Who will win this year’s Arnold Classic? Even after prejudging was over, it depends on who you ask. As it stands, I feel that Phil Heath, Kai Greene, and Branch Warren all stand excellent chances of walking away tonight as the winner, with former Mr. Olympia and three-time Arnold Classic champ Dexter Jackson also a strong contender. Certainly nobody is blowing the show away, as the three front-runners are all in fantastic condition and each has his own contingent of loyal fans in the audience pulling for them. Before getting into the callouts, here were my impressions of each competitor as he posed individually to start the judging.

Dexter Jackson
The Blade is on his game today, at his best or at least damn close. Dexter is Mr. Consistent, and he brought his usual killer package.

Phil Heath
A lot of people I overheard talking after judging had concluded felt that The Gift was the man to beat here today. Certainly this is the Phil that we should have seen at the last Mr. Olympia – ridiculously full and round, and in freakish condition. The only knock I have on Phil is that his quads weren’t too deeply separated from the front, and he still looks narrow in his front and rear lat spread shots next to wider men like Kai and Branch. But still, I have to give Phil his props. The guy looks pretty fricking great.

Johnnie Jackson
Johnnie has been showing up out of shape more often than not over the last couple years, but today he was dialed in pretty well. Against today’s lineup, he was simply out-massed and outclassed. Jackson obviously has some great bodyparts like his back and chest, but his quads still don’t have much sweep. Still, nice to see him in shape again.

Sergey Shelestov
The Russian is a big man with loads of mass, but lacks the lines and the round muscle shapes of the top men here. Unfortunately he seems to be fighting to stay out of last place.

Kai Greene
The crowd roared its support when the defending Arnold Classic champ took to the stage, bigger than we have ever seen him. Kai’s condition was right on, though perhaps he could have been a little drier. Greene has that ‘wow factor’ when he poses, as muscles pop and jump at his command. He is wider than Phil by far, but each has things the other lacks. For instance, Kai would be far more dangerous with Phil’s triceps, just as Phil would benefit from having the type of shoulder span we see with Kai.

Ronny Rockel
Ronny is quickly coming into his own as a top pro after years of floundering and not getting a whole lot of attention. The man has amazing shape and mass, highlighted by some of the best shoulders and quads in the sport. His hams don’t pack the same punch. Condition-wise he was right on, as he needs to be to fight for a top spot. I see him rounding out the top five.

Robert Piotrkowicz
The Polish rookie looked fantastic from the waist up, but his wheels need a lot of work to match. In this group he wasn’t quite big enough, either. I think Robert has good potential if he brings his legs up, but he really never had a chance today with this all-star group.

Tarek Elsetouhi
The Egyptian now living in Germany has a very pleasing physique overall, with standout areas like his chest and quads. He also has a fairly blocky midsection that makes it hard for him to compare to men with true X-frames. His condition also could have been tighter.

Hidetada Yamagishi
Japan’s greatest bodybuilder of all time was in fine form today, at or near his best ever. Hide is still a work in progress, though. With more hams, a better back, and fuller triceps, he can do better at the big shows. Right now those areas are all liabilities.

Melvin Anthony
Seeing Melvin today really made it clear just how much better the quality of this lineup was compared to the Phoenix Pro, which he won a couple weeks back. By the callouts it seems like the judges may have him as high as fifth or sixth, but I wouldn’t be so generous. I am a fan of Melvin’s shape and lines, but his legs seem to have lost a lot of mass just since last year.

Branch Warren
Branch duplicated the look that got him second at the Olympia a few months ago: ungodly size, granite-hard condition, set off by a dry, crisp finish. Nobody’s glutes and hams were shredded and grainy like his. He appeared confident and was a crowd favorite.

Roelly Winklaar
Talk about a breakout performance! Roelly won the Arnold Amateur show exactly one year ago, and today made his pro debut on the same stage. The young man from Holland is a breath of fresh air, giving us a completely new look to compare with the veteran stars he more than held his own with. His size, shape, and structure are outstanding, and his muscles have that round shape that guys like Heath, Flex, and Levrone capitalized so much on. Condition-wise he was also spot-on. All in all, a fantastic first time out there as a pro and I would love to see him break the top six today.

Toney Freeman
Big Toney was pretty full and hard, but we have seen him harder. The trouble with Freeman is that to get that super grainy look, he seems to have to flatten out. I think he balanced it as best he could here today. Based on the callouts, the judges seem to be considering him for somewhere around fifth or sixth, though I would put both Rockel and Winklaar ahead of him, personally.

Callouts
Note: the first callout was actually at least ten minutes long. After putting the top four men though all the quarter turns and mandatory poses, they were shuffled around and asked to do it all over again. We saw a similar situation near the end when they were brought back again and asked to do it yet another time, and then Rockel and Freeman were added to the group of four. Clearly the judges have their hands full today trying to sort out these phenomenal athletes. I do not envy their task, and I guarantee you that no matter how they sort them out, feelings will be hurt and many will be outraged that their favorite didn’t get the win.

Callout # 1
Dexter Jackson
Phil Heath
Kai Greene
Branch Warren

Callout # 2
Ronny Rockel
Hidetada Yamagishi
Melvin Anthony
Roelly Winklaar
Toney Freeman

Callout # 3
Johnnie Jackson
Sergey Shelestov
Robert Pietrkowicz
Tarek Elsetouhi

Callout # 4
Dexter
Phil
Kai
Branch

Callout # 5
Above four, plus
Ronny Rockel
Toney Freeman

How will it all turn out? We’ll find out in a few hours!