Monday, April 23, 2007

Beauty Pageant Contests

Beauty Pageant Contests

What Kinds of Beauty Pageants Are There ?

There are more than 700,000 beauty pageants in the United States alone. These pageants range from local competitions designed to draw more people into a retail sales store, to county fair queens, to product promotions at a national level. They include major national contests such as the famous Miss America pageant all the way down to online photo contests for babies,


Child Beauty Pageants or Children Beauty Pageants

Beauty Pageants aimed at children and babies came into existence during the 1960’s and the latest estimates suggest that today 3,000 pageants attract 250,000 children per year.

Most child beauty pageants break competition levels out by age ranges. Category titles differ from pageant to pageant but generally fall into groups similar to this:

Babies (from the time a child can sit up independently until age 2)

• Toddlers (ages 2 – 4)

• Little Miss (ages 5 – 7)

• Junior Miss (7 – 9)

• Pre-Teen (10-12)


Natural vs. Glitz

There are two different kinds of child beauty pageants, each with a different image and emphasis.

Beauty Pageants which could be categorized as “natural” emphasize a family orientation and encourage participants not to use heavy make-up, hair pieces, tight costumes or talent performances inappropriate for the child’s age range.

Beauty Pageants which could be categorized as “glitz” emphasize a glamorous orientation and encourage participants to utilize beauty aids such as makeup and hairpieces, rhinestones and jewelry, mature costumes and talent performances to show off the child’s appeal.

Most national children beauty pageants have a presence on the World Wide Web and can be located by entering “child beauty pageants” into any major online search engine.


Teen Beauty Pageants

Teen pageants are similar to Adult pageants with the exception that some of them have a “scholarship” component and contestants are required to submit a transcript of their grades and/or write academic inspired essays.

Generally scholarship pageants do not have a swimsuit category included in the competition.

Most of the pageant tips included in the remainder of this book can be applied to winning a teen pageant as well as an adult pageant.

The evening gown competition for teens generally calls for a dress that is not as glitzy as a child’s pageant dress and yet not as sexy or mature as an adult gown. Thus, teen pageant gowns tend to be more like very special prom dresses.

National teen pageants that fall into the “scholarship” category and emphasize personal development and leadership include America’s Junior Miss Program, America’s National Teen-Ager, and Miss Teenage America.

‘TEEN magazine’s Miss Teenage America Pageant is a mail-in pageant which judges leadership, community service, scholastic achievement, poise and appearance.

National pageants that could be categorized as “glamour” pageants for teens include Miss Teen USA (which is a part of the Miss Universe pageant system), Miss Teen All American and Miss Teen America.

There are many other pageants out there and most can be accessed through any major search engine on the internet.


Adult Beauty Pageants

The cultures of individual pageants are different. Miss America, a volunteer-based nonprofit organization that emphasizes the scholarships that winners receive, tends to choose winners with high scores in the interview, intelligence and “platform” (community service and public speaking)
categories.

Miss Universe, a beauty pageant system now owned by Donald Trump which includes the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants as well as Miss Universe, focuses on beauty and swimsuit competition and tends to choose winners who are “sexy.”

Additional pageants which also fit the “glamour” culture of beauty contests include Miss World and Mrs. America among others.


Other Pageants

There are pageants for just about every kind of contestant imaginable including married women, seniors, plus size folks, and boys and men. While none of these is as popular as the pageants listed above; they are available and a concentrated search will soon turn up opportunities to fit any competitor!

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An excrept from "Insider Secrets To Winning The Beauty Pageant". If you want the complete guide - check it out!