1999 Women's Extravaganza Weekend (IFBB Pro Event) By -jabber Well, I still don't know what "name" they have christened this new contest, to my best recollection it's the IFBB Pro Women's Extravaganza. Because this event was overshadowed by the big sister to every event, the IFBB Ms. Olympia, perhaps not as much attention was spent devoted to this event as should be. Turns out, adding a new Pro Event, especially in light of the tenuous nature of the Ms. Olympia this year (and perhaps future years), should bode well for the new pro's that are crowned each and every year. Where are they to compete after turning Pro? Now they have another avenue (in addition to the Ms. I, the Women's Pro Worlds (to my knowledge on hiatus for a while but brought back this year to the Motor City with a vengeance), the Jan Tana (usually in quaint Roanoke), and the Ms. I. In its own right, it was a good show - easily worth seeing on its own, if not encapsulated with other femuscle events. And it gave ample opportunity for one of my favorites, new Pro Brenda Raganot, to flex her proverbial Pro muscles... There really was no distinct prejudging and finals. Since this event was held all in the afternoon (with the Fitness Strength curls between the prejudging and posing), we simply had the usual Pro prejudging format, then after the break, a mammoth longest posedown I can recall (instead of the usual Finals posing and short posedown), very entertaining to watch. In 14th was new pro, Sandy Matthews from the USA, in 13th was Denise Gerard from the USA, who interestingly enough, for this event, suffered from the powerlifter's potbelly stomach at times, during some of her poses (hopefully captured on -jabber camera :-) ). In 12th was Birgitta Halstrom from Sweden, in 11th was Fanny Barrios from Venezuela, in 10th was Melanie Horton from Canada. In 9th was Dayana Cadeau from the USA, in 8th was Monica Martin from Brazil who seems to have developed a rhythm that was curiously absent during her Jan Tana posing a scant couple months earlier. Perhaps she enrolled in Fred Astaire's dance studios? LOL In 7th was Canada's Donna Logue, perhaps displaying her best physique to date. In 6th was Desiree Ellis from Canada, in 5th was the ultra cute Cathy LaFrancois, also from our northern neighbor, Canada. A few comments about Ms. LaFrancois. Although in general, "not my type", I couldn't help but notice how gosh darn cute she appeared on stage. She got 5th place not from being "cute" but because she's a damn good fbb to boot, but, I cannot fathom anyone in the general populace looking at her and conjuring up any feelings of "she's manly", repulsive, ugly, or any of the other mean, usually unfair things the general populace have thrown toward fbb's in the past. If any guy watches Ms. LaFrancois and does NOT find her immensely cute, HE is the one with the problem, not us. ahemenougheditorializingahem In 4th place was Betty Pariso from the country of Well, I still don't know what "name" they have christened this new contest, to my best recollection it's the IFBB Pro Women's Extravaganza. Because this event was overshadowed by the big sister to every event, the IFBB Ms. Olympia, perhaps not as much attention was spent devoted to this event as should be. Turns out, adding a new Pro Event, especially in light of the tenuous nature of the Ms. Olympia this year (and perhaps future years), should bode well for the new pro's that are crowned each and every year. Where are they to compete after turning Pro? Now they have another avenue (in addition to the Ms. I, the Women's Pro Worlds (to my knowledge on hiatus for a while but brought back this year to the Motor City with a vengeance), the Jan Tana (usually in quaint Roanoke), and the Ms. I. In its own right, it was a good show - easily worth seeing on its own, if not encapsulated with other femuscle events. And it gave ample opportunity for one of my favorites, new Pro Brenda Raganot, to flex her proverbial Pro muscles... There really was no distinct prejudging and finals. Since this event was held all in the afternoon (with the Fitness Strength curls between the prejudging and posing), we simply had the usual Pro prejudging format, then after the break, a mammoth longest posedown I can recall (instead of the usual Finals posing and short posedown), very entertaining to watch. In 14th was new Pro, Sandy Matthews from the USA, in 13th was Denise Gerard from the USA, who interestingly enough, for this event, suffered from the powerlifter's potbelly stomach at times, during some of her poses (hopefully captured on -jabber camera :-) ). In 12th was Birgitta Halstrom from Sweden, in 11th was Fanny Barrios from Venezuela, in 10th was Melanie Horton from Canada. In 9th was Dayana Cadeau from the USA, in 8th was Monica Martin from Brazil who seems to have developed a rhythm that was curiously absent during her Jan Tana posing a scant couple months earlier. Perhaps she enrolled in Fred Astaire's dance studios? LOL In 7th was Canada's Donna Logue, perhaps displaying her best physique to date. In 6th was Desiree Ellis from Canada, in 5th was the ultra cute Cathy LaFrancois, also from our northern neighbor, Canada. A few comments about Ms. LaFrancois. Although in general, "not my type", I couldn't help but notice how gosh darn cute she appeared on stage. She got 5th place not from being "cute" but because she's a damn good fbb to boot, but, I cannot fathom anyone in the general populace looking at her and conjuring up any feelings of "she's manly", repulsive, ugly, or any of the other mean, usually unfair things the general populace have thrown toward fbb's in the past. If any guy watches Ms. LaFrancois and does NOT find her immensely cute, HE is the one with the problem, not us. ahemenougheditorializingahem In 4th place was Betty Pariso from the country of Texas, oops, the USA. :-) Her getting only 4th is of significance here, because the top 3 in this Pro Event automatically qualify for the Ms. Olympia (to be held scant hours later). While Ms. Pariso looked good (and was coming off a fabulous guest posing routine a scant half a month ago in Temple, Texas (at the Heart of Texas - reviewed elsewhere), indeed the top 3 were a bit better. In 3rd place was one of my personal favorites, Yaxeni Oriquen from Venezuela (but now living in Miami). Although in very impressive shape and size, I felt she was a touch off from her all-time best, to date, of the Jan Tana appearance. Why did she (and one other top 3 fbb who already qualified for the Ms. O) enter? I didn't ask her nor the other top 3 fbb, but I assume it was the chance to win a Pro event. She had a good chance and came close, but. In 2nd place was another of my personal favorites, new Pro Brenda Raganot's first Pro appearance. And what an appearance! She beat out many, MANY experienced Pro's to finish 2nd. I was secretly rooting for her to win this event, as she had arguably the best symmetry and best torso thickness (chest) at the show. Someone else rightfully pointed out to the biased -jabber that her bicep peaks were a bit lacking compared to the winner and a couple others at the show. But "oh that symmetry". Not to mention she's an incredibly attractive package, IMO. After the show, I asked Brenda how it compared to the amateur shows. She said, surprisingly, she was more nervous at this show than most others. Luckily it didn't seem to show... We didn't see those moist underarm splotches from the audience, Brenda - LOL! In 1st was someone who simply deserved to win a show - who when she did, most felt, it's about GD time. Ms. Laura Creavalle from Guyana (but to my knowledge currently living in Maine), although not the largest, was perhaps the most refined poser and physique on stage. Great bicep peaks, the trademark abs as good as a fitness competitor's (that's now a compliment, not an insult), just a great package all over. One member of the audience pointed out to me that if Ms. Creavalle and Ms. Oriquen didn't get greedy and enter the Pro Event (since they already qualified for the Ms. O), that would've allowed Betty Pariso (4th place) and Cathy LaFrancois (5th place) to enter the Ms. O, also. The way that worked, only Ms. Raganot, who previously didn't qualify for the Ms. O, qualified because of her top 3 placing (2nd) in this event. My comment? Pardon me while I clear my throat: ahemsowhatifBettyandCathydidn'tqualifyitwasYaxeniandLaura'srighttoenterahem Great event, great posedown, On to the big sister...