In case you haven't noticed (yeah right), there are pictures of hot women in bikinis plastered up all over the place; they're on billboards, payphone booths (where those still exist), in features on TV, and finally—on newsstands. It's all because the much-awaited 2010 Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is out and for sale, and this year, the scenery behind the girls is just as good as the view of tan lines.

So what's the lucky tropical location? The Maldives! The SI team shot the magazine way back in August of last year, and although they gave out clues on Twitter, they stayed clear of giving it all away; that's why you have to buy the magazine. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-02-09T10:25:14-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/11/14123/7711

"So this is a magazine," supermodel Bar Refaeli said, holding this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue which features her on the cover. All subscribers automatically receive SI's most popular issue, but they don't get to ride with Refaeli on SI One, a Southwest Airlines 737-300 wrapped with a shot of the Israeli model in a white bikini.

SI One touched down at New York's LaGuardia Airport, and we were probably the only ones just as excited about seeing the plane as seeing its cover girl. (The photographer next to us didn't know the Southwest markings and was continually disappointed as one after another plane passed without stopping.)

Giddily skipping about on Christian Louboutin heels, Refaeli said landing the cover was a complete shock to her -- she didn't find out until this week, when her agency coerced her to arrive in the city a few days early. The first person she called to tell? Mom. (Sorry, Leo!) This is her third appearance in the Swimsuit Issue, but she says she never contemplated being on a plane -- still, unlike most of us, the way-larger-than-life portrait didn't freak her out.

Like a pro, Refaeli gamely posed with Port Authority cops (one of whom was clutching his own camera) and the Southwest flight crew, albeit not in one of the signature bikinis she sports in SI. (Instead, she donned a Balenciaga jacket and James Perse tee. Bar and her bevy of beauties will be partying in New York tonight before boarding SI One to Las Vegas tomorrow for the Swimsuit Issue launch at the nightclub LAX.

Related Stories:
· Swimsuit Issue 2009 Locations Revealed [Jaunted]
· Following The SI Swimsuit Issue Ladies [Jaunted]
· SI Swimsuit Issue Holding Bash at LAX Inside Luxor [HC]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]]]> egw 2009-02-11T14:20:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/11/73236/5797

Yesterday, we let you know where the lovely ladies of the 2009 Swimsuit Issue got their glamour shots taken, and today we’ll let you know where to find them. They’ll be heading over to Pranna Restaurant in New York to fill up and schmooze with VIPs. The restaurant is trying to be clever with their happy hour stimulus package, but we’re thinking that the models will be treated to the full menu that focuses on the cuisine of Southern Asia.

After they’ve killed the batteries in everyone’s cameras, the models will be off to LaGuardia to board their Southwest jet wrapped in bikini imagery. Best of all, once the beauties are done with their private air charter, the plane, “SI One,” will remain in service for about a month—so maybe you’ll get a chance to see it on your next connection through BWI or MDW.

Tomorrow night, the party will get going at LAX--the club, not the airport--inside the Luxor Resort and Casino. Besides Cristal and Grey Goose, expect a lot of SoBe Lifewater flowing as well, since the company threw down tons of cash to be a major sponsor of this year’s issue. We don’t know about the after party, but the models will still be in Vegas on Thursday as well signing autographs and making appearances at resorts all over the strip.

Related Stories:
·Swimsuit Issue 2009 [Official Site]
·Pranna Restaurant [Official Site]
·Sports Illustrated Group Announces SI Swimsuit 24/7 [PR Newswire]
·Swimsuit Issue 2009 Locations Revealed [Jaunted] ]]> kjb 2009-02-11T08:56:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/10/15137/4892

While we did our bestest to determine where some of the sexy snaps for Sports Illustrated's "Swimsuit Issue 2009" were taken before the issue actually came out, the men's mag managed to surprise us a quite a bit with their locations.

Cover girl Bar Refaeli was snapped on the Canouan Island in the Grenadines--a ho-hum choice since the Caribbean is a Swimsuit Issue go-to location. But other models were wriggling around in skimpy suits in Riviera Maya, Spain's Canary Islands, Cappadocia (Turkey) and Naples. Tennis stars like Tatiana Golovin were indeed snapped in the Dominican Republic but race car driver Danica Patrick and the NBA Dancers (random?) were photographed in New York at a studio.

In case you want more of where the Swimsuit Issue was shot, check out the website's dedicated page to the location photos. The page even lists the accommodations used by the crew and models in each location, complete with room rates and reservations numbers. Sorry, the SI Models don't come with the room.

Up next for the Swimsuit Issue? The gals will be boarding a dedicated Southwest plane from Laguardia to Las Vegas on Wednesday night for a party at the Luxor. The plane will even feature "Swimsuit Issue imagery" on the sides of the plane. But will it have in-flight WiFi?

Related Stories:
· Swimsuit Issue 2009 [Official Site]
· Sports Illustrated Swimsuit party to be held at LAX Nightclub inside the Luxor Hotel and Casino" [We Do It All Vegas]
· SI Swimsuit Issue Holding Bash at LAX Inside Luxor [HotelChatter]]]> juliana 2009-02-10T15:10:43-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/6/7304/42070

We’ve been doing our best to hunt down the ladies and locations of this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Unfortunately, we still have no idea who’s going to be on the front. Although, we will be staying up past our bedtime this Monday, as the secret will be revealed on the Late Show with David Letterman.

We do know that for the first time, Esti Ginzburg will be joining the crew of the issue. We’re thinking that during last year’s shoot in Israel, the SI crew did a little talent scouting along with taking in the landscape. Unlike fellow Israeli, and Jaunted fav, Bar Refaeli, Esti will fulfill her military obligation in the nation’s army. Knowing that, we will not be making any attempts to get her phone number--not like that would be an option anyway.

Besides Letterman, the SI crew is using “experiential marketing” this year to get the word out about their iconic magazine. With this new promotion, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 24/7 New York to Vegas, teenage boys will get the chance to fly from New York to Las Vegas and hang out with the beauties. For those who aren’t big winners, they’ll be plenty of behind the scenes videos to oggle on YouTube.

Related Stories:
·Letterman To Unveil SI Swimsuit Cover [MarketWatch]
·Israeli Cover Girl’s SI Swimsuit Debut [Forward]
·Marketing the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models [AdAge]
·Bikinis coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo from 2008 of Ana Beatriz Barros in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua: SI] ]]> kjb 2009-02-06T10:01:00-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/1/28/93916/7529

A few weeks ago we were a-guessing as to what sand the ladies of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue would be rolling around in for this year's edition and while we had some good ideas about who would be featured in the photos, we still had no good idea where the shots were going down. Until now.

Tipster CI told us:

It comes out on Feb 10 and is being shot in the Dominican Republic. Thanks to Tatiana Golovin and her website golovin-attitude.com for news!

Tatiana is one of those Moscow-born tennis players who will model for the issue. And we went to her website so you don't have to--it's all in French.

This should give a big boost to Dominican Republic tourism which previously only had family-friendly spots and cock-fighting to entice visitors. NYC-based models or folks looking to escape the cold can take Jet Blue to get there. However, just remember the Maxim Bungalows Hotel is no longer affiliated with Maxim magazine.

Have any more tips about location shoots or who will make the magazine this year? Fill us in!

[Photo from 2008 of Ana Beatriz Barros in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua: SI]]]> juliana 2009-01-28T09:46:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/1/14/153710/681

Commence slightly-sexist parlor game! The 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition is scheduled to hit newsstands in a month, and as of yet, we've seen precious few guesses as to who--and more importantly--where will be featured. Ahead of the 2008 edition, we managed to track down a couple locations before our issue arrived, including Israel and the US Virgin Islands. What might this year's mag include?

Early chatter has it that Jessica Gomes of Perth could be 2009's cover lady, though where she did her shoots is still a mystery. Maui native Tori Praver will also feature heavily this year, and Honolulu's Star Bulletin says she too is in the running for the cover honor. (Both were photographed in the Turks and Caicos for the 2008 issue.)

On the sportier side, one pictures-of-chicks website reports Moscow-born tennis players Maria Kirilenko and Tatiana Golovin will make appearances this year. (Maybe their home town will get some love after St. Petersburg made last year's magazine?) Meanwhile, professional poker player Vanessa Rousso--poker's a sport, right?--reports that she made the issue. We're hoping they didn't force her to do a shoot in one of Vegas' notoriously grimy pools.

Have any tips about location shoots or who will make the magazine this year? Fill us in!

Related Stories:
· Hawaii Peeps in Pics [Star Bulletin]
· 2008 Swimsuit Issue Map [Jaunted]

[Photo from 2008 of Ana Beatriz Barros in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua: SI]]]> pbb 2009-01-14T16:05:48-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/