North Carolina Salon Owner Is On ‘Survivor’

In the summer of 2000, we were in our first home and my wife and I were looking for something on TV we could watch together.  All of the sudden we stumbled across a group of people, apparently on an island arguing with torches and one of them had no clothes on.  We were all in.  That was how we became devotees of "Survivor."  Some will argue MTV's "Real World" was first, but in terms of network television, this is the 'reality' show that started ALL that have followed.

Now, 24 years and 46 seasons later, "Survivor" is still going strong.  In fact, I'd be willing to bet that just about all of us at one point or another have asked, "I wonder if I could make it on 'Survivor?'"  For one Charlotte salon owner, she and we are about to find out.  Kenzie Petty is one of 18 contestants vying for the $1 million first prize when the latest season of "Survivor" debuts tonight on CBS.  By the way, has the show not heard of inflation?!  A million doesn't go NEAR as far as it did a quarter century ago, right? <g>

The show's longtime and only host, Jeff Probst gives WCNC as peak behind the curtain, "Because the 90-minute episodes worked so well in Survivor 45, we get to do it again in Survivor 46. In addition, this season we have a two-hour premiere, and episode two is also 2 hours. We get to spend more time with the players because we have time to show them. And this group is funny."

Kenzie Petty is a graduate of Porter Ridge High School in Indian Trail.  Always into hair styling, Kenzie began her career working at ImageZ salons on nights and weekends as a teenager.  Kenzie flexed her entrepreneurial spirit in 2019 opening her own, Explicit Salon.  Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic on her industry in 2020, her business has continued to survive and thrive.

Tonight, on CBS, we'll all see how she survives and thrives on "Survivor" when the latest season (46) debuts.  Oh, and one more thing.  Is it just me or is it funny that this picture of Kenzie features a salon owner apparently in GREAT need of some salon-like TLC?

Do you love reality TV singing competitions? I was once an avid viewer of American Idol back in the early seasons, but eventually gave that up. Partially due to the lack of the majority of contestants ever going on to have a successful music career. It just felt like a waste to watch and get emotionally attached to artists who you'd never hear from again. But many of these shows including American Idol and The Voice are still thriving and attracting both viewers and contestants. And here in North Carolina, we have the second-highest number of reality singing competition winners in the nation. Who would have thought? We actually had several contestants from North Carolina including Kellie Pickler, Chris Daughtry, and Clay Aiken but none of those three went on to win the competition.

But three others did, and all three represent different genres of music. Our friends over at BetCarolina.com – your source for North Carolina sports betting - utilized Wikipedia to gather each winner from each season of NBC’s “The Voice,” FOX & ABC’s “American Idol” as well as the singers who won on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” After compiling this data they were able to compile a list of the states that have produced the most singing competition winners. Do you think you remember the three North Carolina singing competition winners? Keep reading to see if you are correct!

Read BetCarolina's full study and analysis here.

Kelly Clarkson (S1 American Idol), David Cook (S7 American Idol), Danielle Bradberry (S4 The Voice), Craig Wayne Boyd (S7 The Voice), and Sundance Head (S11 The Voice) are among Texas' 7 winners of reality singing competitions.

North Carolina has had three stars take the American Idol crown. This includes:

New York winners include Jermaine Paul (S2 The Voice), Just Sam (aka Samantha Diaz, S18 American Idol), and Carter Rubin (S19 of The Voice).

The 9 states with two winners include Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Florida, California, and West Virginia.