Another good quality product from GMV hit my review list this week. The Women's Muscle Power 9 video was filmed on October 25th 1998 in Prague, Czech Republic. Some of the best women in bodybuilding are competing for the Ms. Olympia title. Dayana Cadeau has done her homework and feels she can win the competition. While other competitors like Beate Dräbing just want to have a top 10 placing. With ambitions set high and others perhaps a little more realistic, the European bodybuilding event begins. 

GMV productions focused on the 11 women who placed between 7th and 17th for this video. Valentina Chepiga the 2000 Ms. Olympia champion is just one competitor from a very impressive list of competitors. Out of the entire eleven competitors shown in this video, Beate Dräbing was the most spectacular. Her beautiful eyes and long dark curly hair completely caught my attention. Her physique is very well developed, however, her symmetry is not inline with top competitors. Genetics could be the limiting factor here, then again I'm not an expert. 

The list of the 11 competitors, in no specific order.

• Jitka Harazimova Czech Republic 

• Chris Bongiovanni USA 

• Beate Dräbing Austria 

• Eva Sukupova Czech Republic 

• Jackie DeGennaro Belgium 

• Dayana Cadeau Canada

• Yaxeni Oriquen Venezuela 

• Gayle Moher USA 

• Zdenka Tvrda Czech Republic

• Valentina Chepiga Ukraine 

• Sipka Biserka Yugoslavia 

As you can see from the above list the competitors are top-notch. Valentina Chepiga makes an appearance in Prague, her routine was interesting indeed. The best routine goes to Beate, but Valentina's routine was very original and playful to say the least.

The sound was much crisper and clearer in this video than in the Ms. International 2001 Pre-Judging video. The audience is loud, however, the routine music comes across perfectly audible on video.  The sound quality was much better because GMV had a direct audio line in from the sound system; whereas this was not the case in the Ms. International 2001 Pre-Judging video. The camera work was shot with care, two camera positions are being used to cover the stage. 

Wayne mentioned that this event was Eva Sukupova's retirement contest. Also, GMV interviewed every competitor, however, the interviews were primarily done through an interpreter and were not so entertaining. In fact, Wayne felt the translated interviews were "bloody awful".  

Pros about the video

• The best competitors from around the world

• Interviews with some competitors

• Up close and personal (You get judging quality views)

• Sound much better than in Ms. International 2001 Pre-Judging

Cons about the video

• None 

Final Thoughts

This video definitely surpassed my expectations. I'm sure many people haven't even heard of GMV's Women's Muscle Power line of video products. The talent and class of female bodybuilders in Prague in 1998 was simply unbelievable. Many future Ms. Olympia and Ms. International champions were competing in this video. You cannot go wrong with Women's Muscle Power 9.