A Good Day for... @RP2016

The 2016 Rising Phoenix was a good day for...

SHEILA BLECK (2nd, Best Poser Award)



Now this was a surprise to many, and a shock to some. For a moment, Sheila became the focus of much ire from those who felt their own personal faves were robbed. She was called a "NUT" on the forum whose first rule is... (though how this was quite relevant to the judging was not explained), where another irate poster claimed she hardly qualify [sic] as a bodybuilder... but instead would suit better in the physique division. Even her Best Poser Award was belittled - it was intimated she'd only won it because her "best friend" Melody Spetko had sponsored it via MuscleGirlzLive.


"Most muscular for my fans who simply enjoy muscle". Sheila days before RP2016

They should look at the images, see her magnificent (as ever) conditioning, the beautiful lines of her body, and her fantastic proportions. They should look at some of the comparisons. She's taller than you think, and bigger than you think when you see her with the rest of the top four. They should visit Muscle Memory and look at Sheila's contest history. The Olympia aside, she has been first or second in every pro show she has ever competed in, and she came into the Rising Phoenix off the back of a win in Tampa - the show Margie Martin warmed up for RP2015 by winning. And they should look at all of Sheila's routines they can find, routines which she routinely receives best poser awards for. And while enjoying her athletic, artistic and sensual performances, they should recall how much work Sheila has put into these few minutes, even to the point of commissioning original music for them.




Surprise? More of a surprise that she never placed higher than 4th at the Olympia.


NANCY CLARK (9th)




The 2012 Canadian Masters champion has enjoyed by far her best season as a pro, and ended it on a high by finishing 9th, one of the two women over 50 in the top 10.



As I mentioned recently during one of our RP2016 previews, I had to admit - after looking at the pics (Sheila critics take note) - that her balance and conditioning at the Toronto Pro earlier in the year were spot on, and she brought much the same qualities to the stage in Scottsdale, and looked bigger than I remember seeing her before.


Nancy signs her contract before the weekend of the show, and poses with the champ

She gave the impression both before and during the weekend that competing here was like being in a dream. To be doing what she's doing at her age is amazing. I'm rather pleased that her dream had a happy ending. She quite obviously deserves it.


KIM BUCK (6th)



I am so excited to have the opportunity to compete with some of the best female bodybuilders in the world, wrote Kim Buck, via social media for a change. What a wonderful day at all the events at the Rising Phoenix! All before the day of the show had even arrived. And that day turned out to be pretty wonderful for her too.



Most competitors have a lot of people to thank after a show, but not Kim. It's not out of a lack of gratitude, it's just that she's a regular one-woman contest prep show. Trains herself, designs and makes her own suit (and names them - for the evening she wore "Ice Blue Masterpiece"). And, on the day, she does her own hair and make-up.




And the overall package she (herself) brought to the stage in Arizona was deemed good enough to break into the top 6 by the judges, and even higher by many who witnessed the show. You looked great Kim, congratulations, wrote Melody Spetko (yes, her again) after the show. Nice and full. I had you higher. And that's exactly where Kim is aiming for next time around. It's back to the drawing board, she replied to Melody. And I don't think she meant the one she uses to design her beautiful suits on either!


IRENE ANDERSEN (8th)



Irene had finished 4th in Norfolk at the new Lenda Murray show, but, as we noted on the blog, was at her biggest and best ever at the recent Tampa Pro. After receiving one of those "special invites" soon before the Rising Phoenix, she brought that same Tampa package to Arizona, and deservedly improved on her 2015 placing of 14th.



No surprise that the woman who is the star of the documentary about the "killing of female bodybuilding" is one of Wings of Strength's most vociferous cheerleaders. Too Big for the World premieres tomorrow coincidentally, in... Beverley Hills!




Good luck to Irene and all concerned with that. And we hope the film will go on to get some distribution around the world. The production team behind it are certainly a high quality group, and the trailer looks very promising. If Too Big for the World does come to a cinema near you, I'd get out and watch it there. How often does the female muscle lovin' community get the chance to collectively gather and show support?


YAXENI ORIQUEN (5th)



You would imagine, of all the women on stage at the Rising Phoenix, that Yaxeni Oriquen would feel the absence of the Ms International and Ms Olympia the most, given her illustrious history at both shows. It's been telling that while her erstwhile nemesis Iris Kyle stepped away from the sport in 2014, Yaxeni carried on.




Her 4th place at last year's Rising Phoenix came after a year where she'd struggled with various injuries. This year, pre-qualified for RP2016 though she was, she turned up and competed in Puerto Rico, Omaha, and at the Lenda Murray Pro-Am (where she got another 1st place to add to her mighty collection), showing her support for female bodybuilding's new regime and her fellow competitors in the process. She's been in fantastic shape all year, and this show was no exception. Once again it was great to see our old friend the black posing suit fighting for its life as she hit her poses, and though she has placed higher at more illustrious shows among legendary names of the sport, she had no complaints about her placing afterwards, just compliments for the women she stood alongside and the organisers of the "best female bodybuilding show".



¡Felicidades Yaxeni, en tu 50° cumpleaños!


LISA CROSS (7th)




And last, but by no means least, our Lisa.



I always get the feeling that no one has as much fun on stage (or off for that matter) as Lisa does, and I've seen nothing before, during or since the Rising Phoenix to make me change my mind about that. But though I could go on about her pink posing suit and her obvious excitement again, instead let's put her placing into context. The last time a British female bodybuilder placed as high as this was in 2004, when Joanna Thomas came 7th in the lightweight class. To find the last time a UK FBB finished 7th in an open class, you have to go all the way back to Andrulla Blanchette in 1999.



Quite an achievement. And she was well worth it too, looking as big and hard and ripped and sexy as she's ever done, no one was complaining about the judges' verdict on Lisa. I was hoping she'd crack the top 6, but I get the feeling she likes her placing fine. "The 006 Best FBB in the World" just doesn't sound quite right, does it?

FMS RP2016 Preview: The Winners

One of the many reasons for applauding Wings of Strength in their efforts this year was the increase in the number of qualifying shows for the Rising Phoenix from four to six with the addition of the Female Bodybuilding class to the Puerto Rico Pro, and the creation of the Lenda Murray Pro-Am (aka Norfolk Pro). As is the norm, the winners of these shows gained automatic qualification for the Rising Phoenix, although in the case of one of the women, qualification had long been guaranteed anyway.

KIM BUCK


Last seen: IFBB Puerto Rico Pro (Winner)
RP 2015: N/A



With a field of just six women, it was a fairly low-key start to the FBB season in Puerto Rico at the end of May, and - perhaps fittingly - the extremely low-key Kim Buck saw off the challenge of the more fancied Isabelle Turell to claim the title.



I don't mean to be rude when I say Kim is "low-key", but as FMS noted at the time, Kim keeps her head down on social media, and when she does raise it, it's almost always to promote her posing suit designs rather than to add to the female muscle selfie tsunami. Even in the run-up to the Rising Phoenix, Melody Spetko was contacting Kim via an Instagram comment to let her know about the Best Poser Award that Muscle Girlz Live is sponsoring at the RP. You aren't on Facebook, says Melody, as though addressing an elderly aunt with questionable IT skills, so just letting you know here...



My game plan is to get on the plane and get off the plane and go train, said Kim after her win, and that literally was the last we saw or heard of her. She was, however, a winner with all the judges in Puerto Rico, and she certainly has the pedigree to deliver just the sort of classy package that might catch the judges' eyes again in Arizona.


LAURA CAROLAN


Last seen: IFBB Toronto Pro (Winner)
RP 2015: N/A



This, it seems to me, is female bodybuilding at its most visceral, its most extreme, its most unapologetic, and in all its freakish glory. Imagine trying to explain what exactly it is that appeals to you about Laura's body to - for example - your best non-female muscle lovin' friend. What could you say? Where would you begin?
FREAK! Laura Carolan @IFBB Toronto Pro (FMS 12/06/16)



Canadian champion as long ago as 1992, the first part of Laura Carolan's career - during which she had graced the Ms International - ended in 1995 after the Jan Tana Pro Classic. She resurfaced briefly in 2012 at the Toronto Pro, but it wasn't until she made her second comeback in Tampa last year and subsequently worked with Awefilms that the full freakish glory of her body became apparent. I've seen some glutes in my time, but I have never, ever seen any like Laura's.



Many fans thought she should have won that 2015 Tampa show. Her conditioning was the best in the show, hands down, but she wasn't a "name", noted one poster, explaining her 8th place there. Her win this year in Toronto was her first since that 1992 Canadian title, and was enthusiastically applauded across the female muscle fan forums. She looked as genuinely surprised and delighted when her name was announced as any of our winners this year, but there are many who hope the second part of Laura Carolan's career is just getting started.


ISABELLE TURELL


Last seen: IFBB Omaha Pro (Winner)
RP 2015: 7th



Isabelle certainly left the fans wanting more after she had finished runner-up to Kim Buck in Puerto Rico. Her vascular inner thigh close-ups and her post-show balcony posing gave us - for my money - some of the most memorable images of 2016 so far.



The contest itself was, in some ways (and this blog is as guilty as any of not focusing on the contest itself), slightly overshadowed by Elena Oana Hreapca's guest posing, but a couple of weeks later Isabelle was back on stage in Nebraska, claiming her first pro title. And in typically generous "fitrockstar" style, she immediately set about complimenting everyone except herself - WoS "for putting on a great show and supporting the sport of female bodybuilding", "rare gems" Elena and Yaxeni Oriquen (who had finished 2nd behind her), and the rest of the field for the "fun times".



After a stellar amateur career followed by a five-year competitive break, Isabelle returned in 2014 with no doubts about what her future would be, and she has become one of the most committed supporters and enthusiastic competitors in the remodelled Wings of Strength-led Pro Female Bodybuilding World. This is something that I love, something that I’m very good at, she says. This is something that I’ve done for a long time and I’m going to be doing for a very long time. For her fans and her fellow female bodybuilders alike, that is good news. Very good news.


JACQUELINE "JAY" FUCHS


Last seen: IFBB Chicago Pro (Winner)
RP 2015: N/A



I'm so excited, said Jay after she had won the first professional title of her career in Chicago at the start of July. My life, my dream, my work... Next goal, Arizona!



Chicago is a big show, and it's always taken a big woman to win there - Monique Jones in 2012 and 2013, Rita Bello in 2014, and, last year, Helle Trevino. Now we all know what the most recent of those past winners went on to achieve at the Rising Phoenix, and while I'm not necessarily saying Jay is going to replicate Helle's feats, she has international amateur and pro titles now, and it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see her name somewhere near the top of the scorecard come Saturday night.



She's about as close to perfect as you can get, one of her fans wrote after her win, and while I imagine they were only thinking about her physique, they could have equally been referring to her swoonworthy attitude. Muscle... I like the power, she wrote as she basked in her post-Chicago afterglow. Arizona, Rising Phoenix... Yesssss...


YAXENI ORIQUEN


Last seen: IFBB Lenda Murray Pro-Am (Winner)
RP 2015: 4th



The brand new event in the calendar was, sadly I think, an event that barely registered for many fans. With Wings of Strength (as is their right but not necessarily right in terms of promotion of the sport) retaining the images of the contest, less has been said on the fan forums about the Lenda Murray Pro-Am than any other.



And that is a shame, I think, because from what I can tell, it was a major success story, not least because in what was her third show of the year, Yaxeni Oriquen won her first title since the 2012 Ms International. Now why exactly Yaxeni has been flying all over the US from Puerto Rico to Omaha to Norfolk, Virginia to compete at the age of 49 (she turned 50 last Saturday) when she was already qualified for the RP by virtue of her 4th place last year is anyone's guess. I'm not complaining though. And nor, I dare say, is our old friend JL, who must surely have been as excited as anybody as he's watched Yaxeni prepping and prepping and prepping again in 2016.



She seemed to expect to win in Puerto Rico and came 3rd. In Omaha there was that old sinking 2nd place feeling again, but in Norfolk, she got her reward for slogging it out. [I] Thank my God for the first place at the Lenda Murray show, she told her Instagram followers afterwards. Time was, and it was a time not so long ago, when as long as Iris wasn't in the line-up, Yaxeni was a certainty for the first prize. Times have changed.


SHEILA BLECK


Last seen: IFBB Tampa Pro (Winner)
RP 2015: N/A



Sheila's win in the final qualifier of the year was probably the most controversial of the six, but then again, Sheila has never been one to shy away from controversy (she has got herself into some epic slanging matches in the past - most notably in 2014 with Shereen Fons aka Dominique Danger), so perhaps it is fitting that this was so!



Actually the scorecards reveal that Sheila was a unanimous first with the judges in the first round, then tied first with runner-up Lisa Cross in the finals to win, so it's not like she won by a point or anything. And anyway, Sheila has form in Tampa - she's competed there three times now and only Sarah Hayes (back in 2012) has ever beaten her there. So, controversial if you must, but hardly surprising. In fact, Sheila has never been outside of the top 2 at any pro show except for the Ms Olympia, where she never cracked the top 3 - her best result was 4th on her debut in 2010.



If last year's result is anything to go by, she won't get the same smaller-but-perfectly-formed-wins kind of treatment from the RP judges as she has had from those in Tampa, but as always her elegance and her unique routine will bring something different to the show, and make her an invaluable part of the Greatest Female Muscle Show on Earth.


Tomorrow, the 8 women who made it on points.