The Amazing Race 16


The Amazing Race 16 is the sixteenth installment of the American reality television show The Amazing Race. This season featured eleven two-person teams, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world.
The sixteenth season started on Sunday, February 14, 2010 on CBS in the United States at 8:00 p.m ET with the season finale on May 9, 2010. In Canada, the show premiered on the A-Channel, not CTV, but it returned to CTV after the Winter Olympics concluded. The show was hosted by Phil Keoghan.
Brothers Daniel "Dan" and Jordan Pious were the winners of this Race.
The season was released by CBS DVD on November 4, 2014, in a set that included all episodes and the accompanying Elimination Station webseries and available only through online purchase, manufactured by Amazon's CreateSpace.

Production

Development and filming

The sixteenth season spanned across five continents and nine countries, including Chile, Argentina, Germany, Singapore, China and for the first time, Seychelles.
Racers were observed leaving Los Angeles International Airport on November 28, 2009. For the third time, teams had to use public transportation to make their way from the Starting Line to the airport as in the first and sixth seasons.
Racers checked into a Pit Stop in Puerto Varas, Chile, on December 2. Filming of the show also was reported in Bariloche, Argentina, and Germany. Production crews were reported in Singapore, particularly in the Bugis area and the Singapore Flyer.
In the third episode, which aired on February 28, 2010, and featured the contestants departing Chile, Phil Keoghan acknowledged the February 27, 2010, massive earthquake in Chile in a special opening.
Leg 4 featured an Intersection for the first time since Season 11. Also for the first time, teams did a Roadblock together, where one person from each of the Intersected teams worked together to complete the Roadblock. This is also the first time since Season 8 that two racers worked together to complete a Roadblock, and the first time an Intersection occurred on a leg other than Leg 8.
In Leg 8, Jet & Cord became the first team since the inception of the Speed Bump in Season 12 to finish in first place on a leg in which they had to complete a Speed Bump.
Leg 9 featured an appearance from Allan Wu, the host of The Amazing Race Asia and . Leg 9 was also the first time that a U-Turn warning was in the team's first clue, due to the fact that the team taking the Fast Forward option would have skipped the Detour and the U-Turn point. Also, Leg 9 was the first time a Fast Forward and a U-Turn occurred in the same leg.
At the end of Leg 10, the death of He Pingping was acknowledged. He appeared giving clues to the teams after the first Roadblock. Leg 10 was the first single-length leg of the Race to have two Roadblocks. The next leg featured Bao Xishun, the world's tallest man at the time, as the greeter at the Pit Stop in Shanghai.

Cast

Applications were originally due on July 10, 2009, but the deadline was extended. Semi-finalist interviews were held in August 2009 and the final casting interviews took place in Los Angeles in September and October 2009. Filming took place in November and December 2009.
Notable cast members included Big Brother 11 houseguests Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder, 2007 Miss South Carolina Teen USA Caite Upton, professional bull rider Cord McCoy, and Cleveland Indians third-base coach Steve Smith. Caite, 20, was the youngest contestant in the show's history at the time ; while Jody Kelly, 71, was the oldest contestant in the show's history. Other racers included cowboys, detectives, a lesbian couple, high school sweethearts, attorney moms, and the show's first Asian married couple.

Future appearances

Jet & Cord raced again in The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business among a cast made up of returning teams from seasons 12–17. They later raced again in The Amazing Race: All Stars among a cast of returning teams from seasons 14–23.
Jordan & Jeff competed on Big Brother 13 a year after this season and finished in fourth and seventh place respectively. In 2015, the two also appeared on . On May 24, 2016, Jeff Schroeder appeared on a Big Brother-themed The Price is Right primetime special.

Results

The following teams participated in the Race, listed with their placements in each leg and relationships as identified by the program. The table does not include all broadcast content, because some data was excluded. Placements are listed in finishing order:
  1. Brent & Caite initially arrived 2nd, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for going on foot instead of taking the funicular from the Roadblock as instructed in their clue. Five teams checked-in during their penalty time, dropping them to 7th.
  2. Dan & Jordan initially arrived 4th, but were issued a 15-minute penalty for losing a paintbrush during the additional task; Four teams checked-in during the penalty time, dropping Dan & Jordan to 8th.
  3. Dana & Adrian failed to complete the Roadblock in Leg 1. After Adrian's second attempt and after all other teams had already checked in at the Pit Stop, Phil came out to the Roadblock location to inform them of their elimination.
  4. Brent & Caite were left at the Pit Start for 3 hours and 5 minutes in Puerto Varas because both had to be treated for dehydration at the emergency room in a local hospital, and they departed last instead of 4th at Leg 3.
  5. Brent & Caite initially arrived 6th, but had missed the clue at the U-Turn, having arrived at their additional task by chance. They had to backtrack to the U-Turn to receive their clue. This did not affect their placement.
  6. Joe & Heidi failed to complete the second Detour task that they had to do as a result of being U-Turned. After all of the other teams had already checked in at the Pit Stop, Phil came out to their location to inform them of their elimination.
  7. Brent & Caite initially arrived 3rd, but did not complete the Detour, having arrived at the Pit Stop accidentally by chance after following Carol & Brandy. They had to backtrack to complete the Detour. Three teams checked-in while they went back, dropping Brent & Caite to 6th.
  8. Jet & Cord initially arrived 5th, but did not retrieve the clue giving directions to the Pit Stop after completing the Roadblock. They had to backtrack to retrieve the clue. Carol & Brandy checked in during this time, dropping Jet & Cord to last place; however they were not eliminated as Phil notified that this leg was non-elimination.

    Episode title quotes

Episode titles are often taken from quotes made by the racers.
  1. "Nanna Is Kickin' Your Butt" – Michael
  2. "When the Cow Kicked Me in the Head" – Jody
  3. "Run Like Scalded Dogs!" – Jet
  4. "We Are No Longer in the Bible Belt" – Jet
  5. "I Think We're Fighting the Germans, Right?" – Michael
  6. "Cathy Drone?" – Dan
  7. "Anonymous?" – Brent
  8. "You're Like Jason Bourne, Right?" – Michael
  9. "Dumb Did Us In" – Brandy
  10. "I Feel Like I'm in, Like, Sicily" – Brent
  11. "They Don't Even Understand Their Own Language" – Brent
  12. "Huger than Huge" – Dan

    Prizes

The prize for each leg is awarded to the first place team for that leg. All trips are sponsored by Travelocity.
The first five eliminated teams were sequestered at a villa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to await the finale. CBS posted short videos on its website after each episode to show the eliminated teams interacting at the villa.

Leg 1 (United States → Chile)

Airdate: February 14, 2010
The first Roadblock of the Race required one team member to cross a tightrope the length of a football field suspended above the ground to the end of the valley where they received their next clue.
;Additional tasks
;Additional note
Airdate: February 21, 2010
In the first Detour of the Race, teams chose between Llama Adoration and Condor Consternation. In Llama Adoration, teams traveled by boat to a farm where they dressed a llama by placing a blanket on its back and a scarf around its neck to receive their next clue. In Condor Consternation, teams traveled by boat to a beach where they wore special shoes resembling birds' feet and used a hang glider-like condor costume to fly to a clue in the water.
In this Roadblock, teams had to collect ingredients to make Kuchen, which included a plate of butter, a bowl of sugar, a bag of flour, a baker's dozen of eggs from a hen house, and a cup of milk from a cow, and deliver them to the baker to receive a serving of Kuchen and their next clue.
;Additional task
Airdate: February 28, 2010
In this Roadblock, one team member chose a station and used a lasso to rope a target away and pull it toward them to receive their next clue.
The Detour was a choice between Horse Sense and Horse Power. In Horse Sense, teams were given a set of directions by a gunslinger and, using only a stationary compass, find a bag of loot buried in a field. They then delivered the bag to the lead bandit, and if the markings on their bag matched the coordinates given to them, he would give the team a coin with the name of the Pit Stop location on it as their next clue. In Horse Power, teams went to a polo field and, using a wooden practice horse, scored a goal within 9 strokes and received the trophy with the name of the Pit Stop location on its base as their next clue.
;Additional task
Airdate: March 7, 2010
In this special Roadblock, one team member from each of the Intersected teams took the S-Bahn to the Port of Hamburg to complete a tandem bungee jump to receive their next clue that they couldn't open until reuniting with their partners. After the Roadblock, teams were no longer Intersected.
The Detour for this leg was a choice between Soccer or Sauerkraut. In Soccer, teams made their way to Adolf-Jäger-Kampfbahn Stadium and had to kick soccer balls from the penalty mark through 5 targets located in the goal to receive their next clue. In Sauerkraut, teams traveled to Alt Hamburger Bürgerhaus restaurant and had to eat a plate of sauerkraut while a band played a song called the "Sauerkraut Polka". Teams had to finish the plate before the end of the song to receive their clue. If the song ended before teams finished, they had to start over with a new plate of sauerkraut.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: March 14, 2010
For their Speed Bump, Jordan & Jeff had to reinforce a trench wall with branches before they could continue racing.
The Detour was a choice between In the Trenches or Under Fire. For both tasks, teams dressed up as World War I-era American soldiers known as doughboys. In the Trenches, teams traveled through trenches to a telegraph where they deciphered a message in Morse code –"We will prevail. Vive la France."– and presented their deciphered message to the French sergeant. In Under Fire, teams crawled under barbed wire 100 feet to receive a message –"The war is over. Vive La Liberté."– from a man in a foxhole. They then crawled back through the barbed wire to present the message to the sergeant. Before either task was completed and the teams received their clue, the message they received was sent to "headquarters" via carrier pigeon.
;Additional tasks
;Additional note
Airdate: March 21, 2010
In this Roadblock, one team member rappelled into the chalk cellars of the winery of Leclerc Briant to search for a bottle of champagne marked with a small yellow and red striped flag on the bottom amongst the riddling racks. After finding the bottle, the team member returned to the surface to use the traditional sabrage technique to open the bottle, the force of which propelled their next clue out.
The Detour was a choice between Tower or Terra. In Tower, teams stacked 680 champagne coupes into a 15-level pyramid with only one coupe on the top level, then pour the entire contents of a magnum of Taittinger champagne onto the top of the pyramid without breaking any of the glasses to receive the next clue. In Terra, teams searched the winter-barren Taittinger vineyards for a cluster of wine grapes marked with the Race flag. After finding the grapes, they returned them to the harvest foreman for their next clue.
;Additional task
Airdate: March 28, 2010
This leg's Detour was Turtle Toddle or Ox Trot. In Turtle Toddle, teams used a banana to lure a, 100-year-old Aldabra giant tortoise across a marked path on a lawn. Once the turtle crossed the finish line, both team members had to deliver a bunch of bananas to a fruit merchant away at La Digue Marina to receive their next clue. In Ox Trot, teams pulled a cart to a clearing to load a pile of coconuts. After an ox was hitched to their cart, teams had to deliver the coconuts to the same fruit merchant at La Digue Marina to receive their clue. If teams forgot or lost any of their coconuts, they had to retrieve them to complete the task.
In the leg's Roadblock, one team member had to dive into the ocean to retrieve one of seven bottles tied to a platform in the water.
;Additional task
;Additional note
Airdate: April 4, 2010
In this leg's Detour, teams chose between Buddhist Tradition or Chinese Custom. In Buddhist Tradition, teams traveled to the Tien Kong Than Temple and carried a series of joss sticks to the top of the temple. After arranging them in the proper order, teams lit them and received their next clue. In Chinese Custom, teams traveled to the Esplanade in George Town, where they participated in the Chinese New Year tradition of balancing large flags on their foreheads and running across the esplanade. After both team members made it across the esplanade without letting the flag fall, they received their next clue.
For their Speed Bump, Jet & Cord traveled to the Tropical Spice Garden to find a woman crushing spices for tea. Then by smell, they chose the right prepared tea and serve it to a guru sitting on a swing. Once the guru finished drinking the tea, they could continue racing.
The Roadblock required one team member to prepare a traditional Hindu offering called a float by breaking open several coconuts to find one that had colored flesh. They then built the float and gave it to the waiting Gurukkal who sent it out to sea and then gave teams their next clue.
;Additional note
Airdate: April 11, 2010
In the only Fast Forward of the Race, one team traveled to the Singapore Flyer, where they climbed out of an observation pod at the top of the Ferris wheel and crossed a ladder to the next pod to win the Fast Forward award.
The leg's Detour was a choice between Pounding The Drums and Pounding The Pavement. In Pounding The Drums, teams traveled to Speakers' Corner and learned a complex drum routine for a lion dance performance. Once teams could correctly perform the routine with a lion dance troupe on a nearby stage, they would receive their next clue. In Pounding The Pavement, teams traveled to an open area on Rochor Road, where they had to gather supplies, chairs, an umbrella, a loaf of bread, wafers, and 10 boxes of ice cream, and then find a marked ice cream cart to sell 25 Singapore-style ice cream sandwiches for S$1 a piece to receive their next clue.
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member inspected an anchor chain by counting the number of links, while dealing with the noise created by the other workers at the port and announcements read through a loudspeaker. When they gave the right number on a clipboard to the dock manager, they received their next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: April 25, 2010
In the first Roadblock on this leg, one team member had to follow a demonstration by a local noodle maker to make of la mian noodles. When completed, He Pingping, the world's shortest man, would give them their next clue.
The second Roadblock required the team member who sat out the first Roadblock to put together a 96-piece puzzle and give the puzzle to a group of fans in the bleachers. If the puzzle was assembled correctly, the other side of the puzzle would reveal a seat with their next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: May 2, 2010
For their Speed Bump, Louie & Michael participated in a good-luck ritual by throwing coins into a large incense burner on the Longhua Temple grounds. They each have to get one coin into the top opening of the incense burner before they could continue racing.
In this leg's Roadblock, one team member entered Longhua Temple's Arhat Hall to count all of the golden statues in the room, most of which were statues of the Gautama Buddha. If they got the right number, they received their next clue. If their guess was incorrect, they would have to wait 10 minutes before making their next guess.
The Detour was a choice between Pork Chops and Pork Dumplings. In Pork Chops, teams entered an art stone store and looked through several hundred special stone stamps called chops for the two that had a pig on the bottom and one with each of their names to receive their clue from the shop owner. In Pork Dumplings, teams traveled to Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant and delivered 10 orders of xiaolongbao across the market. Once they completed the deliveries, they received their clue.
;Additional tasks
;Additional note
Airdate: May 9, 2010
The final Roadblock of the Race required one team member to use an ascender to reach the top archways of Coit Tower to get their next clue before being lowered back to the ground.
;Additional tasks
No episode aired on April 18, 2010 due to CBS's broadcast of the Academy of Country Music Awards and CTV's broadcast of the Juno Awards.

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Canadian broadcaster CTV also aired The Amazing Race on Sundays at 8pm. The first three episodes were aired on A-Channel. When the show returned to the said network, episode four aired an hour earlier than its normal start time due to the network's broadcast of the 82nd Academy Awards.
#AirdateEpisodeViewers
Rank
1February 14, 2010"Nanna Is Kickin' Your Butt"<#30
2February 21, 2010"When the Cow Kicked Me in the Head"0.90#16
3February 28, 2010"Run Like Scalded Dogs!"0.88#13
4March 7, 2010"We Are No Longer in the Bible Belt"1.44#21
5March 14, 2010"I Think We're Fighting the Germans, Right?"2.53#4
6March 21, 2010"Cathy Drone?"2.00#7
7March 28, 2010"Anonymous?"2.47#4
8April 4, 2010"You're Like Jason Bourne, Right?"2.08#6
9April 11, 2010"Dumb Did Us In"2.29#7
10April 25, 2010"I Feel Like I'm in, Like, Sicily"2.18#5
11May 2, 2010"They Don't Even Understand Their Own Language"2.51#3
12May 9, 2010"Huger Than Huge"2.58#3