Sad to say that for a while at least FMS is not going to be posting anything new.
Some real life stuff is going on that absolutely requires my full attention, and unfortunately that is going to have to take precedence. With luck, it won't be too long before FMS returns, but at the moment it's impossible to say when that will be.
2 x Ms Figure Olympia, Cydney Gillon
You might, as they are (sort of) just in, want to check out the Olympia results and galleries on NPC News Online at some stage this week - I know I will! FMS fave Cydney Gillon has defended her Figure title, and in Juliana's absence, Shanique Grant has fulfilled her destiny. UK fans can enjoy Louise Rogers (finally at the Olympia) in Figure, plus our two Fitness Olympians, Emma Paveley and Kate Errington.
Shanique Grant - (the new) Ultimate Physique
And why not check out the archive?
Over 7 years of the finest contemporary female muscle plus the occasional look back at female muscle times past. And since Saturday, 8th September 2012 (with the odd break here and there) we've endeavoured to bring you a post a day, and we started that week, appropriately enough, with seven posts devoted to... ALINA POPA!
Our first, and (almost) our last (for now)
Sadly, not all the images from the last 7 years are still up there, but my musings - inane, insane and very occasionally insightful (if I say so myself) - are 100% intact.
I've LOVED reporting on the big pro and amateur shows, and the best of British female muscle. I've also LOVED choosing FMS' Women of the Year, and - with your very great help - compiling five lists of alternative female beauty - the Hot and Hard 100.
The Hottest Hard Woman in the World 2017-2018
I'll still be about on the forums, in the chatrooms, on Skype, on Discord, MyCircle, and Tumblr - look out for 6ft1swell (or similar) and say hi - or steer well clear, it's up to you!
A small selection from social media before, during and after...
Kristina womans the booth
Even THE Ms Olympia never won anything like this
WLTM: Shawna and friend, dressed for the show; next day, and 5th place Figure phenom Kristine Finsaas gets to stand next to the dethroned but still Most Muscular at the RP
Pauline was a bit hungry after
Jill's food porn
Welcome to our party...
After the feed: Virginia
Wake up in the morning slaving for schmotographers
Where should I start? wondered Alina in the immediate aftermath of her victory. Adrenaline rush, feelings of elation, chills, tears, enthusiasm, such a mixture of wonderful feelings. I am so overwhelmed I couldn’t even sleep last night.
Truth be told, I wouldn't expect the new #1 Female Bodybuilder in the world to sleep much the night after, though exactly what I imagine her doing all night is probably best left unsaid. Alina, we do know, graced the after party in a tight (what else could it be?) black one-piece, tiara still on. What we don't know is when (or indeed if) she left.
I'm hoping Alina will get it, wrote one chat room lurker before the show started. It'll piss Margie off and she'll come back next year as massive and ripped as ever.
I have to admit, my own foresight for Female Bodybuilding doesn't stretch quite that far ahead, but at least he was pleased with the result. Five or six years ago an Alina triumph at the Olympia would have been met with (metaphorical) dancing in the streets by the female muscle lovin' community. That's not been the case with her Rising Phoenix win though. Fine - I guess, was how Implants and Muscles greeted the news. [Sheila] Shoulda won, but what do I know? I'm just a pervert into muscle women.
Others were not so modest about their judging qualifications, nor - it seems - very clear about how many women actually get to finish first. [Alina] Has no calves and [was] not so dry - top progress but for me not place one, observed one (apparently highly knowledgeable) forum head. Margie and Sheila is [sic] for me first place.
Alina is AMAZING but I agree, reads one response. It's almost like the judges were taking her injuries into account and grading on a curve. Or, they thought she was so phenomenal from the knees up that she won regardless. Who can say?
Well, the judges could probably tell you if you asked them nicely. Her lack of calves is the result of an injury apparently, I'm not up on all the facts. A lot was said about them after her win in Tampa in early August, and again there has been a lot of focus on them (or the lack of them) since the weekend. However, while I thought there might be some controversy if Alina won, I imagined conspiracy rather than calves would be the cry.
After all, Alina is as close to the centre of the Wings of Strength world as it is possible to be. There's even an enormous Alina at WoS headquarters - making it, whether or not other FBBs hang there as well, FMS' official Most Desirable Workplace in the World. It was bound to look like a fix to someone, and here he is - Who are the judges? "outraged" demands to know. Does Jake Wood have a big say in these things?
Yeah, man. He set the whole thing up just so his girl could win...
Nonsense of course, but you can see how the right combination of great ignorance and a little information could lead a weak mind to that conclusion. Jake was, in fact, at pains to thank the judges on Saturday night "for making sense of everything going on on stage for us. Without them," he continued, "we'd all just be..." I didn't actually catch exactly what he said - "running around" is what I heard, but I'm not sure.
Might be a good competition for WoS to run that. Perhaps the first prize could be a day at the WoS booth with all the ladies (or better still a month-long internship at WoS headquarters!). Simply complete the following sentence in no more than 12 words: Without the judges at Female Bodybuilding contests, we'd all just be...
Driving off into the sunset with Alina in her new Corvette?
Oh wait! That's probably what Jake did!
Big cheque she won too. Big enough to wear it seems.
All of this moaning, however, is fake news really, just a lot of wind (as my ol' Nan - God rest her soul - used to say). The vast majority of fans and Alina's peers (ie. the women who really know what's going on) have been falling over themselves to congratulate her. Along with all her fellow competitors on the night, Dana Shemesh, Jessica Martin, Cristina Maffeis, Ekaterina Grima, Hannah Hallman, Jeannie Paparone, Zoa Linsey, Kennedy Ledgerwood, Noelle Rockwell, Janine Lankowski, Christal Cornick, Valentina Mishina, Aleesha, and of course, her friend, countrywoman and 2018 Hottest Hard Woman in the WorldOana Hreapca are just some of the thousands - literally thousands - who have left messages of congratulations for Alina on social media in the last couple of days.
I do have a soft hard spot for Valentina's touching tribute: You deserve it, my Queen. But if you had to pick one of them to express the sentiments of all, it might be this one: CONGRATULATIONS, Alina. In my opinion, you absolutely should have been a World Champion before, but what matters is you are FINALLY a World Champion... NOW.
It's 5.45am my time. I am somewhat tired and more than a bit boss-eyed. Alina's just been crowned Ms Rising Phoenix 2018, but it was the joyous 20-woman posedown before the prizes were handed out that led to my own - explosive - personal climax.
Finally, it's over.
Emcee Sarah Hurrle
Just over 12 hours earlier the live feed from the prejudging had started with the Fitness ladies' two-piece round. Not my favourite bit of a Fitness show - is it anybody's? - so initially at least I was only half-watching. I dipped into the chat. "Benjamin Harrison" (his first language probably not English) was ruling the roost there, his moronic comments ("What is this? Why we have to see Barbie show? We want FBBs!!!") didn't just put me off joining in the conversation, but ultimately everybody else too.
Cydney Gillon & Karen Reyes
Figure was next, I heard former Olympian and emcee Sarah Hurrle announce. OK, now you've got my undivided attention - if not Benjamin's. Unsurprisingly, Cydney Gillon looked - and proved to be - the class of the line-up, and she, together with the sultry Karen Reyes and the ripped Tracy Williams, had me reaching below the keyboard and fantasising I was in the front row for the first time on the day.
Bikini seemed to last an eternity, so I flicked around social media. Plenty already up from the previous day's check-in and meet-and-greet, plenty of make-up and hair done head shots. However, I clicked back to the feed quick snap when emcee Sarah addressed the crowd: OK you guys, are you ready to see some MUSCLE?!
You couldn't hear the crowd much on the feed - the music and Sarah's microphone very much dominated the soundscape - but this was one of those occasions when you could hear the cheers and whoops and whistles. Then the music started up again, and Michaela came out. After well over an hour, the first beautiful biceps, pecs, back, glutes, abs and thighs were flexed at the Arizona Pro. I sat back and let myself go. In all, 24 Physique Dreams of all ages shapes and sizes brought their muscle to the stage. I imagine the "guys" were impressed, but like I say, you couldn't hear them much.
The first callout had Michaela, Natalia and Jennifer Taylor at its centre. It looked close between them - not just to me, but more importantly to the judges, who had the ladies changing places during both the first callout and when the top 4 (those three plus defending champ Heather Grace) lined up again for a last callout. Meanwhile, Benjamin had piped down a bit after someone had pointed out to him there was actually a schedule so he shouldn't be too surprised about the running order.
The Physique Over 40s were going through their comparisons, and backstage a "still waiting!" Sheila passed the time taking selfies with Isabelle, Helle and Alina. I can't speak for Benny, but my own anticipation level was way past 11 by now. Tributes were paid to Tim Gardener, Jake Woods, and Lenda Murray, without whom etc. and Sarah worked the crowd a bit. Once again, she referred to the crowd as "guys", making me wonder if the Rising Phoenix audience really is just a bunch of obsessive drooling heads like me (but with better travel opportunites). Be sure to join us for the after party upstairs at the Chrome Night Club, Sarah said. Really?!Anyone can just go hang out?! For a moment, I imagined something pretty damn close to heaven...
And then it was time for the main event. A bit of bombastic build-up video (heavily featuring, I noted, Yaxeni, Irene Andersen, and Lisa Cross - none of whom were competing this year) and Benny Boy got his wish - the FBBs came thundering on.
It's such a rare treat to watch female muscle live, even rarer [once a year in fact! - ed.] to see the biggest and best of all. The gulf of size between them and even the biggest of the Physique women was obvious, and - to me, and I dare say to Benny Boy too - quite overwhelming. Gasping and moaning, I didn't know where to look as these beautiful beasts came out five at a time in alphabetical order for a round of initial comparisons.
Jill Blondn's epic, thrilling calves; Barbara Carità 's posing top stretched to its absolute limit; Jay's huge quads - the way they have to walk because of their massive legs is in itself fascinating - and that semi-visible coming-together of strange crotch muscles only FBBs have; Tananarive Hue's apparentlyimmense back muscles...
Maryse is just immense; Wendy's beautiful beefy British bum; Pauline Nelson's slow, sexy posing style takes me right to the edge; Virginia's massive arms keep me there...
By the time the first callout is announced, I'm in quite a state. The actual excitement of the competition brings me back above the keyboard though. As I watch, I type this:
Margie, Alina, Helle and Sheila in first callout
Plus Jill Blondin and Nicki Chartrand
Shocker is Helle is at the edge
Margie, Alina and Sheila in the middle
Helle and Jill kept there for 2nd callout plus Virginia
Helle no better than 5th?! Nicki Chartrand 4th maybe - well-deserved she looks great but Helle visibly shocked and Margie seemed to be shocked about it too
It seemed as though both Sheila and Alina had a genuine shout, and that one of the "Big Four" - Helle - wasn't actually going to be in the top 4. The women thundered off to very audible applause, cheers, whoops and whistles. That's all folks - for now.
I opened the chat box. Benny Boy had been typing too:
