History EliminationHoudini / TotalDrama

* On the topic of Sierra, the Vultures inexplicably choosing to vote her off instead of '''Duncan''' is what spares the delinquent for another episode. This is despite the fact Duncan is not only a far stronger competitor than Sierra, but his conflict with both Gwen and Courtney and their ability to convince Cameron and Scott to vote for him too also made Duncan a strong candidate for elimination [[HumiliationConga (and given what happens to Duncan in the following episode, I think even his fans would prefer to see him go here)]].

* Noah is an inversion, while pretty much the entire cast TookALevelInJerkass this season he was the one character who TookALevelInKindness becoming the OnlySaneMan of the season. He was voted out simply for being the first person to see Alejandro for what he really was and was perhaps the only character that season who was completely undeserving of elimination.

* On the topic of Sierra, the Vultures inexplicably choosing to vote her off instead of '''Duncan''' is what spares the delinquent for another episode. This is despite the fact Duncan is not only a far stronger competitor than Sierra, but his conflict with both Gwen and Courtney and their ability to convince Cameron and Scott to vote for him too also made Duncan a strong candidate for elimination.

* '''Owen''' ruins the Gophers' chances to win the challenge by eating almost entirety of their dishes, yet he's not even in the bottom two. On a similar note, no one thinks of blaming Leshawna for putting Owen in charge of looking after their food.

* '''Duncan''' and '''Owen''', who didn't get to finish the last part of the challenge; DJ, Geoff, and Gwen, who were eliminated in the first round of the challenge; as well as Izzy and Leshawna, who didn't even participate in the challenge, all avoided elimination solely because for some reason the challenge included a sudden elimination for crossing the finish line last in the final part of the challenge.

* Alejandro, Cody, and Tyler don't sing, but neither is eliminated. However, Alejandro may have been excused due to already being caught by Jack the Ripper at this point.

* Chris mentions the "If you don't sing, you're out" rule a few times throughout the series. However, multiple times over the course of the season, someone doesn't sing and isn't eliminated. This is especially jarring in Cody's case, as despite making it to the final episode, he didn't sing in the most songs.

* Owen. Very little justification is given as to how he lasts so long other than being a CreatorsPet. In ''Island'', he stayed on the show simply for not having any enemies, [[TheLoad despite often contributing nothing to his team.]] The most egregious examples being "If You Can't Take the Heat" where he singlehandedly costs his team the challenge, yet isn't even in the bottom two during the elimination ceremony, "Trial by Tri-Armed Triathlon" where Geoff was eliminated for being 'too nice' even though he was shown to go along with some of Duncan's pranking while Owen (who was arguably the nicest contestant left by this point) is given a free pass and in "Are We There Yeti?" where he costs both him and Duncan the challenge, but Chef eliminates the latter with absolutely no explanation whatsoever. Also in ''Action'', he was eliminated halfway in only to be brought back during the last six episodes by Chris in order to be his mole and dish up some drama. Despite this plot having no actual impact on the season (outside of Harold's elimination which likely would've happened even if Owen's wasn't there to do it), he manages to make it all the way to the '''final 3'''.

!!''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''

* Cameron. While his lengthy time on ''Revenge of the Island'' was somewhat justified due to his CharacterDevelopment, he evaded elimination a ridiculous amount of times this season (even Cameron himself thought it was strange).

* Owen technically doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. However, Chris may have excused him for still having speaking lines in the song, or because he himself knocked Owen unconscious, rendering him unable to sing for the rest of the song.

* Chris was about to announce DJ to be eliminated when Harold quit the show, sparing him from the elimination.

* Cody doesn't sing with Bridgette and his teammates, but isn't eliminated. However, Chris may have excused him for his frozen state.
* Bridgette's teammates vote her off for costing them the challenge, but no one thinks of blaming Leshawna, who was the one who came up with the idea not to stop at the checkpoints to collect their teammates.

* Alejandro, Cody, DJ, Izzy, and Tyler don't sing, but none of them are eliminated. DJ did have a speaking line, though.

* Cody, DJ, Izzy, Sierra, and Tyler don't sing, but none of them are eliminated. Tyler did have speaking lines, though.

* Courtney doesn't sing a song meant solely for her team, yet she isn't eliminated.
* Heather is spared in the first fake elimination ceremony of the season.

* Even though he tries to leave the show to end his curse and attempts to lose a tie-breaker, the judges' decision kept DJ in the game over Lindsay, who was actually singlehandedly completing the challenges for her team.

* Noah doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. Meanwhile, DJ attempts to be eliminated via refusing to sing, but Heather successfully tricks him into singing anyway.

* Chris's ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem is what spares the entire Team Amazon, with Heather in particular, from elimination. Although, it is possible that he could have also announced a non-elimination round to reward both teams in some way.

* Chris outright says he ignores the results of the voting to keep Duncan in the show for the drama and "eliminates" an intern instead. Unlike the other fake elimination ceremonies, this was the only one that was without a doubt decided last-minute and wasn't planned beforehand.

* Cody, Gwen, and Sierra don't sing a song meant solely for their team, but neither is eliminated. However, it is possible that Sierra was excused for having a speaking line whereas Cody and Gwen were excused due to the anti-Gwen nature of the song.

* Cody and Sierra don't sing a song meant only for their team, but aren't eliminated. However, they might have been excused for their speaking parts.
* Courtney is saved from an elimination not only because of Gwen's convienient allergy, but also because a delirious Cody accidentally voted for Sierra, instead of Courtney as he had planned.

* Cody doesn't sing but isn't eliminated.
* Courtney was spared from an elimination via a fake elimination ceremony, as all of her teammates showed an intent to vote her off right before it was announced.

* Alejandro, Cody, and Sierra don't sing, but aren't eliminated. However, Cody might have been excused for having speaking lines.

* Courtney doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. However, it's possible that the song was meant only for the contestants who made it to the second challenge, thus excluding Courtney from it.

* Cody doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. However, he was likely excused for being at a different location at the time of the song, thus not knowing that the song started.

* Sierra is spared after a 3-1 vote as a result of the last fake elimination ceremony of the season.

* Cody and Sierra don't sing and aren't eliminated. However, considering Chris announced the song in a scene with just Alejandro and Heather, it's likely that the song was meant only for the latter two.
* Alejandro is spared from an elimination as a result of 3-1 vote after Chris instead disqualifies Sierra for blowing up the plane.

* The entire Mutant Maggots can be counted since they actually failed to complete the challenge properly while the Toxic Rats actually succeeded to bring their totem to the camp stite before its bomb exploded.

* Brick attempts to quit, but Chris instead makes him switch teams and hurls an already eliminated Dakota in his place, all because Chef had been captured by Izzy, resulting in Chris not being able to hand the toxic marshmallow to the loser.

* Sam is voted out, likely for failing right when it seemed like he would win, as well as due to his gaming addiction making him TheLoad for his team. One could argue Brick deserves this title for actually causing the second challenge to happen, with his clothing choice for Sasquatchanakwa causing it to flee in rage, kidnapping Lindsay.

* Scott avoids being voted out thanks to using his [=McLean=]-Brand Chris Head, causing Dakota, with the second-most votes, to be eliminated instead.

* Cameron attempts to quit in order to get away from Sierra. However, Chris doesn't respect his wish and instead makes him switch over to the Villainous Vultures, similarly to what happened in "Finders Creepers," with the only difference being that this time there was no excuse to justify a non-elimination round.

* Alejandro steals and uses Heather's immunity idol, thus making only his vote for her valid, making her eliminated in his place.

* Mike is spared from possible elimination due to Chris announcing that the winners of the boxing challenge (Villainous Vultures) will decide on which Hero will be eliminated. They chose Sierra.

* Cameron manages to avoid being eliminated with the votes rigged by Mal because Duncan had already left the competition as a result of being arrested. Interestingly, there's no justification as to why this wasn't a double elimination instead.

* Cameron's medical evacuation saved Alejandro, who likely would've been voted out by Cameron, Mal, Zoey, and their newest friend - Gwen, who sent him to Boney Island.

* Chris mentions that whoever comes back last would be automatically eliminated, but if someone came back empty-handed, it'd be considered even worse. Gwen comes last, but is disqualified by Chris for ruining his painting. Meanwhile, both Mal and Scott came back empty-handed (although Mal won Chris over, claiming he brought an injured contestant).

* Leonard, as his idea for a tower failed, and yet it was Beardo who was voted out instead.

* Samey manages to avoid being voted out, pretending to be her sister and rendering Amy unable to explain things as a result of tricking her into stealing Manchineel Fruit from her. Interestingly, their teammates did plan to vote out the "evil twin," but it was Amy's manipulation that made them believe Samey was the evil one.

* Max is spared from elimination by Sugar selling Ella out to Chris for breaking her no singing promise during the challenge (even though it helped them win).

* Sugar somehow manages to avoid a sudden-death elimination despite yet having to do the climbing portion of the challenge. With Jasmine being able to lift up the tree trapping her by the time, it can be assumed that if the last portion of the challenge had actually been shown, Jasmine would've likely beat Sugar to it.

Thanks to Chris gleefully indulging in ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem, this is the only reality show that will openly admit to keeping characters on for drama through the most ridiculous plot conveniences and only sending characters home when Chris wants them to go.

* After annoying her teammates with her bossy personality and constant reminding of being a CIT, coupled with the fact that she didn't complete the first challenge, Courtney manages to escape elimination thanks to Ezekiel saying an offensive remark at the last minute.

* The entire Killer Bass, likely with Bridgette in particular, can be counted as such, considering the Gophers actually scored one more point than the Bass. This is fixed in the Netflix airing by reducing the points earned by Trent.
* Heather was spared from at least a tie-breaker, considering she gathered the votes against Justin from only half of her team. However, it can be assumed that either Cody or Justin or both voted for Trent instead, allowing the 5 votes for Justin to become majority.

* Once again, Courtney. Being given a chance to triple her team's points, she was the direct cause of their loss. However, likely as a result of the friendships between her, Bridgette, DJ, Duncan, and Geoff, and perhaps because of Tyler's clumsiness, Tyler was voted out instead.

* Although she'd likely be eliminated anyway, as it was her advice to the Killer Bass that costed the Gophers the challenge, one could argue that Izzy may have saved Lindsay from elimination.

* Cody's DeusExMachina injury as a result of being mauled by a bear causes most of the Gophers to vote for him instead of Heather.

* On a similar note, the Gophers finding out about Beth's cursed Tiki Idol from Boney Island is what makes them vote for Beth instead of Heather. However, since it received more build-up over the past few episodes, this example feels less like a DeusExMachina when compared to the previous episode.
* Owen ruins the Gophers' chances to win the challenge by eating almost entirety of their dishes, yet he's not even in the bottom two. On a similar note, no one thinks of blaming Leshawna for putting Owen in charge of looking after their food.

* DJ ultimately loses for his team, as they would've won had he not taken off his blindfold to see his pet bunny during his challenge. However, likely as a result of the friendships between him, Bridgette, Courtney, Duncan, and Geoff, as well as due to Courtney wanting Sadie out for a petty reason; he's not even in the bottom two.

* Throughout the episode, Harold is an outsider to Bridgette and Courtney's friendship (though Bridgette is the nicest to him) and DJ, Duncan, and Geoff's group, with his role as a victim to Duncan and Geoff's pranks. As well as the reactions of everyone sans Bridgette during the elimination ceremony clearly indicate that Harold would've been eliminated in this episode had he not rigged the votes.
* Considering Duncan was the one who was actually being mean to Harold, had Harold not witnessed Courtney and Duncan's kiss, Duncan would have arguably been eliminated through his rigged votes instead.

* Judging by the conflicts on the girls' team and Bridgette joining Gwen and Leshawna's side, Heather would've been eliminated had this not been the only reward challenge of the season, with Gwen or more likely Leshawna in the bottom two.

* As indicated by her being in the bottom two despite not having a major role in the episode, Heather would've likely been voted out had Eva, someone considered the scariest of all, not returned to the competition.

* Heather manipulates Trent into smooching him, getting everyone to hate both Trent and herself. Even though this plan worked, Heather had a very good chance at going home over him. Luckily for her, she wins Invincibility [[DeusExMachina at complete random]]. [[note]][[GambitRoulette Even worse]], she wins it ''after'' enacting this plan, but knew Invincibility would be random whilst enacting it, meaning she had no way of knowing this wouldn't backfire and get herself voted out. The only possible rational explanation is that [[ExecutiveMeddling she knew Chris would rig it her way if it made things more interesting]][[/note]]

* Heather is once again saved by winning invincibility, as Geoff wanted his alliance to vote for her and Duncan had to remind him she's immune.
* Assuming Geoff didn't lie about not voting for Bridgette and Izzy indeed didn't go through with voting for Owen, Duncan was spared solely because Izzy voted for Bridgette for some reason rather than voting with the other group of girls for Duncan.

* Duncan and Owen, who didn't get to finish the last part of the challenge; DJ, Geoff, and Gwen, who were eliminated in the first round of the challenge; as well as Izzy and Leshawna, who didn't even participate in the challenge, all avoided elimination solely because for some reason the challenge included a sudden elimination for crossing the finish line last in the final part of the challenge.

* Heather gets hit by a tranquilizer dart which makes her perfect elimination bait after every stunt she's pulled all season yet Izzy is the one eliminated because... Actually, it's not really explained why nobody jumped at a rare opportunity to vote Heather off.[[note]][[FridgeBrilliance Then again,]] the rest of the campers were probably just scared of Izzy-who spent most of the episode randomly firing off a tranquilizer gun-and considered Heather the lesser threat.[[/note]][[note]]Gwen (the person most gung-ho for getting Heather out) was having a Heroic [=BSOD=] and assumed she was next, so she likely didn't influence the vote very much[[/note]]

* For the second time in a row, Heather is once again saved despite not being immune and being hated by everyone at this point, solely because Geoff was eliminated for being "too nice," which could've made him a threat had the season included a jury to decide the winner.
* Owen is also spared from an elimination as a result, as one could argue he's even nicer than Geoff. Keep in mind that Geoff still went with pranking Harold even after the latter promised not to leave his dirty clothes behind.

* As shown by the eliminated contestants' opinions, none of them wanted Heather to win. However, Katie and Sadie start a chain of accidentally voting for Leshawna, all because they liked her and would love to see her again. Chris also counts Lindsay's and a parrot's votes twice for this to happen, as otherwise the other eliminated contestants would still have a chance to gather a majority of proper votes against Heather. It's unknown whether [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the original premise]] of this episode also included this trope.

* Judging by Owen being in the bottom two and the other contestants' surprised reactions to the fact that there was a marshmallow for each of them, it can be assumed that Owen would've been voted out had Chris not decided to "eliminate" Mr. Coconut instead.

* Owen outruns the girls, but wastes his chance to win by running to Chef's sticky buns instead of the pole, being directly responsible for the guys' loss. In spite of this, he's been spared likely as a result of Chef's greater dislike of Duncan.

* Judging by them being the last contestants to be safe, as well as Heather being almost universally disliked for her actions in the previous season, Heather and Leshawna would've been voted out had Bridgette and Geoff not annoyed everyone with their constant making-out.

* Heather would've been voted out had Gwen not hit Harold on the head and/or had Gwen not voted for herself to keep her promise with the Killer Grips.

* Judging by Beth's explanation of why Lindsay was in the bottom two, DJ quitting the show saved her from elimination. Since Chris didn't get to reveal the result of the Grips' elimination ceremony, it could be argued that DJ saved Justin as well.

* Courtney would've been eliminated with 4 votes against 1 had her lawsuit not guaranteed her being immune on her first day after her return to the competition.

* As shown by Duncan and Harold's confessional, Leshawna apologizing for her actions through her cheer was what spared her in favor of Heather.

* As shown when everyone is talking about whom they are voting for, Courtney would've likely been voted out had she not won invincibility.
* Duncan and Courtney making Harold mistrust Leshawna, even after Beth told him about the girls' plan to eliminate Duncan, was what saved Duncan from elimination over Leshawna.

* Courtney is once again saved thanks to winning invincibility, as the others made it clear they'd vote for her had she not been immune.
* Lindsay accidentally voting for herself, thus losing in a 3-2-1 vote, is what spared Duncan from an elimination once again. Owen wasting his vote on an immune Courtney also contributed to this, since that also saved Duncan from elimination.

* Him being an outsider to Bridgette, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, and Geoff's group, his role of a victim to Duncan and Geoff's pranks throughout the episode, as well as the reactions of everyone sans Bridgette during the elimination ceremony, clearly indicate that Harold would've been eliminated in this episode had he not rigged the votes.

* Heather manipulates Trent into smooching him, getting everyone to hate both Trent and herself. Even though this plan worked (despite some [[WhatAnIdiot WAI]] moments being needed for it to), Heather had a very good chance at going home over him. Luckily for her, she wins Invincibility [[DeusExMachina at complete random]]. [[note]][[GambitRoulette Even worse]], she wins it ''after'' enacting this plan, but knew Invincibility would be random whilst enacting it, meaning she had no way of knowing this wouldn't backfire and get herself voted out. The only possible rational explanation is that [[ExecutiveMeddling she knew Chris would rig it her way if it made things more interesting]][[/note]]

* After annoying her teammates with her bossy personality and constant reminding of being a CIT, Courtney manages to escape elimination thanks to Ezekiel saying an offensive remark at the last minute.

* The entire Killer Bass, likely with Bridgette in particular, can be counted as such, considering the Gophers actually scored one more point than the Bass.

* Cameron. While his lengthy time on ''Revenge of the Island'' was somewhat justified due to his CharacterDevelopment, he evaded elimination a ridiculous amount of times this season (even Cameron himself thought it was strange).

* Courtney. In ''Action'' she pulled this trope off more than anyone else, where she would have been immediately voted out if she wasn't using her lawyers to cheat the show and getting to win every challenge. And in ''World Tour'' she manages to dodge being eliminated ''two episodes in a row''! The former in "Picnic at Hanging Dork" being a result of arguably the show's most poorly written contrivance up to that point[[note]]She would have been voted off had Cody not been unconscious during the voting process, ultimately throwing the result to a tie-breaker between her and Gwen, with the latter losing due to her [[PlotAllergy allergy to eucalyptus]] that was [[ShockingSwerve never given any previous foreshadowing, not even in the very episode where it came into play]][[/note]], and the latter in "Sweden Sour" being a result of the same thing Chris did to Duncan in "Greece's Pieces" by just [[AssPull randomly vetoing all of the votes against her thus sparing her once again]]. Ironically, her first elimination in ''Island'' was one of the most unfair in the entire series, and thus an ''inversion'' of this trope, although the first elimination ceremony is an example because Ezekiel saved her at the last minute.

* Chris mentions the "If you don't sing, you're out" rule a few times throughout the series. However, multiple times over the course of the season, someone doesn't sing and isn't eliminated. This is especially jarring in Cody's case, as despite making it to the final episode, he didn't sing in the most songs.

* Owen technically doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. However, Chris may have excused him for still having speaking lines in the song, or because he himself knocked Owen unconscious, rendering him unable to sing for the rest of the song.

* Cody doesn't sing with Bridgette and his teammates, but isn't eliminated. However, Chris may have excused him for his frozen state.

[[AC:Broadway, Baby!]]
* Alejandro, Cody, DJ, Izzy, and Tyler don't sing, but none of them are eliminated. DJ did have a speaking line, though.
[[AC:Slap Slap Revolution]]
* Cody, DJ, Izzy, Sierra, and Tyler don't sing, but none of them are eliminated. Tyler did have speaking lines, though.

* Courtney doesn't sing a song meant solely for her team, yet she isn't eliminated.

* Only Noah, Owen, and Sierra sing while Cody and Heather have speaking lines, but the remaining contestants aren't eliminated. However, although Chris never says this outright, it can be assumed this song was meant only for Cody and Sierra and Cody might have been spared for having speaking lines.

* Noah doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. Meanwhile, DJ attempts to be eliminated via refusing to sing, but Heather successfully tricks him into singing anyway.

* Alejandro, Cody, and Tyler don't sing, but neither is eliminated. However, Alejandro may have been excused due to already being caught by Jack the Ripper at this point.

[[AC:The EX-Files]]
* Cody, Gwen, and Sierra don't sing a song meant solely for their team, but neither is eliminated. However, it is possible that Sierra was excused for having a speaking line whereas Cody and Gwen were excused due to the anti-Gwen nature of the song.

* Cody and Sierra don't sing a song meant only for their team, but aren't eliminated. However, they might have been excused for their speaking parts.

* Cody doesn't sing but isn't eliminated.

[[AC:Niagara Brawls]]
* Alejandro, Cody, and Sierra don't sing, but aren't eliminated. However, Cody might have been excused for having speaking lines.
[[AC:Chinese Fake-Out]]
* Courtney doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. However, it's possible that the song was meant only for the contestants who made it to the second challenge, thus excluding Courtney from it.
[[AC:African Lying Safari]]
* Cody doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. However, he was likely excused for being at a different location at the time of the song, thus not knowing that the song started.

* Cody and Sierra don't sing and aren't eliminated. However, considering Chris announced the song in a scene with just Alejandro and Heather, it's likely that the song was meant only for the latter two.

* Owen. Very little justification is given as to how he lasts so long other than being a CreatorsPet. In ''Island'', he stayed on the show simply for not having any enemies, [[TheLoad despite often contributing nothing to his team.]] The most egregious examples being "If You Can't Take the Heat" where he singlehandedly costs his team the challenge, yet isn't even in the bottom two during the elimination ceremony, "Trial by Tri-Armed Triathlon" where Geoff was eliminated for being 'too nice' even though he was shown to go along with some of Duncan's pranking while Owen (who was arguably the nicest contestant left by this point) is given a free pass and in "Are We There Yeti?" where he costs both him and Duncan the challenge, but Chef eliminates the latter which absolutely no explanation whatsoever. Also in ''Action'', he was eliminated halfway in only to be brought back during the last six episodes by Chris in order to be his mole and dish up some drama. Despite this plot having no actual impact on the season (outside of Harold's elimination which likely would've happened even if Owen's wasn't there to do it), he manages to make it all the way to the '''final 3'''.

* Cody. Sierra would often save him from eliminations throughout the season. He even acknowledges this during ''I'm Gonna Make It'', noting that he would never have made it as far as he did without Sierra's help. Another advantage he had was that [[NotWorthKilling neither of the season's antagonists though he was enough of a threat to bother targeting him]].

* Alejandro, Cody, DJ, Izzy, and Tyler don't sing, but neither of them are eliminated. DJ did have a speaking line, though.

* Alejandro, Cody, DJ, Izzy, and Tyler don't sing, but neither of them is eliminated. DJ did have a speaking line, though.

* Cody, DJ, Izzy, Sierra, and Tyler don't sing, but none of them is eliminated. Tyler did have speaking lines, though.

* Considering Duncan was the one who was actually being mean to Harold, Duncan would have arguably been eliminated then and there.

* As shown when everyone talk about who to vote for, Courtney would've likely been voted out had she not won invincibility.
* Courtney successfully managing to make Harold distrust Leshawna after Beth told him about the girls' plans to vote out Duncan is what caused Leshawna to be eliminated over Duncan.

* Lindsay accidentally voting for herself, thus losing in a 3-2-1 vote, is what spared Duncan from an elimination once again. Owen wasting his vote on an immune Courtney also contributed to this, since that was also saved Duncan from elimination.

* As shown when everyone talk about who to vote for, Courtney would've likely been voted out had she not won invincibility.
* Courtney successfully managing to make Harold distrust Leshawna after Beth told him about the girls' plans to vote out Duncan is what caused Leshawna to be eliminated over Duncan.

* Lindsay accidentally voting for herself, thus losing in a 3-2-1 vote, is what spared Duncan from an elimination once again. Owen wasting his vote on an immune Courtney also contributed to this, since that was also saved Duncan from elimination.

* As shown when the girls talk about who to vote for, Courtney would've likely been voted out had she not won invincibility.

* Lindsay accidentally voting for herself, thus losing in a 3-2-1 vote, is what spared Duncan from an elimination once again. Owen wasting his vote on an immune Courtney also contributed to this, or else it would have been a 3-3 tie between Duncan (Owen, Beth, and Harold) and Lindsay (Duncan, Courtney, and Lindsay), given Lindsay still voted herself off on accident.

* Lindsay accidentally voting for herself, thus losing in a 3-2-1 vote, is what spared Duncan from an elimination once again. Owen wasting his vote on an immune Courtney also contributed to this.