Amazing Race 11 Tidbits -- Thoughts and Outlook

Amazing Race Tidbits

CBS' The Amazing Race 11 -- All Stars Edition

Thoughts on Episode 7 and Outlook for Episode 8

Thoughts on Episode Seven--Poland

Episode Seven was a 2 hour special with both a non-elimination leg and a elimination leg. The featured destination country was Poland, and the theme was its rich and diverse culture. Dustin and Kandice vaulted ahead thanks to more efficient ticket agent. Two teams, Danny and Oswald and Charla and Mirna, with other ticket agent had to settle for second best. Uchenna and Joyce landed in fourth place, which turned out to be close enough to be competitive. The so-called provided tickets left the Guidos and Eric and Danielle far, far behind.

Detour

From the Website: Perfect Pitch: Teams had to make their way three-quarters of a mile to the Prymas Palace and choose a grand piano. Then, they needed to use the provided tools to tune one key of the keyboard. Once the concert pianist played a piece of Chopin's music and determined that their piano was in tune, he would hand them their next clue.

Dustin further explained that each key is linked to three strings, and the tuning tool can either loosen or tighten those strings. The Guidos explained later on the FINISH LINE that if a string popped, the new string would not need as much adjustment to be in tune afterward.

From the Website: Perfect Angle: Teams made their way approximately half a mile to the Escada Boutique to pick up a mannequin and carry it another 400 yards to the Panoramik Laboratory. Once there, Teams had to use an x-ray machine to locate a clue imbedded somewhere inside their mannequin which needed to be positioned at a very specific angle for the image to capture the name of their next destination.

There was little strategic advantage to choosing one Detour over the other, as Joe and Bill struggled with Perfect Angle just a little more than Eric and Danielle struggled with Perfect Pitch. The exception being that Dustin had the perfect background for Perfect Pitch.

Episode Seven Detour--First Leg
Members	Detour Selected	Result
Danny and Oswald	Perfect Pitch	Finished second with methodical effort, puntuated by the sound of strings broken, three..
Eric and Danielle	Perfect Pitch	Finished bags last, but got help from kids to make delivery
Dustin and Kandice	Perfect Pitch	A natural for Dustin, who has been playing the piano since age six, preseving first place easily.
Uchenna and Joyce	Perfect Pitch	Fast enough to gain third.
Joe and Bill	Perfect Angle	Finished sixth. They struggled with trying to guess the clue from things found, instead of the image..
Charla and Mirna	Perfect Pitch, then Perfect Angle	They took far too long at tasks, needed help from English-speaking girl to find lab, lost place to Uchenna and Joyce.

Pit Stop for First Leg

Teams had to find statue of Jan III Sobieski in Warsaw, then find Phil nearby. All teams arrived in the order they ended the Detour.

A Tender Moment

Teams had to pick up tickets at a dispenser for one of two charter buses to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. The site was preserved after several years of neglect following its liberation on January 27, 1945. The site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. Due to their fourth place finish, Charla and Mirna had to wait for the last two teams to arrive to take the 5PM bus. Each busload of Racers had their moments of silence and very personal reflections. The Cubans related the moment to their former life in Castro's regime, while Joe and Bill were mindful of the Nazis' mistreatment of homosexuals and the relatively recent development of freedom to express themselves. Mirna related a story of the similar genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Turks. Uchenna reflected on all the lost chances to enrich our world in the many lives snuffed out there, hoping that never happens again. Even the younger Racers felt the gravity of the moment.

Intersection

Joined Teams

Uchenna and Joyce and Danny and Oswald
Dustin and Kandice and Charla and Mirna
Joe and Bill and Eric and Danielle

Dustin and Kandice arrived shortly after the first two teams, but had to wait about 4 hours for the teams on the second bus to arrive by taxi. They wanted to join up with Joe and Bill, or possibly Eric and Danielle. When neither of those two teams appeared for a couple of minutes, they settled for pairing with Charla and Mirna.

Fast Forward

The joined teams of Uchenna and Joyce and Danny and Oswald performed the Fast Forward.

In this Fast Forward, the joined Teams made their way a quarter mile to Market Square where they had to climb the Fire Guard Tower of St. Mary's Church and the Town Hall Tower at the church. As they climbed, they had to count the stairs and calculate the total number of steps in both towers. Only Uchenna's and Oswald's agreed, so they chose to use that number, which was correct, gaining the Fast Forward award.

Detour

From the Website: Eat It Up: In Eat It Up, the joined Teams would make their way one and a half miles to an old market. Once there, each Team member had to use traditional methods to make one three-inch length of Polish Kielbasa sausage. After finishing, the Teams would be served eight feet of cooked Kielbasa. Once each person ate two feet of sausage, the Teams would receive their next clue.

From the Website: Roll It Out: In Roll It Out, the joined Teams made their way one and a half miles to the J. Mazurek bakery and properly roll out twenty bagels. When finished, they would make their way on foot one quarter of a mile to a nearby restaurant with a delivery of fresh bagels for the headwaiter.

Two teams guessed that the Roll It Out Detour might be easier, though their cab drivers from the Auschwitz area could not find the bakery in the narrow streets of the old Jewish quarter of Krakow.

Episode Seven Detour--Second Leg
Members	Detour Selected	Result
Danny and Oswald	--	Completed Fast Forward.
Eric and Danielle	Eat It Up	Finished last, unable to overtake Charla and Mirna
Dustin and Kandice	Eat It Up	Finished quickly, had to wait for joined team to finish, though Dustin lost it at the end.
Uchenna and Joyce	--	Completed Fast Forward.
Joe and Bill	Eat It Up	Finished quickly, but had to wait for joined team to finish.
Charla and Mirna	Eat It Up	They took a long at this eating task, barely able to stay ahead of Eric and Danielle. Charla got on Mirna's nerves as she was very slow, and infuriated joined team of Dustin and Kandice.

Roadblock

Who's a knight in shining armor?

From the website: In this Roadblock, one Team member had to don a full suit of authentic medieval armor and lead a horse half a mile through the forest to the castle gates. Once at the castle, they had to deliver the horse to the stable boy, enter the courtyard and search for the Pit Stop.

Episode Seven Roadblock--Second Leg
Members	Team Member	Result
Danny and Oswald	--	Completed Fast Forward
Eric and Danielle	Eric	Almost unseen as the focus was on Charla, finished only about 3 minutes behind the Guidos to finish sixth.
Dustin and Kandice	Dustin	Solid effort to hold place
Uchenna and Joyce	--	Completed Fast Forward
Joe and Bill	Bill	Bill nearly overtook the struggling Charla.
Charla and Mirna	Charla	Barely held fourth place, as Charla fell twice, and she struggled to control the horse, as it stopped to eat or walk circles around the hapless Charla. Mirna kept up a barrage of comments to prod Charla along.

Because of the 30-minute penalty, having been marked for elimination, Joe and Bill only waited about four minutes before receiving the bad news that they had been eliminated. They gushed about how the Race once again was a life-changing experience and their feelings for each other.

Outlook for Episode Eight

Danny and Oswald had chosen to communicate effectively. Save for a couple of lapses lately, they are leveraging their experience, and are performing smoothly without being unduly hurried. The team of Uchenna and Joyce has been up and down as they have both looked a bit drained at times, and done well at most tasks, and not so well at other tasks. Dustin and Kandice are doing well for the most part, but are stuck in the back group..

WIll Charla's weaknesses catch up with her and cause Charla and Mirna to be eliminated, or will Mirna be able to keep the team afloat into the finals? Eric and Danielle, unnerved by being pulled off that flight, seem to be more and more on each other's nerves. Those teams seem to be crumbling under pressure, but all teams are showing signs of restlessness. Yes, strange things seem to be happening in this edition. ToTally Out-from-behind Winnable (TTOW) the Amazing Race has always been.

Comparison of Teams in AMAZING RACE 11
Members	Strengths	Weaknesses
Charla and Mirna	Communication, determination. Mirna has worked miracles keeping the team afloat in spite of mini-disasters.	Limited traveling experience, short in stature, slow at tasks, Charla is not as strong, Mirna forced to overcome Charla's shortcomings.
Dustin and Kandice	Competitive, college educated, athletic. Dustin has emerged as good leader, while Kandice is strong and effective at whaterver she does.	Not paying attention to details of clues--or even preservation of clues, try to push ahead of others, not fastest in foot races, emotional. Dustin is bossy and domineering.
Danny and Oswald	Athletic, fast enough in footraces, good at tasks. Both are highly motivated and determined.	They have had friction between them, and can be a bit hot tempered.
Eric and Danielle	Eric is highly athletic, both are intelligent enough. Both are highly motivated and determined.	Danielle had trouble getting lost and losing things. can be emotional. Both can be geographically challenged at times. Eric can be abrasive and insensitive. Danielle can be emotional.
Uchenna and Joyce	Both are athletic. Joyce is great at puzzles and brainy challenges.	Look drained at times, might be the second slowest in footraces, can be slow at tasks.

What will the next episode reveal about the racers? It may well be a non-elimination leg, but with plenty of action. Watch the exciting eighth episode of Amazing Race All Stars Easter Sunday, April 8 at 8 PM Eastern/Pacific.