If you are a bodybuilding fan then a show like the Mr Universe is an absolute must see as the quality of the physiques on display is awesome, the stage is packed with competitors who would easily walk away with class and over all wins at a local and national level. Its one thing to say it's the best each country has to offer in one place, it is another thing to see what this means right there 20 feet in front of you. At this level 2% off is the difference between challenging for the title and playing nothing more than a walk on part.
The only thing that detracted from the lustre of the day, for me anyway, was the rule that only those with a pass could take photographs. Seeing competitors and supporters being told they couldn't take snapshots was a sad thing to see, even more so when the competitor has flown 12 hours to be there for no more than 15 minutes stage time.
So here is my take on NABBA's premier event.
Master's Over 40
As the evening show emcee pointed out these guys were in fabulous shape for their age, what he should have said is these guys were in fabulous shape. Over 40 or not these guys displayed the sort of physiques that take class wins anywhere in the world. A clean sweep of the top 3 by the Brazilians reflected their combination of good conditioning, balance and size.
Masters Over 50
These guys show anyone that you cannot use age as an excuse for not being in shape - and then some. Bernie Cooper looked improved on earlier this year reflecting his obvious hard work to take a debatable 5th - I had him higher myself. However, the unlucky award goes to John Citrone in 2nd who looked great, sporting a beaming smile, rock hard physique and crisp definition for me he was a little blurring in the mid section away from taking the class win. Less than 1% more of ab definition was what gave the Israeli the win here. A hard fought class which like the over 40s set the standard for the day - only spot on would be good enough.
Juniors
The under 21s here were phenomenal, not just the top 6 but with the sheer depth of quality right the way down the line up. The top 6 represented the cream of a fine crop, and the misters need to be looking over their shoulders with these guys coming through. Picking faults and weak points with this group is really splitting hairs, hard, separated finely conditioned physiques right the way past the top spots meant that the winner and Rob Lloyd in 6th were so close that hitting a pose slightly less completely than the man next you would slip you down the order.
Figure Class 2
The NABBA figure classes have always confused me, as the winners always look like physique competitors. Today was no different except that the physique competitors were even better conditioned, muscular and crisply defined! I couldn't separate the top 10, let alone the top 6 with this line up. Another clean sweep by the Brazilian's reflected the fact that they were stunning from head to toe. The epitome of beautiful, athletic muscular physiques - every one. I have to agree with the emcee's sentiment when he announced that there would be 2.5 hours free posing at the night show instead of the usual 30 seconds.
Malika Back Stage |
Figure Class 1
Like the Class 2 ladies before them this was an outstanding line up that makes finding new superlatives to describe what was on stage an impossible task. In this class the judges were definitely favouring the harder physiquey look in their selections with the Russians taking the top 2, and the Brazilian in 3rd. MuscleTalk member Malika was quite rightly very happy to take 6th spot in another quality line up.
Figure Overall
This went to the Class 2 winner, which confused me as they had in Class 1 gone for the harder more muscular look over the softer look. In Class 2 the harder more muscular physiques came with less completeness than those taking the top 3 so it was easy to see why the judges went the way they did. In Class 1 there had been more of a distinction in the two looks with both being displayed with class. This would have told me that the judges would given the choice go with their Class 1 choice in the overall. It was definitely close fought with both ladies working very hard in the overall posedown. Indeed could be that the judges ended up splitting them on more than physique criteria and took into account the way they worked the posedown. If this was the case then Andrea from Class 2 was ever so slightly ahead. My head scratching aside it was a great show from the figure classes.
Avril (ripped_glutes) and Malika with MT Moderator Dawn (Kitty) in the middle | 
Avril with Big Les! |
Ladies Physique
Unusually for me I agreed with the judges in most of the classes, this was not one of them. Toni Carreas from Spain in third I felt should have been one spot higher for sure. Toni was by far the shortest lady on stage which usually throws out the competitors shape and symmetry as there simply isn't enough space for everything to flow together. A fabulous exception to this rule, Toni had shape, symmetry and muscle in spades. Her condition was perfect, each muscle standing in beautiful relief from its neighbour to give a complete look that was surpassed by only other on stage. In addition to this Toni radiated femininity in a class where this can be hard to come by. That said 3rd place at the Ms Universe is nothing to be unhappy about at all, and neither is 4th. Avril Keith in 4th looked much improved again from her Britain showing and like Toni presented a complete physique from head to toe. Add to that condition that can only be described as perfect I had Avril as the safest bet of the day to take the win. Either way both can look at their performances with justified pride - awesome. None this takes away from the top 2, both ladies had muscle, crisp definition and hardness that you cannot argue with. The only thing lacking, and this is purely my humble opinion, is that the top two didn't have the same flow and pleasing aesthetics of the two placed behind them. That's how close it was.
Mister Class 4
The fact that the overall winner came from this class speaks volumes about just how hotly contested Class 4 was. Charles Mano was rock hard with no weak points to speak of whatsoever. Paul Sutton looked disappointed to take 4th, and I can see why. He had a great physique, but so did all the men who placed ahead of him. If you want to point to anything that kept him out of 3rd and 2nd then good luck as I couldn't. In fact the only difference between Paul in 4th and Charles in 1st was tiny bit of difference in the quality of the glute - ham tie in. They were that good! You can't review this class without giving Jason Corrick a mention. As usual a mountain of rock hard muscle, he now has his midsection coming under control and great conditioning which points to the prospect of a resurgent Jason to make this class even more exciting in the future.
Mister Class 3
The result of this class was met with vociferous disapproval by the home crowd, and some questioning of the parentage of the judging panel among other descriptive terms! On this occasion I couldn't help agree with the sentiment, if not the expression. In second place Phil Carlton looked superb. The Dutch winner looked like he had a physique lovingly moulded out of clay, Roy Patterson 3rd and Phil 2nd look to have physiques forged through sheer force, the muscle beaten into place and hammered into shape before having skin at least one size too small stretched over the top struggling to contain it. Muscle wise Phil was right there with quality beef from head to toe in a package that would have challenged for an overall win and that looked a sure fire win throughout prejudging. In 3rd Roy Patterson brought his usual trademark awesome conditioning, except with more fullness than earlier in the year. The only things that separated Roy from the top were the lack of sweep and depth in his lower body, and what I call the curse of dream tan. Roy always has a great tan that is better than has been sported at professional level - his presentation is always top drawer in fact, but with dream tan you can sometime cover the finest of details. Today was one of those days were Roy's conditioning was less apparent on the first look, but in fact was as good if not better than ever upon closer inspection. In a show like the Universe this is the sort of tiny small detail that counts. I should also say that Billy Boyne in 4th and Tony Mount in 5th were so so close to being higher - close fought class to say the least.
Mister Class 2
Once again wall to wall beef right across the stage. Luke Nicholls in 4th has got to be please with that. This class was a nightmare to judge as even going for fine detail in the glute-ham tie in would have left you hard pressed to see any big difference at all. Indeed it was things like the odd bit of softness in one leg that was separating competitors. The winner Jan from Russia looked to be pushing Charles for the overall title.
Mister Class 1
Russell Freakley and Ian Simpson from the UK took 5th and 6th which is something to get excited about in a great class. Massive muscle everywhere you looked. The top 3 was especially close, I preferred the look of the Russian in 3rd, but that could have been as much his greatly entertaining posing and routine as the quality of physique.
Ms Fitness
The fitness routines are always a sight to behold with great gymnastics and strength moves combined. The Brazilian winner would not have looked out of place in a figure line up and had a routine that was everything a fitness routine should be performed with energy and flair. The same goes for the South African who took second. In third was Helen Heenan, without sounding disrespectful Helen has a chunkier physique than other competitors in this class, she is obviously not naturally slim and so in the fitness world is fighting against ladies that are both taller and slender by design. And the point of saying this; Helen has a great figure and looks fabulous - which goes to show that it's not all about genetics. Add to this the simply superlative defying routines performed with the sort of energy levels that make atomic bombs feel sluggish by comparison and you have a hugely entertaining competitor who is always great to watch. And if this wasn't enough Helen is more often than not the winner in the fitness tests that constitute the first round of this class. As you may have guessed Helen is one of my favourite fitness competitors, and it was great to see her at the Universe in great shape with a brilliant routine that was complete in every detail including a great costume.
Mr Universe Overall
Taken by the Class 4 winner there were in reality only two contenders, and Charles Mano nearly blew it with his over oiling. However the judges saw past the slick and no one can argue with the result.
Professional Mr Universe
This was the only disappointment of the night. Only Peter Brown in 3rd had legs that were near the standard of his upper body, which at this level is really very noticeable because these guys have great upper bodies in terms of development and condition. The winner Sergi from Russia was huge, easily the biggest on stage, and he had a good hard condition. However, he just doesn't have a pleasing physique. His legs and upper body don't match at all in terms of development or condition, a fact that is only accentuated by the way they look to have come off different people. His upper body looks like it was taken off someone one bigger and put on his legs - so is either side at the waist line. It doesn't sag - its rock hard - it's just bigger, from front to back and side to side. His wide and thick waist means his taper is lacking to say the least and his whole physique had a strange look to it in that it looked like it had been filled from the inside and pushed out. Very odd indeed. To me this decision just confirms that the professional Mr Universe is an oddity in the calendar.
Thoughts on the show
A great show, and as ever, plenty to talk about and debate for ages afterwards. It's a shame there was the perennial music problem (which seemed to be due to the officials timing the routines from when the music starts and the competitor timing their posing itself), but all in all it was run well and smoothly with 180 competitors this has to be a mammoth task. I am looking forward to next year.