Who's going to win Survivor: All-Stars, the CBS series shaping up as the "Super Bowl" of TV's most popular reality show?
Warning: Don't read any further if you don't want to potentially ruin the series for yourself...
A fan who calls himself "ChillOne" believes he has cracked the well-guarded secret and unearthed the identity of the two finalists: Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano. And ChillOne, the alias of Boston resident Bill Marson, insists he holds the credentials to back up his prediction. He correctly named the two finalists a month before the season premiere of Survivor: The Amazon last winter, with a clear hint that Jenna Morasca would emerge as the eventual champion.
Marson infiltrated the notorious Survivor shroud of secrecy last December, during his eight-hour "spoiling" operation at the site of Survivor: All-Stars filming in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama. Resort hotels were blocked and waterway access restricted before, during, and after filming. But during a layover en route to a two-week holiday vacation near Buenos Aires, Marson hired a guide to escort him around the islands and met with an anonymous source with reputed inside information gleaned from members of Survivor's production crew.
"My source also told me that Jenna Lewis and Rupert Boneham will be the others to reach the Final 4," said Marson, author of The Spoiler: Revealing the Secrets of Survivor (iUniverse, Inc.) under his ChillOne alias.
Survivor: All-Stars premieres on CBS Feb. 1, immediately after the Super Bowl, and will run through early May. Marson's complete story of his Pearl Islands discoveries is posted on his website, thechillone.com . Highlights include:
* Before facing off in challenges, the 18 contestants were separated from one another and escorted to their rooms by blindfold.
* Ethan Zohn, winner of Survivor: Africa, stumbled early and may be the
first contestant booted.
* Jenna Morasca dropped out early in the series due to concerns over a sick family member.
* The fifth through seventh-place finishers are Tom Buchanan, Shii Ann Huang, and Alicia Calaway.
* A bag of condoms found on the island of Mogo Mogo could tip off a sexual union among tribe members.
Marson, who used similar sleuthing techniques in his trip to The Amazon, takes pride in his reputation as one of the most successful and most popular members of the spoiling underworld. A group of Survivor zealots featured by media including The New York Times, spoilers search for clues or leaks that point to potential outcomes.
"It's like a game against (Survivor producer) Mark Burnett," said Marson, who claims he learned covert techniques in a professional capacity. "I raised the bar with my success in The Amazon."
Marson insists that spoiling actually heightens interest in Survivor.
"With my 'intel' from The Amazon, everyone debated for months whether or not it would prove right," he said. "With Survivor: All-Stars, we'll all be watching to see how my information plays out this time, including me."
Posted by Ron at January 22, 2004 07:30 AM