1999 NPC Jr. USA Review, -jabber style Bodybuilding Bodybuilding: Ah yes, the reason I went... In the lightweight class (up to 118 lbs.), in 3rd place was Tara Guismon, from Largo, FL. Obviously deserved 3rd place at this show, but not bad size, especially for a lightweight. In 2nd place (hmm, was this a controversial decision) was Karen Howe from Chesapeake, VA, an incredibly young looking 45 years old. I had the benefit of sitting in the row right in front of Karen when she was in the audience. She was a very tan blonde with braided hair who looked something like a much thinner less muscular version cross between Sue Price and Yaz Boyum (when she's in contest shape). Quite good company to keep, IMO. She looked traditionally like a thin lightweight, with good conditioning but slight muscles. In 1st place was a "big girl" named Kimberly Cooper from the way cool city of Albuquerque, NM (where they teach kids in Kindergarten how to spell Albuquerque). It was amazing how thick this girl was for a lightweight. Plus, when she flexed her abs, she blew the other lightweights off the stage (including the lean Karen Howe). Her biggest fault(s) were her left bicep wasn't up to her massive right bicep in size, and she was a bit light in her tan. But this is bodybuilding, and if judging mainly muscle, hey, I have no complaints there. In the middleweights (up to 132 lbs.) was the biggest no brainer decision I've seen in person ever (I've seen a couple like this on Musclesport, USA over the years but never in person). In 2nd place (in a 2 person class) was Sonia Howe (no relation to Karen Howe presumably) from Orlando, FL. She just wasn't in condition for the show, she was thick and actually "fat" looking, but in that more attractive way an fbb gets when she really plumps up during the off-season. Pity because off- season women don't enter shows - hmm, maybe no one told Sonia that? :-) Anyway, later, she did some award presentation in a sleeveless blouse and skirt. She's an attractive young lady, just didn't diet right (obviously) for this show. In her skirt though, she presented some formidable and attractive huge calves (kind of not drawn to the attention when her entire physique was displayed). In 1st place was the biggest overkill I'd seen in a long time. Ravanna Roberts (spelling correct as I got it from head judge Sandi Renalli), from North Carolina, wasn't just a wee bit better, she was smokin' in definition. A very deeply tanned dirty blonde, she looked reminiscent of the great Donna Restivo, just not as big but way more defined than I've ever seen Ms. Restivo. Even an abs connoisseur like me took notice that Ravanna was extraordinary there (that alone was worth the price of admission). The rest of her was in great condition if not that muscularly thick - not bad for that level though. In 2nd place in the heavyweights (over 132 lbs) was Suzanne Williams from Alabama. She and the eventual winner, Catherine Wilbert from New Orleans, both looked fairly tall and lean and blonde. Their physiques were somewhat similar... until they flexed. Then the winner got real impressive looking while Ms. Williams just showed reasonable muscle. Ah, did the -jabber behave? I was wondering if there'd be an opportunity for me to make myself known, as I'd been quiet (reasonably so) up to that point. Okay, what happened? :-) Well, when Catherine Wilbert posed, what made her look like the clear winner was she had huge biceps (her front double bicep shot was her best - she made her abs stand out during that pose - THAT shows polish, more women should tighten their tummy to show definition that rivals their overhead abdominals shot while hitting the double biceps - many women WITH great abdominal definition don't do that while flexing their arms. Very artistic arms, compared with a small waist for her large size. So... what happened? Kenny Kassel announced Catherine Wilbert 2nd place! The audience (remember this is the polite deep south) didn't boo, but kind of gasped and murmured in disapproval. Enough so, Kenny heard it. I saw my chance - I was GLAD I was right in this instance (if I wasn't I would've felt foolish) but I said, "No, that's wrong, Kenny". He responded, "No, it was a close contest", mentioned some other blurbing that an MC will do when an unpopular decision is voiced. He heard more murmuring and had yet to say that Suzanne Williams got 1st. I yelled a bit louder, "No, you're wrong, Kenny". I'd noticed a few people around me nod in agreement and wonder about my brazenness in voicing the truth. Then I see one of the judges (can't remember if it was Deshay Ebert or Sandi Renalli) bring another sheet of paper up to Kenny Kassel. He sheepishly announced that he made a mistake, he's sorry but Suzanne Williams DID get 2nd and Catherine Wilbert DID win the heavyweight class (as I'd asserted). Very interesting, no? In the overall, we had a massive lightweight with an unsymmetrically huge right arm, an extremely attractive (Marianna Komlos cute facially, no kidding) middleweight, bodywise resembling Donna Restivo, but slighter but more muscular abs, and a heavyweight with a streamlined muscular torso and very artistic well-balanced large biceps. Who did they pick? Well, as the posedown progressed, you saw that middleweight Ravanna Roberts had the best definition, tan, tremendous abs in a good field, and probably the thickest most muscular torso and chest, just less heavily muscled limbs. They did pick the most polished, Ravanna Roberts as overall, a good decision, IMO. But watch out for Catherine Wilbert, she's got a promising future, too. The guest poser was Kristie Kelly, who I believe is from Alabama, and the Team Universe Middleweight Champion. I was looking forward to this. Interestingly, Bethany Howlett, when I talked to her in the lobby had kind of scoffed as if Kristie was nothing special. I hadn't seen Kristie in the lobby so I didn't know (but knew she was impressive years back). The beginning of Kristie's routine was attention-getting. Basically there were two separate backdrops on stage where Kristie "danced" behind, you only getting to see her silhouette in reddish light. She didn't do a whole lot of flexing, and it probably was nearly impossible to photograph. Oh well, I knew she'd come out and show that magnificent body of hers in the bright light and then the slew of -jabber pics would begin, right? Well... when she did come out, her body looked 'cute' and in good balance but not overly muscular and dosh garnet she barely flexed! That would've been a great intro to her routine (come on NOW do the real muscle posing) except for one thing. That was the ENTIRE routine by one Kristie Kelly. Oh well, hopefully they didn't pay much for that guest posing performance. :-) Sadly, she could've provided so much more...