2019 Olympia - What would you do to improve Olympia Week? Seriously

[stuntmovie]

There have been a number of complaints regarding this year's (2019) Olympia.

Complaints such as "dieting on doughnuts" to the decrease in the number of booth space exhibitors in the two-day convention center's Oly Expo.

Or, "I didn't get a free T-shirt nor a 30 pound bagfull of 8 0unce suppliment samples!"

And some who even paid $100+ for a Friday or Saturday night Oly ticket came out saying, "Boring, boring, boring!"

So if you were placed in charge to organize and manage next year's event ... what changes or additions would you make!!??

My first plan of attack would be to make the Friday and Saturday night stage presentations ... a Las Vegas EXTRAVAGANZA while abiding with the required IFBB rules and procedures of course .... but creating a stage production that would have every fan in the aena standing on their feet and going insanely crazy!

And here in Vegas that can be done! We can take the bordom out of it!

(I'm kinda thinking .... "We Are Gonna Rock You!" rock'en inside my noggen).

If you have any Oly improvement ideas, feel free to post them here. Its sure to catch the eye of next year's Olympia organizational crew and maybe something will be done to make an improvement.

By the way .... The RXMuscle crew is doing one hell of a great job covering this event!

[BB]

1) Bring back the old guard from the 90's - early 2000's that knew how to put on a decent show. The camera work was awful this year especially.

2) Get rid of Cicherillo. He's feeling himself too much during the announcing. He's not a comic, and he falls flat more times than not.

3) Get more guys actually involved in the sport of bodybuilding involved. Pay Kai, Priest, etc.... to come out and be ambassadors for the thing.

4) Also make sure they know the competitors names, some history, etc....

5) Have a translator for the foreigners.

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If that fails, then just sell the thing off to people that might want it. Let it be the Arnold Classic West / Mr. Olympia or "Dwayne Johnson Entertainment in conjunction with AMI present the Mr. Olympia".

[falco]

More flattering lighting onstage for the contenders.

[stuntmovie]

Yea, FALCO! A lot of stage lighting complaints which can be easily fixed if the Orlean's Arena crew are made aware of it.

BB, I'm not a Kai Green fan in the least but it seems that he has more fans than the other pros.

I don't know why he doesn't compete but I honestly believe that his possible entry into next year's Oly will put more fans into those vacant seats than any other contender.

And it could possibly be a wise decision on the part of Mr. Pecker to offer him an incentive of $5,000 just to be on that stage next year.

Translator!! Good idea.

But I can't agree with you regarding Chick simply because I can't think of anyone else who knows the game and its participants as well as he does .... other than Shawn.

Can you offer some recommendations!?

[BB]

But I can't agree with you regarding Chick simply because I can't think of anyone else who knows the game and its participants as well as he does .... other than Shawn.

Can you offer some recommendations!?

I don't know, but perhaps they should put out feelers or at least get Bob to stop hamming it up.

Triple H did a better job, Zane did a good job when he was involved, even Sinbad. Bob just gives off a bad strip club announcer vibe when he's allowed to do his own thing. I can't help but think that there are better options. I checked a few other boards just to see, and nearly everyone didn't like his announcing this year.

There are also little things, like when he was mentioning Shaq and Brian Shaw being in the audience, there should have been a way to see their reactions instead of just having him talk to the air, etc.... If little league games can pop a person up on the big screen, the Olympia should too.

[dan18]

YEA Time warp back to 1984

[Ron]

Actually, I seriously want items to bring up to the promoters on what you would think would make the experience better?

Seriously - if fans and people want improvements, at least we can bring it up to them



1) From someone who actually went to the event, expo and weekend - this is important

2) From someone who did not go but checked it out on the boards, on the streaming, etc.

 

[Ron]

YEA Time warp back to 1984

Stuff like this is not helping. Back to 1984 when there was no expo, only Men's BB, and a niche audience, with no internet, no streaming, and you had to wait days to find out any results.  This is 2019 - seriously thought on this.

[BB]

Also, perhaps change it into a strength sports festival much like the Arnold did. The bodybuilding portion can be the main focus, but perhaps embracing Strongman, Powerlifting, or other things would help attract some new faces to it. The Arnold Strongman Classic portion took a little while to get popular, but it now gets a ton of views and some pretty good sponsors. And there are a few bigger Power meets that happen during the summer that might be able to be integrated with the Olympia without much fuss. The Olympia has a Powerlifting meet and Strongman attacted to it, but you never hear about it.

[Schmoff]

Make classic physique the main event, give the winner the title of Mr Olympia.
 Stream the whole show of classic physique

[wes]

make classic physique the main event, give the winner the title of Mr Olympia.
 stream the whole show of classic physique

I like this idea.

[WalterWhite]

The camera work was horrible especially the first night. They didn't understand that for comparisons you need to go wide and stop panning. With the larger call outs this was absurd!  The viewers missed half the guys and could not see full line comparisons.  

 Also going way too close on individuals washed them out and they often missed a full body shot. On the plus side the pump room shots were old school and added to the feed. You could also see conditioning better than under the lights.  Plane black backdrops work best. I can't speak to the best type of stage lighting.

For the announcers they should limit comments during routines. If you're watching you have no idea if someone actually put together a good routine.

[Big Tex C*ckburn, PhD]

For the fans in attendance, I'd like to see a Rich Piana-themed ghost train. The remaining members of the 5% crew could leap out at various intervals, shaking chains and banging pots and pans while a speaker blasts out some of Rich's most memorable quotes. I'd personally also like to see a defanged and declawed bear available for photo opportunities. I know I speak for everyone when I say that, as an insecure male with body image issues, it would do wonders for my self-esteem to pose next to such a beast while grimacing and flexing.

Tex.

[Humble Narcissist]

The camera work was horrible especially the first night. They didn't understand that for comparisons you need to go wide and stop panning. With the larger call outs this was absurd!  The viewers missed half the guys and could not see full line comparisons.  

 Also going way too close on individuals washed them out and they often missed a full body shot. On the plus side the pump room shots were old school and added to the feed. You could also see conditioning better than under the lights.  Plane black backdrops work best. I can't speak to the best type of stage lighting.

For the announcers they should limit comments during routines. If you're watching you have no idea if someone actually put together a good routine.

Great analysis.

[Schmoff]

i think the title of Mr Olympia is a very special privilege which should be given to the only champion who deserves with the very best physique on stage.

Joe weider never gave the title to other people but the only champion of all champions.

Since we have different divisions now, I think we should bring back the overall winner on stage too. Let all winners from 212, classic physique, man's physique and open division to compete for the only title of Mr Olympia

[dan18]

Actually, I seriously want items to bring up to the promoters on what you would think would make the experience better?

Seriously - if fans and people want improvements, at least we can bring it up to them

1) From someone who actually went to the event, expo and weekend - this is important

2) From someone who did not go but checked it out on the boards, on the streaming, etc.

Ok so what would you like to see ron

2. what would you like to see taking away

[dan18]

Stuff like this is not helping. Back to 1984 when there was no expo, only Men's BB, and a niche audience, with no internet, no streaming, and you had to wait days to find out any results.  This is 2019 - seriously thought on this.

Ok to be honest im 52 ive done my share of BB shows granted they were all AAU shows from 1992 until 1994 and even then there was still a lot of people who cared about this stuff. hell it was on main stream TV you don't see that anymore BB has changed and so has the perception of BB today its all about mass and it turns off the general public hence the 1984 remark. these guys do sacrifice a lot and there payday is pretty sad why no real money brought in by '' THE GENERAL PUBLIC '' and no amount of change will fix that

[Fortress]

Bodybuilding, in its competitive vehicle, is just not very exciting.

Oiled folks in thongs flexing muscles.

When I was a competitor, and in the vortex of my obsession, I didn’t see the whole thing for what it is: a giant bore.

I’d imagine there needs to be constant “surprises” (not Dickerson belting out opera) and better and more varied events to pad the central thong battle.

As others say, strength feats/events, right on the main stage.

But I don’t know.

[Tbomzisback!]

Yes the camera work is just terrible. They pan to one guy or go to a side angle and you completely miss the comparison. It is just flabbergasting that the camera men wouldn't have been informed about their need to keep all competitors in view from the judges angle at all times.

That would be my only major complaint.

I actually think Bob Chic is very good at his job. Sure, he is a bit... Shall I say...  "patriarchal"... But I don't think that's too problematic with the bodybuilding fan base (at least not in terms of losing their support)

[usmcdevildoc]

Delete David PECKER AND HIS STUPID ASS SPEECH

[joswift]

Bodybuilding, in its competitive vehicle, is just not very exciting.

Oiled folks in thongs flexing muscles.

When I was a competitor, and in the vortex of my obsession, I didn’t see the whole thing for what it is: a giant bore.

I’d imagine there needs to be constant “surprises” (not Dickerson belting out opera) and better and more varied events to pad the central thong battle.

As others say, strength feats/events, right on the main stage.

But I don’t know.

When I first got hold of a copy of teh 84 Olympia I went around to a mates house , a few other guys were there and I put the DVD on for them, they all jst looked at it and my mate said " which one of them wins?' I told him and he said, "just forward to that guy then turn this queer shit off"

[Humble Narcissist]

When I first got hold of a copy of teh 84 Olympia I went around to a mates house , a few other guys were there and I put the DVD on for them, they all jst looked at it and my mate said " which one of them wins?' I told him and he said, "just forward to that guy then turn this queer shit off"

[Powerlift66]

Cancel it completely...

[Mayor Of Bodybuilding]

A booth with Howard  boiling up Get biggers! 

[stuntmovie]

The way I see it ... the following need fix'en!

1. The Olympia Expo ...

This year it was pretty damn evident that there were fewer booth space exhibitors and fewer related strength and stamina activities on the convention floor.

Free T-shirt promotions which were a popular give-a-way item in the past was only noticed at one booth ... the name of which I have forgotten ... but it included a large Jon Cina promotional display .

Also in the past you would be given a huge OLYMPIA bag as you entered and could pack it full of various brands of supps and leave that afternoon with a bag weighing 20 - 30+ full of suplemental goodies ... but this year I simply filled one pocket with two cookies and a  four ounce protein bar.

But  I did get a little paper 'shot-glass-cup' full of every strength boost drink known to man ... all of which tasted just the same ... like a little cup of pre-jelled jello.

I did notice tat some of those expo booths had long lines of guys and gals waiting for long minutes to shake th.e hand or have hteir photo taken with a bodybuilding or strong-man celebrity.

I'd recommend more of that with the likes of well known athletes of the golden age standing at line's end with a hearty, "Howdy!" for those lomg-line,line standers.

Mike Christian, Lee Haney, and Mike O'Hearn did a damn fine job this year doing so!

This expo needs much, much more of that!!! Every past Oly winner should be there throughout the day meeting and greeting fans.

So .... I gotta say that next year's Oly Expo needs a lot of work .... mainly in filling up all that empty space on that huge convention floor.

Maybe even a GetBig Booth!

OK, So here is my MAJOR COMPLAINT about the Oly Expo. It's been going on forever and I think it's time for a change!

Read below!