The following athletes are required to participate in The NPC NEWS Photo Shoot With J.M. Manion.

• MEN’S OVERALL WINNER
• WOMEN’S OVERALL WINNER
• THE 6 FIGURE HEIGHT CLASS WINNERS

When: Sunday, July 27, 2008
Where: The Embassy Suites Hotel Swimming Pool
Time: 9 a.m. – 12 Noon

What to Bring:
The 3 Overall Winners Are To Bring Their Overall Trophies Only.
The Men’s & Women’s Overall Winners Are To Bring Their Posing Suit & Posing Oil.
The 6 Figure Height Class Winners Are To Bring Their 2-Piece Competition Suits Along With Any Other 2-Piece Swimsuits.

Women should have their hair and makeup done prior to the shoot.

Roland Kickinger is a little busy these days, down in New Mexico filming the 4th movie in the Terminator Series, titled Terminator 4: Salvation: The Future Begins.  Set for a release date of May 22nd, 2009, Roland is playing the character of the T-800, which was the original terminator.

This movie picks off where Terminator 3 ended, where the Skynet computer has destroyed most of humanity. John Conner, who will be played by Christian Bale, and his group start to lead the rebellion against the machines.  Roland Kickinger is set to go after John Conner, who will be protected by a good terminator, in this case, played by Josh Brolin.

Here is a synopsis released by Warner Bros. Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale), the man fated to be the leader of the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators, and the future he was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a Terminator whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they find out a terrible secret that may lead to the possible annihilation of mankind.

The official web site is at http://www.houstonproshow.com/

Here is the current competitor lists 

Mens

Fouad Abiad – Canada
Ray Arde – USA
Eric Castagnet – France
Gianluca Catapano – Italy
Darrem Charles – USA
Aiman Faour – Lebanon
Leo Ingram – USA
Pavol Jablonicky – Spain
Ken Jones – USA
Jeffrey Long – USA
Evgeny Mishin – Russia
Craig Richardson – USA
Silvio Samuel – Spain
Armin Scholtz – Germany
Daniele Seccarecci – Italy
Heinz Senior – Venezuela
Bill Wilmore – USA
Nathan Wonsley – USA

Figure

Jelna Abbou – USA
Elisha Archibold – USA
Houng Arcinas – USA
Jane Awad – Canada
Natalie Benson – USA
Susanne Bock – Germany
Tivisay Briceno – USA
Darlina Brown – USA
Krissy Chin – USA
Andrea Dumon – USA
Heather Mae French – USA
Bernadette Galvan – USA
Nancy Georges – USA
Celeste Gonzalez – Spain
Candice John – Trinidad
Carol King – Barbados
Patricia Mello – Brazil
Petra Mertl – USA
Karen Mullarkey-Barringer – USA
Melissa Pearo – USA
Amy Peters – USA
Felicia Romero – USA
Liane Seiwald – USA
Jessica Steffens – USA

Fitness

Maggie Blanchard – USA
Myriam Capes – Canada
Jennifer Cassetty – USA
Shannon Dey – USA
Nicole Duncan – USA
Heidi Fletcher – USA
Bethany Gainey – USA
Tracey Greenwood – USA
Susan Groshek – USA
Amy Haddad – USA
Liza Hughes – USA
Laticia Jackson – USA
Lisbeth Marquez – Venezuela
Lisa McCormick – USA
Shannon Meteraud – USA
Leslie Rae Newton – USA
Traci Redding – USA
Erin Riley – USA
Jessica Rohm – USA
Kristina Rojas – USA
Nicole Rollolazo – USA
Amy Villa Nelson – USA
Trish Warren – USA
Stacy Wig – USA

I ran across this ad for Tesa Tape. The ad is pretty cool looking and it features a bodybuilder as part of the series. This particular ad features a bodybuilder who looks strikingly like Hidetada Yamagishi. Hmmmm – what do you think? Considering he is the most recognizable Japanese Bodybuilder, I’m going with yes it is him. Did they get permission to use Hidetada’s image? No word as of yet but we’re looking into it.

Ad for Tesa Tape – “Pack Ultra Strong”

Image of Hidetada Yamagishi

Everyone is saying that Dave Jacobs killed Amanda Savell, then killed himself. Today, the Plano police confirmed that Dave Jacobs committed suicide, but still have not ruled on how Amanda received those multiple gun wounds. Here is the official report below.

Funeral arrangements are set for Monday, and more information will be coming. You can also send cards, flowers or your thoughts to the Earheart Residence at

The Earheart Family
C/O Remember Amanda
3912 Penzance Dr.
Plano, TX 75093

There will be a moment of silence at the NPC Lone Star show in Dallas this weekend, as well as many of us will be remembering how wonderful Amanda was.

 
I received the call very early this morning here in Los Angeles. What is going on? People rarely call this early? Did you hear the news? Amanda Jo Savell and Dave Jacobs were found dead in their house? WTF? Are you serious? Bull! No, I am serious? They are treating it as a murder, although the rumors are saying that Dave Jacobs shot Amanda and then killed himself?

I am still in a daze from hearing that such a beautiful person is gone this morning, and that we still don’t know much as the police are investigating to what happened? Some are saying it is a double murder, because of Dave Jacobs involvement with steroids, his talking about which players in the NFL are involved, and so on. Others are saying that this is a case of jealously, whereas Dave flipped out because Amanda was talking to various guys when Dave wasn’t there.  We don’t know.  All I know is that Amanda is not going to be around anymore? All I can remember is her friendly voice, great attitude, pictures and video interviews we did with her, and I feel sadness for her friends and family. 

From various friends, we know that the last anyone talked to Amanda is Monday evening. When her friends and family tried to text or call her Tuesday, she did not answer. That was unusual. By Wednesday, they were very worried that something had happened. They called the police to check it out. They finally went to check it out late Wednesday night. And it was Thursday morning that the worst fears had come true. Amanda was training to compete in the 2008 IFBB Europa Pro Figure show in August. Her friends knew something was wrong, because there was no way she would no be training for the show, and not calling her friends. Today, the figure community is stunned. This stuff just doesn’t occur.  

More rumors coming in – that Dave Jacobs was not there for the weekend, came back Monday, looked at Amanda’s cell phone calls, and flipped out when he realized that she was talking to guys that she dated before. People have said that Dave was insanely jealous, that he had flipped out in the past, and they had warned Amanda to not stay with him. It does appear that Dave shot her, and then killed himself.  Wow.  

Still, others say it was a double murder.  More information will come soon, perhaps clearing some up. But then again, I don’t think I will ever understand why. Amanda was 30 years old.  She will be missed. My condolences go out to her family and friends.

The June 9th episode of American Gladiators will be a ‘Hulk’ themed episode with guest star Lou Ferrigno from the original “Incredible Hulk” tv series who will share hosting duties with Hulk Hogan. The Hulk themed episode is an effort on the part of NBC to cross promote for NBC Universal whose Universal Pictures are producing the new ‘Incredible Hulk’ film with Marvel Studios. The episode will feature a hulked out Gladiator Arena and an exclusive 60-second preview from the upcoming movie “The Incredible Hulk”. The new movie which stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt opens four days later on June 13th.

For the Hulk themed episode the shows set which is housed in the L.A. Sports Arena will be redone with various Hulk features including the pool being green, green lighting, green graphics and green balls for Powerball. Audience members were given 1,000 pairs of Hulk hands to wear throughout the episode and some will wear Hulk masks. Also Gladiators competing in the Gauntlet will use Hulk Hands to stop the oncoming contenders.

Wow – just when we thought that Monday morning, jury selection would begin, Craig Titus has taken a plea deal, as did Kelly Ryan, which effectively ends the trial. Craig Titus will plead guilty to second degree murder, first degree kidnapping and first degree arson. Which means the judge can sentence Craig to between 17-55 years in jail.

Kelly Ryan will plead guilty to battery with a deadly weapon and first degree arson.

Craig hopes to speak on July 18th, which is when he will be sentenced. Hopefully, by then, we will learn more on what happened in this tragic murder.

It was a very hot day here in sunny Los Angeles, and thousands of people flocked to the beach for some cooler air and fun in the sun. The workout area at Muscle Beach Venice had closed about two weeks ago, as Bodybuilding.com and Headblade put up over $50,000 to completely bring new Star Trac equipment and flooring to the famous area. And on Saturday, May 17th, at 2pm, the red ribbon was cut, and reopened.

Thanks to Joe Wheatley for getting this done, along of course, with the city of Los Angeles, and the sponsors who helped keep Muscle Beach brand new. Also on this day, Jack LaLanne and Franco Columbu’s plaques were put on the Bodybuilding Hall of Fame, which is right on the boardwalk on Muscle Beach.

For pictures of the dedication ceremony, please go to:

At the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia, on Saturday, May 3rd, Amy Fry won the 2008 IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Figure contest. This was the second IFBB Pro Figure contest of the year, and it was an exciting one. Second place was Nicole Wilkins, and in third, was Teresa Anthony, in her pro debut. This contest was held in conjunction with the 2008 NPC Pittsburgh Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure championships.

Here are the results for the 2008 Pittsburgh Pro Figure Results

1. Amy Fry
2. Nicole Wilkins
3. Teresa Anthony
4. Heather Mae French
5. Shannon Meteraud
6. Heather Green
7. Catherine Andersen
8. Huong Arcinas
9. Bernadette Galvan
10. Allison Williams
11. Hazal Nelson
12. Tivisay Briceno
13. Melissa Pearo
14. Rosa Maria Romero
15. Nicole Pitcher-Scott
16. Melissa Montanaro-Griffin
17. Brenda Marie Smith
18. Tammy Strome
18. Laura Sutter