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Forgotten Videos! NZFBB Akl Champs, 20 June |
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Almost forgot! we have the Overall Figure and Men's Comparisons Vids to show you.
Watch the best figures and physiques in each class in their final compulsories for the overall title. |
Overall Figure Comparisons Vid |
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Overall Men Comparisons Vid |
Open Figure Prejudging Vid |
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Open Men Prejudging Vid |
Open Men's Routine Vid |
Open Figure Girls Routine Vid |
NZFBB Auckland Champs Report
The poster of the NZFBB Auckland Champs held a lot of excitement and promise. The Champs was a changing of the guard from Mark Stewart who'd organized the Akl Champs for many years to Moe Moussawi, an IFBB Pro. A professional athlete who'd competed in many shows and probably attended many more so he knew what a good show should be, so expectations were high from everyone.
He was taking on the responsibility to take care of athletes and spectators alike. The poster promised a spectacular show which included special guests current Ms Olympia Figure Jen Gates and of course Moe himself was going to guest pose along with Kiwi Mike Debenham. Plus there's the anticipation of seeing Kiwi boxer Shane Cameron and also an exciting dance troupe was going to be there. So yes, many in the bodybuilding community were excited at seeing their own athletes on stage.
But alas, this show was overhyped and under delivered. It began at the morning show when athletes were asked to be at the venue for briefing at 8.45am for a 9.30am start. |
Maureen, Lisa and Sesa
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Bodybuilders and lovers of bodybuilders alike of course were there right on time as they don't want to miss out on their friends and families competing. But when it was time for the show to start there was no ticket booth and no one was to be seen selling tickets. So there they were, 57 athletes waiting to do their thing and about 100 more waiting to buy tickets which aren't there.
The ticket seller (think it was Moe actually) finally arrived around 10am and was pounced upon by some anxious supporters who don't want to miss out. Later we found out that not even plastic was put up in the dressing room on contest morning and there was no weights. So more time was lost waiting for that to happen we assume.
The show finally got a start at 10.15am while people were still buying tickets to get in.
Once the show started it moved very quickly and was finished by 11.45am!
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Moe with Jen Gates
Mike D with Raechelle |
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The night show pretty much picked up where the day show left off...another late start. The show was due to kick off at 5.30pm. Sure we expect delays at shows. 15-20min is understandable, but 45min is pushing the boundaries. Athletes have had a long day, most probably have been up since 5am (especially since they had to be at early briefing time of 8.45am) and delaying the night show just makes their day that much longer. Around 250 people were standing waiting around and if you know what the Akl Girls Grammar venue is like you'll know there's not much room indoors and most were forced to stand in the outside cold air. So a lot of people were uncomfortable and ready to see some action.
We were all looking forward to the spectacular of the promised entertainment and of course the routines of the 57 athletes. We were prepared for a long night but 4.5 hours was just way too long and boring, with the show finally finishing at 11.30pm. During that time we saw some great athletes (which we'll talk about in another segment) with some tidbits of information and action thrown in.
Some of these segments included;
* announcing that the IFBB are researching whether its viable to have the Men's Worlds here in 2010. I mean yes, great news, but did we need to have the letter read out and watch the video from the president as well? That's 10min wasted right there. Does not mean the Worlds are going to be held here so why the fuss.
* Moe gives Jo Stewart a Pro card. Another 10 min.
* Great to see Ms Olympia Jen Gates taking the time to come to NZ for a whirlwind 5 day trip. She chatted to Terry and shared some history and her contest plans for the year. She's trained as paedaeatric nurse. Productive 10min.
* Mike Debenham guest posing. Thank goodness for Mike! He really put some effort into his guest posing to the music from Flash Gordon. He's a great mover and got into the crowd and gave them a close up glimpse of his physique. Afterwards he spoke with Terry Hills about how his contest plan's going for the Florida comp. Another 15min but we're ok with that.
* Moe guest posed. I think it was more like a quick 10 poses, run into the audience, flex a bit then finish. So wasn't really a choreographed guest posing routine as such. He then talked to Terry. Another 10min.
* Kiwi boxer Shane Cameron no showed. Saved 10min.
* A dance troupe. Another 10min but felt like half an hour
* 25 min intermission. Much longer than necessary
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So, as you can see, much of the night show was tedious and really didn't have any flow. The athletes were kept waiting while all these special activities were happening and the audience had to endure it. Sure by all means, do all the above but perhaps some better time management would help.
The saving grace of the whole evening was the amazing Terry Hills who was Master of Ceremonies. He was probably the saviour of the morning show too as I'm sure he got behind the scenes making sure everything was set up. Terry did a great job keeping things running smoothly under stressing circumstances.
Addition: we forgot to mention that in addition to Terry's hands on effort, recognition should also be given to the backstage helpers Mark Delew, Jody Dirx, Andrew Van Lent who got their hands dirty to make this show run smoothly behind the scenes at least.
Some people aren't going to agree or like my review but I am not alone in my thoughts, I'm just brave enough to express them. Granted its Moe's first show so it's expected that things aren't going to go smoothly first time so we'll excuse him.
These points are just guides for him for his future shows if he wants to keep the athletes and spectators happy, and that's what a show is all about.
Lisa, Go Figure
21 June 09 |
Mike Debenham
Terry Hills with Moe
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Overall Winners. Tarren, Nathan and Sesa all received $1000 each for winning the overall. One of the better initiatives of the event.
 
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Lisa with Michelle Heggie who's aiming to defend her physique title at Nationals with her freaky delts! |
The New Bikini Class!
We almost forgot to mention this class, not hard to do considering all the tediousness that went on while judging this.
Firstly these girls looked like they'd just been plucked from some kind of performance group or school musical.
And guess what? they were! |
Far left: Michaiah 1st |
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I think the bikini model class is a great idea and it gives opportunity for bodybuliding to be more marketable to the general public.
But you really have to encourage the girls with the right look, and who at least train and have a good fit body to be the leading role model in this class. |
Dance troupe in the dark |
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We're not having a go at the girls at how they look, afterall they were probably thrust into this without much preparation.
Although it was rumoured that 15 girls were doing this class, only 8 were in the class. But where did they come from? later we saw 6 of those same girls in the dance troupe that performed. Sure it was dark but we still spotted them. |
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Masters Physique
And now on with the show. There were some great physiques on show. One of those was Tarren McCall. She was due to compete at the NABBA Worlds which were unfortunately cancelled so she decided to the Akl Champs. She competed in the Masters class and won, she then went on to take out the Overall title.
Left: Tarren |
Novice physique
Sandra McMillan from Gills Gym in Taumaranui competing in the u55kg class was one of the leanest physiques we've seen. She was ripped to bits and still maintained her muscle mass. There were 2 in the Novice physique o55kg, the winner was Ronel Cook. |
left: Ronel. Right: Sandra |
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left: Lucie. Above: Open girls
right: Julie |
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Open Physique
Tracey Frost was the lone competitor in the o55kg class while the u55kg class was a posedown between 2 pocket rockets Lucie Thompson and Julie Harris.
Both Lucie and Julie were in great condition but Julie just edged out Lucie with muscle maturity and hardnes. |
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Senior Figure
There was a good contest in the senior figure 45 class particularly between Gill McCann (in blue) and Justeen Jones (in red). Gill was lean but perhaps Justeen had the better structure and took out the class. Cathy Orevich (blue) in the senior figure 35+, competing in her 3rd show this year, took out the class ahead of Lisa Haines and Ros Hooker. |
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| Sen Figure 45+ |
Sen Figure 35+ |
Nov Figure Short |
Novice Figure
The gorgeous figure of Bridget Emmett, black bikini, continued her winning novice run by taking out the Novice short title at this comp. She recently won the NABBA Counties a couple of weeks ago.
The Novice Figure Tall class presented us with 7 athletes. It was going to be a battle Sadelle Faeo who has beautiful structure and the super lean Sheree Tainui-Fountain in green. After a few comparisons judges the judges chose Sadelle as the winner. |
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Novice Figure Tall |
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Bridget Sadelle Sheree Sara Elliot - Bodyfitness winner |
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| Masters 40+ |
Masters 50+ |
Novice u70 winner |
| Eternal competitor in the 40+ class, Willie Walker (in black), got a great birthday present by winning his 40+ class. Another seasoned competitor Tele Paetau came all the way from Samoa to take the 50+ class while Michael Pouhila had to do with 2nd. No doubt we'll see him again many times this season as he just loves the stage. |
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Kapeli and Sanoa,nov 70-80kg |
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| Timothy Fononga was the only won in the Novice u70kg class while the sexy samoans Kapeli and Sanoa took 1st and 2nd respectively in the novice 70-80kg class. There was another athlete in this class but unfortunately he had to tend to his child who was rushed to hospital during the day. Hopefully everything is ok. |
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Above: novice o80kg |
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| This was a combined class of 8 novice athletes. It was nice to see lots of guys on stage which added to the excitement of prejudging. Once again it was a battle between mass versus symmetry. Sam Koloa (the winner) had at least 10kg mass on 2nd placed competitor Jeffery Uluave but Jeffery had some nice lines and posed well. Hope he sticks with the sport. |
Junior Men |
Open Men 80-90kg |
Classic Men
This class was won by the age defying physique of Steve Rosenbaum. At 60 years of age, Steve has the body most 30 year olds would envy! his condition was awesome. He had mass and definition.
We would've loved to see Steve in one of the physique classes, if he took that out, then seeing him going up against big NATO. That would've been worth a few pics. Well done Steve! |
Dane 2nd, Steve 1st |
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Open Figure
This was probably the most anticipated class of the show and was possibly the best open figure line up we've seen for a long time. We saw the return of Maureen O'Connell after her 2 years absence from the stage, Sesa Tomuli who has been hard out making the transition from her heavily muscled physique to a leaner version of herself and Kat Hall who had been training for the NABBA Worlds but was cancelled. |
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All these figures were awesome and it was a shame that the judges didn't hold them out there for very long and only did one round of comparisons. It must've been a close contest as these girls were in great condition and had plenty of muscle. Sesa probably slightly had more than Maureen and Kat but she posed very well with the mass she had to work with.
In the end Sesa edged out Maureen and Kat, then going on to take the Overall Figure Title making it a sucessful figure transition for her. |
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Couples Winners Johnson and Maureen
 
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| Although there were lots of rumours that there were going to be 'big boys' coming out of the woodworks for this show, only 4 were brave enough to turn up. These were Johnson Reihana, Christopher Chase, ? from Pukekohe and Nathan O'Hearn. Its always great to see all that testosterone and muscle on stage and these guys had plenty to flex for our visual enjoyment. |
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| Johnson was looking better than I'd ever seen him and complete with an awesome set of abs. Chris looked great in his return to the stage after 10 years and ofcourse big NATO, Nathan. He wasn't quite as sharp as what he was at the NABBA Nationals last year but his muscle size and hardness was still impressive and he consequently took out the class and title. |
Johnson, Chris, Nathan |
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Build up to NZFBB Akl Champs here
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Results from the NZFBB Auckland Bodybuilding Champs 20th June 2009.
Junior Men:
1. Khalid Slaimankhel
2. Teisina Tongi
3. Paratiso Foaiaulima
Masters Men Over 40 years:
1. Willie Walker
2. Rick Eliki
Masters Men Over 50 years:
1. Tele Paetau
2. Michael Pouhila
3. Dieter Horn
Masters Women Over 45 years:
1. Tarren McCall
2. Jeannie Lowrie
Senior Figure Over 35 years:
1. Cathy Orevich
2. Ros Hooker
3. Lisa Haines
Senior Figure Over 45 years:
1. Justeen Jones
2. Gill McCann
3. Lee O'Donnell
Novice Women Physique Under 55 kilos:
1. Sandra McMillan
Novice Women Physique Over 55 kilos:
1. Ronel Cook
2. Barbara Stowers
Novice Men BB Under 70 kilos:
1. Timothy Uasi Fononga
Novice Men BB 70-80 kilos:
1. Kapeli Ioane
2. Sanele Mao
Novice Men BB Over 80 Kilos:
1. Sam Koloa
2. Jeffrey Uluave
3. Benjamin Tamani Kaitaroi
Classic Men:
1. Steve Rosenbaum
2. Dane Kent
Novice Figure Short:
1. Bridget Emmitt
2. Vivien Whiteside
3. Lee O'Mara
Novice Figure Tall:
1. Sadelle Feao
2. Sheree Tainui-Fountain
3. Philippa Jones
Body Fitness Tall:
1. Sara Elliott
Open Figure Tall:
1. Sesa Tomuli
2. Maureen O'Connell
3. Katrina Hall
Open Women Physique Under 55 Kilos:
1. Julie Harris
2. Lucie Thompson
Open Women Physique Over 55 Kilos:
1. Tracy Frost
Open Men BB 80-90 kilos:
1. John Lougheed
2. Miles Vance
Open Men BB Over 90 Kilos:
1. Nathan OHearn
2. Chris Chase
3. Johnson Reihana
Mixed Pairs:
1. Maureen O'Connell & Johnson Reihana
Bikini Models:
1. Michaiah Simmons
2. Lisa Gatman
3. Elyse Inglis
Overall Titles:
Overall Figure Champion: Sesa Tomuli
Overall Women's Physique Champion: Tarren McCall
Overall Men's BB Champion: Nathan OHearn
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