We are officially 11 weeks away

Published: Sat, 02/04/17

Hope you are doing great.

This morning I plan to sit and pick the song list for the Fitness Atlantic show finals.

Each year I update the song list and show script minute-by-minute.

Not many years ago was a time each contestant had to bring a CD to the show with their own music they were going to perform to on stage. The announcer would say, "From This Town, Connecticut, weighing 180 pounds, welcome Joe Smith" then he would walk out to the center of the stage and the craziest song would come on... sixty seconds of running around the stage then the next guy. Music would stop, then next announcement of were the person lived, weighed and their name then another crazy song. Each promoter had no idea what song was going to play.

Thinking back to when I started producing shows things have changed so much.

Years ago I would dream of stage and lights similar to the big concerts I would attend and think why can’t this be the way for us?

Back in 1996 I used to say my show posters looked like Chinese food menus and my first computer I bought was to create a mailing list of labels so I could send out flyers. Then a few years later started using dial up for Internet and created my website until 2001.

(Check these posters out below for a good laugh)

You want to know the hardest part of getting the show to the level it is today at a venue like Mohegan Sun? The perception of our event has held us back for years. People still don't "get it".

Physique sports have been around for such a long time now. The promoter who taught me how to run shows was running events for 20 years before I started and now I have 25 years of running these shows. That's 45 years and it still has never gone mainstream.

Now when I would talk to venues and refer to the show as a “fitness model pageant” to help find rental space. Then I would hope they didn’t take a look at my website and think about it a different way because people still do not understand it.

This is why I need to ask you as contestants to be on your best behavior and to dress in nice clothes instead of sweats and flip-flops. We need to get past a perception that holds us back and allows us all to move into the most incredible venues with top-notch production companies.

It is important you use the official spray tanning company and allow us to keep that to a restricted area and out of public restrooms and hotel rooms. Contestants do not have to look like "barbecue chicken" as Paul Dillett calls a overly tanned person.

We are now at one of the best destinations in the world at Mohegan Sun and we need to present the event and ourselves in the best possible light as we can.

Look how far we have come now! Mohegan Sun was just voted the #1 Casino Venue Worldwide.

If this is your first event you are entering Congratulations because it wasn’t always this way!

Let’s make this the best year ever and I look forward to see you soon.

So send in your entry and email your friends the ticket link and let’s have some fun.

Thank you so much,

Brian Cannone
FitnessAtlantic.com