By all accounts this was once again a wonderful contest as the lead-up to the Night of Champions.  For the results click here.Congratulations to ORVILLE BURKE on what I believe is his first Grand Prix victory.  We interviewed Orville in the Men's Expo at the Arnold Classic video GMV-414.  He was born in the West Indies and came to USA about 8 years ago.  I wish him well at the N.O.C. where he will be up against 40 other competitors.  Congratulations also to DARREM CHARLES in qualifying for the Olympia from this contest.

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HIDDEN TREASURE

Going through an old contest video V-157 The 1977 IFBB Mr. America contest, I noted a rare guest posing appearance by MIKE MENTZER.  Mike was in superlative condition as this was about the time I made the classic beach and Muscle Rocks films of him. 

Also guest posing was FRANCO COLUMBU doing posing and strength feats.  It just goes to show that there are some rare gems tucked away in these classic old contest videos.  A very young Arnold Schwarzenegger presented some of the trophies.

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WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN

Let me know if you are interested in this event from 2000 in Africa.  I have all the details on winners etc., and in fact can provide stats right back to 1977.  The winner in 2000 was JANNE VIRTANEN of Finland.  Get in touch if you want to know more.

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AUSTRALIA'S GREATEST FEMALE BODYBUILDER

I know that this is a big statement as BEV FRANCIS  and ERICA GIESEN competed in the Ms. Olympia.  But CHRISTINE ENVALL has won more national and international bodybuilding titles (including 3 world titles) than any other Aussie woman. 

At the recent IFBB Australian Grand Prix she was awarded her Pro Card by Carole Graham.  A richly deserved award for Christine, who also holds a B.Sc. degree in food technology.

We all look forward to Christine's debut in the Jan Tana Pro Women's Classic in August.  All of us at GMV wish her well as we have on video nearly every contest she has ever competed in.   See GMV-366 to see her winning her latest World title in New Zealand last year.

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NEW MALE FEATURE

If you enjoyed our last male feature on "Rock Hard" Günter Schlierkamp, GMV-392, you will certainly want to get your hands on our new feature presently in production.

It is being shot on the new Mr. Africa KAMAL EL GARGNI of Northampton UK.  Kamal came to England from Libya 3 years ago and a week ago won the Jim Charles Mr. Midlands contest, and also the Pro-Am event beating ELI HANNA of Israel.  Three days after he won the overall title in the Mr. Africa contest held in Egypt, he pumped and posed in the studio for me in England.  His workout is currently being shot by long time interviewer Clive Jaques.

Kamal will compete in the Mr. Britain on May 26th and we hope to edit his video some time in June.  Check out the Gallery for several shots of Kamal.  He has fantastic arms and abs, and his symmetry is magnificent.  He's definitely a star of the future, and the new "Lion of Libya".

Kamal is the fourth Arab bodybuilder I have filmed, with MOHAMMAD MAKKAWY and ALI MALLA being the first in the 70's; SAMIR BANNOUT in the 80's, none in the 90's, and now Kamal.

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TITANIC TOMMI T.

At FIBO we shot some footage of a huge and ripped TOMMI THORVILDSEN of Norway, formerly of England.  Tommi is now living and working in Belgium.  Not surprisingly Tommi placed 4th in the Toronto Grand Prix just a couple of weeks after FIBO.  You can also see Tommi in last year's English Grand Prix videos GMV-400 and Pump Room video GMV-402.

Tommi is now very close to Mr. Olympia qualification.

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2001 ENGLISH GRAND PRIX

This premier event will be held in Manchester on November 4th, one week after the Olympia.  Of special significance, SHAWN RAY will be making a rare UK appearance by guest posing at this contest and also holding a short seminar before the evening show.  This is part of Shawn's UK tour for 2001 and he is sure to be in fantastic condition.

I look forward to taping this event which is in its third year under the promotion of Kerry Kayes and Dorian Yates.

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TIPS AND TRICKS BY TINA GALLASCH

To view any web page full screen, and get rid of those annoying menu bars etc., just hit F11.  Hitting F11 again gets you the menus back.

Our web site changes very frequently - it's a good idea to hit the refresh button every time you visit the site - just to make sure you have the latest version!

Sometimes your computer gets chock full of temporary internet pages, and they really should be cleaned out regularly, especially if you do lots of surfing.  To do this you go to "Tools" on your browser's menu bar, then select Internet Options, delete files.  You can also delete all your off-line content, and I think it's good to do this periodically as well.  Otherwise you are accessing older versions of pages you have stored.