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5-20-2002 | 2:20 a.m.

What is Diary Survivor?

Every Survivor fan dreams of his or her application being picked amongst the thousands sent in. My neighbor actually printed out the application for Survivor 2, the Australian Outback. He asked me to send one in, however, I knew I had little (read no) chance of being chosen. I’m not fond of my appearance, even if I was once mistaken for Winona Ryder. So, I decided to create my own little Survivor inspired contest – set in diaryland.

I first approached Uncle Bob and asked if he’d host, as I didn’t feel I had the worthy Jeff Probst-like charisma. Uncle Bob responded sweetly and said that he liked the idea, but did not have time to participate. He did mention the contest on his dland site though. I started to send applications to certain diarists, in hope that they might sign up. My criteria for choosing contestants? I was looking for diversity. People of different ages and backgrounds; both humorous and serious writers; charm, life experience and a sense of competitiveness.

The premise for the diaryland version of Survivor heavily borrowed from the show: There would be Immunity Challenges. On the show, contestants engaged in challenges (both physical and mental) for either a reward (usually food) or the immunity idol. If you won immunity, you could not be voted off in the next Tribal Council.

Every 3 days, on the show, contestants would meet on a dramatic set for Tribal Council. One by one, each contestant walked to a voting confessional and wrote the name of a fellow tribe member’s name on a piece of paper; a vote for whom they’d like to see leave the island next. Once everyone placed a vote, the host would ‘tally’ them. The contestant that received the most votes would be expelled from the game.

For Diary Survivor:

16 online diarists would compete for a prize. A long the way, they would compete in writing competitions and vote each other off, one by one. The immunity challenges would be diary entries – based on a topic or question supplied by a panel of judges*. Once the entries were posted and labeled on each contestants’ diaries, the judges would vote – for which person they believed should win the challenge. A Tribal Council would follow the challenge, however, the winner of the IC could not be voted against.

When only two contestants remained, I asked all of the players previously voted off, to vote in the Final Tribal Council? However, votes would be placed for the person the contestants believed should win the game. Of the final two, the one with the most votes was declared the winner of Diary Survivor! In the first version of the contest (sadly of which the files were deleted mysteriously,) I sent the winner a "care package" – basically trinkets I picked up while out shopping over the course of the contest. For the 2nd contest the winner received a $50.00 gift certificate to Amazon.com (provided by me.) This is the prize being awarded to the winner of the current (and any future) Diary Survivor contests.

* The judges panel consists of former "Diary Survivor" contestants and judges from the first edition of this game. For more information on the role of the judges go here.

hosted by diaryland.