Pageant Tips: Choosing a Beauty Pageant

With pageant season now in full swing, many veteran contestants and aspiring beauty queens are asking the burning question: How do I choose the right beauty pageant for me? The cold, hard fact is that there are many pageants for women of all ages to choose from, so many in fact that choosing one that’s best for you could become a daunting task. So let’s take it step by step.

The first and most obvious step in choosing a beauty pageant is identifying the rules and requirements and determining whether you qualify to enter. Most beauty pageants have a minimum and maximum age requirement for each contestant, along with geographical location requirements. Depending on the age of the contestant, there could be regulations with regard to marital status, education level, and citizenship. If you have all the qualifications to enter your pageant of choice, the next thing you should do is look at the areas of competition in which you will have to compete.

Often times the biggest deal-breaker for pageant contestants is whether or not there will be a talent competition. While many of us are quite talented in our own rights, most people are not formally trained in the performing arts. If a pageant that you are considering has a talent competition, you might want to see if there are creative talents allowed such as poetry reading or dramatic performance. On the other hand, if you are strong in the performing arts, then you should definitely look to enter a talent pageant, as this will give you an advantage in your pageant strategy. If you find that a pageant’s talent competition rules and your particular talents do not mesh, then it’s best to move on and look for another pageant.

The next area of competition that most contestants look at is the fitness category, more specifically whether or not you will be wearing a swimsuit or the alternative of some type of exercise or aerobic wear. Many contestants feel more comfortable in aerobic wear; however, if you are in fantastic shape you might want to choose a swimsuit pageant, again to give you the advantage over the competition. Also, some pageants allow their contestants to wear nude or sheer pantyhose under their swimwear, another factor to consider. Keep in mind that if you enter a swimsuit pageant, you will be walking on stage in a swimsuit, potentially in front of hundreds of people, or thousands, or even millions if the pageant is televised. It essentially comes down to your personal comfort level and feeling great about your decisions throughout the entire process.

Finding a pageant to enter should be an easy task. You should get a feeling that this is the right pageant for you, one that you really want to compete in, and one that you can win. When that feeling is there, hold onto it, stick with the pageant system of your choice, and focus on winning.