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puddin:
Jolanda Jones ~

An attorney and mom, Houstonian a real 'Survivor'
By CLAUDIA FELDMAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Jolanda Jones is the ultimate survivor.

She was only 13 months old when her father entered the bedroom where she was sleeping and shot himself in the head. She endured a bleak childhood, but that didn't stop her from becoming a star student and athlete and, eventually, a respected defense attorney and community activist.

Today, Jones is raising her 13-year-old son, she has a purple belt in karate, and when the appropriate time comes, she may run again for a City Council seat.

Still, who would have thought Jones wanted to be the Survivor, as in the CBS reality show?

Thursday her name, photo and bio were released along with those of 19 other contestants who will appear on the immensely popular show, which cranked up interest in a whole new genre in TV. It will air Thursdays starting Feb. 17 on Channel 11.

The show was taped during the last few months of 2004; Jones is actually in Houston today, working. Unfortunately, she signed a confidentiality agreement promising not to talk about the show, including how it ends and who won.

So who won?

Jones, 39, just laughs.

For the uninitiated, "castaways" are chosen from thousands of applicants and dropped in a remote location. During the taping, they build shelters, find food, and alternately compete and cooperate with the other contestants.

Everybody wants to earn the $1 million jackpot. No one wants to be voted off the island, which is how contestants are systematically eliminated until there is one.

This crop of contestants includes two other Texans, Coby Archa, 32, a hair stylist from Athens, and Jonathan Libby, 23, in sales and marketing in Dallas. Other contestants include a bartender, a steelworker, a Las Vegas showgirl, a nanny. They come from all over the country, and they range in age from 21 to 57.

In late October, all 20 were dropped off in the Palau Islands in the Pacific Ocean, just north of the equator. This season, CBS public relations folks say, is different because it began with the largest group ever and three castaways will be sent packing in the first episode. They won't say much else except that everything Survivor fans have come to expect will be wiped out in the first 10 minutes of the show.

Colleen Sullivan, a vice president for CBS publicity, says the staff searches for Type A personalities, "folks who have a voice, an opinion, and are willing to stand up for what they believe. They also need to be competitive and enjoy the outdoors. Jolanda Jones certainly fits that description."

Just as Jones signed a confidentiality agreement, so did her son, Jio, and many of their friends and relatives.

One person who didn't sign anything and didn't find out Jolanda had been away for the taping of the show until Thursday was an aunt, Cathy Lewis. The Postal Service manager took the news in stride.

"Jolanda likes to be challenged, and she likes to strut her stuff, too. I thinks this was just perfect for her."

Lewis says she asked her niece if she won, but she didn't get an answer.

"I don't doubt that she did," Lewis says.

source's~
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/features/2991532
http://www.sirlinksalot.net/survivorpalau.html

puddin:
Katie Gallagher
`

Merced Native Mum On Time As 'Survivor'


 
Katie Gallagher, third from left in front, and the 19 other castaways pictured here compete in the 10th season of 'Survivor.'


By MARIJKE ROWLAND
BEE ENTERTAINMENT WRITER


Last Updated: January 14, 2005, 04:30:23 AM PST


Merced native and resident Katie Gallagher is among 20 contestants who will fight to outwit, outlast and outplay one another for $1 million on the new season of the reality hit "Survivor."
The 29-year-old advertising account executive was selected from tens of thousands of applicants to compete on "Survivor: Palau," scheduled to premiere Feb. 17 on CBS Television.

The new cast was revealed Thursday on CBS' "The Early Show."

Gallagher, who works for Radio Merced, traveled to the remote Pacific island nation of Palau for the show's 10th installment.

However, she won't discuss what happened there. Contestants sign strict confidentiality agreements that allow them to discuss the show only with CBS-approved outlets until the show ends.

"I can't talk to you, I'm sorry," she said when contacted by The Bee.

But it didn't take long for news of Gallagher's "Survivor" status to make the rounds. Radio Merced manages six Merced-area radio stations, and she was the big story on affiliated 92.5 FM The Bear's morning show.

"Everybody is very excited about it," said Chad Gammage, a Radio Merced sales manager who works with Gallagher. "Somebody from Merced, a local, is going to be on the big screen. It's fun."

By afternoon, Gallagher had to leave work because of phone calls to her office.

Alliance making, alliance breaking, back stabbing and betrayal are all part of the game for the "Survivor" cast members, who are stranded on a deserted island. Castaways must complete challenges while withstanding the elements and each other as they vie to be the last person standing.

At 20 members, the "Survivor: Palau" cast is the largest yet, two more than last season. Series producers have already let it slip out that three cast members will be sent packing in the first episode, but they are tight-lipped about which ones. The series is taped and the winner won't be revealed until the finale airs sometime in May.

Friends said Gallagher, who auditioned for the show in its third season, is a big fan and a perfect fit for the grueling reality series.

Friends call her 'life of party'

"She is just a natural," said Merced resident Lori Rossi, a friend of Gallagher's for the past 20 years. "She is just someone who is not afraid to take a chance and throw it out there."

Gallagher was born in Merced and attended Chenoweth Elementary and Tenaya Middle schools. She went to Merced High for a year before moving with her family to Irvine, in Southern California.

In 1993, she graduated from Irvine's Woodbridge High School and then went to Monmouth University in New Jersey, earning magna cum laude honors with a communications degree in radio and television.

She previously worked as a camp counselor for at-risk children, an outdoor education instructor and a sales representative.

The official "Survivor" Web site lists her hobbies as camping, gardening, performing in local musical theater productions and shopping at vintage stores.

On the site, she describes her personality as: "optimistic, spontaneous, sarcastic, full of opinions and hilarious."

"She is, without a doubt, the funniest person I know; the kind of funny that when you're sitting around her your stomach hurts from laughing," said Rossi, a real estate agent for Century 21 Salvadori Realty. "She is the life of the party."

Rossi said Gallagher returned to Merced a year and a half ago.

"She was really excited about moving back," she said. "She saw a lot of opportunities here that you can't get in the bigger city."

Returning also gave Gallagher the chance to get back on stage.

This June, Gallagher played Bebe in Playhouse Merced's production of "A Chorus Line."

Memorable first meeting

Jerry Deal, Playhouse Merced's marketing and development director, said he met Gallagher in 2003. He said their first meeting set the tone for their friendship.

"I met her at a bar in town," he said. "She came over and started screaming in my ear, 'I want to know you! Who are you?' I said, 'OK, this is a crazy person.' But we ended up getting to know each other and she has become one of my very good friends. She is meant to entertain."

Deal said Gallagher told friends and family about trying out for the show in Fresno in the summer. Then, in mid-October, she said she was going on "vacation." She returned — with a tan — just before Christmas.

But Gallagher won't be sharing her "vacation" stories any time soon. Even her roommate had to sign a confidentiality agreement; her roommate is Denise Rossi, Lori's sister.

Deal said Gallagher has told him she is glad to have the creature comforts of home again.

"She is so happy to be eating," he said. "She is like, 'I just want food and beer.'"

Friends predict that Gallagher should do well on the show. Deal and Lori Rossi are organizing a private party for about 150friends to watch the premiere.

"Knowing her, she is going to be her funny self. She'll make it a great show," she said. "I just can't wait for the world to meet our friend Katie."

More information on "Survivor" and Gallagher is available online, www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor10.

Bee staff writer Marijke Rowland can be reached at 578-2284 or mrowland@modbee.com.

source's~
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/9767265p-10631611c.html
http://www.sirlinksalot.net/survivorpalau.html

puddin:
Stephenie LaGrossa~

Posted on Fri, Jan. 14, 2005
 
 Howard Gensler | No sooner had we survived 'Survivor'...


MUCH TO OUR dismay, CBS has decided to air a 10th edition of "Survivor," starting in February.

To our further dismay, there's a Philadelphian on the show, so we may have to watch it.

Thanks, Stephenie LaGrossa, a 25-year-old pharmaceutical-sales representative. There go our Thursday nights.

Stephenie will be one of a record 20 castaways, when the island of Palau (nicknamed "God's Aquarium" due to its amazing variety of underwater life) is overrun by survivors vying for the $1 million prize.

During the live "Vanuatu" finale, host Jeff Probst promised that in Palau, "the game will be changed in a dramatic way. Everything the survivors have come to expect will be wiped out in the first 10 minutes."

Uh-oh.

For those who need a geography refresher, Palau is a cluster of islands in the Pacific, northeast of Indonesia.



source~
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/gossip/10642488.htm

puddin:
Kimberly Mullen &Caryn Groedel~

2 Ohioans on new 'Survivor: Palau'

Ohio continues to be the heart of CBS' "Survivor" nation. Two more Ohio residents - including a woman from the Dayton suburb of Huber Heights - will compete on "Survivor: Palau" premiering Feb. 17.

Kimberly Mullen, 25, a Wright State University graduate student, and attorney Caryn Groedel, 46, of Solon, are among the 20 cast members - two more contestants than last fall, and four more than a year ago - announced Thursday.

The $1-million "Survivor: Vanuatu" winner last month was Chris Daugherty of South Vienna, Ohio, east of Springfield. Boy Scout leader Lillian "Big Lill" Morris of Warren County's Deerfield Township was the runner-up a year ago.

In March, "Survivor" producers will interview applicants in Cincinnati and 12 other cities for "Survivor 11," to be taped later this year for broadcast in the fall.

John Kiesewetter

source~
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050114/LIFE03/501140372/1038/Life


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Two Ohioans to compete on 'Survivor'
Friday, January 14, 2005
Julie E. Washington
Plain Dealer Reporter
A Solon civil-rights attorney and a former Miss Ohio are among the castaways in the upcoming "Survivor: Paulau."

The 10th edition of the popular reality show premieres at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, on CBS (WOIO Channel 19). Filming of the show already has been completed.

 
   
     
Caryn Groedel, 46, lives in Solon with her husband, Howard, and three daughters. Groedel was born and raised in New York City and has a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law.

She served for two years as the executive director of the nonprofit Women's Law Fund before going into private practice. Her firm, Caryn Groedel and Associates, is in Mayfield Heights.

In 2003, Groedel successfully represented Leslie Guciardo in her lawsuit against Thistledown racetrack that alleged sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal.

Kimberly Mullen, 25, represented Ohio in the 2002 Miss USA Pageant. She grew up in Huber Heights and has a degree in international studies from the Ohio State University. Now Mullen is a graduate student at Wright State University and works part time for a government contractor.

The cast for the next "Survivor" and the premiere date were announced Thursday during "The CBS Morning Show."

This season, there will be a record 20 castaways. Instead of starting the game by being split into tribes, all the castaways will compete as one tribe.

Groedel said that her confidentiality agreement prevented her from commenting on her time on the show. But her husband Howard, 47, said that Groedel's ability to negotiate and physical toughness would serve her well on "Survivor."

"She is totally committed to whatever she does," Howard Groedel said. He also described her as "an exercise fanatic" and marathon runner who is able to relate to all kinds of people.

Groedel and her daughters are longtime "Survivor" fans. "Come eight o'clock on Thursdays, no phones get answered. It's all about 'Survivor,'" said Howard Groedel, who is an attorney with Ulmer and Berne law firm.

The family moved to Cleveland from Washington, D.C, about 15 years ago. Howard Groedel said taking care of his daughters while his wife was away went better than he expected. The children are Hannah, 15; Isabel, 12; and Mia, 7.

"Survivor: Palau" will unfold on an island in the South Pacific. Its waters are known as a graveyard for World War II ships.

In "Survivor," players form alliances, compete in challenges and vote to kick out their fellow castmates. Bad food and primitive living conditions add to the ordeal. The sole survivor left standing at the end of the game wins $1 million.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jwashington@plaind.com, 216-999-4539

source~
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1105698836311933.xml

puddin:
Kimberly Mullen~

Local woman on 'Survivor'
Wright State graduate student competing on CBS show that airs in February
 
By Laura Dempsey

Dayton Daily News

For the record, we're not the least bit surprised.


When CBS announced the cast of its upcoming Survivor: Palau on Thursday, the fact that yet another southwest Ohio contestant made the cut should give those rooting for the others a nice cold chill. Go ahead — throw in the towel now, because when Ohioans take on reality TV, Ohioans do really, really well.

This time it's Kimberly Mullen, 25, a Wright State University graduate student in humanities who learned Arabic after Sept. 11 and represented Buckeyes in the 2002 Miss USA pageant. She's buff, she's beautiful, she's smart and she cares, devoting time and energy to human rights and fighting ovarian cancer. And she lives in Huber Heights.

Another Ohioan, attorney Caryn Groedel, 46, of Solon, is part of the cast as well.

Mullen follows in the make-us-proud footsteps of South Vienna's Chris Daugherty, who won Survivor's last million-dollar contest; Urbana's Drew Daniel, who took home Big Brother 5's top prize of $500,000 last summer; and Lillian Morris of Loveland, who came in second place ($100,000) during Survivor: Pearl Islands (also known as "The Rupert Show").

According to Internet sites, Survivor 10 was filmed Nov. 1 through Dec. 9, and of the 20 initial contestants, three were sent packing before the first Tribal Council was over — two apparently don't even make it through the first night. Preview ads show that the 20 survivors are "lost for real" with "no help" and that the premiere is "intense." Twists are once again promised, part of the usual suspect hype for which show creator Mark Burnett is well known.

The usual gag has been placed on all contestants, meaning that Mullen won't be talking until she's either booted or wins the whole shebang.

The show debuts Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. on WHIO-TV (Channel 7).

Contact Laura Dempsey at (937) 225-2403.


 source~
http://www.daytondailynews.com/life/content/life/daily/0114survivor.html
 

     

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