Rising Phoenix 2015: Media Watch

NOT DEAD YET

Interestingly, there is a subculture that finds these extreme cases of masculinized women attractive and/or desirable. We tend to label these people "schmoes" - men who sexually fetishize female bodybuilders. I used to look at these men in disgust for their perverse nature, booking private sessions for "posing" and "wrestling" and other general kinkiness. But, in respect to the female bodybuilders out there still intent on pushing the envelope, I'm going to change my mind.

These guys have shown their worth in saving some semblance of the upper echelon of female bodybuilding by putting their money where their whack-off lube is. In 2015, there's a new show for top female pros called Rising Phoenix. Promoted by Tim Gardner and supported financially by the schmoes, this show offers to fatten the bank accounts of the erstwhile disenfranchised female pros with a $50,000 prize plus a Jeep worth $55,000. This beats the top Olympia prize in its heyday.

If such promotions continue and female bodybuilding becomes fan supported, then [...] the women so inclined can just go for it. Power to them.

John Romano, "The Death of Women's Bodybuilding", TNation, August 18th 2015



NO PLEASING SOME PEOPLE

Just seen the line up for the show. Underwhelming to say the least. There are only about 3 girls that can win this and without the likes of Alina who is injured and the girls who have defected to physique like Anne Freitas [...]

I admire WoS for supporting this show but I'm afraid to say that compared to the O this show looks a poor relation. There seem to be 4 or 5 girls that have been given 'sympathy' spots when they have placed near the back of the field in the other competitions that they did this year. Surely this is supposed to be the best of the best not a 'who can we get to show up' event.




People on [this forum] complain that female bodybuilding is in decline. People like Wings of Strength assist with funding for a contest. People on [this forum] complain about the competition line up anyway. You'd think with all the recent moaning and groaning about the likes of Shannon Courtney walking away, people would support the competitions and competitors we do have. Clearly not.

"Fan" post and response on the forum whose first rule is, August 20th and 22nd 2015



BATTLE ROYALE

Margie Martin looks amazing in her front shots, great balance of muscularity and conditioning, good lines, arms and delts are great. Conditioning from the back isn't crazy but those are impressive shots for her. She's my front runner so far.

Helle Trevino - wow. Helle brought it! Good muscularity, conditioning looks really good. Nice balance and flow, hams and glutes are pretty good. She could very well have this whole thing.

David Baye, Muscular Development play-by-play, August 22nd 2015



A total of 15 IFBB Pro women took the stage to battle it out for the Jeep and $50,000 and in the end it was a heated battle between Helle Neilsen [sic] and Margie Martin. Both were always in the middle during prejudging.

It was quite intense knowing that first place was a $50,000 cash prize and the custom Jeep, whereas second got $25,000. $25K is nothing to sneeze at but the top prize was quite impressive and with the judges putting the top group through their paces for multiple rounds of comparisons it almost felt like a heavyweight bout with Neilsen and Martin going pose for pose to see who could gain the edge.

Many thought they would be re-judged again at finals and indeed they were.

Gene X Hwang, GeneX Magazine, August 22nd 2015



INTERESTING...

All of the competitors received a rose after individual posing.

All 15 competitors did the posedown.

The IFBB professional women's bodybuilding cash prize for first place was five times that of the IFBB professional men's bodybuilding first place cash prize.

The first [Rising Phoenix] was held on Iris Kyle's 41st birthday.

Wikipedia, "Wings of Strength Rising Phoenix World Championships, "Notable Events"



AFTER THE VOLCANO

The Finals had some nice touches and since this was the first year, you had to expect them to try things out to make an impression. The introductory volcano scene and reveal of all the competitors was pretty cool (see photo above). The volcano perhaps could have been more impressive but hey, the audience was there to see the physiques, not pyrotechnics.

Gene X Hwang, GeneX Magazine, August 22nd 2015



Numbers wise the show as a whole was a bit down but for a first year show in a city that hasn't had professional bodybuilding before that's to be expected. Production wise it was on par for Tim Gardner and first class from stsrt to finish. Despite how well it was ran [sic] I don't see women's bodybuilding as something that could be a stand alone event but it was a nice addition. I think not having Iris and/or Alina hurt a little bit but overall I'd say it was good.

David Baye, Muscular Development play-by-play, August 22nd 2015



I was there. Fantastic event, great turnout, stunning competitors. Helle appeared to be the audience favorite, but Margie definitely brought the best physique package and her win was well deserved.

This event has thrust female bodybuilding into the limelight for ordinary people - as a positive thing. People lined up to get their pictures taken with Margie after the show - including a pair of young twins who each asked her, "Could you pick me up?" Ordinary tourists could be heard at the airport muttering about the "bodybuilding thing" that came to town that weekend, and there were no sneers of contempt.

Not only was Rising Phoenix not a dud, it was a rousing success and a victory for bodybuilding as a whole.

Fan post on the forum whose blah blah etc., August 25th 2015



Right. So that's what other people have been saying - the few who have had something to say about the show, anyway. I've got a few things to say myself, and over the next six days, with the blog's familiar timing and "not quite topical" hallmark, I'll be saying them. And, more importantly, we'll be seeing how the women themselves have reported their own experiences. The phoenix rises (again) all week on FMS.

Enjoy!

Ms Olympia: Posedown!

We thought the best way to bring our Ms Olympia countdown to a climax was to feature the climactic moment of the contest itself (or any contest for that matter - any contest with more than one competitor, anyway!) Yes, it's time to pose down!



OLYMPIA STYLE!

The primest exhibition of female muscle meat at its most primal and joyous moment...



The contest as a contest is over, and you've all finished in the top six anyway... Now whip that crowd into one final frenzy as your glorious muscular body transcends its exhaustion and reveals all of its stunning beauty!!! (Or at least that's how Swell might put it if he was ever in charge of the MCing at a female bodybuilding show!!!)



Where the hell do you LOOK if you are in the audience? It's hard enough taking it all in even when you can replay the video clip over and over and over and over and over. Being there must bring on some kind of sthenolagniac overdose or something.



And while there must be more than a few brethren in the audience experiencing some kind of female muscle lovin' nirvana, there always appears to be bucket loads of female muscle ecstasy pouring out of the competitors - of any year, or indeed, any ERA...

Yes, Rachel, YESSSSS!



It's one big female muscle love-fest up there. All sorts of mutual muscle admiration kicks in, and, easily my favourite bit - true posedown GOLD - is when the admiration spills over into actual touching up, into actual on stage MUSCLE WORSHIP!



Who will be posing down at the 2014 Ms Olympia? Only one way to find out...

So, wherever you are, work out the time difference between yourself and Las Vegas (we're 8 hours ahead here in the UK), and get yourself comfy and organised. The live webcast on Bodybuilding.com begins 2.30am on Saturday for the Ms Olympia finals in the UK - finess and bikini finals are also scheduled for the same evening.

And FMS will be having a little break next week (watching the re-runs of the webcast perhaps!) but we will be back and posting again on Saturday 27th. Have fun now!

Omaha: A Good Day

Yes, FMS continues to milk the Omaha Pro show, and makes no apologies whatsoever for doing so. This was, in case you need reminding, the first new show on the pro female bodybuilding calendar for many years, and, even better, it was a competition where, for once, the men were mere hors d'oeuvres, the women the meat and potatoes.


The Stars of the Show

For both the Omaha show, and the Toronto Pro the week before it, I found myself, for the first time, following the show more via the social media of the women themselves than through the reporting of established bodybuilding resource sites. For Toronto, a bigger show at which the pro female bodybuilding is one of many contests, this was a choice made partly out of the desire to get the results and images etc. as fast as possible - the major sites tend to be a little tardy in putting up images and results from the FBB show. It's just not a priority for them among all the male and bikini-type classes. But such was the pleasure I took in the self-reportage from Toronto of the likes of Tonia Moore (via her Instagram) that when it came to Omaha, I chose to get my news from the women, rather than trusting the big sites to give me news of them.

Tonia Moore and Jill Rudison

The Best Comedy Double Act in Female Muscle?

What the women can give you that the major sites can't is a no-holds-barred account of their final preparations, unique backstage candids from the show, and, once the show is over, all the pigging-out they do! Granted, the images are, quite obviously, not the kind of high quality stuff that the contest photographer is capable of producing. If you want that kind of detail - photographic detail - then stay with the big sites. But if it's a different kind of detail you crave - the minutiae of a female bodybuilder's final preparations, for example, or who travels/rooms with who, or who does whose make-up and so on - then who better to be your guide than the women themselves?

Judy Gaillard

Checking in (left, via NPC News Online) and waiting for showtime (via her Facebook)

That's not to say that all of the images the women post of themselves and their fellow "Sisters of Iron" are shaky low-quality ones. Far from it. After all, if you are a female bodybuilder with the chance to have your picture taken with nine-times Ms Olympia Iris Kyle, the chances are you are going to want to make it a good 'un. And they all, without exception, seem to have grabbed the opportunity. Often more than once!



Alana Shipp, Anne Freitas, Tonia Moore and Margie Martin get starstruck

Iris was there as a guest star for the show (along with Mr Olympia Phil Heath) and was also, apparently, acting as Rene Marven's coach. However, she was, of course, generously handing out pearls of wisdom to all and sundry. Anne Freitas posted the above photo of herself and the woman she calls "The Queen" on her Instagram with a big thank you message to Iris. I will not forget your advice, she wrote.

Rene Marven, Alana Shipp and Margie Martin

Beauty, bling and smiles

Easy for Iris to show such generosity towards Anne when she's not competing against her, you might think, but this kind of camaraderie seemed to extend throughout the entire field, with all the competitors looking to be so at ease with each other. Laying back and waiting for the finals, reads the description of the above pic on Margie's Instagram, almost as if she, Rene and Alana were teammates, not rivals.



And then there was the almighty, twelve-woman posedown, the images of which reminded us of our posts from back in April, where, with the help of Tanya Bunsell's Strong and Hard Women, we identified both the physical AND spiritual highs experienced by the female bodybuilder at a contest.



We see, in the all-inclusive posedown, the women experiencing the physical and spiritual high both individually and as one, in a kind of collective peaking - although perhaps some of them are peaking just that tiny little bit more than others - for example, Rene Marven seems to be really really enjoying herself!!!



And after all that it's time to stuff your face with all the stuff you have been craving throughout your crazy contest diet. To get your glam on, to have a drink and celebrate your achievement. Today, the smile of the ever-beautiful and newly-married Helle (now Trevino, formerly Nielsen) seems to be saying, was a good day.



Enjoy!

Pic of the Week

This week, FMS presents Alina, Yaxeni and Iris in what must be the ultimate beef on beef moment from last year's Ms Olympia. Not so much a 'posedown' as a 'feel-up'...



I can't help wondering how Alina must have felt to have Iris Kyle, the nine-time champ, copping a worshipful feel of her mighty quad in front of all those screaming fans. That and exactly what bit of Iris Yaxeni's right hand was groping!

Enjoy!