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Nobody could say Orangeburg's JoAnna Ward wasn't excelling as a contestant on "Survivor: The Amazon."

Quite the contrary: She was arguably the hardest-working member of the Jaburu Tribe. She caught fish and hauled wood. She led without demanding a leadership position. She sang and preached and motivated and taught and encouraged her teammates.

So why -- in the fourth episode of the hit reality CBS-TV show -- did four of her teammates vote to cast her away and send her home?

"I think she was TOO good, and unfortunately it presented a threat to her teammates," said JoAnna's sister, Nancy Ward Butler of suburban Washington, D.C.

JoAnna's rivals gave the same reason in the show, which aired Thursday night. "You are a very sharp competitor," one said. "You're my biggest competition," said another.

And competition is the name of the game when the winner returns home with a cool $1 million.

JoAnna's abrupt dismissal as a contestant "was a real shock," Butler said. "Of course you always hope they're the last one standing. She was doing so well. I wasn't sure she was going to win the $1 million, but I thought she'd last longer than this."

Butler said she was looking forward to watching her sister on the "Early Edition" show, which will start at 7 a.m. Friday on CBS.

JoAnna, 31, is a middle school guidance counselor and certified aerobics instructor.

"I like the fact she was voted off because of her strength and her strong character," Butler said. "I think that's a good reason to be voted off."

Only time will tell, however, if the Jaburu Tribe made a wise decision by letting their own selfish motives override the value of JoAnna's demonstrated talents for keeping the tribe together, motivated and focused on task.

"I try to keep the spirituality and the emotional stability going. So I do a lot of singing and saying quotes and doing things like that. ... I'm kind of boyish," JoAnna told the show's host, Jeff Probst, just moments before being voted off at the tribal council on the 12th day of the Survivor ordeal.

President Bush's news conference delayed Thursday's episode nearly an hour. Still, it seemed likely to be another ratings blockbuster for CBS. "Survivor" has been near the top of the ratings for weeks. It was number 3 in the Nielsens last week with 22.4 million viewers, and in fifth place the week before that.

Thursday's episode began with JoAnna exclaiming, "Lordy! Lordy! What a day in the Amazon!" She goads teammates into keeping up with their chores. "You can't just expect stuff to drop in your lap."

And she gives a motivational speech loaded with proverbs -- which, however well-intentioned, strikes some sour chords with some of her teammates, who find JoAnna's devout Christian faith alternately uplifting and unsettling.

"She gets on everybody's nerves," says one rival. "I need to get her off early." But even she acknowledges that JoAnna "is clearly the most physical" castaway.

And that's why the tribe needed her, some teammates argued. "She really works and does her job," said one. Another said, "We need all the strength we can get."

That became particularly obvious after the women suffered two consecutive defeats to the men's team, the Tambaqui, in challenge contests, and as a result were called to tribal council, at which one of their members had to be expelled.

While JoAnna was considered the strongest team member, Shawna Mitchell was obviously the weakest. At one point she even pleaded with her colleagues to send her home. But only two people, including JoAnna, voted to oblige her request.

Before the immunity challenge, which was a fishing contest, Probst had warned the castaways to beware of the piranha fish in the river. Holding one up and exposing its menacing teeth, Probst warned, "These guys will take your finger off."

But for JoAnna, the biggest threat wasn't the prey, but the predators.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Hendren can be reached by e-mail at lhendren@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5552.

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