Archives for August 2010

There are only two shows remaining before the 2010 Olympia. Next up for the bikini pros is the IFBB Tournament of Champions held on September 11, 2010. There are three qualifying spots up for grabs. We’ll be in attendance to cover the action next month.

Venue:
Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium
4117 Overland Ave, Culver City, CA 90230

Host Hotel:
Radisson Westside
6161 West Centinela Avenue
Culver City CA 90230-6306
Reservations: (714) 635-9000 Fax: (714) 520-5831

Time:
Saturday, Sept 11th – 11:00am – Prejudging
Saturday, Sept 11th – 6:30pm – Finals

Competitors to date (As of August 20, 2010)
Dina Al-Sabah
Jennifer Dietrick
Sonia Gonzales
Michell Gullett
Rachel Labender
Cathy Miller
Christina Vargas

I ran across a blog on The Dallas Observer today and it’s a perfect example of a writer not taking the time to be accurate in his/her reporting. The author admits he’s never been to a bodybuilding competition and his ignorance shows. Here’s a small sample of what I’m referring to:

By late Saturday afternoon, I’d missed the “Hot ‘Fit’ Moms” competition, but just made it in time for the women’s bodybuilding finals. Called onstage by a white-suited guy brimming with Shooter McGavin sleaze, women from around the world took their turns running through elaborate routines that were equal parts yoga, striptease and gymnastics, in a series of moves to accentuate their unlikely contours. Ripping off a coat to start her routine, German woman woke babies in the crowd with the first beats of her driving techno backing music. An American bodybuilder danced to a club mix of “Over the Rainbow,” skipping onstage with a picnic basket and peeling off her clothes piece by piece, revealing a new Wizard of Oz character costume with each layer.

CJ and Bob backstage at the Europa Super Show.

I did get a chuckle out of Bob Cicherillo being referred to as Shooter McGavin (Happy Gilmore reference) but the author clearly was more interested in Bob’s coat than what he was announcing. There was no professional women’s bodybuilding in the show and the routines he’s referring to are those of Fitness competitors.

Shooter McGavin and KISS impostor.

I don’t know if the author was trying to be funny or just clueless by referring to the Europa Super Show as EuropaCon but I do kinda like the name. I shouldn’t be surprised that “mainstream media” would miss the boat on their coverage however a little ground work can go a long way.

Check out the thousands of photos from the Europa Super Show on Bodybuilding.com. Ron Avidan and I shared the photographic duties through out the weekend. We got ya covered front stage, backstage, the expo and more.

Ms. Olympia Fitness Champ Adela Garcia still has to carry her own boxes.
What up with that?

Yesterday the ladies took to the stage at the IFBB Europa Super show and there were a few surprises. The bikini top three will be Ali Rosen, Nathalia Melo and Amanda Latona. The show is between Latona and Melo who have the best butts in all of bikini. Melo was off her stride a bit from previous shows. Her upper body was a bit too lean, make-up slightly off and the posing we’ve grown to expect and love wasn’t on point. Latona stepped up her game and brought a smaller, slightly tighter physique from earlier in the year and I look for her to take the show. Ali Rosen has a pretty face and sexiness to her and will land in third. I’d still like to see her pose from the front when she comes out for her individual shots. We could see Bianca Binno in the 4th place position and if she does she’ll head to the Olympia. It looks like Monique Minton Ricardo could miss the top five in this show. The top three women are already qualified for the big dance next month.

Amanda and Ali go after Nathalia at the Europa Super show.

Fitness physique portion had Myriam Capes, Bethany Wagner, Shannon Meteraud and Alti Bautista in the first call out. I like Wagner’s physique the best with Meteraud in second. Alti showed she still has it after a six year absence from the Fitness stage. Myriam is in great condition and is in the third or 4th position heading into tonight’s finals. The routines are kicking off the finals at 2:30pm and I look for it to come down to Shannon and Myriam for the win.

Your guess is as good as mine on what was going on here.

The Figure portion of the show had a few surprises when the dust settled. Two of the favorites heading into the show may be absent from the top five. Mindi Smith was way off her mark and resembled nothing like Phoenix Pro or Figure International. She has six weeks to get her groove back if she hopes to be in the top five at the Olympia. Ava Cowan had hoped to improve upon her 4th place showing in Jacksonville but it won’t happen in Dallas. The judges appear to favor Terri Turner for the win in this show. If she does win which I believe she will, it will be her first pro victory. I like Alicia Harris for the win but it looks like she’ll take second. Teresa Anthony appears to have a lock on third place. Josie Zamora could slip into the 4th place spot and if she does she’ll be Olympia qualified since the top three already are. Monica Mark brought a smaller physique and is in the mix for a top five spot but not enough to get into the top three. This was a big show and a number of women showed improvements while others slipped. I saw a number of simply missteps like bad hair, bad make-up, poor tanning and bad suit choice. These may seem like little mistakes but they all add up and count towards the overall look and ultimately the placings.

Alicia and Teresa are gunn’n for number one but will likely settle for second and third.

We’ll see how it all shakes down in a few hours. I’ll provide a full contest report after tonight’s finals.

The fitness routines will kick things off at 2:30 pm at the Europa Super show in Dallas. Follow along on twitter @hardbodynews and @BBcomcontests.

Follow all the action from today’s prejudging at the Europa Supershow Dallas. Keep in mind that I am photographing the show while tweeting, which means I may misspell some things. I’ll do the best I can to keep ya updated & give you an inside look behind-the-scenes. I’ll be tweeting under BBcomContests and Hardbodynews through out the day. If you’re not on Twitter, you can stay on this page and refresh for the live call-outs and thoughts as they happen today.

Last night over 100 IFBB pros checked in for the Europa Supershow in Dallas. The prejudging begins at 2:00pm Central time today and it is going to be a monster show. The IFBB Bikini pros will start the show off, followed by the Men’s 202. The Fitness women will only be judged in their 2-piece swimsuit today and their routines tomorrow at the finals. I’ll be photographing the event and tweeting my thoughts and call-outs via follow @hardbodynews and @BBcomcontests. If you’re tweeting about the show use #EuropaTX as the hash tag.

Here are a couple photos from last night.

There are a number of nuns running around the host hotel for another event. It’s an interesting and amusing sight to say the least. The always entertaining Andy Haman was chatting it up with a couple of the lovely ladies and convinced them to hit a couple poses.

Andy & Michelle Haman hit a pose with the Catholic Nuns. Hilarious!

Alti is back on the fitness stage for the first time in 6 years.

Olympia Fitness Champ Adela Garcia representing Jug Nation!