New Brisbane

Although it could be said that the Gold Coast is a little out of the jurisdiction for a Brisbane-based site, when I get invited to an event like the national finals for the ZOO Weekly Australian Swimsuit Calendar, I’m more than happy to let our jurisdictional boundaries expand for a night.

2009 ZOO Weekly Australian Swimsuit Calendar National Finals
Melbas on the Park
Friday, 19th June, 2009
www.swimsuitcalendar.com.au

The lead up to the 2009 National Finals begins in May with four weeks of intense regional competition, during which time an exhaustive search is carried out to find the most beautiful and, importantly, most photographic bikini models from all around Australia. At the end of these four weeks, 1500 entrants have been winnowed down to 20 of the hottest girls, one from each venue, who are shipped off to the sunny Gold Coast for a week of pampering, including trips to Dreamworld and other Gold Coast attractions. For those of us who live in Brisbane, hearing about these prizes reminds us of just how lucky we are to live next to a beachside paradise.

So, after three big nights in Surfer’s Paradise, Friday night was the main event, with things set to kick off at 9:30pm at Melbas on the Park, the official party headquarters for the competition. Showing up on the night with my photographer in tow, we were quite surprised by how quiet the venue was - it was like people didn’t even know that there were going to be some of Australia’s hottest bikini models strutting their stuff that night. But just when I thought I would have to go out to the street and stop passersby so that people didn’t miss out on this, the venue became packed - at least around the stage - and the show launched.

Set in a more intimate venue than the Miss Hawaiian Tropic finals, the Zoo Weekly event really gave you the chance to get up close and personal with the girls. Not only were they mingling before and after the event, but the stage was a LOT closer, which made it a lot easier to properly assess the girls. I think next time around I’m going to have to try for a high five - if I can get past the ring of photographers, that is.

The first round of this event featured the girls striding out on stage sporting their sexiest club wear and I was actually quite impressed. Zoo definitely seems to bring a higher level of competition to its events than some of the other modelling competitions I’ve attended and the girls on stage were absolutely glamorous. After each girl had her circuit around the stage, they all came out again and lined up buffet-style for one last look, before sweeping off stage.

The next round, and by far my favourite round, was the bikini round. This segment is pretty self-explanatory, but the gist of it is this: hot girls in bikinis and high heels. Again, all of the girls were stunning as they each owned the stage with the kind of confidence that is clearly the product of ample experience. I’m still waiting for the day when one of them will trip and fall off the stage, but this day did not seem to be it - oh well, I guess I’ll just have to keep attending these sort of events until it happens.

Now, normally I have a habit of pointing out my favourites at these events, but that keeps getting me in trouble with the girls I don’t mention. So all I will say is that I was happy to see a girl from my native Western Australia, Domenica Grasso take out third place (”second runner-up” in model-speak) and special congratulations to Rachael Gorry who took out the top spot as Zoo Weekly Australian Swimsuit Calendar Model for 2009, as well as Maddy Kelly who was first runner-up.

Needless to say, the after party, also at Melbas, was lots of fun and while the weather was rainy and stormy outside, there was plenty of champagne and giggles inside. If you have the chance to attend an event like this in the future, make sure you do. I certainly will.

Thanks again to Clint Ebbesen of Optical Note Photography for the photos.

- Ross