The Super Bowl of?bodybuilding took place just a few days ago with Mr. Olympia, 2023 in full swing in Orlando. The open division, and men?s classic physique division, were seen live by several people all around the world, as well as an audience inside the auditorium. Recent years have taken bodybuilding from the fringes to every household. And while the event was successful, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it was controversy-free.?

Bodybuilding is not just about getting the best physique and having perfectly chiseled muscles. The main showdown begins when the bodybuilder gets a chance to get up on the stage and show their Olympian physiques. Since so much lies at stake and it all comes down to how their physiques are perceived, there is always a rule that the stage lighting has to be perfect. The contestants even put on bronzers all over their bodies to enhance the muscle striations so that the judges can prominently see the conditioning and decide the winner properly. But it would appear that there were some complaints regarding this.?

What’s the Mr. Olympia 2023 controversy??

The audience did not seem to be happy with either the livestream or the stage lighting. The fans who were watching from their homes complained that the lighting was not proper, and the conditioning of bodybuilders was not prominently seen on stage due to the lighting. Now to the layman, this might not seem like affairs that need addressing, but to those who are involved in the event or are at least enthusiastic about bodybuilding, this has become a matter of great debate.?

Professional bodybuilders, invest hours and days into sculpting their body to look perfect, not only in the mirror reflection but also on stage and photographs. Stage lighting is a crucial element in order to enhance the muscles that have been created painstakingly by athletes.

Stage lighting has a pivotal role in creating the best bodybuilding competitions. It enhances the visual impact for the audience, as well as the judges, so that they can scrutinize properly, and select the most capable athlete to become the winner. The stage lighting is not just to look pretty on stage, but is significant in understanding the perfect conditioning of each and every bodybuilder, so that the winner is chosen, fair and square.

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There are some key challenges posed by stage lighting that might affect photographs as well. Bodybuilders have limited control over how the stage lighting will complement their muscles. As a bodybuilder on stage, you have no control over what color and brightness the stage lighting is going to be.?

The importance of stage lighting

The placement of floodlights from the sides, and above the stage means that there are no shadows. This is a negative effect of stage lighting because it obscures the muscle definition. There is also the problem of different lighting at different stages. Each competition has a different set up of stage lights, which might make the same bodybuilders’ physiques appear different in different competitions.?

There is also the crisis of drop-off stage lighting where the flood lights tend to drop off at the edge of the stage resulting in uneven lighting. This creates a varying shadow pattern, depending on the poses that the bodybuilders are going to do on stage.?

Issue with men?s open stage lighting in Mr. Olympia, 2023

The men?s?open category is the most sought-after?category in this competition. Hadi Choopan, Derek Lunsford, and Samson Dauda made it to the top three call-outs from the judge’s decision. However, the fans who were witnessing the event live from their homes were not happy about the stage lighting and the production quality.

The bodybuilding community had complained that the conditioning of mass monsters was not properly visible due to the poor lighting on stage. They did not expect this kind of quality from the most prestigious competition in the bodybuilding world. The?B&T?media channel shared Samson Dauda?s image from the prejudging event.?

Fans complained that they could not see the Nigerian Lion?s incredible conditioning due to the lack of proper stage lighting from proper angles. ?This light show stuff has to stop. The live stream looks horrible,? complained a fan on an Instagram post of Samson?s physique from the event. ?Production like this and they want to charge 80 bucks for PPV?? questioned an angry fan.?

People even complained that the pictures looked watery and none of the bodybuilder’s muscles were properly visible for correct judgment. Mind you, this seems to have been a continuation of last year’s Mr. Olympia’s problems.?

2023 Mr. Olympia’s stage light problem a continuation of last year

Last year, James Hollingshead had complained that the 2022 Mr. Olympia stage lighting was extremely poor. Not only was the stage lighting poor but according to reports, the backstage h extremely chaotic and they were no proper lighting according to him, it looked like a nightclub.

This can be difficult for bodybuilders since they have to prepare their physique with bronzer and wear costumes that will enhance their muscles on stage. If they cannot see how they look, they won?t be able to show their best self on stage.

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Do you think that the organizers should pay more attention to the stage lighting, of a prestigious competition like Mr. Olympia? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.