Olympia Blog

I had the honor and priviledge to shoot the Mr. Olympia contest once again. It’s a ton of work but one that is very rewarding, knowing that you’re capturing a part of bodybuilding history. Recently, I started working with Tony Blinn and the new IFBB website. Tony is the chairman of IFBB Technical Committee and General Secretary of the IFBB Professional League. He is a great guy, who works directly with Mr. Ben Weider on the website.

Today, much to my surprise and delight, Tony posted some of my photos as a feature section on the website. Check out the feature and the new website. They have individual judges’ scores and more on the site.

Post by: liftstudios

Let’s see…  I met dave G for breakfast.  Spinach omelets are the shit! The expo was really crowded on Saturday.  Then my friend Rob Carbo showed up and made my day!  We had been friends since March and he helped me with my contest deplete and my crazy carb depleted chick emotions.  He is bigger than life!  I introduced myself to Charles Glass.  You can see him on here in "getting cut with Glass". I really wanted to meet him because it’s his videos I get most of my training tips from.  I could never afford a personal trainer on my own, so I walked up to him and told him so!! I also got approached by NBC for their American Gladiator series.  Yeah right, I was thinking!  I asked competitor or Gladiator and they said either.  I’m too old to get hit full force by another human being.  I like my kidneys, thanks!! I’m trying to think what else happened.  I did go off to look around a little, took a peek at the guys in the UFC booth.  Forrest Griffin was there, but you had to pay for autographs.that’s just bullshit if you ask me.  people with money shouldn’t be able to get everything, you know? What if you are some little kids idol and he finds out you don’t evn give a crap he is your fan. Lou Ferigno was there and you had to buy a picture just to take a picture with him.  Whatever happened to a little PR?

The expo was great otherwise.  i took some video of this little kid who is about 8 kicking ass using weapons in his  little karate uniform.  Ok, don’t know all the lingo for that sport but the kid was amazing!! I then ran into crazyhorse and jumped over to the Gaspari boot to meet Dan and see what was up with them.  He and I did an interview.  I looked bad, he looked good, I was nervous and my accent was so bad, he dropped the "f" bomb..hahhaaaaaaaa.  too funny.  He introduced me to the VP of marketing Joe V and we just chatted a little about their stack they were trying to get women to take.  It’s the same as the male version for the most part,but women are scared of the "sizeon" due to the word size alone.  As for pre workout drinks, like Superpump250,most women skip them altogether.  they know I used them, know I don’t talk crap and misleadpeople on products I don’t believe in…so they asked me to be part of the team.  There will a new section of their forum for women Not sure if I can say the new name yet, but anyway, it’s about what women can  take in supplements and a general Q&A.  Possibly some other stuff in the future as well. Onto the next night of the Mr Olympia show…….

1st off, tickets were a problem.  I did score one from the Ironman team, but it wasn’t on the floor and they thought they could get me xdown there, but it was a hassle, so I sat with Dave in the back. This was the big night!  The posedowns!!

My man Victor was tight!  I thought he had it all the way. Jay looked better on the 2nd night, but I am just not impressed with his physique.  Going for sheer size.maybe, but aesthetics?  NEVER. Ronny Rockel looked amazing as well.  Ronnie Coleman, massive in size was nearly matched size with Dennis Wolf and these 2 were often put against each other in pre judging.  Dennis Wolf had alot of new fans there!  I think he was a huge crowd favorite.  then there was a teary eyed Coleman, giving his speech as it was his last show ever! Everytime he launched into a most muscualr pose, the audience went nuts.  he got a standing ovation.  As for the posedowns…..as a chick, (yes, I am still a girl) it was HOT. Jay would walk to one end of the stage and the others would follow, all trying to out do each other. Then Victor would turn in front of him and pull a lat spread that was out of this world. I was once again like a kid at Christmas…amazed..I am truly a geek.  Thats kind of a good thing because many people at my age have done many thing.  I have experienced nothing like this, no traveling,no plane rides, just going to work and taking care of kids.  Almost everything I see still amazes me.  NEVER lose your childish wonder people.  I was very dissapointed the Victor didn’t win.  HANDS DOWN, he should have one.  yes, i know I will get someone here who is going to argue with me, but too bad.  The guy is fantastic. HUGE with a small waist, no bloat, ripped….and he has a good looking face to boot.  What else to write about?  Went to dinner after my major upset with a couple people from Ironman.  It was sweet because I got to have filet mignon!  Holy crap…real beef! Oh, and who can resist garlic mashed potatoes? Notme dammit!! ARE YOU STILL READING? It was a looooooong day……I probably left stuff out.  after that we went to the Rio hotels rooftop club called VOODOO.  There I met the Gaspari Girls and that dude with the crazy tat in the cytolean ads who used to weigh 300lbs, but is now ripped. I also met their spokesmodel Marzia Prince  who wom Miss Bikini universe .  She’s really very sweet and friggin funny!  No mistaking a bikini model, that’s for sure! Tanji Johnson was there too as well as Dan. I admit to having 2 drinks, but that’s it.  OH, standing in line for the ladies room, some drunk guy tried to feel me up…….his hand kept coming closer and I had to smack him.  I then told him if he touched me, he’d lose his front teeth. Cocktail dress or no cocktail dress…….

Thats about it.  It flew by…the whole Saturday.  I got back to my hotel at 2:15 am and had to get up at 7am to get ready for my photoshoots and pack my bags .  checkout was at 11am..THAT SUCKED.

i’ll finish up the story tomorrow.  I did workout last night.  I did abs and lats and am so sore.  No workout tonight.  It’s UFC night…time to chill.  I also threw in some legs cus I am back on 2 legs day a week.  still not happy with the quads.  I want them more ripped and need size, so when I lose some of the fat, I do not end up with chicken legs…ya know? I did 15 of cardio.  I still feel tired….

Note: originally posted here.

Post by: MsFitness

Hello, Here are various pictures from the Finals on Saturday night. Some are from the previous post but these are better quality.    Hope you enjoy! T-

X- Toney Freeman

Johnnie Jackson

Gustavo Badell

Melvin Anthony-Nice!

Dennis Wolf- looking like a big future for this “youngster”!

Ronnie Coleman

Dexter “The Blade” Jackson

Victor Martinez

Jay Cutler- Mr. Olympia 2006 and 2007

Post by: arieseyes

The BodyBuilding.com art department did one great job on the new wallpapers for the Olympia.

Here is a sample of the Jay Cutler wallpaper for your computer. And there is another of Ronnie. Great photos too (OK, I shot them!)

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/wallpaperoftheweek.htm

The whole time, I was all for Ronnie Coleman to win his 9th sandow and to make history.

But when I showed up for the pre-judging, and when I took a good look at Ronnie & Jay it look like Jay was bigger and and more defined than Ronnie Coleman was.

But in my heart I wanted Ronnie to win, but Jay Cutler brought his “A” game to the Olympia this year and conquered the stage, maybe because Jays hair was on the line.  Jay well deserved to become the new officially crowned 2006 “Mr. O”.

This was a big one! Say what you will about different federations, changing hotels or venues for the event or whatever, this Olympia had a record crowd on their feet.

The big Mr. O title went to the long struggling Jay Cutler. A combination of surprise and elation swept over Jay’s face when the announcement was made despite whispers all day that he was ahead after yesterday’s rounds. And I must say that there was some surprise and disappointment on the face of the defending champion, Ronnie Coleman.

Obviously there was no hint of the outcome during the moment of this photo during the posedown. But another big upset was Victor Martinez breaking into the top three. So keep watching for Victor. Big galleries of photos right here on BodyBuilding.com. More to follow….

Hey everyone, here are some shots of the new Mr.Olympia!!!

Every year we have events in our life that makes your heart stop in anticipation as seconds turn in to hours waiting: that describes the finals minutes when they called Jay Cutler & Ronnie Coleman to the center stage to announce the winner of the 2006 Mr. Olympia.

When Jay Cutler’s name came out of the announcer’s mouth the entire arena filled with cheers & moans depending on what side you were rooting for. How is this going to affect the bodybuilding world? Well as the new World Champion said moments after winning:. “It’s Miller Time!

I’ll give a full report tomorrow but there are after parties to be at for now…

What was the first thing you thought about when you heard the news tonight?

In news that shocked the world, 8-time Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman LOST just about an hour ago to JAY CUTLER!!!

Watch for photos and a review here later on tonight (or early, early morning!)!!!

While you’re waiting, check out this additional content at Flex (but don’t forget to come back here in a few minutes for more content here!).

I happened to arrive at the Orleans Arena right behind Ronnie getting out of his limo. So he and I walked down the hallway together and without anyone around. It was kind of interesting because you just don’t see the big guy by himself anymore.

Anyway it was me carrying all of my camera gear and Ronnie carrying his gym bag of stuff. Ronnie and I have talked before over the last few years and this time I asked him some questions and I said I would keep it between us. Nothing that couldn’t be repeated but that is what I said.

But I will say this, Ronnie did tell me without question that he will win. What do you think? You will be able to check out photos from tonight right here on Bodybuilding.com by about the time you finish reading this blog entry.