Ms. Olympia report
MOTZ
Here's Ron Cecchini's report on the Ms. O:
From: IAMOK::US1RMC::"ro...@arnold.ndhm.gtegsc.com" "Ron Cecchini"
Saturday. November 27th, 1993. Beacon Theater. NYC, New York.
No air conditioning. No water. Claustrophobia setting in.
I was thirsty. I was starving. My $100 bought me a seat 4 rows in from the
*rear* of the theater. The whole night show didn't last much more than an
hour. I forgot my stupid binoculars. My telephoto lens wasn't telephoto
enough. The sweat was pouring off my body.
But somehow I persevered...
Well, she did it again.
Amidst some minor controversy, Lenda Murray became Ms. Olympia once again
for the 4th year in a row. It wasn't really "controversy", per se, but it
was the opinion of myself and everyone else that I talked to that she should
not have won it again this year.
I know you're all dying to see the top ten list, so I'll give it to you
now before continuing on:
1. Lenda Murray
2. Denise Rutkowski
3. Laura Creavalle
4. Debbie Muggli
5. Kim Chivesky
6. Sandy Riddell
7. Shelley Beattie
8. Sharon Marvel
9. Audrey Harris
10. Sharon Bruneau
I also attended the prejudging, but I missed the first round. Listed
in the program, but not seen at all by me, were Sue Gafner, Tonya Knight
and Claudia Montemaggi. I wonder what happened to Tonya, since this
was supposed to be her big comeback.
Out of the placing were Paula Bircumshaw, Diana Dennis, Nikki Fuller,
Yolanda Hughes and Nancy Lewis. There were also some European competitors
who's names did not appear in the program and who's names I can not remember.
.....
My first pick to win the show was Denise. To me, she didn't look as good
as she did for the USAs, but my bud Will (who's ab article is in this
month's MMI), who had better prejudging seats than me, said that she
looked right on.
Lenda, I thought, looked the same. She still has no calves. She has lots
of mass, but she was far from being the most shredded woman in the contest.
She had a pretty cool posing routine, but, then again, I've never seen
any of these women pose - so I have nothing to compare it to.
Laura was a surprise to me. She has been my perennial favorite, up to now.
First of all, be prepared to read about her hair. People - it was horrible.
They made her stop wearing her wigs last year, and, quite frankly, I thought
her real hair was pretty nice. But for this show, she literally chopped it
almost all off and was sporting one of those Madonna-wanting-to-be-a-20's-flap
per
type hair-dos; i.e. what was left of her hair was plastered to her scalp, and
she had a little curl or two dangling on her forehead. Uck...
She's also a, um, weird poser. I don't know how to describe it. I guess she
was trying to be dramatic or something, but she kept hunching her head forward
(like her neck hurt) before hitting any poses. She reminded me of Ferrigno in
Pumping Iron trying to do a dramatic front double-bis.
Some random comments:
One of the biggest surprises was Chivesky's relatively low placing.
She was the Flex Wheeler of the woman's circuit for a while, and people
were expecting her to wipe up this year, until Denise came along, but still.
I thought she looked really good. From where I was, I couldn't see what
knocked her down to fifth.
I also couldn't see what sent my favorite sub-5-foot bodybuilder Sharon Marvel
down to 8th. She looked ripped, but I think it is still because her legs
still overpower her upper body. She had the biggest legs in the show (and she
really has to be under 5 foot). I thought she gave the best performance
during the compulsory round where she milked, and I mean *milked*, every pose
for all that it was worth. I wish I had a cam corder... She was really
the only competitor who got the crowd going nuts during a *compulsory* round.
She was also doing her "quad flapping" thing during the compulsories and
during the night show. [The only person who challenged her on it was Lenda,
who's got a pretty nice "quad flap" herself.]
I did get a picture with her after the show and told her that I thought
she was wonderful ("and, BTW, will you marry me?"). Gag - I'm so pathetic,
Shelly Beattie, who claimed to be all natural last year (yeah right...) was
definitely pretty natural looking this year. She was much smaller and much
smoother than in last year's show. Her posing was very energetic, and she thr
ew
in a bunch of that "fitness contest" type stuff - you know, the bouncing aroun
d
with the hands flailing kind of thing.
Paula Bircumshaw was dramatically down in size. I was very shocked that she
was not in the kind of condition to place this year.
Debbie Muggli was looking kind of smooth, but still looked really good.
I don't know if I would've put her in 4th.
Sandy Riddell should've been lower - still no legs.
Audrey Harris should've been much higher. I thought she was big and ripped.
Bruneau looked the same. She was in shape, but she's still small. The
crowd loves her though, (must be the fire engine red lipstick), just like
they love Shelley Beattie.
I was totally surprised, and a little upset, that Diana Dennis didn't place.
I didn't think that she should've won, but I thought she was really in shape.
She was as ripped looking as she was a few months back in a profile piece
Flex mag did on her. And I got to see her up really close afterwards and
she *was* shredded.
.....
Etcetera:
Besides Sharon Marvel, I also got pix with Mike Ashely and my fav Flex Wheeler
.
I said hi to John Parillo after the show, and he just smiled without saying
anything (I think my goatee made him nervous...).
Fitness competitor Debbie Dobbins (who was looking very fitness like) was
there hawking some line of clothes. Shawn Ray was next to her to signing
autographs (nope, for some reason, didn't get one this time...)
Ben Weider bumped into me and said "excuse me". Oooh, ahhh. I should've hit
him.
Actor/Dancer Gregory Hines was walking around and presented one of the
awards.
Between the prejudging and night show, I ate at an Italian restaurant called
"Ernies" one block down from the theater with my friends. No one was there
when we got there, but one-by-one they started filing in. Flex Wheeler and
Chris Cormier (looking "uuuuuuuuuuge!") came in. Ron Love was there. Jim
Manion and the whole NPC crew came in. And, yes, Dorian Yates was there, look
ing
as large as a house, sitting at the head of a long table chowing down.
I was going to run to the bathroom when I saw Flex go, but I didn't think
he'd want to shake my hand or pose for pictures at that exact moment in time..
Anyway, now I know to bring my binoculars and to forget about the expensive
seats. You also get to see much more of the competitors at the prejudging.
Ron
The Arnold Classic/Ms. International is scheduled for March 4-5. That
contest, of course, is in Columbus, Ohio. The Night Of Champions, which
takes places every year in NY, is scheduled for May 20th.
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I was also at the show and agree with Ron's comments. I had Denise
in first. My boyfriend and 6 friends of mine had Laura Creavalle
for first. It's a totally subjective AND political sport.
I saw Mike Matarazzo and he looked a bit on the "small" side to me...
I guess he is OFF too?
There were a couple of competitors that probably couldn't even
win the nationals now or even an ANBC show! I really think that
the competitors should not be allowed to compete if they are below
"current standard/quality"...it was similar (but not as bad) to Jocelyn
Pelletier competing in the 1993 NOC...as smooth as a baby's butt...
and wearing his watch!
I went to Planet Hollywood and had the tiniest piece of grilled swordfish.
Thank God they gave away free protein bars ....I ended up eating them in
line to get into Planet Hollywoon (1 hour).
Motz/
bonugli%iamok.enet.dec.com