Pro/Am Contests Blog

Wow, what an exciting weekend!  I just returned from Charleston, SC and the Junior USA Figure Championships!  There were a record number of girls (women) at this event and all of them came with beautiful physiques and friendly attitudes!

This was my first national competition and it was a wonderful experience!  I met a lot of great women and the promoters did a great job of making the athletes feel special and appreciated!  It was inspiring to see the top women in each height class - I can’t wait for my next competition!  Special thanks to my trainer, IFBB Pro Carla Sanchez and my teammates Anna Laratta and Kristine Reinking and the rest of the Performance Ready Team!

NPC competitor and model, Liza Kampstra provided the funniest and most unexpected move in Charleston. Most figure competitors walk out and curtsy and wave. Not Liza - she pounded her chest and gave a point. It was a nice move to break up the ordinary same old same old. Liza is a beautiful woman, who is also a mother. Look for her to do better off stage in fitness modeling than on stage - she has a stunning look.

More women should come up with their own signature figure moves.

A huge crowd had the chance to watch Melvin Anthony jump on stage and challenge Jay Cutler in a posedown. Jay had just finished guest posing at the 2007 Orange County Muscle Classic in Anaheim California when he challenged Marvelous Marvin to come up on stage. It wasn’t too long before Marvin lost his shirt in this challenge round. Anyway it was great fun and it was obvious that these two huge guys are huge friends.

In fairness to Melvin he is obviously bulking up on his way to the Olympia this year. And Melvin predicts that you will see him at the top this year for sure. Keep watching here for more from this show and the photos. And also catch my BodyBlog for more good stuff!

Branch Warren guest posed at this year’s show and was looking very thick.  How will Branch do this year competing?

WW

Check out the preliminary results at:

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/contestresults.php?compid=2236

More will be added throughout the show as they are being called out.  Refresh the page for updates in all the various categories!

WW

Here is a mini-gallery of pictures from the pre-judging held a few hours ago:

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/galleries/contestgallery.php?competitionid=2236&typeid=1

More will be added throughout the day.

WW

Be sure to check the blog throughout the day for JR. USA updates.  Pre-judging pics will be ready in a few hours.

For full coverage, check out:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007npcusa_main.htm

WW

LT rolled into town last night and was josen for some grub. LT showed me the newest IRONMAN Mag which has our fellow "expert" Yogi in headlines. The crew at IRONMAN also featured my web site as well as my client’s Monica Guerra. Thanks for the feature.

The weather was perfect and before we could make it outside LT was stopped in the lobby by a couple of guys looking for trouble. George Farrah and Peter Putnam put their dukes up with the Swami, at least this time LT and Peter didn’t kiss. (There were photos in Ironman magazine with them posing for a kiss - lovely I know)

Tres Bennett was running around keeping things in order and took a minute to pose with his emcee before taking care of more business.

Finally, after LT was making the rounds in the lobby we ventured off into the night for some food. We found it nearby at La Hacienda Mexican Restauarante. LT was sporting his Do Ho shirt and the chicas at the front desk were amused by the wiley Californian. LT had his dance’n shoes on and couldn’t stop himself…

I had the biggest Margarita on the face of the planet, enjoyed a great dinner and LT even picked up the tab. Most guys are running when the check comes but not the Swami. We arrived back to the hotel where one of last year’s top Team Universe competitor’s Andrea Ferry was waiting for some late night food. She was a friendly little lass despite being hungry and tired. The swami had her showing of her ab work in between getting financial planning advice from the pro hopeful.

The night ended with LT giving his room key to the guy working the snack shop in the hotel. SAY WHAT? LOL!

Ah what a night. It’s time for prejudging!

Check out the preview article of the 2007 NPC JR USA contest. I caught up with Carol Semple and her team 13 days out from the the show for a few videos.

Danielle Rouleau will be competing in this weekends Junior USA Championships. Wish her luck! If anyone deserves to win I think it is her. Her profile says it all. She loves training and competes like crazy. She was also a level 8 gymnast at one point.

To learn more about her visit: www.bodybuilders.com/danielle.htm

I spoke with promoter, Pam Betz, today and she informed me that there will be SIX height classes for this year’s Jr. Nationals figure and not four as in year’s past. This was approved today by the NPC. This does NOT change the number of pro cards given out to figure competitors - there will still be FOUR pro cards but not six.

So, 4 of the six height class winners will be eligible for IFBB PRO status. The reason for the change is not to have 70 competitors in one class and is a good move for everyone.

http://www.npcjrnationals.com

I survived the all-nighter and made my flights. Some lovely lass was kind enough to spill coffee on my first flight so I had that going for me, which was nice. The hotel is about a 5-10 minute shuttle from the airport and Embassy Suites has a free shuttle service. The rooms are nice - large with a mircowave and fridge. The internet acess and upload speeds are good which seems to be a rarity at many host hotels.

Half of the competitors checked in this morning and I caught up with a few for this evening’s checkin. I spotted one of the most attractive figure competitors and fitness models on the scene amongst the masses; the lovely Heather Green was looking great with her two kids and supportive husband. He tells me they’ve recently relocated to Atlanta for his job. Heather looks great and I’d gamble on her being an IFBB pro before the year is out.

Heather Green getting her height measured by current Arnold Fitness Champ, Kim Klien.

While enjoying free drinks and nachos in the hotel lounge I spotted Dave Palumbo, George Farrah, Peter Putnam and a few other industry peeps. There were a few schmotographers taking video of attractive figure competitors flexing. I cringe every time I see some overweight guy sweating and having a figure competitor flex her biceps. WHY? It does nothing to further the women’s careers and who knows where these videos will end up. I strongly discourage women from doing this unless you’re a bodybuilder and the only guys who aren’t creepy doing it are James Cook and Gene from ftvideo.com. Any whoo enough of that rant.

I caught up with IFBB Fitness Pro and NPC judge, Jen Cook. Jen has been absent from the fitness stage for some time while concentrating on her studies. She’s an awesome woman, with a great head on her shoulders and tells me she is looking to come back and compete at the Atlantic City Pro Fitness. She promised to provide an interview here on bodybuilding.com if/when she returns.

I’ll be joining the great swami, Lonnie Teper emcee of the event, for dinner to catch up on all my NEWS & skewed VIEWS. Here are a few more photos from the checkin.

NPC Staffman - Vinnie helps a competitor with her emcee card.

The Protan girls catch up on the latest happenings. Carla and Nikki do a tremendous job helping competitors out with their tans backstage.

Kim Klien measures Carla for her height. (4′11" for the record). Will Carla be competing in bodybuilding and figure? Hmmm… She would be one of the few that could.

This list is compliments of Issac Hinds via Getbig.com, and reflects the tentative list as of 4/23/07.

2007 IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Figure Competitor List:

Adcock, Sonia - USA
Benson, Natalie - USA
Bloomfield, Tina Marie - USA
Collins, Stephanie - USA
Collins, Zena - USA
Galvan, Bernadette - USA
Gomes, Kristin - USA
Kadyk, Shelby - USA
Koehler-Kearns, Janet - USA
Kudla, Mari - USA
Lewis, Cheri - USA
Mertl, Petra - USA
Meteraud, Shannon - USA
Mishna, Irina - USA
Morris, Leslie - USA
Peters, Amy - USA
Pitcher-Scott, Nicole - United Kingdom
Romero, Rosa-Maria - Australia
St. Laurent, Jill - Canada
Steinmetz, Amber - USA
Tauti, Kristi - USA
White-Lamm, Elizabeth - USA
York, Pamela - USA

The IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Figure will be held on May 5, 2007.  To see who won the past 3 years, click here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2006pittsprofig.htm

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/05pittsprofigresults.htm

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2004pittspro.htm

I spotted this MySpace bulletin recently, and am reposting it here on BodySpace with permission from the original poster.

“For those of you in attendance this past Saturday at the Ronnie Coleman Classic, thank you for making the show a success. From the prejudging to the Bench Press competition to the standing-room-only night show, we appreciate your participation and hope that you had an enjoyable experience.

A couple of quick highlights, in addition to the terrific competition seen on stage:

- Ronnie Coleman guest posing
- Jay Moore guest posing
- An impromptu marriage proposal with the lady being escorted on stage by Ronnie (yes, she accepted)
- Raffles and free reports offered to everyone in attendance
- Multiple WABDL state records set in the Bench Press competition
- Branch Warren & Ronnie Coleman signing autographs for their fans
- NFL players in attendance

In all, it was a great weekend. Special thanks go out to booth sponsors and the Metroflex Gym staff for all of their help backstage, weigh-ins, and during the show.

We look forward to seeing you in July outside of Houston for the Metroflex Gym/Branch Warren show. Details will be posted in a couple of days [on MySpace].”

Matt Mc Dermott
http://www.MetroflexGym.com/
http://www.MetroflexGymTraining.com/

Editor’s Note:  Photos from the 2007 Ronnie Coleman Classic are here:

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/galleries/contestgallery.php?competitionid=2280

And preliminary results are here:

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/contestresults.php?compid=2280

I’m on a jet plane heading to Charleston around 5:00 a.m. Denver time for the NPC JR USA this weekend. Check back here for coverage throughout the weekend on the event.

I’ll be photographing this show for Bodybuilding.com and Lonnie "The Swami" Teper and I will be having some fun with our "experts" videos.

www.npcjrusa.com

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007npcusa_main.htm

The 11th Annual Ronnie Coleman Classic Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Competition occurred April 21, 2007.  Unfortunately, I arrived late to catch the activities of the Bodybuilding per-judging.  Perhaps it was my lackadaisical behavior since I was not competing this year, or maybe because I was preoccupied getting together clothes for a scheduled photo shoot that morning, OR maybe the fact that no parking was available and I was forced to place my vehicle in a very natural surface (grass and dirt) seemingly far from civilization.  That would be incorrect as the proximity of vehicles gathered in this foliage covered area of ground was amazing.

After hiking to the venue, I was met by competitors old and new.  I first did the show in 2003, and competitors have come a long way (baby).  As I already mentioned, I missed ALL of the bodybuilding pre-judging.  Imagine that, a show starting relatively ON Time.  The nerve!  At least I was able to snag some shots with the Bodybuilding contestants as I wished them the “Best” for the evening Awards’ presentation.

Meeting and greeting was fun, yet taxing.  It’s been 6 months since the last show of the season here in Dallas, TX area.  There were so many people to see and stories on which to catch up. So, some former competitors vowed to never return to the stage, and others said they were ‘pre-contest’ at that very moment.  Most interesting was IFBB Pro Fitness Competitor Adela Garcia-Friedmansky saying that she is retiring from the Pro  Fitness arena in exchange for her first Figure show this summer.  She is so adorable…and will undoubtedly do well.

The Fitness prejudging was curt.   Only one competitor this year, but the best regional participant I have ever seen.  Her performance was chock full of energy, and her routine was executed flawlessly with a smile throughout.  I am still in awe of looking happy whilst performing one handed push-ups.  Needless to say, she ultimately received her 1st place finish that evening during the Finals’ awards presentation.

Bling! Bling!  Are the first words that come to mind as I watched the Figure contestants enter the stage.  Gorgeous describes each and every contestant’s posing suits.  My oh my,  have things progressed from the time I first competed in this show 4 years prior.  Whoa…and this is the regional level.  I better tell my designer to “upgrade” my new suit with twice as many stones…?

Overall, it seemed like a less musculature frame was favored by the judges.  The disbelief was heard from the audience on occasion, but when ever is EVERYONE 100% satisfied or agree with the judging?  Need I even utter the age old adage about “pleasing all of the people all of the time”?  Nah, I think you know where I am headed with this.

The evening show proved as successful as the prior year’s competition.  Perhaps it was even more successful in attendance due to the appearance of 8-times Mr. Olympia himself showed up and even posed for the guests.   Massive is he.  I just would have liked a longer duration of the posing.  The crowd was just getting warmed up when the Big Guy ended his routine.  Considering he was not in Olympia conditioning, the performance was a crowd pleaser nonetheless.

The men’s Body Building was entertaining as always…that is what those Posing Routines are for.  And the Pose Downs just tickle me each time.  It was a great year…and I’m sure will continue in popularity and attendance,  What could be better than the Big Guy posing at the show named in his honor?   Hmmmmmm….a Bigger Venue???  Mr. Dobson, something to consider.