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Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'

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puddin:

Based on this year's bickering finalists, LEAH McLAREN offers some tips on coming up with the perfect Amazing Race partner
Tonight is the two-hour finale of The Amazing Race and relationship tensions are running high. The competition is fierce and so is the bickering.The three couples left in the game couldn't be more distinct. In first place are Joyce and Uchenna, a married couple from Houston, Texas, who came on the show hoping to re-ignite their flagging relationship after several failed in-vitro attempts. Hot on their heels are the notoriously crafty former Survivor-All Star winners and famously engaged, Rob and Amber.

Bringing up the rear are Ron and Kelly, the former POW and his beauty pageant queen girlfriend from the American South who have been dating long distance ever since they met on a televised Miss South Carolina event.

Joyce and Uchenna appear to have a heartfelt bond. And Rob and Amber support each other in their own sociopath way. Ron and Kelly, however, are headed for a major relationship meltdown. Ever since Kelly accused her beau of purposely crashing his helicopter and being taken prisoner in Iraq so he could get out of being in the army (apparently all part of his larger commitment issues), the hostility between the couple has been painful (and fascinating) to watch.

What bearing does the health of one's relationship have on a couple's performance in the Race? Judging from seasons past, the answer is none at all. Past finalists have included couples in partnerships so toxic they verged on abusive. One famously hateful pair even ended up hashing it out on Dr. Phil.



"As long as they can suck it up and put out the effort when they need to, the fighting doesn't seem to hurt their chances," says Emily Young Lee, manager of programming communications for CTV and an avid Amazing Race spectator. "I think the key is to pick someone who balances you and has complementary skills to your own."

After a close scrutiny of the recent reality-TV season, here are a few guidelines for picking the perfect Amazing Race partner:

1. Don't choose someone you're related to.

Of the original 11 contestants in the Race, only two were blood relations. While Brian and Greg, the handsome California bartender/bouncer brothers, managed to make moderate headway, Susan and Patrick, a mother-son team from Ohio wiped out early on. Confronted with the task of eating almost two kilograms of steaming bovine innards, Patrick degenerated in a tantrum-mode, at one point threatening not to complete the challenge just to spite his mother.

As if the spectacle of a grown man tearfully choking down his dinner under his mother's supervision wasn't humiliating enough, the two were eliminated in the next leg.

"I think unconditional love is a dangerous thing where competition is concerned," says Young Lee. "Your family has to love you so you can tell them exactly how you feel. Particularly between siblings, there's a competitive edge.

"If I tried to push my sister, she'd just push back. It would be like, 'I see your double-decker bus ride and raise you eating two worms.' Not good."

2. Don't pick a friend.

Close friends might be handy to have around in the real world, but in the world of reality television, they stink. For all their supportive, sisterly hugging and hand-holding, Debbie and Bianca couldn't navigate a rental car to the airport.

Remember Ryan and Chuck, the hefty hillbillies from South Carolina? With the combined body weight of an average family, those two good buddies didn't have a hope on the physical portions of the challenge.

3. Don't pick someone of the same sex.

Someone has to drive while the other person rolls down the window to ask for directions. This is the key to why opposite-sex couples in romantic relationships do so much better at the Race.

4. Don't pick someone who physically resembles you.

Megan and Heidi, the Barbie twin roomies from Oak Park, Calif., may have used their flaxen locks and perfect smiles to get ahead in life, but in the Race, look-alikes don't count. Much to the disappointment of the Smith brothers, they were one of the first teams to be eliminated.

5. Do pick someone you're sleeping with.

While it seems unlikely that many of the contestants have the time or energy for sex during the competition, it's impossible to ignore the fact that all of the finalists are in romantic relationships. Whether they're getting any on the road or not, sexual chemistry appears to be a competitive edge.

6. Do pick someone who's not afraid to yell.

All the finalists are very shouty. Their constant cries of "Hurry up babe!" and "Go! Go! Go!" seem to have an encouraging effect. And when the cheers degenerate into abuse (like the moment Kelly called Ron a "white-trash hick") it makes for great TV. Too bad about the relationship.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050510/RACE10/TPEntertainment/TopStories

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