2001 NPC Jr. USA's, a -jabber review... by -jabber Preamble: This show was held in Hartford, CT on April 28th, 2001. Ah, Hartford, this was the first time I've ever been in New England (never been east of New York in my life till now). The small quiet downtown of Hartford that weekend was marked by quite pleasant weather - I'd heard the week before AND after they'd experienced hotspells of around 90 degrees which curiously was warmer than Dallas (known for its summer heat) had gotten to in 2001 to date. This year, I couldn't attend both, had to make a choice of either attending the '01 Emerald Cup in Seattle the weekend before or this show in Hartford. I'd been fortunate enough to attend both in both '99 and '00. For all intensive purposes, although not a huge show, this Northerner living in Texas made the right decision, a very fun weekend, and oh yeah, there was a show going on, too. :-) Overall Atmosphere: Because of Hartford's locale quite far north in the United States, they had indoor walkways from one building to another, despite it being a small city. The Host Hotel being right across the street from the Civic Center and connected by one of those walkways made this, IMO, quite a good location. What was unfortunate is although there was an "audience", I found the attendance somewhat disappointing. The northeast, nestled between NYC and Boston (and not "that" far from New Jersey and Philadelphia) should make it an ideal location for many bodybuilding enthusiasts to drive to (and a few fools like myself to fly to all the way from Texas lol). However from many reports, including firsthand experiences, there was difficulty in obtaining tickets for this show. And I believe the somewhat disappointing attendance reflected this. Diehard fans such as Stu (from the DC area) and myself may have persevered, but it was a bit frustrating - not able to obtain tickets early - having incorrect phone numbers posted of gyms - then having to "fax" in an order form (hint: not everyone has a fax available to them even in 2001) and so forth. This process of obtaining tickets should be painless and a joy. I felt a word in that direction was necessary here. The Civic Center was basically the flat floor, booths inside the area where the show went on layout. The lighting was good and in some ways, booths close by like that make for a good atmosphere for folks to mingle while still keeping an eye on the show. Otherwise, kudos to the weekend logistics. Strangely enough, I've not seen the "usual" players with the results of this show (such as getbig.com, Ironman, Flex, npcnewsonline.com, eastcoastmuscle.com, etc.). I will only review the FBB's here, but will make a few comments about "figness" (my pet name for the fitness and figure classes :-) ) as this was the first show I've attended with the new NPC figure class. On with the brief review... Open LW: 7) Jacqueline Lipari 6) Valerie Varnauskas 5) Pam Shealy 4) Stephanie Ayers 3) Rita Kaya 2) Muriel Brewer 1) Mara Silva It's always great to see names and faces I've not seen before (read female bodybuilding is hardly dead - new folks entering the fold all the time). I personally would've given 3rd placer Rita Kaya from the Cincinnati area 2nd here. A master's competitor also, this redhead was thick and very well-balanced for this show In days of yore, the judging guidelines may have suggested she win this class, I'd fully understand that. 2nd placer Muriel Brewer may have been a bit more ripped than either Rita or the winner, but I felt her symmetry wasn't as good, not enough sweep to her thighs, etc. Certainly if the NPC wants to reward attractive competitors (in addition to not massive but artistic muscular physiques), Mara Silva fits the bill. Last year this Brazilian who currently lives in New Jersey, along with her sister Tanya both finished 4th (Mara in LW, Tanya in MW). This year Tanya and seemingly the whole first row of the audience cheered Mara to victory. Somewhat slightly muscled, aesthetically Mara was phenomenal. With a bit more muscle maturity, watch for her in higher level shows. And if anyone thinks FBB's are unattractive, you've not seen the LW winner of the '01 Jr. USA's. Nuff said. Open MW: 7) Chris Vaillancovet 6) Stella Krypinski 5) Melissa Marino 4) Melody Leese 3) Deion Lozon 2) Kerry Quinn 1) Jill Livoti More faces I've not seen before in addition to familiar folks. 7th placer Chris Vaillancovet, a personal favorite of mine in this class, had a penchant for doing most musculars on stage. Way cool, but she needs a bit more muscle maturity and dieting to progress above this level. 6th placer Stella Krypinski, what do I know, I thought would be a favorite in the middleweights. She looked a bit off in Hartford. 4th placer Melody Leese had a sort of Ice (of American Gladiators (Lori Fetrick)) look about her and was much more impressive than a scant few years ago, the last time I'd seen her. If the judges were trying to pic the "prettiest" competitor to win each class (I felt they did that in the LW and HW), they should've picked the ultra-dieted down Deion Lozon. This 3rd placer blonde with incredible definition just needs a bit more fullness (and perhaps less aggressive dieting) to wreak havoc at future shows. Still, very symmetrical and aesthetic. Solid 2nd place finish for a familiar face, Kerry Quinn. Kerry was the bodybuilder's bodybuilder in this class, thick and full all over. But they gave it to 1st placer Jill Livoti. Ms. Livoti still has a look similar to a more streamlined version of Denise Hoshor, and she looked quite comfortable on stage. Plus she had a vocal cheering section. Open HW: 4) Jennifer Turner 3) Trudy Ireland 2) Michelle Falsetta 1) Lory Emory Probably a new face to New England, I'd seen Jennifer Turner before in many shows in Texas as she's from the Dallas suburb of Carrollton. Solid 4th place finish. :-) At prejudging when I saw them "move" Trudy Ireland (arguably the most muscular and best balanced HW in the show) from the middle to one side, not good. Guess that wasn't the look they were going for. This was my first time seeing 3rd placer Trudy Ireland on stage. This finish almost deserved a boo, but I was conserving my vocal chords... 2nd placer Michelle Falsetta, another familiar face, had a softer aesthetic flowing artistic look, compared to a couple other shows I've seen her in, and received a good placing because of it. Unfortunately her quad sweep seemed to suffer from this transition here. Out of literally nowhere, 1st placer Lory Emory from South Carolina was the deserving winner here. First time I've seen Ms. Emory, as with certainly Mara in the LW's, she's a great example to those folks who think FBB's are unattractive - a great way to change their minds. Ms. Emory's lower body was a bit more thickly muscled than her upper body however, and she had some of the most outrageous glutes seen at this level (a bodypart I generally don't notice :-) ). Open Overall: O) Lory Emory Although not really a boo, when predictably the judges gave the HW Lory Emory the overall, I'd stated loud enough for MC Kenny Kassel to hear "You know you don't ALWAYS have to give the overall to the HW here". I personally felt Mara Silva's look should've carried the show, but... Congrats nonetheless, Lory Emory's an impressive new face, no doubt hoping she can reach the same success as quickly as another "attractive" blond has in the past year, none other than Oklahoma's Jennifer McVicar. Figness: As I stated previously, unfortunately I don't have the scorecards from the fitness nor figure classes. Always unsure of whether we'll see 2 or 3 height classes in fitness (the NPC really should be uniform here regardless of the number of entrants - instead of keeping us guessing), there was a relatively small turn out for fitness at this show. I don't believe that's because of a lacking number of competitors NOR defectors to the new figure class, but rather because many seem to opt to skip the Jr. shows (Jr. USA's/Jr. Nationals) and go straight to the National shows (USA's and Nationals) instead. We had a mind-numbingly large field of fitness competitors in '00 at those two shows. There were many duplicates in the figure class (women who also entered fitness), only a couple we only saw in figure. Okay, basically, make no bones about it, figure is fitness WITHOUT the routines - that's what I saw. The physiques aren't more or less muscular than the fitness physiques. The big problem I see is that there really was no "drama" to the figure division, none whatsoever. Folks know I prefer FBB's to fitness competitors anyway (from previous reviews), but I'm trying to be fair here. Same "quarter turn" to the right and NOTHING different in figure - as I said, no "drama", pizzazz, or whathaveyou. Just another excuse to see very attractive in-shape nicely muscled women on stage doing, well, basically nothing. :-) At least in WABBA/NABBA (who have figure and physique (like our FBB's but divided by height not weight)) their figure classes "do" something. That something is light posing, open-hand double bicep, and other poses. Certainly to prevent the figure from being a "subset" of fitness, I think something like that will be necessary. But time will tell. Also of note, although as I stated the figure competitors are quite attractive probably to the general populace, certainly we had some very attractive FBB's in this show, too - is the gap narrowing, widening, being blurred? Not sure, stay tuned. Overall Observations: Okay, let me see if I can remember what celebs I saw in the audience here. First of course was Sondra Faas from Poughkeepsie, NY. This 5'0"'s thick upper body takes a back seat to no one. She's getting ready for a tune-up show, the June 2nd Amateur Grand Prix in the Bronx (before again entering a national level show (USA's and/or Nationals). She confided she probably should've entered this show as a HW since there were only 4 competitors, she would've been assured 5th place. I responded, 4th. :-) Hindsight... Stacy Garonzik was in attendance putting everyone to shame with her stellar calves and still amazing quads (yeah I don't notice legs - that's what others told me). As far as Connecticut residents, Ms. Dawn Whitham WAS in attendance, but I don't recall seeing Tatianna Butler there. Curious. Looking phenomenally healthy after some major health problems she'd encountered (I think a lot of us sighed a collective sigh of relief that she pulled through) on hand was the large (understatement here) Nicole Bass. Last but hardly least, a very impressive off-season Elena Seiple-Perticari from New Jersey was spotted. Coming off an impressive 2nd place LW (LW? she was huge! lol) at the '00 Nationals, she's gearing toward one and only one show this year, the '01 Nationals (LW again) in Atlanta. Okay, I'm sure I'm missing someone here, but I can't recall at the moment. Until next time, I remain... -jabber