OPA London Show

So, the last OPA show of the season and it was one of the best shows of the season for the OPA. Great competitors on stage and a pretty good turn out in the seats too. This was one of the best lit OPA shows I have been to enabling me to get better shots of the Team Emerge girls on stage. Lets find out how Team Emerge did.

Prejudging:

First Team Emerge girls on stage were Ashley and Janet, both competing in the Bikini Short category. Ashley came out and as usual rocked the stage, she looked a little tighter than the UFE show last week and I was very happy with how she looked and presented. Janet was the last girl in the class to come out and Janet also showed a great presentation, especially since this is her first bikini competition. After watching all the girls on stage I had Ashley or Goretti in 1st and Janet 3rd or 4th, by my eye anyway.



Next in Bikini Tall we had Niki, she was the last to enter the stage but when she did she out classed the other girls with her presentation. Bikini is new and many girls still don’t understand the presentation, fortunately I got to watch the best in North America compete for IFBB pro cards and took this presentation style back to Team Emerge. I told Niki back stage that she has 1st, if the judges wanted to see a more ripped look then I thought she had 2nd but I would be shocked if she didn’t get first. I told her to play safe with her food between the prejudging and evening show as I thought she would be competing for the overall against Ashely!



In Figure we had Kristine compete in the Grand Masters class, sadly she was the only one in the class but still looked great and deserved her win. In the Figure Short class we had Cara and Kristine. Cara was the smallest girl in the class and not the hardest either, however she is balanced and that is a big requirement for the judges. I told Cara that I saw her in the top 3 due to her balance but thought the biggest leanest girl would be 1st and Kristine might be 2nd if the judges are looking at muscle mass as a priority.

Evening show:

Ashley and Janet were the first Team Emerge girls out in the evening. Again they looked and showed great, then left the stage to wait for the top 3 to be called out. Ashley made it to the top 3. When 3rd place was called it was Goretti, I was shocked as I had her and Ashley fighting for first, I knew Ashley had first at this point. Ashley was called for second place, the half dozen people around me (who don’t know I am working with her) exploded! They thought, as I did, that Ashley had this category hands down….

I don’t want to take anything away from the girl that won but I don’t know how she scored over Ashley. They had similar bodies, conditioning and musculature wise but Ashley’s stage presence was leaps and bounds ahead of the winner. Back stage Ashley had a great attitude and wasn’t over the moon with her placing but she wasn’t complaining either.

Despite Janet not placing she did very well and I know that next season she is going to be one of the top girls in Bikini Short for sure! We have some work to do with presentation and getting the right suit for Janet before the next show, watch out cause next time will be a new and improved Janet.



Let’s put Bikini on hold for a minute and go to Figure. Kristine came out and collected her win for Grand Masters to a round of applause. She looks great for any age let alone 47!! Kristine and Cara came back on stage for the Level 2 Figure Short class. After performing their turns they left the stage to wait for the top 3 to be called. Cara made the top three but to my surprise Kristine did not. At the end of it all Cara came out with a second place trophy against much bigger girls, again her balance must have been the key. I joked with her back stage about not coming first (she is very competitive and always wants to win), she laughed and said she was happy with her placing and so she should be!! This is probably the last time the stage will see Cara as a figure competitor as she will be moving to Bikini which is a better class for her body type. Next season should be interesting to see how she does in Bikini.



So, back to Bikini Tall. Niki was nervous back stage due to some things she had heard about the judging of her category. I told her not worry about anything and to go out there and be ready to compete for the overall. Again she was the last girl on stage and came out with a confident attitude! People around me said “She won hands down!! Unless the same thing happens in this class as the short class”. Her class left the stage and we waited for the top 3, Niki was one of them! The one girl I was concerned about in her class was also called, she was more conditioned than Niki but lacked the presentation. At the end of it all Niki came out with 1st place!! She was glowing when she left the stage.

Niki had to come back out to compete for the over all against the short class winner, the girl that “beat” Ashley. After a few turns and a few striking poses the judges made their decision and the overall winner was Niki!!!! I feel she avenged Ashley’s second place and Team Emerge came out with the overall and set the new standard for Bikini in the OPA!! Back stage Niki was shocked, dazed is more like it, as she posed for pics and was congratulated by many. I told her never to doubt me again;) This was the confidence booster of all confidence boosters.

All in all a great day for Team Emerge, a couple shockers and a couple high lights. I have a funny feeling that Team Emerge is going to be a Bikini power house next season. I am already hearing from many girls that have been on the circuit for some time looking to join the ranks so keep your eyes on Team Emerge. We had our first IFBB Figure pro this year, could our first IFBB Bikini pro be next year???