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Know
someone who was a contestant on Survivor 12: Panama - Exile
Island?
Contact us: |
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| Contestant-related press
and rumors |
| Date,
source |
| January 26, 2006 |
| Click
here to watch the full 45-min video at CBS2 Chicago |
January 26, 2006: CBSNews video of
a pre-game press roundtable discussion about Melinda, led by
Jeff Probst, with Mara Reinstein (US Weekly), Paul Adler (TV
Guide channel), Shawna Malcom (TV Guide), Dalton Ross (EW),
Jarett Wieselman (In Touch). Transcript:
 Jeff
Probst: Okay, so we've talked
about Cirie. Now, at the other end of the spectrum, not
in terms that she's not likeable, just in terms of a different
person, would be Melinda. Coming into this game...
Melinda (pre-game
interview): My name is Melinda Hyder. I'm 32 years
old, I'm an entertainer, and I live in Sevierville, Tennessee.
Dalton
Ross: I didn't really learn a lot
about her with the game, because I just wanted to spend all
my time with her talking about Dollywood.
Melinda (pre-game): Sta-and by-y
yo-our ma-a-an. [Stops poorly singing Patsy Cline].
I don't like that, I have to do that again.
Dalton Ross: I don't
know, I guess some of you had more negative experiences with
her, And I don't know if negative is the right word, but...
thinking that she wouldn't so well.
Paul Adler: We interviewed her
sort of leaning up against a cut-down tree. The first thing
she did was want to take something and wipe the tree top
off. And we were like, that's a problem.
Shawna Malcom: I thought, she's not going to be able
to do anything out there with those acrylic nails.
Jeff Probst: Which
makes her fun. I mean, I'm interested in seeing Melinda,
because Melinda thinks, coming into the game, she's
absolutely ready for it. And I think we're all sort of
agreeing that, looking at her, we're thinking you couldn't
be less ready. But it'll be interesting to see what happens,
when those... those first three days tell so much. If
she rips off those nails and says, 'All right, I get
it.' If, otherwise, if she's trying to protect them,
you know, she'll be gone. My, my concern about Melinda
is that she keeps saying that she's here for the adventure.
I think she's here to be on TV. I think she's a performer,
and that's what she does for a living, and so this
is possibly exposure, or whatever.
Dalton Ross: A
little bigger than dinner theater. Just slightly bigger
than her current gig. So yeah.
Mara Reinstein: She'll
have to sing on the spot for anybody, I'm sure.
Jeff Probst: So you
guys don't really have much for Melinda? She didn't give
you much in her interviews.
Paul Adler: I love being proven
wrong by Survivor contestants after the interviews. But
I just don't know. She was, you know, already trying to talk
to the other contestants. Smacking bugs on her hand just
standing at the nice home where we were interviewing them.
I just don't know if she's got the teeth for it.
Shawna Malcom: Yeah,
I think she could be one of those people who gets out there,
and is uncomfortable, and just blows up, loses it. Because
you know, she was talking about how people, her friends back
home kind of doubted that she could do this, and that she
would go off on them. Um, and she was, she was eager to
prove you wrong. But I think in the wrong environment, you
know she's just, she's not gonna do well.
Jeff Probst: Why do you think
we would put her on the show?
Jarrett Wieselman: I
think she's a very engaging personality. There is sort of
like that car crash quality to her, that you sort of don't
love her, but you want to watch her. You want to see
what she's going to do, especially if she's going to be as
much of a fish out of water as we all think she will be.
Dalton Ross: I don't
think she's unlikable. I didn't, I didn't dislike her.
I don't want to give that impression that I didn't, I
didn't like her. Is she ready for the experience, that's
the question. Uh, she's a big personality, and obviously
that's, that's why she's there.
Mara Reinstein: And she's very pretty, you
can't discount that.
Shawna Malcom: She looks
like Tara Reid, actually, you know. Looking at her with shorter
hair.
Mara Reinstein: Let's hope she's just as
entertaining as Tara Reid, please!
| Vidcaps
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| Vidcaps - click
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January 22, 2006: Transcript of Melinda-specific
footage from the TV Guide Channel " Survivor: Panama
- Exile Island Preview" (featuring pre-game contestant
interviews and Jeff Probst comments from circa Ep1):
"Danni Boatwright: While log rolling
is a skill that should work on Survivor, singing hasn't really
ever helped anyone in the game.
Melinda (pre-game interview): I
am an entertainer. I sing and dance in production shows.
Danni Boatwright: But 32-year-old Melinda doesn't plan
on sharing her skill with the tribe.
Melinda (pre-game interview): Once people find out that
that's what I do, everybody's 'Oh! Sing!' And no, I don't.
That's just not something that I just, you know, crank
out a tune."
|
| Date,
source |
| January 10, 2006 |
| John Thompson, for
the Kingsport (TN) Times-News |
January 10, 2006: Melinda's local paper prints
an extensive profile of her (real reporting! Wow!):
"Elizabethton native featured in upcoming Survivor
CBS should hope for many Nielsen families
from the Elizabethton area over the next few months. The talk
around the town Monday was all about Melinda Hyder, 32, a local
woman who will be a contestant on the next edition of the popular
reality show Survivor.
'I am awfully proud of her, and I don't
know where she got that courage,' her mother, Carol Hyder,
said after it was revealed on The Early
Show on
CBS Monday.
Carol
Hyder said her daughter has always kept fit and has been dancing
since she was a toddler. She also jogs and works out, enjoys
water skiing and snow skiing, and has her scuba diving license.
Chrisann
Watts-Tull has been friends with Melinda Hyder since they were
young girls. She remembers when Hyder first came to her mother's
dance studio as a 3-year-old. 'She is incredibly energetic,' Watts-Tull
said. 'I don't think
I have ever known anyone else with her energy. She always stood
out in the crowd.'
Watts-Tull
said she also remembers how tough Hyder can be. 'Our families
went across country in Winnebagos. I remember she broke her
arm in Las Vegas, and she never cried when they were setting
it,' Watts-Tull said.
Many
teachers at Elizabethton High School remember Hyder well, especially
since her mother taught honors algebra and pre-calculus at
the school for 38 years. Choral director Debbie Gouge said
Hyder was a freshman when she first started teaching at the
school. 'She really was a good student,' Gouge said, adding
that she sang in the choir all four years and was an All-State
singer.
Hyder was also a cheerleader and played the French horn
in the Betsy Band. Gouge said music was Hyder's first love,
and it paid off with a vocal scholarship to East Tennessee
State University.
Gouge believes Hyder has the potential to
do very well in the reality show. 'She has cunning skills,
and I mean that in a good way,' Gouge said. 'She knew how to
get things accomplished, and she knew how to get her way.'
Hyder competed twice in the Miss
Tennessee Pageant, finishing in the top 10 and winning the
talent competition both times. She competed as Miss Historic
Jonesborough in 1995 and Miss Lexington in 1996.
She continues to perform.
Hyder moved to Sevierville and performed at Dollywood
for five or six years. While at Dollywood she performed in the '50s Show, Paradise
Road, Backstage Pass. Her mother said her favorite show was
Christmas in the Smokies. This past year she left Dollywood
to perform with the Showplace Dinner Theater in Sevierville.
When she is not performing, Hyder sells real estate with Sevierville
Real Estate and Rentals.
'I hope everyone will be cheering for
her. She is just a good East Tennessee girl,' Carol Hyder
said. Survivor: Panama premieres
Thursday, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m. on CBS."
|
| Date,
source |
| January 9, 2006 |
| WTVL, Knoxville, TN |
January 9, 2006: Local CBS affiliate WTVL-TV
("Volunteer TV") profiles Melinda on their web site:
"Sevierville woman selected for Survivor: Panama - Exile Island
Get
ready to start cheering on another local woman in Survivor. 32-year-old
Melinda Hyder of Sevierville will be trying to survive the brutal
conditions on Panama - Exile Island beginning February 2nd on
CBS and Volunteer TV.
Melinda's a singer who's worked on cruise
ships, at Six Flags, and most notably six years on the stage
at Dollywood. You may have seen her with Dolly Parton!
She talked
a bit about the show this morning. 'I'm
gonna get on somebody's nerves because everybody's gonna get
on somebody's nerves at one point it's just gonna happen. So
I'm just gonna try to do it as little as possible,' says
Melinda.
The last local contestant was of course, Tina Wesson,
the Fountain City mother of two won the contest and picked
up a million dollars. Survivor: Panama - Exile Island begins
right here on Volunteer TV and CBS on February 2nd at 8:00
p.m."
|
January 9, 2006: Officially
revealed as a contestant on Survivor: Panama - Exile Island on
the Early Show.
| Early Show
vidcaps - click thumbnails to expand |
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Melinda's bio, from the CBS Survivor:
Panama site:
Melinda Hyder was born and raised
in Elizabethton, Tennessee. She has one sister, Regina,
and is proud to point out that her parents, Richard and
Carol, were high school sweethearts and have been married
for 44 years. Hyder began singing in church at the age
of four. She trained in ballet, tap, jazz and gymnastics
for 12 years. She attended classes and taught at the
Watt Dance Studio in Elizabethton.
Hyder graduated with
honors in music and math from Elizabethton High School.
She then attended East Tennessee State University in
Johnson City on a full vocal scholarship and graduated
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. While in college,
she performed with the music groups 10BucsWorth, Chorale
and Women's Ensemble.
After college, Hyder entertained
at Six Flags over Georgia for two years. She then toured
Europe while performing on a cruise ship. She also spent
six years performing at Dollywood (often times with Dolly
Parton). In addition, she has worked as a real estate
agent, private vocal coach, dance instructor, pageant
coach and model.
Hyder
describes herself as vivacious, competitive and compassionate.
Her hobbies include creative home decorating, collecting
Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, watching CBS soap operas
and jogging.
Currently single, Hyder resides in
Sevierville, Tennessee, with her Pomeranian, Lexi. Her
birth date is May 23, 1973. |
|
January 8, 2006: Revealed
as a contestant on Survivor: Panama - Exile
Island by VolcanicGlass.
|
| Date,
source |
| December 28,
2005 |
December 28, 2005: Melinda sets the unofficial
record for Survivor domain name registrations, claiming MelindaSurvivor.com,
.net, .org, .info, .biz and .us domains as her own. Along with,
of course, the more pedestrian MelindaHyder.com.
|
July 2, 2005: Melinda's singing career appears
to be represented
through the agency of Singer Dancers LLC.
Her profile is featured in this cached version of the SingersDancers.com
web site.
Notable only in that it has her picture (at left), and she's
listed as being a 31-year-old singer/ dancer/ model.
|
| Date,
source |
| June 11, 2005 |
| Bryan Stevens
Elizabethton (TN) Star |
June 11, 2005: Melinda is mentioned in part
of a lengthy story talking about her mother (Carol Hyder), who
recently retired after a 38-year career as a schoolteacher:
" The couple are the parents of two daughters, Regina Hyder
and Melinda Hyder. Regina Hyder works currently in California for Homeland Security
developing software to coordinate the distribution of shots
in the event of a terrorist biological attack. Melinda
Hyder works as an entertainer at the Showplace Dinner Theater
in Sevierville."
|
| Date,
source |
| February 14,
2002 |
| Knoxville Area
Assoc. of Realtors |
February 14, 2002: Approved as a (realtor)
member of the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors.
Currently works for Sevierville Real
Estate and Rentals.
|
1996: Appears to have won the title of Miss
Lexington (Tennessee), and finished in the top ten in the Miss
Tennessee beauty pageant:
"The Miss Lexington winners to compete for the title of Miss
Tennessee.
1996 - Melinda Hyder - Top Ten/Talent."
|
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