Tina Emerges as Sole 'Survivor'

The final several weeks of 'Survivor' were clearly leading up to a showdown between Colby, the well-rounded Texan who dominated the immunity challenges, and Tina, a middle-aged nurse and mother who seemed to have mastered the psychological components of the game. The first half of the special 2-hour finale of America's top-rated television series saw Colby, Tina, and Keith give something back to the land on which all of the 'Survivor' contestants had relied for weeks. Their offerings came in the form of handcrafted totem poles, which were to symbolize what their experience had meant to each of them.

The final immunity challenge followed, which was a question and answer session about the 'Survivor' contestants that had already been voted off the show. Colby emerged victorious, as he had done on the previous seven immunity challenges. Because he had won immunity, the identity of the other remaining 'Survivor' was entirely up to him. He chose Tina, saying later that he felt she had earned the right to oppose him and that he felt that they had formed a special bond during the game. This decision was a surprise to almost everyone watching, former contestants included, simply because it was fairly clear that Colby would have probably defeated Keith easily and thus won the game.

Nonetheless, the vote tally to determine who would win the grand prize of $1 million would have to wait nearly 3 months to take place. In front of a live studio audience at CBS studios in Los Angeles, the votes were pulled from a wooden pot one by one. Seven votes were cast in all and the first person to receive 4 votes would be the winner. With six votes counted, Tina and Colby had three each, and the seventh and final vote would determine the winner. We all know now that Tina won the million dollars with the seventh and deciding vote, but what a ride it was. CBS has succeeded once again in whipping the 'Survivor' fan base into a frenzied anticipation of the next game.