2009 IFBB North American Championships

Wow, where to start and what to say about this weekend in Cleveland at the IFBB North American Championships? I'm gonna start by saying that all of Team Emerge at the show made me proud! Everyone came in ready to compete and had a great attitude. This was a HUGE show with over 100 figure competitors and over 30 bikini competitors. Even Dave Palumbo said that there was amazing competition with the girls this year compared to some other years.

Vanessa competed in the first Bikini Model category and strut her stuff in a beautiful bikini made by Karen at KHP (all Team Emerge suits are from KHP). She competed in the toughest class with girls that had competed in bikini many times in the US. The pro card was given to the winner of her class. Vanessa had great stage presence but unfortunately her muscles were a little flat on the day and she couldn’t show her best package. She ended coming in 6th just missing out on the top 5 finish which was the goal. We both learned a lot about bikini this weekend and we know we will bring a better package the next time she steps on stage in both physique and presentation. On a side note Vanessa, Gina and I had a great time together off stage which took a lot of the pressure of competing off.



Cindy competed in Figure Masters class and also competed in a very tough class (to be honest there were very few poor competitors in any class). She had 22 women in her class and finished 14th. She brought a great physique to the stage as usual (maybe the best physique to date) but was out shined by girls that have been very active in the circuit and had a great presentation. There may have been a little ring rust and we know what we have to work on for the next show and its only tightening up that stage presence so she owns the stage next time she steps on it. I cant wait to see what happened at the next show!



Finally we come to Silvana, if you have any interest in Figure you more than likely know what I’m going to say. Silvana had a hell of a month to put it mildly, having to compete at Nationals with 2 weeks notice in order to (RE) qualify for the North American’s. The National stage did not get to see Silvana at her best, not even close but the goal wasn’t to win Nationals it was to make top 5 in order to qualify for North American’s. Silvana ended up with a 4th place finish in the tall class and a 3rd place finish in the masters class (mission accomplished!). After all the drama that we went through the last month I told Silvana “I think we are going to have a story book ending in Cleveland”, little did I know!


The North American stage got to see the REAL Silvana, dialed in perfectly for this event. Silvana always has a beauty and stage presence that blows people away and is rare on the figure stage. I was in the press row (Shhhhh) when she came out on stage and there was a reaction with all the people around me that didn’t exist when other women walked on stage. She wore a beautiful pink KHP suit for the F Class (tall) and owned the stage, it was obvious she had a top 2 placing. I ran back stage to inform her about the reaction. At that time Kim Tilden showed up all excited for Silvana and she offered a couple posing tips for the next round. The night before Silvana and I decided to switch to her silver two piece for the Masters class.

When Silvana walked out in the silver suit the reaction earlier was dwarfed by the reaction this time. She looked stunning in the silver suit (Karen, for the record all suits from now on are to be cut EXACTLY like her silver one) and the minor tweak to her posing clearly put her in first place for this class. Running back stage again I filled Silvana in on the new reaction and how that suit is the suit for the evening because I KNEW she would be compared to other amazing looking competitors for the overall. I ran into Kim in the lobby and she said the silver suit was amazing and made a huge difference, I told her we already decided to stick with the silver suit for the evening but her advice sealed the deal!

At the evening show Silvana won her class in Masters, and then she had to battle against the other masters winners. Silvana clearly won the Masters overall and EMERGED the new IFBB Figure Pro, my eyes welled up (didn’t spill any tears so don’t chirp!) and I ran back stage to greet her as she came down the stairs. Silvana yelled out “you called it a week ago, story book!” after all the drama she made it and got her pro card in the process!! We were met by CBBF Ontario rep and judge Julia Schatz and she jumped up and down with excitement for Silvana (she has quite a vertical leap for a tiny woman in stilettos). Then Julia proceeded to tell me I can’t complain about figure judging any more and she is aware of how much I do ;) For the record, I’ll still complain about flip flopping on the standard but not tonight!! We took pics with Julia and IFBB President Jim Manion before Silvana had to rush back on stage. There was still the Open F Class to go.

Silvana back on stage and me back in my seat camera in hand. Silvana comes out this time as a pro competing against armatures…technically ;), and looked like a pro as she won the open class!! In the Open Overall she blew away the other girls and took the overall, I couldn’t believe it I thought for sure someone else would get it since she already won her pro card. She beat (or as many writers are putting it “dominated”) every woman on stage that day and every woman that competed that year in North America if you want to get technical, which I do!

Silvana stepped on stage for the first time in Woodstock 10 months earlier and won the overall. Its hard to believe in that short period of time and 5 shows later she ends up winning 4 categories and her pro card against the best armatures in North America (and lets face it, the world) this night!! Talk about story book, I told her after her very first competition that within a year everyone in the industry would know her name…. I gotta start predicting more stuff!! Back stage was a buzz with top people in the industry clamoring for her attention as cameras and microphones were stuck in her face and business cards placed in my hands it was surreal. IFBB reps grabbed me and Silvana and requested that she get on the pro stage ASAP!! I cant get into the specifics that were discussed but my head was spinning, we will be talking about the future this week as this night was too over whelming to think straight. Im sure this is night she will never forget, I know I wont!!

I am very proud of Sivana for what she has faced in this journey and the level of class and will to over come that she has shown. She is a true Champion on stage and life and deserves the title. She has a bright future on the pro stage and I look forward to working with my first (hopefully not last) IFBB Pro!!

I would like to thank Kim Tilden once again, she is all class and a true Champion too. I appreciate all your help bringing the best out in Silvana this night.

I would also like to thank my girl friend Gina for making my weekend in Cleveland feel like more of a holiday than a business trip!! Your help with lugging my equipment around and video taping the event made my life a lot easier. This was the first show where I felt I had more fun then work. These shows are often stressful for me as well as the Team Emerge women but this time was stress free, thanks babe!!

As for me personally, (warning, self props) I think I kick more ass now than I thought before, and it was a lot before!! If people haven’t realized by now that Team Emerge is a power house team at competitions they should know now. We create story book endings, I doubt anyone has taken a 36 year old mother of two that had never competed before and created an IFBB Figure pro in 10 short months but THIS GUY did!! Don’t worry, my head will be back to its normally inflated size soon enough… who am I kidding, Im gonna have to install an overhead door at the Emerge studio to get inside!