Background
Baskauskas was born as the grandson of the prominent actor Macdonald Carey (1913-1994).
Baskauskas was born as the grandson of the prominent actor Macdonald Carey (1913-1994).
He received his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 2002, and his Master of Business Administration in 2004.
He played collegiate National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I basketball at University of California Irvine from 2000 to 2004, where he was honored as a Big West Conference scholar athlete for three seasons.: Panama
When the tribes merged, the former Casaya tribe members (Aras, Shane, Bruce, Cirie, Courtney and Danielle) had a number advantage against the four former Louisiana Mina tribe members. When the alliance had nowhere left to turn but on each other, Aras and Shane targeted Danielle, but Courtney, Terry, and Danielle wanted to vote out Aras.
Not happy with any of these options, Cirie brewed a plan of her own, and together with Aras and Danielle, voted out Courtney, followed by Shane.
Terry, due to the widely known fact that he possessed the hidden immunity idol, was also safe. This created a 2-2 tie between Danielle and Cirie, who competed in a fire-building challenge to determine their fate.
On Day 39, while he and Danielle walked on the rocks by the ocean, Aras slipped on a wet rock and fell, sending shards of glass into his hand and back. His wounds required stitches by the medical crew.
In the end, Aras Baskauskas beat out Danielle DiLorenzo to become the Sole in a 5-2 vote, gaining the votes of Austin Carty, Sally Schumann, Courtney Marit, Cirie Fields and Terry Deitz.
: Blood versus Water
After a tribe swap, Baskauskas was placed on the new "Tadhana" tribe, alongside fellow returning players Tyson Apostol and Gervase Peterson, as well as newcomers Hayden Moss, Caleb Bankston, and Ciera Eastin. Due to his performance in Panama, as well as the fact that he was the only tribe member who still had a loved one left in the game, Apostol rallied all the other tribe members into an alliance to eliminate Baskauskas in 11th place, making him the first jury member.
Shortly afterwards, the merge came and Apostol"s alliance also eliminated Vytas in 10th place.
In 2011, Aras released his debut album, The Tree and the River, under the stage name of "Odd Us".
The former Casaya members proceeded to vote out the entire former Louisiana Mina tribe, excluding Terry Deitz who won nearly all of the immunity challenges. At the final four challenge, Aras won immunity. Danielle won the challenge and Cirie was eliminated. At the final immunity challenge, Danielle out-balanced the two men to win immunity, giving her the power to choose her opponent in the final two. In the final tribal council, Baskauskas cast his vote for Apostol to win the $1 million prize, while Vytas was the sole jury member to cast his vote for someone other than Apostol, instead voting for Monica Culpepper.
Aras was originally part of the "Viveros" tribe of younger men, until a tribal swap early on had him become a member of the "Casaya" tribe, where he formed an early alliance with Shane Powers, Courtney Marit and Danielle DiLorenzo. Danielle eventually chose to eliminate Terry, making him the final member of the jury and propelling Aras into the final two.
