Jud Birza
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Judson John "Fabio" Birza (born June 12, 1989) is an American
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...
, best known as the winner of '' Survivor: Nicaragua''.Survivor Nicaragua Cast: Jud on CBS
Cbs.com. Retrieved on December 20, 2010.
At age 21 at the time of the game, he is currently the youngest ever person to win the show. He was nicknamed Fabio by one of his tribemates on Survivor due to his resemblance to Italian fashion icon
Fabio Lanzoni Fabio Lanzoni (; born March 15, 1959), known mononymously as Fabio, is an Italian-American actor, fashion model, and spokesman. Lanzoni is known for his wide-ranging career including appearing as a romance novel cover model throughout the 1990s ...
. Birza is a native of Lake St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated from
Wentzville Holt High School Wentzville Holt High School (Emil E. Holt Sr. High School, or simply Holt High School) is the oldest of the four high schools in the Wentzville R-IV School District and second oldest high school in St. Charles County, Missouri. With a 2020-21 enrol ...
in 2007.


''Survivor''

As the second youngest player on '' Survivor: Nicaragua'', he was placed on the "younger" La Flor tribe. He became the tribe's resident goofball, sending his tribemates to endless laughter at every opportunity often by accidentally hurting himself, making jokes, or reinforcing his own stereotype as a blonde surfer. Birza's tribe mates started calling him Fabio, despite Birza's real name being Jud. Yet he kept the nickname afterwards. The one exception to his humor was NaOnka Mixon, whom Birza had a conflict with after Mixon took Birza’s spare pair of socks. This led to a tirade from Mixon during their first Tribal Council, outright stating that she hated him and his antics. Birza privately admitted that although it was his real personality, he planned to use it as a strategy, both by making himself socially popular among the castaways, while also fooling them into thinking that he was not intelligent enough to be a strategic threat, thus giving them more incentive to keep him around. Early on, Birza was an alliance outsider. He initially sided with Shannon Elkins, Alina Wilson, Kelly Bruno, and Ben "Benry" Henry. Elkins wanted Brenda Lowe eliminated because of her perceived deviousness, but due to Elkins's aggressiveness at their first Tribal Council, two of their allies (Henry and Bruno) eventually voted against Elkins. Afterwards, Birza's remaining alliance partners were in line for elimination, though he remained indispensable because of his strength in challenges. Strategically, he was perceived as somewhat clueless. The negative perception was reflected in his voting history, where his votes barely eliminated other players. After a Day 12 tribe swap, Birza, along with Lowe, Bruno, Matthew "Sash" Lenahan, and "Purple Kelly" Shinn, remained on the La Flor tribe. There, he became friends with the new members Jane Bright, Marty Piombo, and Jill Behm. At the Day 15 Double Tribal Council twist, Behm (the next intended target) won individual immunity. Lenahan and Lowe shifted their plan to a split vote between Piombo, who had a Hidden Immunity Idol, and Bruno, who was a Jury threat because of her athleticism despite her prosthetic leg. Birza nearly endangered the plan by gaining the trust of Piombo, who fabricated a story of him being a chess grandmaster. However, Birza stuck to the plan and voted out Bruno, although Piombo's story was his incentive for voting her off. Three days later, Birza and 11 others would comprise the merged Libertad tribe. Birza would then either join several (albeit failed) alliances, or cast his votes against random people, and would continue to act clueless about voting dynamics. After Wilson's elimination (where Birza won Immunity), there was an all-male rebellion led by Piombo, which was eventually thwarted after Lenahan and
Chase Rice Chase Rice (born September 19, 1985) is an American country music singer, songwriter and reality television personality. He first came to prominence in 2010 while he was a contestant on '' Survivor: Nicaragua'', where he was the runner-up to Ju ...
sided with the women. Though Birza was deemed socially clueless for the most part, he was kept for a longer time. However, when the remaining castaways realized that this strategy would work because he did not hurt anybody's feelings (particularly those of the Jury members), winning Immunity Challenges became Birza's last resort. He went on to win the last three consecutive Immunity Challenges, keeping himself safe from the vote, while the formed alliances turned on each other. After winning the Day 38 Immunity Challenge, Birza, along with Lenahan and Rice, made it to the Final Tribal Council. While Rice and Lenahan were lambasted for being indecisive and "spineless" respectively, Birza was seen as strategically clueless, though he rebutted that he nevertheless back-stabbed no one and winning several challenges proved him worthy of winning. In the end, it was Birza who won the five votes of Dan Lembo, Henry, Mixon, Shinn, and Piombo. Rice was the runner-up with four votes, while Lenahan received zero. Thus, Birza became the Sole Survivor and won the $1 million prize by a 5-4-0 margin, which was the closest margin of victory on ''Survivor'' since
Bob Crowley Bob Crowley (born 10 June 1952) is a theatre designer (scenic and costume), and theatre director. He lives between London, New York and West Cork in the south west of Ireland. Career Born in Cork, Ireland on 10 June 1952, Bob Crowley is the ...
's victory in '' Survivor: Gabon''. Birza also eclipsed '' Survivor: The Amazons Jenna Morasca's record of youngest person to ever win ''Survivor''.


Personal life

Birza worked as a fashion model. He was signed to "Next Model Management, New York" and "Mother Model Management" and has previously modeled for "Chosen Model Management". He was dropped from his modeling companies, and pursued a new career. He has appeared in campaigns for
Abercrombie and Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. As of Febru ...
and ''
L'Uomo Vogue ''Vogue'' is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Based at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, ''Vogue ...
'', among others. He has also appeared on the cover of '' City of Lost Souls'', the fifth book in
Cassandra Clare Judith Lewis (née Rumelt; born July 27, 1973), better known by her pen name Cassandra Clare, is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her bestselling series The Mortal Instruments (series), ''The Mortal Instruments''.'' Per ...
's Mortal Instruments books. Birza has also acted as "Charlie" in director
David DeCoteau David DeCoteau (born January 5, 1962) is an American-Canadian film director and producer. Biography Early life David DeCoteau was born on January 5, 1962, in Portland, Oregon. Career He has worked professionally in the movie business since ...
's horror film ''A Dream Within A Dream'', also known as ''1313 Nightmare Mansion''. The film premiered on Video on Demand (VOD) on February 1, 2011. On January 19, 2011, Birza was arrested by police in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, for skateboarding in the street and on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance. All charges against Birza were dropped. Birza has a small role in the 2012 documentary film ''Burning Man: Metropolis''. Birza is the drummer in Space Funk Odyssey, an electro-dance/rock band from Venice, California.


References


External links


Jud Birza biography
for '' Survivor: Nicaragua'' at
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Birza, Jud 1989 births Male models from Missouri American rock drummers Living people People from Lake St. Louis, Missouri Survivor (American TV series) winners 21st-century American drummers