Favorite FX Music award

Quisas, quisas, quisas - All the judges (and me) were singing that song on the bus back to the hotel. I am sure a lot of the spectators were humming it afterward too. It probably gave Vika a tenth of a point here and there.

The Strange Local Custom award

Painting the bottom half of all the tree trunks with white paint.

Best Storyteller award

Bart Conner - During breakfast, lunch and dinner he would engage in frank and open conversation on current gymnastics issues. He also had many neat stories of his experiences around the world and in Romania. Quite entertaining, extremely fascinating.

The Tacky Trinkets award

Souvenir Idols - Sold at the Pyramids and other tourist hot spots, the vendors claim they are made of genuine obsidian. Yeah right. More like textured faux stone coated with glass. An associate bought two of them, but at least they were really cheap.

The Killer Accommodations award

The Camino Real Chapultepec Hotel - Wow! This place was nice! It really made my stay in Mexico City a pleasurable experience.

Things That Would Be Nice to Have award

A scoreboard. Any scoreboard. Even one that worked intermittently like at the Europeans. They'll probably have one next year.

The C3PO award

Octavian Belu - Although he is not fluent in 6 billion forms of communication like the golden clad android from Star Wars, Belu's multilingual skills are nonetheless impressive. He fluently communicates in Romanian, Russian, German, Spanish, English, Hungarian, Italian, and French. He talked to everyone in the competition and switched languages at will. His next challenge? Chinese!

The "Team to Watch in the Future" award

Spain - Only some junior girls competed but they showed some great form and lots of hyperextensive amplitude (ouch!). Coached by Jesus Carballo Sr., the ESP junior and senior women impressed many people at this meet and at the Europeans earlier in the year.

The 'Let's Work Out and Catch a Tan' award

Isabelle Severino and Cecile Canqueteau - both have the strength and energy to climb all the way to the top of the pyramids, where they lay out for a while to catch some rays.

The Striking Resemblance award

Octavian Belu and Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko - As Lukashenko gets older, the more he kind of looks like Belu.

'You Can't Say You Weren't Fed' award

Camino Real Hotel - Great food throughout the meet. Funny thing is, the gymnasts hardly ate anything. I devoured with impunity!

'Most Appreciative of the Pictures I Gave Them' award

Jesus Carballo Sr., Adriana Crisci, Viktoria Karpenko.

The Hottest Souvenir Item award

Sombreros - I bought some big ones for Viktoria and Olga, and a friend who is a judge bought some for Anna Kovalova, Yevgenia Kuznetsova and Isabelle Severino. Had we known they would be such a hit among the gymnasts and coaches, we would have bought one for everyone! Oh well, next time!

The Strange Goings On award

The Colombian and Mexican Governments and some big bank - High officials from both countries were sharing the hotel with us and were involved with some kind of banking deal of some sort. Metal detectors were established at all the entrances to the hotel, and soldiers with full auto machine guns patrolled the parking structure.

The Best Local Coverage award

TV Azteca - Broadcast a one hour show of the Team/AA on Sunday morning and then did a live broadcast of the EF on Sunday night. Bart Conner's Perfect 10 Productions are looking to get the meet broadcast in the US in February (Update: IG Online has posted air date on April 20 on Fox Sports Net).

Most Jovial Personality award

Octavian Belu - He didn't seem so withdrawn and moody like at the Europeans. In fact, he was quite amicable and funny! I suppose now that he is going to stay with the Romanian National team after all (instead of going to Brown's) he has less to worry about.

That's Not as Bad as I Thought It Would Be award

Crime in Mexico City - I knew it couldn't be any worse than Russia. However, a couple of my friends did end up losing some cash and cards :^( I myself am really surprised I got my camera rig through the whole meet unscathed and intact.

Montezuma's Revenge - Of course, I avoided drinking the water. I think the altitude and smog affected me more.

The Fashion Exchange award

Yevgenia Kuznetsova and Adriana Crisci - Traded warm-ups with each other after the meet. Yevgenia was wearing Adriana's Arena warm-ups and Adriana had Yevgenia's 94/95 model warm-ups

The Gamora award

The Palacio de Los Deportes - The exterior of the arena bears close resemblance to the gigantic flying fire breathing terrapin of Japanese monster movie lore.

The 'Best Shopper' award

Isabelle Severino - She buys a sombrero for Cecile and is able to get the going price of 130 pesos (what I paid) down to 60 pesos!!! I'm going to shop with her next time!