The evening portion of the contest day really is the “show” part of it all. This is when the trophies are awarded. There’s an MC who keeps things moving and attempts to tell jokes. The audience is larger, so there’s a lot of energy from a room filled with cheering people anxious to know who’s won.
For each weight and height class the competitors come out on stage. The figure competitors each do their “walk” and poses, and then line up across the back of the stage. The bodybuilders do a 60 second posing routine to music of their choice. These routines can be a lot of fun to watch, especially when the competitor obviously puts some thought into choreographing poses to the music or adds something that expresses personality and makes it unique.
One good/bad thing is that not every bodybuilder gets to do their routine at the bigger shows. The shows are already several hours long, so simply to keep it from getting too much longer, sometimes only the top five bodybuilders in each class get to do their routine. I always feel bad for those people who put so much work into getting ready for the show, and for their friends and family who come to see them, for them to only get 30 seconds on stage when the weight class in introduced. But at the same time, I don’t want the competition to last any longer. I’m not sure if there’s a better way to keep the time under control but to give people a chance to show off the hard work they’ve done.
At the end of each group (Figure, Women’s Bodybuilding and Men’s Bodybuilding) the winners of each class comes out on stage and the judges vote on the spot to determine the Overall Winner. These are the best of the best, and it’s exciting to watch.
I have an issue with some of the trophy girls I’ve seen at past competitions. A bit of a pet peeve. At most award shows, take the Academy Awards for example, the trophy girl hands over the trophy to the winner and then steps back off to the side and out of camera frame. At some of the bodybuilding contests, the trophy girl stands smack dab in the middle of the stage holding up the hand of the winner. This makes me CRAZY! Hey, Trophy Girl! The audience is NOT clapping for you. GET OUT OF THE WAY and let the person who actually won get the recognition and attention he/she deserves! Argh!
There. It had to be said. I feel better now.
The only other real complaint I have about the evening show is that from the audience point of view there’s not much to distinguish the competitions from year to year. There’s often the same MC in the same auditorium, and many of the same competitors. It can feel a bit like you’ve seen it all before.
Bodybuilder Hubby thinks the contest he runs is just fine the way it is. But I keep thinking there may be ways to make it even better.
I’ve been brainstorming ideas to make his contest stand out a little more from year to year. One idea is to have a theme each year. There’s an infamous half-marathon in our area every spring. The run itself sucks – as I can attest from personal experiences – 8 miles up a mountain and 5 miles down the back side. But it is one of the most fun races I’ve ever done because they have a different theme every year that they really make a big deal out of – signs and people dressed up and all sorts of things. I’m not sure how that would work with a bodybuilding contest, but I’m thinking about it.
I also told Bodybuilder Hubby that I’d like to be the MC. He burst out laughing. I think he thought I was kidding. I wasn’t.
But I have another idea that I haven’t told him about yet. It involves me, a video camera, and a handful of competitors willing to let me follow them around during one of their workouts. I can totally picture in my head how I want it to all come together. I just need to find the right time to make the suggestion to Bodybuilder Hubby and get him excited about it too before I start any of the actual work to make it happen.
So for now, let’s just keep it a secret. Just between you and me.
Video idea is fantastic!!!
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