Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Get ready to play Survivor: South Texas

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CORRECTION:
An article on Page H3 today omitted Jennifer Pena's response to "Why I should win" the Survivor: South Texas game. Her answer is, "I'm playing for fun. Sometimes it's better to play for fun."

Sunday, October 7, 2001
Get ready to play Survivor: South Texas
Vote on Caller.com to decide which local celeb stays, goes
By Dan Parker and Ricardo Baca
Caller-Times
Click to start voting people off

Photo illustration by Ashley Ream/David Pellerin photos/Caller-Times

KIII-TV weatherman Maclovio Perez (from left), singer Jennifer Pena and musician Matt Hole are three of the 16 local celebrities vying for the Survivor: South Texas title and a donation to their favorite charity. Have fun voting people off! Let the games begin.

Contestants in the first two CBS "Survivor" shows had it easy.
   They may have competed in the blazing heat on a nearly deserted tropical island and then in the remote Australian Outback. But they never had to endure the sometimes-scalding heat of South Texas public opinion.
   In honor (or mockery) of the new season of "Survivor," which begins Thursday, the Caller-Times is creating its own online version of the game featuring prominent South Texans.
   Readers will pick who gets to stay each week - and who should be sent packing. Simply log on to Caller.com and cast your vote each week.
   The final winner will be chosen Jan. 10 to coincide with the scheduled "Survivor: Africa" finale.
   The Caller-Times has assembled a pool of 16 local celebrities - from 18-year-old Tejano songstress Jennifer Pena to 73-year-old KZTV anchor Walter Furley - to compete in our online version of "Survivor."
   Our contestants have revealed their strengths and weaknesses. Expect that some will make unabashed pleas to win in the weeks to come. The final survivor will win a $500 donation to his or her (or "its," if the IceRays' mascot wins) favorite charity and a Caller-Times gift basket, which includes a $50 gift certificate to Outback Steak House and promotional items such as shirts and mugs.
   Surviving South Texas
   There are definite similarities and differences between the TV show and Survivor: South Texas.
   When it premiered in May 2000, CBS's "Survivor" catapulted the success of unscripted TV. When Richard Hatch won the $1 million that season on an island near Malaysia, a Super Bowl-sized TV viewing audience witnessed it.
   If any of our contestants want to travel to an exotic locale, they'll have to settle for the King Ranch, and we ain't paying for them to get there. And don't even get us started on the $1 million prize.
   On the TV show, Hatch and his fellow survivors existed on a diet of rats in the show's first season. In the second season, Tina Wesson rarely ate anything but bugs and rice before she won "Survivor: The Australian Outback."
   Our contestants can eat whatever the heck they please. Our motto is: If they catch it, pay for it or find it in their own refrigerators, bon appétit.
   The "Survivor" TV shows pitted teammate against teammate, and after physical challenges and mental games, they voted each other out of the game, one by one.
   On the other hand, Survivor: South Texas does not require its participants to lift a finger. Instead, they'll be relying on their reputations (some are admittedly shaky, we know). Their final destinies in Survivor: South Texas will lie in readers' hands.
   The exiled will be announced on the Caller-Times Arts & Entertainment page and on Caller.com every Thursday, coinciding with ousters announced Thursday nights on "Survivor: Africa."
   Let rivalry reign
   In Survivor: South Texas, expect to see battles brew between a former Texas Tornado, a stand-up comedian, a high school basketball coach and a lady who wears a lampshade on her head on local television commercials.
   The competition pits Corpus Christi's top non-elected city government official, City Manager David Garcia, against rabid government watchdog Jack Gordy, a board member of the Corpus Christi Taxpayers Association.
   The forecast calls for stormy weather between KIII weather guy Maclovio Perez and his arch-nemesis KRIS 6 News meteorologist Dale Nelson, the weathermen on the top two stations in the market.
   Will beauty overcome as the gorgeous Miss Corpus Christi goes head-to-head with the chubby-cheeked Ricardo Baca?
   Can radio DJ Rex Gabriel, with his rock 'n' roll style, match musician Matt Hole, with his raging rockabilly flair?
   Check out the complete list of potential winners (and losers), and let the games begin.


Staff writers Cassandra Hinojosa, Leanne Libby and Brendan Walsh contributed to this report. Dan Parker can be reached at 886-3753 or parkerd@caller.com. Ricardo Baca can be reached at 886-3688 or bacar@caller.com.

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