws to a close, and Gigi takes it!

I must say that I was seriously impressed with last night's Survivor SA finale - it felt so good to get into the Survivor vibe and know that we have our very own "Jeff Probst" in Nico Panagio :)
I thought he did a fantastic job as the host of the show, without trying too hard to follow in the footsteps of the the CBS version of Survivor.

In any case, Gigi took the honours at the end and walked away as the ultimate survivor.

While I wish her well and congrats and all that, I though that Ashley was the more deserving of the 2 finalists - it goes without saying that she played a fantastic game, while Gigi flew under the radar most of the time.
I would also guess that if the votes had been re-cast at the live show (after all the contestants had cooled off!), the outcome would have been a rather different one.

Fact is, it was a great season of Survivor SA and I trust that it will set the standard for future productions of the show.

What did you think of the series?

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Jub Jub gets a rash...

Who is Jub Jub?

That's the question on a lot of people's minds after watching Survivor SA tonight.
Answer: Jub Jub is a JHB-based musician / hip-hop artist who gained additional fame and exposure by revealing that he had a crotch rash on Survivor SA. Ouch.

So that's 2 deserters already and its only the 2nd episode.
It was nice though to see Nico giving Jub Jub a hard time about leaving - as I mentioned last week, Christina Storm just walked off the island with pretty much no resistance.

I am Jub Jub

As for Jub Jub's injury, I cannot say whether or not he was fit to continue... if it was really serious then I guess not.
I noticed though how he casually called on the medics when he cut his foot on some coral - something rarely seen on Survivor CBS. Over there you have to be dead or nearly dead in order for the cavalry to come and save you.

So all in all I am enjoying this series of Survivor SA a damn sight more than I did the first.
I do have one bone to pick however - the background music is off in my opinion. Just a tad.
To illustrate my point:

- ...and Action!
- 2 Tribemates are secretly discussing strategy and alliances in the tribe.
- the camera zooms in for a more intense point of view of the action.
- cue Star Wars soundtrack as background music.... and VOILA! The suspense is shattered, and the cheese is introduced.

Yup. That's what we have as background music in Survivor SA - a lame cover version of the original Star Wars score... or something similar :)
I suppose it has to do with CBS licencing rights etc. that put a limitation on the kind of music used in the SA version of the show, but I do think that they could have done a better job of creating music that fits in with the general atmosphere of Survivor.

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Survivor South Africa - the first casualties...

I never really got into the first Survivor S.A. - I think my expectations were way too high after being addicted to the original CBS show for too long.

After watching the Yanks do their thing for so long, sitting through an episode of the first season of Survivor S.A. was like trying to get out of quicksand... I can't really put my finger on it - whether it was the presenter, the audio quality (lack thereof...?), or the ridiculous background music - it all just killed it for me and I can't say that I expected much more from the second season of Survivor S.A.

So I was in for a pleasant surprise this evening when I sat (rather painlessly) through the entire first episode of the new season!

Big kudos has to go to the new presenter Nico Panagio (of Top Billing fame) - he just looks more the part, and it doesn't feel like he is trying too hard to be Jeff Probst :)

I mean Jeff Probst is one tough act to follow, but I think that Nico does a fine job of it.

Jeff Probst flashing his signature Survivor grin

Nico Panagio trying to out-suave Jeff Probst

As for the contestants, it's a mixed bag of local celebs all roughing it on a deserted island somewhere off Mozambique.

First to go (voluntarily) was supermodel Christina Storm - understandably she was missing her child, but as they say - she knew what she was in for so why did she bother getting involved?

Also, rather unlike the American series, there seemed to be little resistance to her early departure - in the past on Survivor (CBS), contestants were put through hell if they tried to wuss out of the game early.

Not so for Christina - she just had to shed a few tears and thats was it. Gone.

Next off (surprisingly) was Garth Collins, better known to some as "Granite" of Gladiator fame.

I felt a bit sad to see this hulk of a man limping around helplessly, after sustaining a leg injury during the opening stages of the game.

Not surprisingly though, his teammates figured that a semi-functional giant may be more of a liability than an asset.

Goodbye Garth.

Can't wait to see what next week holds in store!

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