Miss Teen Austin National's Pageant

Awwww, what a weekend!  Friday and Saturday found me judging (representing Capital City Scribes as President) the Miss Teen Austin Nationals Pageant (Cities of America).   Since it was my first taste of judging a pageant, I learned a lot as well as met some wonderfully talented and inspirational people. I can somehow relate to how Simon, Paula and Randy feel (American Idol) as they review a new contestant every 5 minutes ALL day long. As cute and entertaining as some of the girls can be, it was a downright exhausting task to choose a winner from so many great candidates in four different categories ranging from 7-19 years of age. Luckily, we had a panel of judges who "knew their stuff" and our panel only had to judge two of the categories.  Many of the judges had already dealt with pageants in their past... competing in them, like me... so it gave them a different perspective being "on the other side". If they weren't in past events, such as this one, the judges ranged from those who deal with make up artistry, costume/dress design, film making or photography.  Just to have met them would have made my whole experience complete, but interviewing and judging so many genuine, mature and unique girls rounded out the time I devoted to this endeavor more than worthwhile.

The little girl in the pink dress won the Junior Pre Teen Category... 7-9 year old's and the one below her in white was Bolasade... winner of the Pre-Teens 10-12 year old's.  The reigning Miss Austin and national winner crowned them.

The pageant itself was held at a performing arts center just outside of Austin.  It could have housed what looked like perhaps a thousand people, but I would say only a spattering of folks who were family and friends came out to cheer on the participants.  It looked like about 300 or so people in attendance.  The judges were informed that the attire was "formal wear" if we wanted to dress up and that is always fun, although most of the time I PREFER jeans and a t shirt.  Of course, I pulled out one of my "cruise dresses" and donned the best "catwalk" stance I could, recalling watching some of the modeling training that Leenda received in her classes back in Hawaii... many moons ago. She did it with such grace and style in FOUR inch heels, I was lucky to pull off one inch heels with grace.. OUCH!  I don't do heels.... LOL!

We were delighted first off, to get a glimpse of the girls we interviewed, in the "casual wear" segment where they dressed up in all different outfits which best fit their personality.  We were just judging on their appearance, poise and  confidence on the stage, though, and not their actual attire, which defeated the whole purpose to me.  I thought we should have been able to judge on their creativity and originality, but only how they presented themselves was the rule.  There was a good, "Milan" beat, so this part moved along very quickly and although there was a spot on the ballot to put comments, it was all I could do was put a number beside the correct name. In addition to the gowns and glamor leading up to the pageant, the girls had training on how to perfect their modeling walk (with grace and confidence) as well as how to conduct themselves in an interview--being valuable tools they will need in "real life".


The girl in the green was the Junior Teen Winner and the one in the white was Miss Teen Austin 2010.

I was able to take some photos incognito from my "judges" chair the night of the actual pageant of some of the winners and there is a great video that they put together which I will include here if you are interested in watching it.  I really thought that this pageant was, or may be, like all the other "Glitz pageants" and shame on me for assuming anything before letting the whole experience play itself out.  I pictured "squeaky" little girls with false eyelashes and way too much make up on talking about wanting "love and world peace".  This was NOT the case at all.  Sure, there were "stand out", model-type girls who entered the contest, but I truly believe they were in the competition to better themselves and gain more composure and confidence--for those girls didn't necessarily win.  I'm sure that this "one moment in time" changed all of their lives forever, especially the winners.   Although the pageant I was in [Miss T.E.E.N. New York, "Teens Encouraging Excellence Nationally"---not going to divulge the date], wasn't a "monumental event" which happened in my life, I do remember it fondly and actually feel it did help with my self esteem as well as self confidence in dealing with public speaking and interacting with adults in a one on one atmosphere.  I also got to meet girls from all over the state.  I placed in the top ten and even though I hoped to win... I feel I won out in the overall experience, which I hope that these girls will look back on and see how it helped them.

I was a little taken aback after viewing a few of the girls "in the background" who were still standing on the stage, but knew clearly they were not walking out of this with a crown or a trophy.  I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye as I witnessed one of the younger girls, covering her face with her hands, quietly sobbing, while the one next to her rubbed her back and held her hand... I'm sure it was just the final stress release and emotions getting the best of her, but still, it hurts NOT to achieve the goal you set out to.  I'm positive that when she entered she really thought that her odds were good and that she had a chance to "walk away with a title", besides gaining some self confidence in the meantime.  When we were interviewing some of the girls in the Junior Teen category, we asked several questions to find out why they REALLY wanted to enter this pageant.  Most of them said it was to gain more self confidence and for the whole experience, but some did say for the DRESS.  You could tell WHO those girls were.... you could barely stand 5 feet from them 'cause their dress was so "present".

I know that pageants are very much money related and they wouldn't be putting on these presentations year after year unless they were making money, but I do feel that this one was a little different than most.  We were informed that they screened many of the girls out before they chose the finalists that we were to interview.  They made sure that each contestant was "in it" for themselves and not coerced by anyone else.  One thing I really didn't understand fully, and was quite amazed by, was one girl in the competition who clearly did not enter solely on her own accord.  She had severe Autism and had her mother by her side at the interview as well as a pageant representative escorting her and being her "voice" on the stage.  She did not answer all the questions that were asked and I wondered why they allowed her in this pageant. I guess it must have been a dream for her... perhaps she told her mother and she relayed it to the pageant authorities since they had that strict, screening process. I did not see how this could have helped her in the least, though, to see how difficult and uncomfortable it was for her each step of the way.  Bless her heart to have the courage to do this. Both my "cyster" (CF Sister) Amanda [www.glossedbyamanda.com] and I had tears in our eyes. (She was sitting next to me the entire pageant endeavor!)

Overall, my whole experience was good.  If I was asked to do it again, I would make sure that I had lots of time before, and especially after, to recover... as it was two, exhausting, but exhilarating, days.

www.cherylmuhr.com

One last note: I met a gal, one of the judges, who was just so kind and outwardly caring... Cheryl Muhr.  She is a fantastic photographer as well and I wanted to include her site for you to check out... I was amazed and in awe with her talents and soulful being.