'Survivor 15: China' - My First Impressions on the Castaways - Part One

I'll be blogging review/recaps of the new Survivor season over on TV Squad this year, but I want to let you in on the cast members and, more importantly, my impressions and predictions for each of them right here! Since there are sixteen of them, I'll be posting on just a few at a time until I finish. I'm going alphabetically by first name from the official website information. Ready?

First up is Aaron. Now, I watched his video on the CBS site and he turned me off right away by mentioning how hunky he is. But I'll try to forget that as I read about him on his bio page.

Well, at least he doesn't say how "hunky" he is on the bio page! He likes to surf and cook. In addition to being a surfing instructor, he manages a tapas restaurant and bartends. That sounds typical for a reality show contestant, doesn't it?

He's a Fruity Pebbles fan and has varied tastes in music and foods. He doesn't mention Survivor in his favorite shows list, but mentions Top Chef a few times on the page.

He thinks his strengths are his cooking knowledge and how to make edible things tasty, plus he thinks he's witty and fun (in addition to saying he'll be a show hunk in the video). A weakness? Well, he just might be too nice.

Oh, my.I'm just not getting good vibes from Aaron. No, I'm not wincing like I did when I read "Boston" James' page last season, but I think he might be a bit too full of himself. I could be reading him totally wrong, but that's my first impression. Physically, he looks like a contender.

Next we have Amanda. While she's into outdoors activities, she's also been modeling since she was sixteen and is leaning towards the show biz aspect, I think.

Amanda was Miss Montana USA in 2005 and Miss Earth in 2006. Me? I didn't even know there was a Miss Earth contest. Did it have mud wrestling? That would be earthy indeed! (I know. I'm bad. I'm just so not into beauty pageants.)

But then there's the physical aspects to this young woman. On paper (er, computer monitor), she's looking very good. She's into rock-climbing, hiking, all kinds of woodsy-related outdoor activities.

She thinks she's motivated, competitive, and determined. And, most important, she never leaves home without her cowboy boots. In looking at her favorites list, I see she lists Survivor first amongst her favorite shows. She's a Grape-Nuts cereal fan. (I always do my own psychological profile based on their favorite cereals, y'see.) That tells me she has common sense and is health-conscious, but doesn't go overboard.

I didn't watch her video yet, but I think she could very well be a strong female in the game. I predict at least the final half, probably further, for Amanda.

Okay, and then we have Ashley, the wrestler. This could be an interesting group of very physically strong women if we keep up the trend started by Ashley and Amanda.

Reading through her bio page, it looks like a lot of name-dropping going on. I'm really not sure on a personal level if admitting you were on Danny Bonaduce's show is a good thing at all.

She went to the same college as I did (SUNY), but it doesn't list the location. Let's see if she can do the SUNY system proud. I wasn't too keen on the last Survivor contestant who went to my location of the school -- Sean Rector from the Marquesas season.

Ashley thinks she's spunky, quirky, optimistic, happy, resourceful, creative, adaptive, and relentless. (Yikes, sounds like Jen of BB8 describing herself.) From her favorites, I see Survivor made her show list after two wrestling things, 24 and South Park, but at least it's there. Her favorite cereal is Kashi. Nothing against Kashi, but it tells me she's power hungry for power cereal and will most likely snub her nose at Fruity Pebbles eaters.

Her chances? Hmm ... physically, she looks good. But something tells me she may rub folks the wrong way. I haven't watched her video, so I could be totally off base, but there's something there. I predict mid-pack or less for her.

Do you have any predictions for these three?