The highly-anticipated live finale of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” is just hours away from hitting CBS screens nationwide tonight, Wednesday, May 20, at 8:00pm ET.
During the three-hour event, the milestone season’s Final Five castaways – Aubry Bracco, Jonathan Young, Tiffany Nicole Ervin, Joe Hunter and Rizo Velovic – will battle it out to earn a coveted seat in the Final Three. Then, at Final Tribal Council, the Jury – which currently consists of Dee Valladares, Chrissy Hofbeck, Benjamin “Coach” Wade, Christian Hubicki, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Emily Flippen, Ozzy Lusth, Rick Devens and Cirie Fields – will cast their votes for which finalist they believe has most successfully managed to outwit, outplay and outlast the competition.
Longtime “Survivor” host Jeff Probst will then transport the Final Tribal Council votes from Fiji to Los Angeles, California, where the winning castaway will be crowned the next “Sole Survivor” and take home a check for a whopping $2 million during tonight’s live finale and reunion special.
While the golden anniversary installment has been nothing short of historic, from its largest-ever cast to never-before-seen twists and numerous celebrity cameos from stars like Billie Eilish, Zac Brown, MrBeast and Jimmy Fallon, Probst hopes to keep the momentum going into the finale, revealing his plans to make tonight’s finale “truly epic” in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Will Jeff Probst Revive His Epic ‘Vote Delivery’ Tradition for the ‘Survivor 50’ Finale?
GettyTonight’s “Survivor 50” finale will be the first to be streamed live from L.A. since the finale of “Survivor: Island of the Idols” in 2019. While the following season, “Winners at War,” also hosted a “live” finale, it was conducted over Zoom due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
CBS later scrapped the live finale format altogether as it entered its so-called “New Era” with Season 41. In the nine seasons that followed, the “Sole Survivor” was revealed on-location in Fiji, with a brief reunion taking place while the players were still on the island.
CBSThat changed this season, however, after viewers were given the opportunity to vote for the format’s return as part of “Survivor 50”s “In the Hands of the Fans” theme.
With Probst out of practice when it comes to hosting live finales, many are hoping that the longtime host will once again pull out one of his iconic “vote delivery” sequences during tonight’s live finale.
In the past, Jeff has transported the Final Tribal Council votes from various international filming locations to L.A. through nearly every possible means, from the time he took a helicopter all the way from Marquesas to New York City before hopping a cab to California, to the time he jet-skied from the Amazon Rainforest to the Statue of Liberty, supposedly on a single tank of gas, managing to hop on the subway right before the doors closed.
When it comes to his vote delivery plan for the finale of “Survivor 50,” however, Probst told EW that while he’s received some great ideas for how to stage his journey from Fiji to the U.S. with the FTC votes, “as of this moment, there’s isn’t one” he’s fallen in love with.
Probst Reveals the Elaborate Tradition is ‘Too Expensive’ to Produce
Probst clarified that his reluctance to finalize a vote delivery plan isn’t for lack of trying or ideas, but because he wants the montage to be “truly epic” if he does decide to revive it for the finale of “Survivor 50.”
“I’m being completely sincere,” he told EW. “I would love a great idea that was producible and I thought would be worth the screen time it would take. And that is usually my metric for it. It’s not that there’s not time; it’s what is the idea? Is it truly producible audio, visual editing, and storytelling? Is it funny? Is it worth it? Will it live up to the line of corny that it has to be, and right now we don’t have it.”
Jeff admitted that the show’s producers did manage come up with one effective and undeniably “epic” way to transport the Final Tribal Council votes to Los Angeles tonight, though it was ultimately scrapped because it was too expensive.
“We had one, and I think it was really fun. I mean, obviously I wrote it, so I think it’s funny. But it was a bigger shoot, and I couldn’t justify the money or the time,” the 64-year-old revealed.
While Jeff ultimately decided to axe the sequence, he admitted that “it’s still sitting in the hopper” in case he decides last-minute to break it out for the finale.
Jeff Thinks ‘Survivor’ Has Outgrown His ‘Silly’ Vote Delivery Sequences
GettyDespite fans’ desire for Probst’s vote delivery sequence to return, the host added that he’s not sure it’s necessary in the modern age of “Survivor.”
“There’s just a lot more that goes into producing those things, and the more I learned about storytelling, the more I realized back in the day, we did some pretty silly ones and they were just ridiculous,” he said. “It was just me going from one mode of transportation to another. I don’t think that pays off, unless there’s something like the Statue of Liberty and it’s after 9/11 and you have some really emotional meaning or something really funny. But otherwise, I think those felt better in that era. And I think right now the reaction would be, ‘Ah man, I think you’re gilding the lily a little bit. Why don’t you just […] read the votes, Probst?’”
While Jeff might think the need for an elaborate vote delivery is dead in the water, “Survivor” creator Mark Burnett looked back on the tradition fondly, telling EW, “Remember [Probst] carrying votes on the subway in New York? And didn’t he come in a helicopter and also jet-ski around the Statue of Liberty? And then he was carrying the votes in the back of the house through the screaming audience? It was great.”
Though Burnett promised the publication that he’d push for the tradition’s return, he admitted that it’s no longer his decision to make, having stepped away from the series after Probst came into his own as a showrunner and executive producer in the 2010s.
“It would be inappropriate of me to be suggesting something to Jeff that Jeff should do considering Jeff runs the show,” Burnett added.
Jeff Probst Reveals Major Change to ‘Survivor 50’ Finale Format
CBS/GettyWhile Probst’s vote delivery sequence may or may not make an appearance during tonight’s live “Survivor 50” finale, the host has confirmed that fans can expect some surprises, including a change to the show’s longstanding finale format.
In a new interview with Variety, Jeff revealed that there will be less focus on the “reunion show” that fans have come to love and anticipate, with the three-hour finale instead being transformed into a larger “event” that spans the episode’s entire run-time.
“We want to celebrate as we go. When you sit down and just rehash, it’s never satisfying. This year, the way we’re doing it, I’m pretty excited about it. We reimagined how we were going to do it, and it feels very fresh, big and equally fun,” he teased.
“When we sat down initially, the first thing I suggested was, what if we don’t do a reunion show and instead, we take that time and sprinkle it throughout the finale episode?” Probst continued. “I think it’s gonna be more fun and exciting to take pauses along the way. It feels like a reinvention that feels right for where we are now, and it’s more inclusive of everybody. Our finales are so packed that we don’t really have enough time. The idea this time is: Let’s take the entire three hours, do it as one event. And then when it ends, it feels complete.”
CBSTonight’s finale will be especially jam-packed. In addition to having to check in with the record-breaking 24 castaways who returned to compete on the milestone season, Probst will also have to read out the Final Tribal Council votes, award the winner of the fan-favorite Sia Award vote with $100,000, and preview the first trailer for “Survivor” Season 51, expected to hit CBS screens nationwide this September.
When & Where to Watch the Live Finale of ‘Survivor 50’ Tonight
CBSIn the end, tonight’s grand finale is all about discovering who will become the “Sole Survivor” of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.”
Will it be former “Survivor: Kaoh Rong” runner-up Aubry Bracco, who returned for her fourth series appearance on the currently-airing season?
Or will it be “Survivor 48” challenge beast Joe Hunter instead?
Will “Survivor 42” alum Jonathan Young or “Survivor 49” star Rizo Velovic will be able to redeem themselves by outlasting their previous fourth-place finishes to claim the “Sole Survivor” title.
Or will “Survivor 46” fan favorite Tiffany Nicole Ervin shock fans and be the one to claim $2 million in her first-ever “Survivor” finale?
Find out when the epic, three-hour, live grand finale of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” hits CBS screens across the country tonight, Wednesday, May 20 at 8:00pm ET.
