Survivor Fiji: 14th Season of CBS Reality Show Begins February 8

Cook Islands castaway Yul was awarded one-million dollars and named winner of the 13^th season of CBS' Survivor just last month. The 14^th winner of the hit reality series won't be far behind. For this season, the 19 players were marooned in Pacific Island nation, Fiji.

Survivor: Fiji hits airwaves on February 8, and like last season the contestants are very diverse. In fact, series creator/producer Mark Burnett says that it was his promise to continue to make the tribes racially diverse.

Survivor contestants outwitting, outplaying and outlasting this time range in age from 23 to 54 and, according to Zap2It.com the group includes players born in Hong Kong, Colombia, Venezuela and South Korea.

Also of note about the Survivor Fiji cast is that this may be the second time several were in a survival situation: three have ties to Hurricane Katrina, one castaway served in Iraq. Another was homeless.

The racial aspect is not the only inkling of diversity, as there Survivor castaways come from many backgrounds. The few mentioned in the last paragraph, plus there is a bus driver, an image consultant, a web producer, a male cheerleading coach, a lawyer, a few loan officers, a construction worker, a college student, an Ivy League grad, an architect, an engineer and the token bartender, among others. Seems like there are brains and brawn, the latter a plus for shelter-building and the former a sure asset to winning intellectual challenges.

It seems every season there is a new plot twist. One season it was three teams, once they brought back those voted out later in the game, another time they divided the young and the old, another the guys and the girls. Last season, (see my article Survivor 13: Castaways Divided By Race the tribes were initially split into four tribes: Caucasians, African Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos.

This season's twist, as let on by the preview at last season's reunion show and now on Survivor spoiler websites is that one tribe will live with extra amenities while the other will live in a primitive camp-almost as if there is a battle between class.

However, Zap2It says that the players in the Survivor camp will initially all live together, even before there are two tribes. On the third day, two tribes are chosen. Then, in the first immunity challenge, the losers get sent to another island to shack up in a camp with just a machete, a pot and a map to fresh water. The other tribe remains behind with 'the works.'

For the past several seasons of Survivor, Exile Island and a hidden immunity idol were parts of the game. This season is a little different. There will be a hidden immunity idol in each camp, rather than on Exile Island. However, clues to the idol will be on the desolate island.

Finally, host Jeff Probst stated in last season's finale that this upcoming season of Survivor will have some contestants making the most controversial decisions ever made. (A search for "Survivor Fiji spoiler" can shed light on this-if you are curious and don't mind ruining it.)

For more information on this year's cast and show, visit http://www.cbs.com/survivor14.