In this part 1 of my report, written while I am still on the road with one more contest to cover, I will give you my impressions of the first 3 things we covered at the Olympia with our "behind the scenes cameras". These were the lead-up functions that precede the actual contests.  This is the 3rd year that we have produced our series of videos at the Olympia.

 THE ATHLETES' REGISTRATION MEETING

 Held in the Coral Room of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Resort on the Wednesday night, October 24th, all the athletes came in separately in their respective classes to select at random their competitor number, hand in their music on CD or cassette and receive basic instructions from Wayne DeMilia as to what will be happening during the Olympia at the various functions, and during their event. In particular the prejudging procedure usually gets discussed, like last year, when the issue was debated between Shawn Ray and the officials.

First up were the Fitness Women and our camera records the often interesting and informal gear the women may be wearing. Tension is in the air at these meetings and usually the women don't ask too many questions.

 At the Ms Olympia competitors' meeting, Vickie Gates asked about the removal of belly buttons, meaning rings therein, which caused considerable laughter. The answer was "it doesn't matter"!

Then all of the women had to be weighed to see which class they would be in, Lightweight or Heavyweight. This was without doubt the most entertaining part of the evening's proceedings, as some of the lighter women struggled to make weight and had to discard what they could to make it! I know the fans will want to see all the highlights of these meetings so we will let you know in which all female video this will be included in due course.

 Finally it was time for the men's meeting with 20 of the 21 Mr Olympia athletes present. Only Kevin Levrone appeared to be absent. He was strictly "persona non grata" it seemed as he was in the IFBB bad books for not renewing his pro card this year and it was said he would be out of the contest. Finally he arrived looking dishevelled and drained and apologised for his late flight. He was subsequently allowed to enter after copping a very heavy fine from the IFBB such that his take-home prize money was very little at the end of the weekend!

The new boys TITUS & KAMALI were both very quiet, and this year the meeting was fast and smooth. I shot lots of great close-ups of all the athletes for their many fans who like to see them up close, relaxed and informal, plus the selecting of competitor numbers and handing in of music to Jim Petrafesa, the long time music man for Wayne DeMilia. In fact most of Wayne's band of helpers are long time associates, split up into different committees, such as the separate Athletes' committees consisting of 3 people for each for the 3 classes of the Olympia. If it were not for these dedicated volunteers there would not be an Olympia weekend as we know it. The members of these 7 committees are too numerous to mention but they are the unsung heroes.

 THE OLYMPIA PRESS CONFERENCE

 This was Thursday (day 2) and the press conference at noon was more like a shootout at high noon!  It was held in the superb "Storm" Theatre, Storm being the name of the show playing at this time. STORM would also be a good name for the press conference this year as it was sensational. We taped every moment  and it will be released next week as a special all male video on the "press storm" that took place.  Again with Shawn Ray was the main spokesperson for the athletes in raising issues that needed to be aired. He is a brilliant speaker on behalf of all bodybuilders and his ideas are well thought out and presented with conviction and flair.

The subject of judging was attacked first and in particular he wanted judges' names to stand behind their placings and to have full disclosure of their names and their placings on the master judging sheets for the athletes to see. Wayne DeMilia responded by saying he would now make this information available to EVERYONE! This was subsequently done for all classes and was a brilliant step forward in my opinion. Shawn had other things to say about judging and got into an argument with one of the judges - she came off second best!!.

Then Ronnie had a few strong words to say to Kevin, so it was never a dull moment. See it all in the video!

Other controversial issues raised included prize money for the place getters outside the top 10 at the Olympia as they presently go home with no money at all. Zero! Plus the issue of the internet broadcast which was eloquently answered by Wayne DeMilia, and much more. Not to mention the slanging match between TITUS & KAMALI. See who came out on top when you view the video! It was simply a sensational press conference and next year Wayne promises to have the judges also sitting next to the athletes at the press conference. Watch for even greater fire works next time.

After the press conference was over everyone just hangs around and so we grabbed some great interviews.

 MEET THE OLYMPIANS

 This popular event takes place on the Thursday night with each athlete sitting at a small table along each side of a huge long corridor area at the Mandalay Bay Hotel as you approach the Events Centre. The athletes sell their photos and videos as well as posing for photos with their fans. I noted that Ronnie and Nasser had the longest queues waiting for a photo and they were the hardest to interview as they were simply swamped all night. How ever we managed to interview nearly every Olympian bodybuilder either here or after the press conference. That was 21 in the Mr O, 12 in the Fitness O and 17 in the Ms Olympia.

 The area became so crowded that fans had to queue up to get in. We taped most of the athletes at their booths and had a fantastic time at this most popular event.  The women all wear such sexy outfits it is hard to concentrate on the job in hand. We split up into 2 camera crews with Tina and I doing interviews on one side and Clive Jaques and James Cook working the other side of the area. Long after all the athletes had gone Ronnie still had a few fans selecting photos and chatting. It was a memorable night all round.

 Next Hard News I will start with the events of the Friday which include the opening of the Expo and Ms Olympia competitions. Until then, keep pumping, as we have a feast of material to be edited from all the events we have been covering.