Amazing Race Tidbits
CBS' The Amazing Race 14th Edition
Teams had to fly over 1,000 miles from Bangkok to Guilin, China. When they landed, they had to travel by taxi to the street of Qing Xiu Lu on the outskirts of Guilin and find a hair salon for their next clue.
Starting with a sizable lead over the other teams, Margie & Luke hurried to catch the 11:20am flight to Guangzhou. But they still had to wait for the 8:30 flight to Guilin. Tammy and Victor and Jaime and Cara landed in Guangzhou in time to be on the same flight. Kisha and Jen were able to book the next flight to Guilin at 9:10. The shuffle was that the 8:30 flight was delayed while the 9:10 was on time and, worse, the other teams did not see Kisha and Jen board that flight. Kisha and Jen were not able to hold their lead, .
In the taxi race, they could not find the hair salon, so they searched on foot as the other teams were closing in. Cara and Jaime and Tammy and Victor found the beauty shop first. Kisha and Jen decided they would try another cab as Margie and Luke were closing in. They both found the beauty shop at the same time, with the sign for the Speed Bump, but both teams completely missed the clue box hiding in plain sight! That is until Luke yelled for his mother and approached the clue box. Jen came in from his left and rear trying to go over the top to open the box and grab a clue. Luke reacted instinctively in pushing back and throwing his elbow to get her off of him. This was round one, with the sisters responding with righteous indignation, while Margie tried to calm and redirect Luke to take the sportsmanlike approach.
Mark and Michael each had to shampoo, rinse and dry a woman�s hair outside the beauty shop. One of the stuntmen said his father was a hair stylist.
Teams were directed to find the Number 24 Bridge over the Li River near Guilin.
Teaser: Who is ready for some fowl play?
From the website: One team member had to take a raft out to the middle of the Li River where, with the help of a local, train birds known as cormorants, to retrieve fish. Once they got their cormorant to return with a fish ten times, they would receive their next clue.
Luke and Jen tangled at the clue box, with roles reversed from the last encounter. This time, Luke reached over Jen to get to the clue box, pushing her into it. Jen responded with an elbow.
The birds were not easy to train, and might even fight or fly away.
Episode Nine Roadblock |
||
|---|---|---|
Members |
Teammate |
Notes |
| Cara and Jaime | Jaime | Jaime did well enough. |
| Kisha and Jen | Kisha | She did well enough to pass Tammy and Jaime and leave in first place. |
| Margie and Luke | Luke | Luke had a hard time with this task, but worked steadily, even though bit by a rival bird. He had his fish before Tammy, but a slow boat driver caused them to finish fourth. |
| Mark and Michael | Michael | Last to arrive, after the first four teams had departed. They did well enough, perhaps gaining just a little time on the third and fourth place teams./td> |
| Tammy and Victor | Tammy | First to arrive. She had all kinds of trouble with the birds. First she had a hard time getting the bird to go after the fish. Then another bird fought her bird for a fish. Then those two birds started to fly away. But, her bird came back to finish the task. She lost a lot of time, falling all the way to third, barely ahead of Luke. |
As teams completed the Roadblock, they opened their next clue telling them to find the 1000-year-old South Gate in Guilin.
Choreography From the website: Teams had to make their way to the central island and join a group of locals performing their morning dance routine, a popular form of exercise in Guilin. After learning the dance, the team had to perform it for a pair of judges who would hand them their next clue after they executed the steps correctly.
This was the more challenging side of the Detour, as the morning dance was done in the form of couples in lines, maintaining their positions relative to each other just as individuals in a line dance. Also, the routine had to start when the music started and repeated as many times as it took until the music stopped.
Calligraphy From the website: Teams had to make their way across the twin bridges and find the first of four calligraphy stations. Once there, they had to copy a series of Chinese characters that form the name of their next artist�s station. When they successfully reached the fourth and final station, the artist would hand them their next clue. Phil: If they did not get all of the names correctly, they could find themselves lost in translation!
It was challenging to the non-Chinese teams, but they discovered that if they followed closely behind Tammy and Victor, they would find their way. As a result, it was funny to see the parade of Tammy and Victor, with Margie and Luke and Kisha and Jen trailing right behind.
Episode Nine Detour |
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|---|---|---|
Members |
Option |
Notes |
| Cara and Jaime | Choreography | They were confident that their background as cheerleaders would give them an advantage�and it did in the learning phase as the teachers smiled back at them. But, that edge evaporated when they tried to take that onto the grid of dancers, forgetting to keep going until the music stopped. They also had forgotten steps, and barged into other couples, prior to getting through one cycle of the routine cleanly, but then stopping. They could not account for everyone laughing at them, and the judges stood mute, save for one nod. On the way to the other side of the Detour, they realized the part about repeating the routine and completed the dance. They completed the dance in time to finish fourth, before Mark and Michael arrived. |
| Kisha and Jen | Calligraphy | First to arrive, they quickly picked up on staying close and following Tammy and Victor, watching the brother and sister intently. |
| Margie and Luke | Calligraphy | They quickly picked up on staying close and following Tammy and Victor, watching the lawyers intently. |
| Mark and Michael | Choreography | They started this side of the Detour after the hapless Jaime and Cara finished, so they had no chance to gain time in this time consuming task. They were not shown struggling and the judges were shown smiling in the all too brief snippet. WAhat if? |
| Tammy and Victor | Calligraphy | They enjoyed the calligraphy, being Chinese. Yet, they realized that they had not paid attention to Chinese writing in school. The two other teams simply followed their every move closely, even though they tried to get the calligraphers to go faster. |
Teams traveled on foot to the Pit Stop, instructed to find a spot overlooking the famous Sun and Moon Pagodas on Banyan Lake just as in the provided photograph. It appeared to be part of the area with the walkways and bridges, apparently called the Two Rivers Four Lakes Scenic Area, named after the two main rivers and the four scenic lakes, including Banyan Tree Lake, in Guilin.
Episode Nine Order of Finish |
|
|---|---|
Members |
Place |
| Cara and Jaime | 4 |
| Kisha and Jen | 1 |
| Margie and Luke | 3 |
| Mark and Michael | 5 |
| Tammy and Victor | 2 |
Only in going to the mat did the order of the three teams doing the Calligraphy side of the Detour change, with Kisha and Jen making a bold move to get to the front with their superior speed. Mark and Michael started the Detour after the cheerleaders finished it, and the distance to the Pit Stop was relatively short. Thus, they had no chance whatever of avoiding last place.
Outlook for Episode Ten
The four remaining teams have unique strengths, weaknesses, and character. This edition is fun to watch, even as some strong teams have fallen by the wayside!
The two most dominant teams were sandwiched between the surprising teams from back in the pack of the early episodes. Kisha and Jen emerged as a strong team after so many lackluster performances, as this episodde ended with both the Calligraphy side of the Detour and the searching for the Pit Stop being on foot, their strength. The other three remaining teams all struggled. Admittedly not patient, Luke's temper showed itself in the physical contacts with Jen and at the Pit Stop. Margie did her best to defend him as his deafness prevents the usual ways to defuse his frustration, but will that affect them down the road? Tammy and Victor might have won if not for some uncooperative and feisty birds at the Roadblock, but lost in a telling footrace. After being at or near the front early on, Jaime and Cara averted disaster at the Detour when they finished the dancing at long last.
Who will help Jen overcome her fear of water or of swimming in the next episode? Who will be the final three teams? Watch the four teams fight to avoid elimination in Episode Ten on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 8:00 PM.
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