By Steve Robinson | April 21, 2012 - 10:05 pm
Posted in Category: Pekin Daily Times

NORMAL–Shawn Thompson, Pekin, believes he qualifies as a survivor. He has withstoodlengthy unemployment and being homeless. He said he considers himself asurvivor. Thompson, 40, said he wants to prove – once and for all, to himselfand others he knows – that he deserves that moniker.

Thompson was among between 250-300people who stood in a block-long line Saturday, along Normal’s North MainStreet, to sign up for auditions for the CBS-TV reality show, “Survivor.” Theauditions were held in a renovated first floor business complex, part of afive-story building. Student apartments were on the building’s upper fourfloors.

Thepremise of Survivor is to strand a group of strangers, divided into twoor more tribes, on a remote location or island, causing them to fend forthemselves to acquire food, shelter, water and other living necessities. Inaddition, Survivors compete in physical and mental challenges in order to earnrewards or immunity from elimination as the show’s progresses from week-to-week.Each episode ends in a “tribal council”, where remaining survivorscast votes to “vote off” a member of the tribe. The winner of theimmunity challenge from the previous episode cannot be eliminated, and thuscannot be voted off for that episode. The eventual winner ofthe contest wins a $1 million prize.

Employeesof Peoria CBS affiliate WMBD-TV held auditions for the reality show, givingevery person who registered the chance to make a two-minute audition tape whichthe station would string into one tape and send to the network aiding it tocast for a future season of the series.

“I’ve always had fun doing thingsthat they do similar to what they do on Survivor,” said Thompson, An employeeof Cleaning Casting Resources, Peoria, that processes engine blocks forCaterpillar. “I’ve always been a survivalist-type. Drop me in the middle of thewoods and I could live there forever. Hunt, fish….I don’t need a tent. I canmake my own way.”

“My biggest reason for doing it is to prove tomyself that I can still do this stuff (at my age),” Thompson said. “I’m notoutdated goods. I still have the ability to do all the challenges, do all therunning, interact with people and hopefully, inevitably, come out on top.”

“I think it would be fun,” saidanother potential contestant, Bryan Pfahl, 44, Pekin, who works in the shippingdivision of Caterpillar. “I’m a competitive person and I think I would enjoythe experience.

“Plus there’s the money,” Pfahl saidrather wryly. He said his girlfriend had been encouraging him to send inaudition tape even before finding out the auditions would be here. “It’s only40 minutes away. How could I not come here?”

Chad Adams, 34, East Peoria, worksfor an insect extermination company and has never seen the show, but his wife, Tera,has. The pair were also part of the day’s first shift of potential contestants.While Chad has never seen the program, his wife has been watching and has been encouraging himto audition since finding out they were coming to town.

“He comes home with some crazy storyevery day, and I think he’s so adaptable that that’s why I have been tellinghim he should try out,” Tera Adams said. For his part, Chad jokes that for allthe time he spends in crawl spaces, he has yet to find a million dollars in one.

Dave Scott, a 1986 graduate of PekinCommunity High School, works for WMBD-TV Channel 31 as a promotionscoordinator, and was helping register and prepare the contestants for theirauditions. He explained those in line needed to download waivers from thestation’s website prior coming to the audition. From there, the prospectivecontestants do a two-minute audition. That audition is then sent to the show’sproducers for consideration as contestants.

If show producers are interested ina one of those who auditioned as a contestant, they contact the station formore information about getting in touch with the prospective contestant, Scottexplained.

Scottdoes this work not only for reality shows aired on WMBD-TV, for also for itssister station, Fox affiliate WYZZ-TV Channel 43.

Neither Thompson, Pfahl, or ChadAdams are concerned about, if they get onto the show, having the moniker “realitystar” tacked ahead of their names, potentially for the rest of their lives.

“They can call me whatever they want….Star,contestant…, They can call me whatever they want,” Thompson said. “I’m Shawn Thompson.”

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