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Isaac Hinds has put out a very good preview on how may come home or do well with a pro card this weekend at the NPC USAs.  With so many competitors, and us guessing has to who will be competing, it makes the task even more eventful. Here is Isaac’s review on some of the ones to watch. Isaac Hinds’s NPC USA Review Not to be outdone, Lonnie Teper has put out a video on who he and Alex Azarian thinks will be competing and doing well at the NPC USA’s. The video was done about a month ago, but it still shows LT’s whimsical and poignant thoughts in front of the closed Gold’s Gym Northridge. Incidently, LT will be the emcee of the 2009 NPC USA’s again, as only LT can go through 470+ names, and not make a mistake on pronouncing each one.Here is the link to the video. Lonnie Teper & Alex Azarian’s Preview

With over 470 competitors, the 2009 NPC USA’s in Vegas is going to be the biggest ever, and we will be there covering the action.  This is the premier NPC event of the west, with over 15 pro cards given out to the best!

The 2009 NPC Los Angeles is coming up this weekend on Saturday, July 18th. Promoter Jon Lindsay is going to have over 170 competitors (not counting crossovers), including close to 30 NPC Bikini competitors. We wll be taking pictures for bodybuilding.com, getbig.com and hardbody.com. The NPC Los Angeles is one exciting show, as we get to check out which competitors are vying to be in their best shape in preparing for the NPC USA one week later (in Vegas). So come out to Culver City and support the show, and check out some of the best competitors in Los Angeles. So who is my pick for the NPC Los Angeles to win in men’s bodybuilding. None other than Reggie the Machine, or Reginald Brantley, who barely lost the Super Heavyweight title at the NPC Orange County to the person I picked to win that show (Ronald Sargeant). Here is Reginald at the NPC Orange County, looking great, but will be in even better shape come the NPC Los Angeles.

Promoters John Tuman and Ted Williamson have stepped up and added Men’s Bodybuilding to their IFBB Sacramento Pro show. Three men will qualify for the 2010 Olympia on November 7, 2009. The show has $20,000 in prize money up for grabs. Visit IFBBpro.com for more info.

This upcoming weekend, on Saturday, on July 4th, Muscle Beach will be celebrating its 75th anniversay, and a number of us will be down there to check out the festivities, take pictures and have some fun. Here is the poster regarding this event.

The 2009 NPC Junior Cal contest has a new home this year, in Rosemead, California (which is very close to Pasadena).   Here is the flyer from the show. For more information, please go to www.npcjuniorcal.com Some facts from a few past contests –   Last year’s Figure Overall lineup had: Mona Lisa Reyes, the A Class winner (former Overall winner of the Cal), Ali Olson, the B Class winner (who went on to win the Overall at the Excalibur), Anna Brown, the D Class winner, who went on to do very well at the Emerald Cup this year, and winner Brianne Shaw, of C class … to show you how strong it was. In 2007, Kiyoshi Moody, who won the overall, won his class twice at the Team Universe since. Leo Delaine, who won at last year’s Junior Cal, just finished second in the HW class at last week’s Cal. Hope to see you there!

The 2009 NPC Atlantic States, promoted by Steve Weinburger, is on June 6th, at the Tribecca Center in New York, New York. Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler and Dexter Jackson are slated to guest pose at this contest. The contest features NPC bodybuilding, figure, fitness and bikini competitors. Here is the flyer and more information.

Here is the final competitor list of the IFBB California Pro, which will be held on Saturday, May 23rd, along with the NPC California contest (which has over 110 competitors at the moment.) IFBB Pro competitors competing include… 1 – Jane Awad (USA) 2 – Macey Boudreau (Canada) 3 – Deanne Brown (Canada) 4 – Natalie Calland   (USA) 5 – Nadya Castellas (Canada) 6 – Krissy Chin (USA) 7 – Becky Clawson (USA) 8 – Lorena Cozza (Italy) 9 – Meriza DeGuzman (USA) 10 – Jennifer DeJoya (USA) 11 – Heather Mae French (USA) 12 – Celeste Gonzalez (Spain) 13 – Sonia Gonzales (USA) 14 – Alicia Harris (USA) 15 – Carin Hawkins (USA) 16 – Catherine Holland (USA) 17 – Geogina Lona – (Mexico) 18 – Crystal Lowery (USA) 19 – Amy Lee Martin (USA) 20 – Michele Mayberry (USA) 21 – Tanya Merryman (USA) 22 – Kristin Nunn (USA) 23 – Amy O’Neil (USA) 24 – Rosa-Maria Romero (Australia) 25 – Sherlyn Roy (USA) 26 – Laura Sutter (USA) 27 – Kristi Tauti (USA) 28 – Natalie Waples (Canada) 29 – Karen Williams (Trinidad) See you there…

Three IFBB contests, includings the NY Pro Men’s BB, the NY Pro Men’s 202lb and under BB, and the Women’s BB contests are up for grabs in New York City on May 16th.Depending on the weight in, and which contest the men choose to go in, the lists may vary… The Competitor list (for the men) includes (as of May 8th) include 1 – Francisco ‘Paco’ Bautista 2 – Evan Centopani 3 – Darrem Charles 4 – Tarek Elsetouhi 5 – Aiman Faour 6 – Leo Ingram 7 – Dennis James 8 – Michael Kefalianos 9 – Vincent Lui 10 – Jari Mentula 11 -Eugene Mishin 12 – Francisco Javier Mula 13 – Craig Richardson 14 – Marcus Ruhl 15 – Silvio Samuel 16 – Danielle Seccarecci 17 – Denis Sergovsky 18 – Sergey Selestov 19 – Eduard Van Amsterdam 20 – Ben White 21 – Hidetada Yamagishi ?? – Marcus Haley Also, for the 202lb and under, there are 1 – Jason Arntz 2 – Giles Bellehumeur 3 – Ed Correa 4 – Mark Dugdale 5 – Kevin English 6 – David Henry 7 – Vinny Galanti 8 – Fakhri Mubarak 9 – Jose Raymond For the women’s bodybuilding,…

Wow – probably the most impressive guest posing lineup I have seen in a long time. On Saturday, May 2nd, 2009, at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, in the Oakland Section of Pittsburgh, the following are going to be coming: –> Dexter Jackon (#1 ranked and current Mr. Olympia) –> Kai Green (winner of the 2009 Arnold Classic) –> Jay Cutler (2 time Mr. Olympia champion,  2008 Mr. Olympia 2nd place) –> Ronnie Coleman (8 time Mr. Olympia) –> Victor Martinez (2nd place at the 2009 Arnold Classic)  –> Phil Heath (3rd place at the 2008 Mr. Olympia) –> Dennis Wolf (4th place at the 2008 Mr. Olympia) –> Branch Warren (3rd place at the 2009 Arnold Classic) –> Toney Freeman (5th place 2009 Mr. Olympia, 4th place 2009 Arnold) Joining the above are King Kamali, Chris Cormier and the 2009 NPC Wheelchair Champion – Jason Greer Plus some of the finest competitors in the country will be on stage competing in every division. PREJUDGING 9:00 A.M.   FINALS 6:30 P.M. For contest entries or information: Jim Manion –  (412) 276-5027 – npcfirst@aol.com Advanced Pre-Paid Evening Reserved Tickets send $25.00 Money Orders only, payable to: Pittsburgh Physique Promotions PO Box 442 Carnegie, PA…

With a week left to go before the 2009 IFBB Orlando Pro (or the official name ‘Europa Show of Champions’, the men’s bodybuilding competitor list is turning to be one of the weakest lineups in a long time, as many of the top bodybuilders are not competing or have already qualified for the Olympia, or waiting for another IFBB show?  Why? Is it because of the timing this year, in that the IFBB bodybuilding shows were spread out over a few weeks each, instead of them being grouped to enable to competitors to do more than one show. It started with the Ironman Pro, being SIX weeks before the Arnold, and now this show, out in April, with the nearest next big men’s contest afterwards being the New York Pro in late May. Here is the current list of competitors Men’s Bodybuilding… Troy Alves (USA) Francisco Bautista (Spain) Raul Carrasco (Spain) Darrem Charles (Trinidad) Omar Deckard (USA) George Farah (USA) Andy Haman (USA) Jonathan Rowe (USA) Frederic Sauvage (France) Nathan Wonsley (USA) Hidetada Yamagishi (Japan)

Besides the IFBB Pro Men’s Bodybuilding competitions, there is also an IFBB Pro Figure and Fitness competition, of which the top three in each become qualified to compete in the 2009 Figure and Fitness Olympia. Here are the current competitor lists from each competition, which will be held on April 18th, in Orlando, Florida. IFBB Pro Fitness competitors include Maggie Blanchard (USA) Myriam Capes (Canada) Tina Durkin (USA) Ryall Graber (Canada) Liza Hughes (USA) Donna Jones (Australia) Siene Silva (USA) IFBB Pro Figure Competitors include Aymara Bernardo (Venezuela) Monica Brant (USA) Deanne Brown (Canada) Natalie Calland (USA) Rachel Cammon (USA) Heather Mae French (USA) Brandie Gardner (USA) Valerie Haines (USA) Lisbeth Halikka (Finland) Alana Hernandez (USA) Catherine Holland (USA) Ines Jimenez (Costa Rica) Cea Anna Kerr (Canada) Amy Lee Martin (USA) Petra Mertl (Czech) Hazal Nelson-Etiz (USA) Inga Neverauskaite (Lithuania) Kristin Nunn (USA) Nicole Pritcher-Scott (United Kingdom) Marcy Porter (USA) Stacy Simons (Bermuda) Erin Stern (USA) Laura Sutter (USA) Shelly Taucher (USA) Natalie Waples (Canada) Karen Williams (Trinidad) For more information on the competition, you can go to http://www.ifbbpro.com/events/2009-europa-show-of-champions-contest-information/

While the NPC and IFBB Europa Show of Champions is being held in Orlando on April 18th, in the West coast, in Bellevue, Washington (near Seattle), the largest local NPC competition in the USA, the 2009 NPC Emerald Cup will be held on the same weekend.  Close to 250 NPC competitors will line up the stage in 2 days. Here is the information if you wish to check it out. We will be there, taking pictures and updating info on both sides of the coasts.

The Olympia weekend’s prize money just got bigger, to an incredible $800,000, an increase of $45,000 from last year’s prize money. And what does the winner of the 2009 Mr. Olympia get? $200,000 – currently of which their is no clear front runner, although Dexter Jackson has the title and will be defending it against a myriad of top bodybuilders, including Victor Martinez, Jay Cutler, Phil Heath, and Kai Greene. Thanks to our friends at flexonline.com, who gave us the heads up of the total prize purse.  It times of a recession, and some of the toughest days, it is great to see AMI supporting and putting more money into the best bodybuilding contest! To purchase regular or VIP tickets for the Olympia, please go to this link http://www.mrolympia.com/2009/tickets.html

  Las Vegas is where it will be happening on September 24-27 for the Olympia contest. The updated Joe Weider’s Olympia Weekend 2009 site is up and revamped, with ticket sales beginning on February 28, 2009.   The site is located at www.mrolympia.com, so go check it out.  The Olympia Weekend is the biggest bodybuilding event of the year, with almost all of the top competitors in bodybuilding, fitness and figure competing.  The fun begins on Thursday, September 24th with the Mr. Olympia Press Conference at 1pm at the Orleans Hotel’s Showroom , followed by the Meet the Olympians at the Orleans Hotel’s Mardi Gras Ballrooms. The Olympia Expo begins on Friday, September 25th, opening at 10am, with early access at 9:30am to VIP and Platinum members. The expo is located at the Las Vegas Convention Center., and ends Saturday at 5pm. On Friday, at 11am, the Figure, Fitness and Ms. Olympia prejuding will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center stage.  On Friday at 7pm, the Men’s Prejudging and the Finals of the Fitness and Ms. Olympia will be held at the Orleans Arena. On Saturday, at 10:30am at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Men’s 202lb and Under Showdown Prejudging will…

For the last few years, only the top two men out of all the classes turned pro with the IFBB. This year, the NPC has added one additional slot for a person to turn pro. So instead of two, three competitors that has won their class will turn pro. Also, the Bikini division has been added to this years show, with each of the class winners turning pro (six total).  Add 2 pro cards for Women’s Bodybuilding, and 6 pro cards from Figure, and that makes a total of 17 new IFBB Pros come the end of the July. For those of you that wish to compete or attend, the event will be held on July 24-29 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  For complete event information go to www.musclecontest.com.

Lonnie Teper always gives us some insight regarding the 2009 IFBB Ironman Pro, and this year, the Swami is at his best, looking into his ‘crystal’ ball and trying to make some predictions on how is going to compete and out do each other at the contest. Here is the link.

December 22, 2008 Sixty two athletes have been invited to compete in the 2009 Arnold Sports Festival IFBB professional bodybuilding, fitness and figure events here March 6-8. Co-producer Jim Lorimer said this year’s contestants will once again “dazzle fans” with an outstanding show of talent and muscular physiques.  Many past champions and sentimental favorites will join rising stars to battle it out at the Arnold Classic, Ms. International, Fitness International and Figure International. Here are the invited competitors for 2009. 2009 Arnold Classic Competitors Gustavo Badell Moe El Moussawi Toney Freeman Kai Green Ahmad Haider Marcus Haley Johnnie Jackson Dennis James Victor Martinez Ronny Rockel Silvio Samuel Sergey Shelestov Branch Warren 2009 Fitness International Competitors Jessica Clay Regiane Da Silva Nicole Duncan Tina Durkin Heidi Fletcher-Sullivan Bethany Gainey Tracey Greenwood Oksana Grishina Jen Hendershott Tanji Johnson Shannon Meteraud Mindi O’brien Julie Palmer Erin Riley Trish Warren Nicole Wilkins-Lee 2009 Figure International Competitors Gina Aliotti Huong Arcinas Monica Brant Heather Mae French Amy Fry Adela Garcia Jennifer Gates Sonia (Adcock) Gonzales Lenay Hernandez Georgina Lona Juliana Malacarne Zivile Raudoniene Kristal Richardson Felicia Romero Sherlyn Roy Chastity Slone Brenda Marie Smith Erin Stern Latisha Wilder 2009 Ms. International Competitors Heather (Policky) Armburst…

Many of us are coming in to see the biggest NPC show of the year, with a ton of IFBB pro cards given out to the top class placers in bodybuilding and figure. It is going to be a great contest in Atlanta at November 21-22, at the Grand Ballroom Hyatt Regency. Mens and Womens bodybuilding prejuding starts at 4:30pm on Friday, while figure begings at Saturday at 8am. All finals will starts at 6:40pm on Saturday. You can call Pam Betz for tickets at 407-876-4467, or email her at pambetz@aol.com

The 2009 Ironman Pro is moving its date, from two week before the Arnold Classic, to six weeks before the Arnold Classic, on January 24-25, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.  Here is a video of LT interviewing Ironman Magazine owner John Balik and promoter of the contest explaining the move. LT interviews John Balik