Nov 6th 2010 FItness STAR and IDFA

November 6th 2010 was a busy day for Team Emerge. That day marked my debut as the new Head Judge for Fitness STAR where we had two competitors competing for the first time ever and we also had one of the original Team Emerge members Cindy competing at the IDFA show.

Lets cover Fitness STAR first. We had Tanya and Dave competing in Athletic Fitness Model categories, female and male. Both had never stepped on stage before but wanted to give it a try. I am not one to throw people on stage just because so I told them day one if they didn’t look the part the week of the show they will not be stepping on stage. Luckily they did look the part.

Tanya came out in the first swimwear category and when she walked on stage in her bikini I was pleasantly surprised at how good she looked! The body looked great but the stage presence could have used a little more tweaking, we knew that was going to be the main issue going in. She stood out as one of the girls to beat on stage despite the less than perfect stage presence (very few people feel comfortable on stage first time out). Saying that she was in a class of 14 and there was some tough competition in that class.


When Dave came out in his swimwear category he looked pretty comfortable, sure the stage presence could have been a bit more polished but it wasn’t bad at all. Dave was competing against some guys that won the genetic lottery to say the least. At the end of the day Dave definitely looked the part and belonged up there with the best of them.

During the break I filled both Dave and Tanya in on what they needed to do for the next round and that all centered around improving stage presence. Being head judge I didn’t want to seem like I was favoring my clients (which I wasn’t, I was giving them the same info I would have regardless of my position that day), so I also spoke to many other competitors on how to improve their game for the next round.

One thing I would like to mention, I have never been at a fitness event before with the positive vibe I felt backstage at the Fitness STAR event. Seeing competitors helping one another regardless of what team they are from or who they are competing against was amazing. Fitness STAR is so different from any other competition I have been too and I am very proud to be part of it going forward.

Anyway, back to the action. In the sportswear round Tanya came out and showed an improvement in her stage presence. Dave came out in the same fashion, he looked very comfortable in this round and the crowd responded.

All in all both Tanya and Dave did very well, at this point I am not 100% sure of placing as I was so busy with other responsibilities I didn’t have time to check but I believe they both just missed placing and came in 4th. Either way, great first time out against great competition.

Meanwhile over at the IDFA Cindy was representing Team Emerge solo. From what I have seen in pics Cindy looked amazing. I told her leading up to the competition that she was going to bring the best package to the stage she has to date. Sure enough she did, everything fell into place and she looked the best ever.

Cindy ended up winning her class in the Masters division and ended up winning the overall for Masters. Then she won her class in the open division and ended up winning the overall in the open to become the new IDFA Figure Pro!!! Cindy has had some undeserved 2nd placings over the years and its nice to finally see her achieve a pro card in an organization which is all she ever aspired to do. My only regret is not being able to be there to celebrate with her and her husband Glen.


It looks like it was another good competition weekend for Team Emerge, another pro card win and two new competitors on stage. My debut as the Fitness STAR head judge was a success and I learned a lot about what I will be required to do for future shows and that has made me realize what I can add to those duties to make future Fitness STAR events even more fun for competitors and the audience alike.

D