Ms I 1999 By Jabber Fitness Some general comments, I'm gonna lump the prejudging and finals together and simply talk briefly about each competitor last to first. As with all fitness shows of late, I was delighted with the "largeness" exhibited by the fitness girls, some indeed are quite large, strong, and muscular. Also, as of late, I personally do not find "fitness" to be necessarily any more attention getting than bodybuilding. Although the women may have arguably more attractive looks (some are quite gorgeous, indeed, facially alone - let alone their bodies), I see just as much, if not more attention gained from the fbb's. My observations are that the "major" bodybuilding magazines are indeed missing the boat and doing a disservice to fbb's by favoring fitness women over fbb's, probably about 4 to 1. Enough of my high horse (until later...). Also, since I judge the fitness show more on physique alone, I'm not always the best judge of fitness shows. But as with a couple other shows, maybe the fitness routines are stagnating, I don't know, although I am amazed and think these are very fine and coordinated athletes (and deserve praise for their achievements) I found the routines blended together and weren't necessarily any better than at lesser fitness contests. Luckily, since I was standing, I didn't doze off. :-) I liked the fitness comparisons, simply looking at these incredibly conditioned women just "standing" there, especially my favorite was from the front where their abs showed prominently. But when they had the Trazer, which was supposedly an objective measure of coordination, agility, and some other bullshit that evidently sounded good at the time, I just walked away. It was some virtual computer bullshit, which pretty much made the fitness competitors dance around like in a video game. After leaving in disgust, and making a complete circle around the Expo, I ended up on the left side of the stage while the Trazer event was still going on. Since I was there to take pics, and I have an "aesthetic" angle that I bring, as stupid as this event seemed to me, hey, the girls thighs did look pretty cool from the side as they did this event. But I really didn't pay much attention to scores or anything, so I'm pretty oblivious to that, sorry. In 16th place was Lisa Dulovic, who in my opinion is one of the shorter but cutely, thickly muscled competitors. In my opinion, muscular or not, she was way off from her stunning look at the '98 Jan Tana, regardless of if the judges didn't reward her for her stupendous condition then. I have no idea what her routine was like (remember they all blended together?). In 15th place was Michelle Bellini. I believe Michelle should lobby for facial beauty to be a round, because she'd kick ass! As I'd mentioned before, she looked no larger on stage than I'd previously seen her, so I was surprised how thick she looked up close the evening before. A fine physique, but I believe she had been a bit sharper in previous events. In 14th place was a local girl, Columbus, Ohio's own Karen Konyha. Obviously not a big name, in the Arnold Classic official brochure, I saw an undefined blonde, ho-hum. She, more than ANYONE else at the show looked SO much better in person. She had to be one of the hardest, most defined women at the show, bar none. I was quite impressed in person with her condition. I'd also heard she works at a local Gentlemen's Club in Columbus. You mean they have them in that lame city? Just kidding... Unless her routine was bad (remember they blended together I don't remember?) I would've placed her higher, unknown or not. In 13th place was Alexandra Beres, who is quite tall and statuesque. The first couple shows I'd seen her in, I'd remarked she's way too thin and not muscular enough, but she's quite coordinated and has cool, graceful routines. Well, damn if she isn't getting buff! A positively dreamy combination of facial beauty and muscularity now, I was most impressed with her "improvement" more than anything else. If only I remembered her routine, I'd be able to tell you if her graceful, flowing nature had been hampered by her added muscularity. Heck, I've probably got a few pics just of her forearms (how many fitness competitors would you take pics of their forearms?). In 12th place was the well-known Theresa Hessler. I would assume she was pretty disappointed at this kind of placing. I mean this is the great Theresa Hessler we're talking about! Unless her routine really was bad (you got it, don't remember :-) ), I'm a bit surprised here. Other than her abs, however, the rest of her physique was outclassed by many others. But those abs... It was interesting seeing her standing around at a booth at the Expo, those abs standing at attention 100% of the time... In 11th place was Lisa Lowe, who (what do I know) I thought would be a favorite coming into this event. In a non-traditional way, she exudes classiness and polish. Although I barely remember it, her routine was classy. In 10th place was Lovena Stamatiou-Tuley. What's up with this Stamatiou schtick? I think she just made up a name to hear the MC announce that name over and over, and she probably cracked up each time that name was uttered. Ha! She looked about like as I'd seen her before, which means run-of-the-mill good fitness competitor look. Physically she looked somewhat similar to the much higher placing Mary Yockey (but Lovena's a bit older). In 9th place was Cynthia Hill. Without her previously hard abdominals, I barely recognized her. Looked like many women (who are in great shape) you'd see on the beach. Granted, that's got to be a great beach, but unremarkable amongst this remarkable group. In 8th place was Stacy Simons, who's main claim to fame is attention-getting double-jointedness. I'd be hard pressed to say that should "help" in her placings, but... it makes her routines plenty interesting and memorable (something many lacked). Stacy, along with Lisa Lowe, was one of the two black fitness competitors, and arguably one of the most attractive overall packages there. She appeared quite large and muscular in the group, but not as detailed as some. She's got a great future, IMO, but probably didn't deserve placing higher than some veterans at this event. In a tie for 6th place was Melissa Frabbiele. Since the "coin" evidently did not like her, she was not included in the top 6. Here's someone who I'd considered a non-remarkable blonde previously lost in the shuffle. But her routines are getting more and more polished and quite frankly, from the side in Trazer, her thighs were something else! She's paying her dues and I would not've been upset if she placed a bit higher, as she's definitely growing on me over the years. The coin toss winner for 6th was Amanda Blank, who I'm drawing a complete blank as to why she placed that high. She was in good condition, but unremarkable. Her claim to fame was winning IMO VERY undeservedly the NPC Nationals fitness competition. Needless to say, I don't remember her routine, as I find her, excuse me while I clear my throat: ahemoverratedahem In 5th was the unforgettable Timea Majorova. Hands down the BEST body on the fitness stage, combined with an attractive and memorable face, truly dreamy. Her routine was memorable only because of the fact that her outfits tend to be extremely skimpy amongst a group that's oftentimes known for skimpy outfits. I do believe the judges realize how fantastic her body is, and in time, her placing should improve. In 4th was Debi Stern from my current hometown of Dallas. Formerly Debi Lee, she's paid her dues and usually is one of the better women at endurance type events in the past. She came in looking muscular and hard, but I'd seen her better in the past. I was a bit surprised at her high placing at this event. In 3rd was Lena Johannesen, someone who I'd have no problem if she won the event. Although her body definitely took a back seat to Timea Majorova and her face took a back seat to Michelle Bellini, she's all around quite good, and proved to be quite agile and coordinated. I certainly thought she blew the doors off the top two... In 2nd was Mary Yockey, who had previously won the Jan Tana fitness, much to my chagrin. Basically, IMO, a well-toned but forgettable blonde, I wonder why she got this placing. I'm still scratching my head over this one. If her routine was so great, why do I not remember one stitch of it? Hmm... In 1st place was Susie Curry, of Raleigh, NC, a previous hometown of the -jabber for a short spell. While I personally like Ms. Curry's half-Vietnamese, half-Irish look, I thought she was way outclassed in body, strength, routine, and face. What the hell did I miss here? Sheesh. At least I was glad she prevented Mary Yockey (which sounds like a Japanese cooking style) from winning. I knew you had a purpose, Susie. :-) I personally, although others thought it lame, found her comments to Arnold Schwarzenegger cute, about coming back just to see him again, and so forth.