The Terry Fator Award- Male Reality Contestant

Named For: Terry Fator, winner of America's Got Talent Season Two
Awarded To: The best male reality competition contestant from
June 1, 2009 - May 31, 2010
Last Year's Winner: Dan Gheesling- Big Brother

Place. Contestant (Show) Points (My Vote)

10. Jet and Cord (Amazing Race) 2 points

9. Russell Kairouz (Big Brother) 4 points

8. Rick Moonen (Top Chef) 7 points

7. Nota (The Sing-Off) 9 points

6. Lee DeWyze (American Idol) 11 points

5. Jeff Schroeder (Big Brother/Amazing Race) 12 points (2nd)

4. 'Boston' Rob Mariano (Survivor) 13 points (3rd)

3. Susur Lee (Top Chef) 15 points (4th)

Runner-Up
2. 'Coach' Wade (Survivor) 15 points (1st)

and the Poolie goes to...
1. Russell Hantz (Survivor)
28 points (5th)

Here with his thoughts on Russell Hantz is Poolie voter, Jaydon...

Russell Hantz is a Survivor master who has been robbed of being the ultimate survivor twice in a row by a jury of worthless babies.

Russell Hantz is a buffoon who doesn’t realize that the social game counts just as much, if not more, than cunning your way to the end.

Which is it? They’re both true. I say who cares. Survivor is a broken game, maimed by petulant, self-obsessed dupes for jurors. May I quote the esteemed Pool Master General, “Congratulations to Sandra for becoming the first person to win Survivor twice. I don't know if that makes her the best player ever, but it certainly could be.”

*Sparty boot *

Christ on a stick, this is a travesty. I’ve seen both of Sandra’s seasons. She’d be lucky to crack a Top 20 list. Why do we watch this charade? Well, it’s often a great ride filled with excellent betrayals and blind sides. It’s still a twisty good time after 20 seasons. As the show that pretty much gave birth to reality TV, it has maintained a certain prestige, even in waning popularity, as one of the few reality competitions that can be taken seriously. Maybe we should stop taking it seriously. This is a show that rewards mediocrity and coat-tail riding in near equal step with worthy performances. If you look at past winners there are enough shameful ones to start feeling like maybe it isn’t worth it. But it is worth it if you can accept that it’s more about the journey than the winner. I’m sure that’s how Russell rationalizes the game.

Russell is undoubtedly a top 5 all-time Survivor competitor. This is especially noteworthy since he’s among the worst at the social game. He’s so good at everything else that despite this Achilles heel, he’s still an undeniable force. The fans have validated him twice by handing him the consolatory Player of the Season prize. In a 99 day stretch of his life he played 78 days of Survivor, 39 of which were against some of the best players the game has ever seen. He made it to the finals both times and won the final immunity challenge both times. For this he was rewarded with a total of 2 out of a possible 18 votes from the two juries. He was robbed clean during Samoa, but for this past All-star season, he was arguably outplayed by Parvati. She subverted his cocksure “I run this game” fantasy by successfully stringing him along and making independent strategic moves. Russell was so butt hurt about Parv keeping secrets from him that he turned on his own alliance, eviscerating any sort of jury advocacy for the finals. On the positive end, the Bald Hobbit continued to embarrass the Survivor producers with his Hidden Immunity Idol magnetism. He Jedi Mind Tricked Tyson to pretty much vote himself out of the game. He made JT look like Shortbus McGillicutty with the whole “female alliance” letter fiasco. The man was making moves and adapting to shifts in play on a dime (recall his brief alliance with Rupert and Colby before he booted them both in a row). This led to some serious jury alienation and the game was given to Sandra over the two actually worthy finalists. The Pool has shunned Russell, but he really doesn’t deserve it. He’s an excellent player with a formidable flaw. He also can be excused a little for playing back to back games. He deserves our recognition as having played the best game out of all male reality competitors this season. Maybe next All-star, he’ll have learned how to make it to the end without incurring the wrath of the entire jury. It’s that third time around where Russell will either prove himself worthy of the GOAT conversation or cement his legacy as a very skilled, fatally flawed, one-trick pony.

by Jonathan Stuart