September – December 2009

2009 Mr. Olympia

          I traveled to Las Vegas in September for the Mr. Olympia contest again in 2009. I was working the Optimum Nutrition/ABB booth as well as doing interviews for Wayne Gallasch at the “Meet the Olympians” party on the Thursday night before the contest weekend.

          The Mr. Olympia this year was one of the most exciting in years! Two-time Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler, lost the title in 2008 and he was coming back to win the title back. Jay made history by accomplishing what no other bodybuilder had ever done before; namely, regain the title of Mr. Olympia after losing it. To read my full report on the contest, click here.

With Wayne and Tina Gallasch, the producers of GMV Productions	With Jaquelyn and Amanda at the Optimum Nutrition booth	Top NPC National bodybuilder Dan Decker stopped by the booth
	It was a lot of fun working the Optimum Nutrition booth at the Olympia Expo on Friday and Saturday. We had a great group of athletes and models that were busy handing out free samples all weekend. We handed out Optimum Nutrition T-shirts, Pure Pro 50 protein drinks as well as giving out free samples. We had one of the biggest booths going at the Olympia Expo! To see pictures from the Olympia Expo, click here.           It was also a lot of fun doing interviews for Wayne Gallasch. Wayne and his video production company, GMV Productions, were filming the official Mr. Olympia video. The interviews we filmed with the bodybuilders, figure and fitness athletes will all be used for a future DVD to be released by GMV. I’m looking forward to doing more interviews for Wayne at the Arnold Classic in March.
Hanging out with the girls at the Optimum Nutrition booth

2009 NPC Midwest IronMan

          On November 7th, 2010, NPC Illinois District Chairman Chuck Sanow promoted the 2009 NPC Midwest IronMan contest at the Gateway Theater in Chicago. His guest poser for the last several years has been Jay Cutler and Jay was back again this year. He received a warm welcome from the Chicago audience after his stunning victory in Las Vegas in September.

With Beth and Catherine at the Optimum Nutrition booth	With my friend Mel and guest poser 3 Time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler	Maria Cruz was runner-up in the Figure Division

          I was working the Optimum Nutrition/ABB booth in the lobby at the competition. One of our own athletes, Daniel Stevens, was competing in the show. Dan placed third in the Novice division and, at only 22 years old, he has a bright future in the sport. I conducted interviews with several of the competitors from the 2009 NPC Midwest IronMan for the ABB website. Check out the interviews here.

2009 NPC Natural Grand Prix

          One week after the NPC Midwest IronMan, Kevin Noble promoted his NPC Natural Mid-States contest in Rockford, Illinois. Kevin always puts on a top-notch show and he is one of the best bodybuilder promoters in the Midwest.

          This year, Kevin brought in Ricky “Tricky” Jackson as a guest poser. Tricky is a fantastic poser and he brought the house down with his posing routine. He was also in great shape as he just competed in the 202-pound class at the Mr. Olympia in September.

With my friend Nayda Cortes-Spight who was competing in her first Figure competition	The NPC Natural Mid-States had the best looking audience	All the Class winners from the Figure Open division.

          As I did at the Midwest Ironman the week before, I conducted interviews with several of the athletes from the Natural Mid-States for the American Body Building website. To check out all the great article and information on the ABB site, go to www.americanbodybuilding.com. To see the article on my interviews with the athletes from the NPC Natural Mid-States, click here.

Ultimate Body TV Show Auditions

          I am fortunate to be involved with a new reality TV show called “The Ultimate Body”. Television producer David Lyons, the creator of “Hog Heaven” and “Creepers”, decided to create a reality show based on Bodybuilders and Figure Athletes. Similar to the “The Biggest Loser”, “The Ultimate Body” will feature a competition among men and women competitors who will compete in a competition at the conclusion of the season.

          I did an interview with Dave on my Natural Bodybuilding Radio show and he explained the concept of the show there. Dave decided to bring me on as a Guest Judge along with the other three judges on the show.

          I traveled to Orlando, Florida on October 17, 2009, for the first set of auditions. With over 80 contestants to look at, we were busy all day long doing interviews and screening out all the men and women who were looking to appear on the TV show.

          For the next set of auditions, Dave decided to make me one of the three judges on the show. I was on the panel along with former pro bodybuilder and Bodybuilding Legend, Rich Gaspari and professional bikini competitor Marzia Prince. The second auditions took place on Saturday and Sunday, December 12th and 13th.

          The big news now is that the Ultimate Body TV Show has been picked up by Play Hard Pictures, the same production company that produced the “Hogan Knows Best” TV reality show. I will keep you up to date on the latest developments but keep your fingers crossed for the Ultimate Body TV Show. This would be a great boost to the sport of Bodybuilding if it makes it on the air!

Article Archives