From the Houston Chronicle:

Dimitry Moceanu, 54, a resident of Houston for 17 years, died Sunday night, October 12, 2008, at Odyssey House hospice. Born in Constansa, Romania and immigrated to the United States for his big dreams. He and his wife, Camelia Staicu, were married on January 28, 1981 in Seres, Greece. They immigrated to the United States shortly after marriage, and built a life and family together. He was a car salesman for most of his life, but an entrepreneur at heart and owned several businesses throughout his career. He retired as a business owner of a car dealership and transitioned into real estate ventures. Survived by his wife of 27 years, Camelia Moceanu, Houston, daughter and son-in-law Dominique and Michael Canales, Cleveland, Ohio; daughter Christina Moceanu, Houston, Texas; and his only granddaughter, Carmen Noel Canales; two brothers, Costa and Iani Moceanu, Houston, Texas; and one sister, Maria Paragios, Houston, Texas, and numerous nieces and nephews. Services on October 15, 2008, 10:00 AM, at Calvary Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery, Humble, Texas. Officiating, Reverend Mirel Tudose.

We offer our condolences to Dominique and her family.

From the Nine O’Clock, sad news is reported on the death of famed Romanian gymnast Lavinia Milosovici’s daughter Denisa:

Tragic news has hit the world of Romanian gymnastics. Denisa, the four and a half years old daughter of multiple gymnastics champion Lavinia Miolosovici, has died on Sunday morning. A nervous system disease was the cause of death.

According to sources close to the gymnast, the girl collapsed at home in Lugoj, her parents taking her to the Lugoj City Hospital where the doctors unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate her.

Denisa Florentina was operated in Beijing when she was two and a half years old, being the youngest patient there. The surgery, done by neurosurgeon Huang Hongyun, was declared a success although the risks were very high.

Lavinia’s daughter was born in March 2004, through a C-section, weighing just 1.1 kilograms. At birth the child received grade 1 on the Apgar scale and was diagnosed with a central nervous system disease. Because of an infection that went unnoticed during the pregnancy, Lavinia’s daughter moved slowly, could not talk and her feet were paralyzed. Even after the age of two, Denisa did not manage to take her first steps, being diagnosed with a third-degree dystrophy, umbilical hernia and with psychic and locomotion handicap.

Chinese neurosurgeon Huang Hongyun, from Beijing’s Xishan clinic, has promoted a special treatment technique for patients that have paralyzed limbs. The technique is based on transplanting stem cells from a foetus’s olfactory tissue to the affected area. Neurological and locomotion diseases can be treated this way.

Our condolences go to Lavinia and her family.

Congratulations are in order for Blaine Wilson and Aliane Baquerot!  On the recent Sacramento stop of the 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars they took a detour to Reno, Nevada and tied the knot!  The announcement was made to the audience during the show and GymnastTV.com confirmed the news directly with Blaine.

Blaine is a three-time Olympian having competed in 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney), and 2004 (Athens) where he was part of the silver medal winning team.  Aliane is a member of the 1994 World, 1995 Pan American, and 1996 US Olympic Rhythmic Group teams.  She is also quite busy in Hollywood, where she recently wrapped production as a dancer featured in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt.

Stay tuned to GymnastTV.com for an interview with Blaine.

Today is Paul and Morgan Hamm’s 26th Birthday. All of us here at GymnastTV want to wish them a very happy birthday.

GymnastTV.com was at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on September 20th where the 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars made their second SoCal appearance.  This tour is like none other I have seen!  With the Walt Disney Company running the show, they easily met the expectations of the ‘tweener generation.  The show opened with Hannah Montana’s Mitchel Musso singing a few of his tunes to get the audience’s screaming primed.

Mitchell Musso of Hannah Montana warms up the crowd.

Along with Musso, two other Disney label acts, KSM and Jordan Pruitt provided live performances to accompany the athletes as they performed about 2 hours of choreographed routines and group numbers.

KSM tests the limits of the sound system at the Honda Center.

Jordan Pruitt with Shayla Worley, Olga Karmansky, and Aliane Baquerot

The arena set up was very rock ‘n roll complete with a stage, podium featuring some of the gymnastics equipment, two sets of rings and two silk ropes suspended from high above that allowed the gymnasts to soar overhead.  The lighting effects throughout the evening, coupled with the music made for a really cool production, a real departure from the basic spotlights of tours past.

The view from front and center during a lighting check.

It’s apparent the athletes are enjoying themselves out on the floor and indeed a well-deserved break from their recent Olympic competitions.  Last night’s show featured the six member bronze medal winning men’s gymnastics team: Sasha Artemev, Raj Bhavsar, Joey Hagerty, Jonathan Horton, Justin Spring, Kevin Tan with supporting teammates Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, Blaine Wilson, and Luke Vexler.

The guys finish up their first number. Jonathan Horton (L) and Justin Spring (R) are facing the camera.

Not all of the women’s team are every tour stop but that didn’t keep the fans from screaming their appreciation for multi-medal winners Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, and Chellsie Memmel.  Rounding out the women’s supporting cast were Ashley Postell, Shannon Miller, Tasha Schwikert, Shayla Worley, rhythmic gymnast Olga Karmansky, and gymnast-stunt-silks performer Mam Smith.

The girls rebuff the attention-seeking guys as they perform a playful number. L to R: Chellsie Memmel, Ashley Postell, Shayla Worley, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, and Tasha Schwikert.

Afterward, we were treated to a meet and greet where the athlete-stars signed autographs with stealth precision!  They had handlers manning the tables to make sure there were no photographers or lengthy chatter to hold up the line.  I managed to sneak in a few shots using the old “Olympic Family” excuse!

Raj, Shannon, Kevin (hidden), Justin, Sasha, and Jonathan.

Blaine and Shawn

Mia (Mihai's daughter) and Nastia with Luke Vexler in the middle.

Stay tuned for our behind the scenes dressing room interviews with the women and chats with the guys from the floor.

Luke Vexler down in front with Raj Bhavsar (rear), Justin Spring and Joey Hagerty (L) and Sasha Artemev to the right (blocking Blaine).

– Kris Bagiu

The Best of GymnastTV showcases your favorite shows from the past featuring all of your favorite gymnasts!

Click image to watch

Click image to watch

Click image to watch

Click image to watch