Photos by Eric Guy - Click here to see photos

 

Alexandra Theatre, Bognor, 10th Aug 2008

 

BNBF Southern

So, the final qualifier of the 2008 season, and the black spot (or in this case the black pen) was passed back to me. Luckily I had packed the requisite bag of Tangfastics to fuel my brain for report writing – surely my sponsorship deal with Haribo can’t be far off now?
The Alexandra theatre in Bognor Regis is a new venue for the BNBF, and the staff – all volunteers! – worked very hard to get everything just how we wanted it (and the BNBF is very particular about sound and lighting).

Judging today were Jane Carter, Peter Chown, Glen Danbury, Nigel Davies, Rachael Hayes, Raymond James, Chris Nsubuga with head Judge Vicky McCann. Compering the evening show was the irrepressible Anita Albrecht, bringing her considerable Kiwi charm to the microphone. Fifty athletes entered, and forty-four competed in the biggest and most successful BNBF Southern so far.

(Competitor numbers appear in brackets after their names so you can spot them more easily on the photos and DVD.)

 

Teens

Sponsored by Tone Zone Fitness

www.tonezonefitness.co.uk

Christopher Abbass (1) had more mass, with a bigger chest and thicker abs than Kristian Johnson (2), who had a nice taper, good traps and impressive lats, which he tried to hide with his hands during the front lat spread. Better posing and a darker tan will help him look better for the finals. Both lads were quite nervous during the prejudging and had trouble with their quarter turns. More posing practice would serve them both well for the Britain.

Christopher opened the evening show with a tidy and straightforward posing routine, looking a touch firmer than he had in the afternoon.
Kristian posed to music with a very strong beat, something he could have used to time his poses. He is slightly built but has a good natural shape.

Both need to add more leg mass, but they are only teenagers so they have plenty of time to get to love the squat rack. The crowd was really enthusiastic, it is great to see such hard work at such a young age being acknowledged, both showing great promise for the future.
Jane Carter presented the trophies, taking second place to Kristian and first to Christopher, two fine additions to what will be an excellent Teen class at the finals.

1st Christopher Abbass

2nd Kristian Johnstone

 

Juniors

Sponsored by Big Lad Clothing

www.thebiglad.co.uk

Seven juniors today, presenting the same sort of variety we get in the Novice class. First out was Shakeel Ahmed (3) with a nice shape although soft. Lee Frapple (5) immediately stood out with his beautiful structure. Anthony Hague (6) was taller, somewhat long-waisted so will need to work on his lat width to improve his taper, with good quads and delts.

Daniel Hanikom had one of the most disastrous tans of the season, but it didn’t disguise his massive arms – another big lad! The other Dan (Harris, 8) held his shoulder girdle too high, making himself look narrower than he was as a result. You need to think ‘wide’, not ‘high’ in the quarter turns, guys. Kieron Keohane (9) also managed to make himself look narrower, by over-rounding his back in the rear lat spread.
Ollie Matthews was big, a little blocky-looking due to his naturally thicker waist, but with big legs too. This class was going to take a lot of judging, and there were multiple call-outs in prejudging.

Lee Frapple was wide, Daniel Hanikom was big, Anthony and Daniel Harris were particularly impressive in the side chest pose, with Ollie and Kieron looking equally good in the side triceps.

Lee’s rear lat spread was crazy, though Shakeel, Kieron and Anthony all over-rounded in this one. There was also a tendency to pinch the shoulder-blades together on the rear double biceps – open out, we still want to see lats in this pose! There were some good big legs on show, but all would have benefitted from being posed harder – a comment that everyone in every class at this show should take note of (even you, Marius!).
In round three Shakeel treated us to a classically styled routine that showed his shape well, especially his big guns and traps. His legs looked better than they had earlier, but he was still too soft and not yet big enough to be among the winners today.

Lee Frapple showcased his lovely shape with some dramatic posing, using the music well. He needs a darker tan to really bring out the detail in his physique, and for the Britain he will need to be tighter still, but he is a very promising athlete, especially if he can add more leg mass.
Anthony Hague really came into his own in this round, with a confident walk out to centre stage kicking off a very entertaining routine that included break dancing and still managed to show off his rather nice shape. Another who needs more tan – it’s going to take a while for us to get the hang of Jan Tana but when properly applied it is amazing (see pictures of guest start Raymond James…).

Tonight, Matthew, Daniel Hanikom was young Arnold; he has a great upper body but his legs lag behind. Better posing would help, but the only real cure is time - and more leg workouts.

Dan Harris had a huge posse from Zeus Gym cheering him on, which I’m sure helped him to be such a confident poser. He made great use of the whole stage, and really looked to be enjoying himself up there.

Kieron Keohane came on as a member of the 300, including helmet and greaves, to show off a nice shape in reasonable condition. More size will see him do better in future.

Ollie Matthews was another popular athlete, taking Superman for his theme. He is in the unusual position of his lower body being comparatively bigger than his upper – not a bad position to be in at this age. He could do with being a bit sharper, but there’s no question that the muscle is there.

Once the routines were over there was a quick nip through the compulsories; I feared Daniel Hanikom was going to explode during the most muscular, he was flexing so hard. The posedown was a very lively affair, competitive but friendly, with all seven working hard all the way through and getting a wonderful response from the crowd.

The appropriately named Big Lad Clothing sponsored this class, and their representative Sharon took the fourth place trophy to Daniel Hanikom. Britain invites accompanied the top three trophies; third place went to Anthony Hague, with big Ollie Matthews taking second. Top spot went to Lee Frapple, who whilst not the biggest in the class was very shapely and well-conditioned. The rematch between these three at the finals will be something to see – and then we’ve got all those other Juniors to chuck into the mix.

1st Lee Frapple

2nd Ollie Matthews

3rd Anthony Hague

4th Daniel Hanikom

 

Novice

Sponsored by Reflex Nutrition

www.reflex-nutrition.com

Martin Campbell (12) had an awful tan (the wrong Jan Tana) but a good taper. He is a true novice, who has lost over four stone recently, and didn’t even think about competing till he saw the Scottish qualifier this year.

Michael Foldvari (14) had good legs, looked a bit too straight through the body, and possibly the worst trunks! One of those physiques that is complete but just doesn’t ‘flow’.

Rob Harris (15) was big, still looking slightly soft in the lower half, but harder than at the Central qualifier two weeks previously.

Amin Judeh (16) looked sizeable but too soft. Another chap who needed to be leaner was Aaron King (17), with a look reminiscent of Eagle Eye Action Man.

Justin Mannings (18) had good abs, high lats but a nice taper, and a decent chest. Martin Pedro (20) was a good size, a bit soft, but looked better the more he posed, aside from his terrible rear lat spread.

Sporting the Clive West memorial flip flops was Alex Prescott (21) with somewhat distracting hair – luckily his physique was able to overcome his hairstyle.

Tony Sheene (22) presented a good upper body, but needs legs to match. Roberto Deoliviera (37) moved over from the Middleweights, he has a good base physique but needs to be sharper.

Prejudging saw some interesting interpretations of the quarter turns, with Alex Prescott being the stand-out worst poser in the class. Had he had a bet with his mates? Was it reverse psychology? Whatever he was doing, I still had him in the lead at the end of rounds one and two, with Rob Harris and Martin Pedro vying for second place.

I know this is the Novice class, but the Juniors collectively posed better – what is it with these Southern guys and their need to hide their lats with their hands in the front lat pose? And don’t get me started on the almost universal over-rounding in the rear lat spread… I was sat there willing them to get wider!

In the evening Martin Campbell performed a nice steady posing routine to show off a good taper, he needs more size to be truly competitive but he is off to a good start.

Michael Foldvari got better as he posed, lovely delts and triceps with some nice back detail. He had some very vocal supporters too.

Rob Harris has much more detail and better condition in his upper body, his legs are a good size but not as sharp. I wasn't sure if it was a lack of attention to posing that made his legs look soft, as there were occasional flashes of detail during his routine. Great bicep/delt tie-in!

Amin Judeh had a very entertaining routine, not quite sure what the violin miming was leading to but it was fun to watch. Amin needs to be much leaner to show what he has got – the size looks promising though.

Aaron King aka Action Man was a neat poser with a lovely shape, another one who needs just a bit more mass and tighter condition, and a darker tan would help.

Justin Manning had a lean, neat physique, great condition, just not enough to put him in the way of a trophy.

Martin Pedro was chunky, especially in the legs. Lovely pulled in abdominals – almost vacuum-style. Nice condition. Crisp!

If only Alex Prescott had got some posing tuition! It almost seemed like he was posing badly on purpose, but luckily he did not manage to conceal his big muscles and great condition. He does need to exert some control over those wayward abs, and to step out wider with those big legs, but even his ‘interesting’ hair could not detract from his peaky biceps and considerable vascularity.

Tony Sheene showed wicked biceps and traps. Looked to be enjoying himself up there, always good to see, with slow and controlled posing. Could do with more legs but a respectable showing.

Roberto Deolivierea really got the crowd going with his routine. A good taper on a good base, the size is there, he just needs to be sharper.
This is always a hard class to judge as it includes all shapes and sizes – I usually just go for who I like the best, and today the judges agreed with me.

Simon from Reflex took trophies and Britain invites to Michael Foldvari (14), Martin Pedro (20), a much improved and obviously pleased Rob Harris (15) and Alex Prescott, the man who couldn't pose, but didn't really need to today, was the winner. Well done Alex, now please get some help because you will be up against some very confident posing from the other Novices in the finals!

1st Alex Prescott

2nd Rob Harris

3rd Martin Pedro

4th Michael Foldvari

 

Masters over 50

Sponsored by Zeus Gym

www.zeusgym.co.uk

This could have been renamed Masters over 60 today, and it is great to see the older guys turning up with muscles and condition that some people half their age do not manage.

David Brice (23) was up to his usual standard, but today Paul Phillips (24), the new kid on the block, was bigger and had more detail in his legs. Paul would have compared even better with a deeper tan, something David's skin seems to have been made for, as he is always immaculately bronzed.

David had already qualified for the finals at the Central, and by evening he looked a little less full than two weeks previous, still with a lovely back and freaky biceps.

Paul had huge support from his buddies at Zeus Gym, and entertained them and us with a Mission Impossible-themed routine. He's a tall guy but well-muscled, great legs featuring feathered quads, not quite so sharp from the back view but big arms and delts.

This class so was entertaining that I even forgot all about my Haribos – it's been a while since we had two great over 60's on stage together, and I think their rematch at the final will be a good'un.

Angel from Zeus Gym presented the second place trophy to David, and first place Paul Phillips, who trains at – Zeus Gym! Result!

1st Paul Phillips

2nd David Brice

 

Miss Figure

Sponsored by The Church

Amanda Deane (26) was all on her own after the other figure competitor withdrew, and for a first timer Amanda gave a great example of the new figure T-walk. She has a lovely shape, and about the right level of tone for the class. A little more delt width would balance out her lower half, or possibly she could bring in the lower half with some dieting – backstage Amanda confessed to being one of those annoying naturally lean types...
Amanda's routine was lively and very dance-based – for the final she might want to start the poses earlier, and more back poses would show off her shape better, especially if she can add a little lat width in the next two months. She showed nice detail in the upper half with a slightly softer lower half. MC Anita explained that in this class we are looking for visible abs and some lines in the quads, but no leaner than that, so Amanda doesn't have to go mad with dieting for the finals, she just needs to tighten up.

Will Uelese represented The Church and presented Amanda with a well-deserved trophy and Britain invite – just because it’s an automatic win, it doesn't make it any easier being the only one in your class!

1st Amanda Deane

 

Guest Poser – Raymond James

Raymond’s second guest pose of the season was possibly more exciting than his first – big arms, big legs, big backflips, this man has it all. We love you, Raymond! Still 14 weeks out from his next contest, his condition at this show was enough to make some of today’s top competitors look out of shape. Raymond ran through the compulsories to show how it should be done - I hope Alex Prescott was taking notes – though I think his lights-out lat spread is not easily reproducible… Awesome and inspiring!

 

Masters

Sponsored by Peter Chown

www.naturalphysique.co.uk

First onstage was Lazaro Almeneres, (27) very smiley, good midsection, the most ripped in the class. Andrew Beck (28) was also ripped, with big arms, a terrible tan and not much else to show. He really needs to get the rest of his body up to the standard of his arms if he wants to get anywhere in competition.

Martin Dinsdale (29) displayed a nice taper, though he needs more leg size and sweep to match this. Lee Ottey (30) had stuck to his diet and improved from the Central qualifier. Lee has a balanced physique and very good abs, and he posed particularly well.

Brian Skeete (32) had big legs but was soft all over; he has great potential if he can sort out his condition. Paul Todd (33) has great size and a nice flow to his physique, putting him in my top three during the afternoon. David Whatley (34) was nicely balanced.

The Masters routines were kicked off by Lazaro Almeneres. I missed an interesting routine from him at the Central, but he topped that with great style and not a little risk when he gave us a well-choreographed performance that started with romantic roses and ended with eating fire. (Good job Raymond 'Fireman' James was there to keep an eye on things). All this entertainment could have detracted from his neat and beautifully conditioned physique, but there was enough proper posing in there to make his mark on the judges.

Andrew Beck really needs more mass. Martin Dinsdale had good upper body width and condition, but his legs were not up to the same standard.
Lee Ottey’s improved condition allowed us a better look at his tidy structure and decent amount of mass. He's a neat poser and has plenty of time to tighten up for the final..

Brian Skeete could have done with a coat or two of Jan Tana, as the stage lights gave his dark skin a greyish look that did nothing to enhance his good shape and mass. He posed very gracefully.

I thought Paul Todd had looked a bit crisper in the afternoon, I thought, but he was big and lean and posed in the classic style that really suits these taller guys.

David Whatley finished this section of the show with a Goldfinger-themed routine, complete with shades and gold trunks. Great arms, needs to improve his legs, though he looked better in the line-up than he did by himself.

Lazaro appeared to be the hardest working man in showbiz in a very energetic and hard-fought posedown, into which Lee threw some excellent low poses, a great way to stand out from the pack and more interesting for the crowd to look at. A second posedown was needed; looking at the level of activity on the judging table, this decision was going close to the wire!

When the dust settled, Peter Chown took the fourth place trophy to the man who started this evening's trend for gold trunks, David Whatley.
Third place and a Britain invite went to an improved and delighted Lee Ottey, second place went to big rugged Paul Todd, with Lazaro's neater physique getting the top spot.

1st Lazaro Almeneres

2nd Paul Todd

3rd Lee Ottey

4th David Whatley

 

Lightweights

Sponsored by Muscle Mass Mechanics (Glen Danbury)

1st Flavio Mendoca

2nd Christopher Flannagan

Flavio Mendoca (36) came fresh from his Junior victory at the Centrals, while Christopher Flannagan (35) has been plugging away all season, coming in tighter each time, perhaps he has been to the Felix MacAlinden Academy of Persistence. This class was mostly about mass versus condition – though Flavio had brought some nice condition too.

Christopher showed some very nice pec detail, and an impressive abdominal vacuum, though in his evening routine he could have made more use of The Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ to add emphasis to his posing.

Flavio danced his way on to the stage, he knew he had this one in the bag, with his nicely balanced physique in tight condition. He made a point of showing us his glutes, just so we could see how well-conditioned he was.

Glen Danbury presented second place and a long-awaited Britain invite to Christopher, and first place to Flavio, who now has to decide whether to do Lightweights or Juniors at the Britain…

 

Middleweights

Sponsored by Udo’s Oil

www.savant-health.co.uk

Austra Franklin (41) dropped down from the Heavyweights – perhaps his diet was more effective than he expected – so Chris Drake (38) still had some company on stage after Roberto Deoliviera decided to join the Novices. Both men had pleasing shapes, Austra maybe had more pec and delt mass, but Chris had lower lats and a bigger back, with bigger legs and better condition.

The contest looked closer come the evening, Austra looked sharper than he had earlier, though he needs to be leaner still and pay more attention to his tan, as he too was graying a little under the stage lights.

Chris’s big back was matched by good arms and a neat midsection, with a better taper from the back. To say there were only two of them, the posedown was a closely matched one, and then it was time for Rachael Hayes (representing Udo’s Oil) to give the second place trophy to Austra Franklin, and first place to Chris Drake. Another interesting rematch for the Britain?

1st Chris Drake

2nd Austra Franklin

 

Heavyweights

Sponsored by The Church

First out was Marius Alcide (39), the shortest in the class but loaded with muscle, followed by Jon Clark (40) who was the loveliest, erm, I mean the most aesthetic. Harry Grove (42) was too pale and rather soft – he might make a better middleweight if he can hack the diet. Robin Mills (43) was also soft but big, and Anthony Potts (44) was the tallest, with the usual tall heavyweight problem of needing more time to really fill out those long limbs.

This class came down to a lively battle between mass and aesthetics, but the outcome was never really in doubt, especially for those who were familiar with Marius from the Central.

Round three saw ma-hoo-ssive Marius posing to a tune that wasn’t his own, but did it really make a difference? He is very big, but will need to stay on the diet up until the finals, though he is well on the way. He asked me not to refer to him as The Freak, so I won’t, but check out those hanging hams, people!

Jon Clark gave the second Bond-themed performance of the evening, wearing the best trunks in the show and posing beautifully. He has such a flow to his physique that it is impossible not to warm to him. Jon has improved his legs over the years but they are still not quite as big as his great upper half needs them to be. However, he always presents himself well, and can get into top condition, so who knows how things will go at the Britain.

Harry Grove also had music problems, so also posed to a track that he hadn’t practiced to. He has a nice shape, but needs more condition to place, and more tan would be useful as he looked quite pale in the line-up.

Robin Mills used the music really well, including during his robotic-style entrance. He looked better from the front than the back, but had good size in reasonable condition.

Last man up was Anthony Potts, following the trend for gold trunks and giving us a less than serious routine to the Village People’s ‘Macho Man’. I bet he would be the most fun on a night out! After a few quiet Heavyweight classes this year, Anthony has been unfortunate to run into some really big lumps, but hopefully he will keep going and keep growing till he fills out that frame.

After a sporting posedown, another heavyweight contender, Will Uelese, came on to present top three trophies and Britain invites to Robin Mills, Jon Clark and oh, what a surprise, Marius Alcide.

1st Marius Alcide

2nd Jon Clark

3rd Robin Mills

 

Miss Physique

Sponsored by Monster Gym

www.monstergym.co.uk

Well, the final class of the day and what a judging headache this one was! The Miss Physique class is about shape, muscularity and condition, with more muscle and less body fat than the Miss Figure class, ideally whilst still maintaining an aesthetic shape.

I was disappointed to see yet more breast implants appearing in this class, I’m not convinced of their worth in the Figure class, and in Physique they either give the impression of a fatter athlete with no lats from the front (bad move!) or a more developed upper half (in which case isn’t it cheating?).

First out was Evelyn Day (45), nice and lean for a first-timer, though some more delt width would disguise her narrow shoulders and improve the look of her thicker waistline.

Next was Donna Jenkins (46), another athlete who had stayed on the diet after the Centrals and brought her legs in a tad harder as a result. Anne Quinlan (47) was also making her bodybuilding debut, she was pretty lean but had nowhere near enough mass to be challenging today.

Annie Uelese (48) had the nicest overall shape, with a good amount of mass, but was slightly soft. Flick Williams (49), the youngest but actually one of the most experienced competitors in the class, gave a convincing debut, looking visibly happier than in Figure. She had the neatest waist and hips, though was still a little heavy in the legs. Rounding out the class was a disappointing Tatyana Zadorozny (50), who has been much sharper in the past, and has a lot of mass, but needed much longer than a four-week diet to prep for this show.

So, no real stand-out winner, with most of the women meeting two out of the three criteria, but no-one meeting all of them. Going into the evening show I had no idea who was going to place where.

In the evening, the routines did little to help relieve the judging headache. Evelyn Day displayed a reasonable amount of muscle, and reasonable condition, though more delt width would give her a better shape.

Donna Jenkins has a very lean upper body, and her legs had improved to the extent of showing some hamstrings this time out. She has excellent delts, triceps and good back detail, though more lat width would disguise her thicker midsection and give her a better taper.

Anne Quinlan thoroughly enjoyed herself, posing very cheerfully. She is a kick-boxing champion so has a very athletic physique, but she is not really muscular enough for Physique, nor does she have the ideal natural shape for the class. But top marks for enthusiasm!

Annie Uelese fell victim to the non-playing CD, so chose to perform her routine in silence, and what a routine it was – flowing, elegant and expressive, showing off a lovely shape, and decent mass but not enough condition on this occasion. She looked tighter in the evening than in the afternoon, and was beautifully presented, hitting all her poses effectively.

Flick Williams also displayed good size, though her legs need to be leaner for us to tell how much muscle she has there – her calves are great. If she adds more lat width, or can pull her waist in tighter, she will have a really lovely X-shape.

Tatyana Zadorozny had the most blinging bikini of the show, but was very bloated in the mid-section, and it was hard to tell whether her impressive size was all due to muscle, or not. She posed nicely, but she really wasn’t ready for this show.

After a good-humoured posedown Annabel Ottey presented the trophies on behalf of Monster Gym. Third place went to a very surprised Evelyn Day, along with an invite to the Britain. Second went to an equally surprised Flick Williams, with first place going to Donna Jenkins. It will be interesting to see how these three stack up against each other in another eight weeks time!

1st Donna Jenkins

2nd Flick Williams

3rd Evelyn Day

 

Overall

Time for the biggest decision of the night now, as Christopher Abbass, Lee Frapple, Alex Prescott, Paul Phillips, Lazaro Almeneres, Flavio Mendoca, Chris Drake and Marius Alcide came back on stage to do battle for the overall title.

Marius had the mass, lee, lazaro and chris had the shape, with alex probably having the best condition, though possibly lazaro might have pipped him there. The guys were all up for it, and audience went mad in response, with one of the best crowd reactions to an overall this season.

However, before the decision was announced, there were some other prizes to award.

Raymond James took the Best Wheels trophy (sponsored by BNBF) to… Marius Alcide!

Vicky McCann awarded Best Male Presentation to Jon Clark, and Best Female Presentation to Annie Uelese. Both awards were sponsored by 247 bodybuilding/Jan Tana.

In the end, there was no arguing with the big man’s legs – and all his other muscles – and Steve from Reflex Nutrition took the Overall Mr trophy to Marius Alcide.

And here ended the BNBF 2008 qualifiers, a great show in a splendid new venue, well-supported by spectators and yes, it is literally across the road from the beach.

After the BNBF stand was packed away and the dressing rooms were cleaned up, the BNBF crew decamped to a rather marvelous Chinese restaurant to await a drug test sample from the last class winner, and to discuss the upcoming British final, under the influence of copious amounts of diet coke and lemon chicken.

See you all in Glasgow – Sunday 12th October at the SECC, get your tickets a.s.a.p. as it is going to be phenomenal!

 

Written by Crow