FAME European Championships at the Seni Show, London ExCel, April 27th 2008 Words by Rob Riches. FAME Muscle Model Pro. Images by Andrew Durrell – Event Photographer. FAME has been building it’s presence in the UK over the past 4 years, and this year was no exception, with a high standard of quality from competitors who had traveled from throughout Europe to compete at the FAME European Championships 2008.  Hosted by FAME Pro, Rob Riches, fresh back from his success at the FAME East Championships, and Miss FAME UK winner 2007, Audrey Kaipio. The FAME European Championships was held at the Seni Show at the London ExCel – the largest martial arts expo in Europe, with over 80,000 people through the doors. What better location than to provide a stage for Europe’s fittest models to step onto. This year was the first time that Bodybuilding and Bikini Model were available as categories, as up until now, only the Male and Female Fitness Model categories were available. Both new additions were taken advantage off with a strong line-up of competitors in each, with half of the competitors from outside of the UK. “Whilst it may have started off as a small fitness model show within an expo, FAME is now building a name for itself within Europe, and has attracted some very high quality of competitors. I would not be surprised if many of those who place at the European Championships do very well at the World’s in June!” Says Rob Riches, the European Event’s Organizer. Unlike most FAME shows, the European Championships was held within an Expo, and had to share the centre stage with other events throughout the day. “This could have been a problem” says Rob, “as we were on stage three times throughout the day, and faced the possibility of starting late if the previous event overran, but we turned it around to our advantage. By regularly announcing throughout the day that we were on stage at certain times, we retained much of the audience from the previous events, and many people who had watched the first show at the beginning of the day returned to see the second and third installments. By the awards presentation at the end of the day, there were several hundreds of people, all waiting to see where the models had placed. It was great moral for the models and really fired them up after what had been a long day”. In total, there were 20 competitors, which may sound small for a European Championships, but given the presence within the UK has been largely via the FAMEworldtour website, it shows how FAME is becoming recognized for the best natural athletes in the world. With the likes of Rob Riches and Audrey Kaipoi taking charge of the European market, you can expect the numbers to soon rocket. “The European competitors are very committed and dedicated to their fitness” says Audrey, who had won the Female Model competition the previous year. “I cannot wait for next year, when I know we will get very good competitors from all over Europe. We will provide some very good competitors who I can see going all the way, and it’s great to be involved with them, and see them grow from their first show”. The competitors all met for the first time at the pre-registration meeting the night before the competition, at the host hotel. With competitors representing Germany, Brussels, Slovakia and from all parts of the UK, language was not universal. In fact, one competitor had only just met her translator that morning, and was having a three-way conversation with the event organizer about her registration. But one thing was clear, and that was everyone’s love of fitness. Everyone was talking to everyone, some speaking in the same languages, others comparing poses, but everyone was getting to know everyone else. “It was a real bonding session, not just for the FAME promoters and the competitors, but for the competitors with other competitors. It meant that on the day of the competition they were all familiar with each other, and were helping one another with their costumes and tanning. That made the whole competition flow with a fun, relaxed vibe” says Rob. With the exception of one, this was everyone’s first FAME show, with over 2/3rds of competitors, having never competed before, which, considering the relative few model competitions throughout Europe, was perhaps not as surprising as it first seems. Rob and Audrey, both of whom have previously held FAME Camps (including Rob hosting the very first FAME Idol in Beverly Hills, CA in March), spent much of the evening with these competitors, ensuring that they knew what to expect on show day, what the judges would be marking them on, and how to present themselves on stage. Everyone wanted to get the most out of the pre-competition camp. It was sort of like a rehearsal for the competition the next day. “You could see everyone had huge potential, which started causing headaches as to who would place where. This was not going to be an easy competition to judge”. Says Audrey, who was head judge as well as co-host. “But then again, when is any competition easy to judge?” Everyone met on the day of competition at 8am for morning registration, amid thousands of people lining up to get into the Seni Show, which was playing host to the FAME European Championships. As the first part of the show was due to start 30 minutes after the main doors open, all athletes were giving VIP access into the halls to start preparing backstage. The show was segmented into three parts throughout the day, with all athletes having time to shine on stage in each part. First up in the morning segment, which gave us 90 minutes on the centre stage before we had to give it up, was the introduction to the FAME World Tour, showcasing Europe’s fittest models and athletes that would be seen throughout the day. As the European Championships was a show within a show, much of the audience who had come to watch various other events, were not aware of FAME, and so to keep the audiences coming back for each show, it was important to let everyone know about what FAME offer and the times that we would be back on the stage throughout the day, although the talent on stage would speak for itself, and be more than enough to keep people coming back. As Rob played host to the show, and was busy between stage appearances helping all the competitors get ready backstage, Audrey headed up the judging table, along with Gareth Jenkins – Director of W Models, a successful health and fitness agency based in London and LA, and Catherine Belso, who has an eye for fitness, being a popular personal trainer, and a previous competitor, being crowned ‘Ms. Fitness Britain’ in 2006. First out on stage were the bodybuilders, which was the first time FAME had a bodybuilding category in Europe. It was one of the largest groups on stage, and the quality of competitors did not disappoint, with titles including; Fittest Man of Germany, Mr Adonis, Swiss Champion, and one competitor who has competed for over 35 years, although this was his first in the UK. One competitor stood out from the moment he stepped on stage - Helle Strebl, a competitor from Austria. “I’ve competed in many bodybuilding shows and Helle displayed one of the finest conditioned physiques I’ve ever seen” said Rob. As the bodybuilders flexed, tensed, and squeezed every muscle group going through their quarter turns and mandatory poses, the crowd cheered, as although they had come expecting to see athletes compete within a variety of events, including martial arts, wrestling, and cage-fighting, they had not expected to see some of the finest physiques in Europe. Following the Bodybuilding category was the Female Fitness Model, welcomed on to the stage by a loud cheer, and clearly appreciated by the growing audience. The 4 girls, each one from a different country, got the attention of nearly everyone in the exhibition hall. For 3 of them it was their first competition, but they all looked at home on stage, displaying the very qualities that FAME promotes within each category. After a short break to allow those who had competed in the bodybuilding category, and who were also competing within the Fitness Model category, time to change, as well as a chance for the judges to go over the scores after seeing nearly every one of the competitors on stage that day, the show started back with a Press-up contest for the audience, and being within a fitness expo, there were no shortages of people wanting to get up on stage, especially as the female fitness models would be also be on stage cheering them on. After nearly 2 solid minutes of push-ups, the final 2 left who were still pushing up and down were 2 women, one of whom was a little girl called Lucy who could not have been older than 8 years old. “This just shows that women far out-perform men in the endurance department” laughs Audrey. It was Lucy who won the competition.  The next category out on stage was the Male Fitness Model – Swimwear, and what a line-up to start back with! Out of the 6 competitors, for 3 it was their first competition, although from looking at them you could never tell who had competed before and who hadn’t. “I remember my first time on stage, which as a model, was on a FAME stage here in the UK back in 2006, and how focused I was on my presentation and proud to be up on stage”. Recalls Rob, “Everyone had taken on board and used the little tips we gave them the night before, and looked comfortable in each of their turns and poses. The pre-competition Camp was very much worth it for everyone on stage!” After a few hours between the next stage show, many of the athletes walked the expo – still only wearing their fitness costumes, and rightly so, as they were all being photographed. “I’ve never had people come up to me and ask to be photographed with me” says Dave Kaye, who entered both the bodybuilding and fitness model category. “It was one thing to step onto a FAME stage for the first time, but to have people come and ask for a photo was a great feeling”.  Once everyone had taken full advantage of the photo and networking opportunity’s during their time off stage, the bodybuilders took to the stage again for their individual posing routines, but before they each came out, they were all taken through their quarter turns and a pose down – much to the delight of the audience, as the music was pumped up and muscles flexed. There was a clear difference between posing preferences. With the Masters (competitors over the age of 40) chossing posing elegantly to a slower tempo, whilst the 3 in the Open class all opted for a harder beat. It really showed the audience and the judges, the difference between those who had been competing for many years, with plenty of mature muscle, and those who, although were fairly new to competition, were really entertaining the crowd with a display of choreographed moves. It was a great contrast between the different competitors, and really gave the audience a show that was greatly appreciated. Perhaps the ever-growing crowd had heard about the female fitness models from the first part of the show, but whatever it was that was drawing them in, the crowd was certainly at its biggest now, and were clearly delighted when the female models entered the stage one-by-one in their theme-wear. With sexy sailors, exotic dancers, raunchy referee’s, and sleek chicks making the line up, it was hard to imagine why all of the exhibitor booths within the expo were practically empty. Clearly feeling revved up from the morning show, and all the attention they had been getting throughout the day, the Female Fitness Models really did put on a show for the audience. Everyone was posing for pictures within their turns and moves. It was obvious that everyone was enjoying themselves and feeling comfortable being up on stage in front of hundreds of strangers. The Male Fitness Models who followed the girls did not waste any time either in enjoying their time on stage to shine. As with the Female Models, each competitor had taken time to consider a theme that would best show off their physiques. One of the most original was by Richard Fenton – a Personal Trainer with his own business in the midlands of the UK, who came out as a rock climber, wearing basically what he would if he were going climbing that day. “I really enjoy to climb” says Richard, “It helps me stay fit, and I feel very comfortable when I’m climbing. As this is my first model competition I thought - what better for a theme, than something that I enjoy and that helps keep me fit”. Whilst the Bikini category were preparing backstage, who were actually all the same girls who did Fitness Model, as they all wanted to maximize their time on stage and increase their exposure, a second competition was held for the audience to participate in. This time it was ‘Best Abs’, and although it was clear that the best abs were all currently backstage, this was a great chance to involve the audience and get them up on stage. Again, there was no shortage of participants, and much to the delight of the judges, Audrey and Catherine, the men did not need asking twice to remove their shirts. Amongst the men on stage, there were also 3 well-conditioned women, all of whom would not have not looked out of place within a FAME line-up, who quite possibly had the best abs out of all the men. The crowd seemed to agree as well, as the winner was rated on crowd appreciation. As we say in FAME – everyone is a winner, and everyone who stepped up from the crowd was a winner, showcasing their sculptured bodies for all to see. They were each rewarded with supplements from LA Muscle - "The World's Premier Sports & Nutrition Specialists for Athletes", with the winner, which just so happened to be the morning’s press-up winner, receiving an LA Muscle jacket and cap. After a quick costume change, all of the girls were back on stage in the bikini category. For some, it was a last-minute decision the night before to enter the bikini category, but after speaking with the other girls who were doing both categories, they decided it would be fun to do both, giving everyone a boost knowing that they would all be doing the same show and be on stage with each other at the same time.  Stepping back on to the stage for their third time, the girls really knew how to work the stage and seemed to all feed of the audiences cheers and applause. Although all of the Bikini girls had been on earlier in the Fitness Model category, they had really taken on board the different stances and positions that we taught to them the night before and in the FAME Camp that Audrey had held in London a few weeks before. One competitor perhaps stood out more so than others, and that was Eva Martinkova, who at only 17 years old, was certainly the youngest on stage, but by no means the least experienced. She was from Slovakia, and had won big fitness competitions in both her home country and the Czech Republic, appearing in the likes of Muscle & Fitness and several newspapers and TV shows throughout Slovakia. She had won a scholarship from the Slovakian President to compete within a Fitness competition throughout Europe – and it was the FAME European Championships that she chose! With the Bikini category wrapping up the end of the second part of the show, there was an hour break before everyone was back on stage for the award presentation. Whilst the judges had the task of tallying up all the competitors scores, and discussing how well everyone did, the only task that seemed to face the competitors was which costume they should wear on stage if they had entered multiple categories. After everyone had decided on what to wear, which unsurprisingly seemed to be the least amount of clothing to show off their physiques in all the photographs that would be taken, it was time to celebrate the winners of each category. One thing was for sure of the competitors, and that was other than they were all superbly conditioned athletes on stage, they had also become very media savvy, and aware of themselves as fitness figures and roles models to many. As each competitor walked back out on stage, forming the familiar semi-circle after hitting their favorite pose, Rob and Audrey joined them for the FAME European Championships 2008 group photo, before thanking all of the competitors, judges and the audience for a great show. All of the judges scores had been totaled, and the top 3 from each category had been decided. As Rob called out the competitors to the front, Audrey and Catherine gave each competitor a medallion, and would take the WNSO necklaces and the bags of supplements from LA Muscle, to each of the winners. First up was the Masters Bodybuilding category. Each competitor went through the quarter-turns again, showing the audience, who was now at it’s largest, even though the expo had closed it’s doors to anyone who wanted to enter, the dedication and commitment that have gone into building and sculpting the physiques they saw before them. Helle Strebl – 1st Place, from Austria. Jochen Moehrstaedt – 2nd Place, from Germany. Andreas Mueller – 3rd Place, from Germany. The Bodybuilder – level 2, Open category followed with the following rankings: Holger Kimmerle – 1st Place, from Germany. David Kaye – 2nd Place, from Scotland. Simon Howard – 3rd Place, from England. Next up, the Male Fitness Model – Open, Level 2: David Kaye – 1st Place, from Scotland. Holger Kimmerle – 2nd Place, from Germany. Andy Kelly – 3rd Place, from England. Female Fitness Model – Open, Level 2: Natalie Minh – 1st Place, from Brussels. Haylene Ryan – 2nd Place, from England. Francesca Giacomini – 3rd Place, from England Bikini Model – Open, Level 2: 
Eva Martinkova – 1st Place, from Slovakia. Natalie Minh – 2nd Place, from Brussels. Haylene Ryan – 3rd Place, from England. Overall bodybuilder: Helle Strebl – from Austria. With everyone feeling both excited and tired from a long day, there was no time to lose for photo opportunities, with each other, the FAME Presenters and even members of the audience, as the FAME European Championships 2008 closed with an acrobatic and gymnastic display from the Heat Cheerleaders. For everyone involved in the FAME European Championships, I thank you for your time and energy, and look forward to making next year the biggest yet! 
- Rob Riches. FAME Muscle Model Pro  Check out these great links: Press Release // Media Exposure http://www.lamuscle.com/docs/magazine/article/fame2008http://www.wfitnessmodels.com/news.asphttp://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=161719shapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1


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