2008 Arnold Blog

The 2008 Arnold Classic Men’s Finals (Night Show) is starting right now!  We’re backstage and the live presentation of the National Anthem was truly goosebump-raising!  The military choir truly inspired -

If you’re not yet watching the action, what are you waiting for?

Tune in here, for free:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2008arnold/med/2008arnold_med.html

The women’s show took place last night and there were a few surpsises. Let’s start with the women’s bodybuilding…

The biggest news hit fans when defending champ, Iris Kyle failed to make the top six. Iris finished in seventh place when the dust cleared. You may be wondering why the defending champ fell so far down in the placings. It was obvious when I shot the prejudging that there were more than a couple indications Iris could and should be knocked down in the judging. Why? Well, despite her being called out in the top 3-5 at the prejudging, the judges felt they needed to send a message. What message? I spoke with a couple judges after the show and they informed me that Iris was out of the top six because of the marks on her physique. If you look at the photos, pay attention to her shoulders and her buttocks… You’ll see what I am talking about.

Congrats to Yaxeni for winning the Ms. International. When I saw her at prejudging, I had her pegged as the champ. She looked great and brought the physique we have grown to love when she brings it. She was in excellent condition and brought great symmetry combined with just enough mass, to the stage.

As predicted, Gina Aliotti walked away with victory in the Figure International. I’m a huge fan of Gina’s and she never looked better than she did last night. She presented a balanced physique with just enough hardness to reign supreme. Jennifer Gates showed that a competitor can change drastically in three weeks. I had a sneak peak at what Jen was looking like before the show and I thought she was behind in her prep. I ate my words of predicting her fourth and knew when I saw her at the check-in Thursday that she was ready. Jenn presented a very balanced physique and look amazing. You can see her on the next issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers in a couple weeks. Paola Almerico grabbed a top six placing which was a tremendous accomplishment from her. The most overlooked competitor had to be Juliana Malacarne. I know the judges probably thought she was still too muscular but overall, she is still the most balanced competitor on the figure stage. She has it all from top to bottom when it comes to rock’n the figure stage. Amy Fry landed in third, as I predicted, and looked great. She towered over her competition but showed why she is one of the best competitors in the biz today by bringing a balanced physique to the stage.

Fitness super star Kim Schiedler rocked the stage in Columbus. I hope I spelled her last name right as her father corrected me a couple times backstage on her name. Those who aren’t aware, Kim has had a number of personal issues to deal with while prepping for this show. I won’t go into great detail but long story short, she is getting a divorce and dealing with the stress attached to that. Kim’s physique was much improved from the Olympia and you could tell she was much happier. Her routine was reflective of where she’s at in her personal life, check out the webcast to see it. Jen Hen was in second and I love Jen but I honestly wasn’t that impressed with what she brought this time around. She looked good in the physique rounds and her routine was funny and full of high energy but had too much dancing and booty shaking for my liking. I’d like to see more strength moves and less dancing out of her, but it was still fun to watch and photograph. The biggest gift in the show was given to Julie Palmer in my opinion. I love Jules as a person and this no knock on her but she was not a top three competitor in this show, at least from my vantage point. Her physique was good in prejudging and she placed well in those rounds. I thought her routine had too much set up and was a little hoaky. I didn’t feel as though her routine was that good and I would have her out of the top ten when it came to the routine rounds, but I’m not a judge and making those calls. The judges liked what they saw and placed her high in the routines. Julie Lohre has never looked better and brought a great routine and physique to the stage. She should have been second in my opinion but again I’m not a judge. Oksana was highly favored by many going into this show and while she performed a great routine her physique looked the worst I’ve seen from her since hitting the pro show. Her waist is a little too wide and it looked like she was overdieted. I’d like to see her add some size to her shoulders and improver her lats to give the illusion of a smaller waist.

I’m off to the expo to do some more videos with some of the IFBB’s hottest women. Check back for more info, photos and videos through out the weekend.

The Preliminary results from all 3 of the Ms International contests (Ms. Int’l, Figure Int’l, Fitness Int’l) are now available on our 2008 Arnold Results Page:

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/results/2542

Female Bodybuilding:

1 - Yaxeni Oriquen
2 - Dayana Cadeau
3 - Lisa Aukland
4 - Betty Pariso
5 - Brenda Raganot
6 - Cathy LeFrancois

Figure:

1 - Gina Aliotti
2 - Jennifer Gates
3 - Amy Fry
4 - Chastity Slone
5 - Sonia Adcock
6 - Paola Almerico

Fitness:

1 - Kimberly Klein
2 - Jen Hendershott
3 - Julie Palmer
4 - Julie Lohre
5 - Tracey Greenwood
6 - Regiane Da Silva

A heartfelt congratulations to IFBB Figure Pro Gina Aliotti and IFBB Fitness Pro Kim Klein for winning their respective Figure International and Fitness International contests!  =)

We’re sitting backstage at the Arnold Classic and lots of awesome people keep walking by including Arnold (yes, himself), Jen Hendershott, Nicole Wilkins, Krystal Richardson, Gina Aliotti, and all the IFBB figure and fitness professionals, Dave Palumbo, Dan Solomon, Travis Chapman, Russ DeLuca, Ron Avidan, Kyla McGrath, Bob Cicherillo - it’s a veritable namefest!

Governor Arnold just walked through our backstage room and busted Webmaster Will for sitting in the same chair and eating the same slice of pizza that he was eating last year at the Arnold!

LOL

LIFT Studios Launches HARDBODY NEWS Text Messaging Service
Female bodybuilding, fitness and figure news, gossip and NPC & IFBB Pro contest results delivered directly to your phone, within seconds of them happening.

DENVER, Colorado, February 27, 2008 – LIFT Studios (www.liftstudios.com) announced today that it has launched HARDBODY NEWS (www.hardbodynews.com), a new text messaging service for female bodybuilding, fitness and figure fans. HARDBODY News, like Muscle Phone (www.musclephone.com) for the men’s side of things, alerts subscribers of the latest industry news, gossip and NPC & IFBB contest results.

“Muscle Phone broke new ground for bodybuilding fans and it was time to provide a version for the women’s side of things. Those who sign up for the service will receive the 2008 Ms. International as well as the Fitness & Figure International results via text message immediately after they are announced,” said Isaac Hinds, Owner of LIFT Studios and Creator of Muscle Phone. “Fans of the female side of the industry no longer have to be glued to their computers or rely on friends for the latest NPC & IFBB contest results or industry news and gossip. Strategic partnerships have been formed with the IFBB Professional League, Pro Bodybuilding Weekly, Sprayflex, Getbig.com, Hardbody.com with more to come,” Hinds goes on to say.

Fans can access HARDBODY News, by texting the word HARDBODY to 64274 or visit www.hardbodynews.com, standard text messaging rates may apply. There is no charge for subscribing however standard text messaging rates may apply depending on your text message plan.Currently the subscription is not available outside of the United States but plans are being made to expand globally.

About LIFT Studios
LIFT Studios provides branding, consulting, design, interactive, marketing, mobile content, photography and video services. Founded by Isaac Hinds, LIFT is located in Denver, Colorado, with an emphasis on Sports, Fitness & Health-related clients. LIFT currently works with the top competitors in the bodybuilding, fitness and figure world. Adela Garcia, Monica Brant, Oksana Grishina, Dina Al-Sabah and Phil Heath to name a few. Isaac’s photographs have appeared in IRONMAN, FLEX, Planet Muscle, NPC NEWS, Oxygen and many other publications.

Media Contact:
Isaac Hinds
Ph: 303.908.3998
Isaac@liftstudios.com or Info@hardbodynews.com
www.liftstudios.com
www.hardbodynews.com

The latest previews and interviews are really starting to come in now. Find out how everything is getting fired up right here.

2008 Arnold Classic

FREE WEBCAST!

Also make sure to check us out on game day. We will have FREE LIVE webcasts of the men’s and women’s competition.

Take a look backstage and behind the scenes of the Arnold NPC competition. Ron and I venture into the pump up room, media room, the famous tunnel and more. The video is lengthy but will give you a number of looks at what the competitors go through backstage and what you don’t get to see from sitting in the audience.

Go backstage and behind the scenes:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007arnold/LIFT_GETBIG/videos/npcbackstage.mov

We stopped by to chat with Evan Centopani at the Arnold Classic to see what he had up his sleeve. Since the giant NPC competitor wasn’t wearing any sleeves we decided to see if his arms were as big as he claimed. He actually didn’t make any claims and was a very humble guy. He was expected to win the NPC Nationals but Desmond Miller changed those plans.

Check out out big Evan’s arms are and what he has to say about his future plans:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007arnold/LIFT_GETBIG/videos/evan.mov

As some of you may have seen, Ron Avidan, Lonnie Teper and myself have been doing "The Experts" predictions. We have fun with it and most of the time we’re all wrong. This time around Ron picked the right winner with Victor Martinez, but this was only because LT and I convinced him Luke Wood wouldn’t be a strong choice. Check out the recap after the prejudging as we freeze our butts off in Columbus.

Check it out:

Ron, Isaac and Lonnie Teper, aka “The Experts” freezing in Columbus.

The VPX Redline Charity Afterparty put on by Jason Dhir at the Karma club was off the hook!

Click the play button to experience Music Hall-of-Famer, D.J. Melly Mel rock the house!

Having problems with the video?  Click here for the downloadable Windows Media version.