Hey Guys!
Today - a longer post on my blog and I will rather only publish it in English language I believe, because the pageant that I am going to describe, is being organized in the UK - in England to be more precise.
As some of you have noticed from my previous posts and from what I was adding on my Facebook fanpage called Stylish Blonde recently, a few weeks ago I took part in another beauty pageant called Miss Pageant Girl UK. I was chosen as one of the finalists quite a long time ago actually (definitely a few months back), but I was hesitating, whether to take part in it, or not. The 'secure your place' fee was 165 pounds, and basically what you were paying for, was a sash for the region you were to represent (it is a local pageant, so you can represent let's say Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh or your county like let's say East Lothian, West Lothian etc.). I wanted to represent the City of Edinburgh, but it was already 'taken' by someone else, so I went for West Lothian as a second choice and that is the sash I was given. We were also provided with a black t-shirt with "Miss Pageant Girl UK" logo. And a voucher for I believe 10% off for buying a prom dress at the Dress Studio near Manchester, which is a partner for the pageant. We were also provided with one meal (lunch) that was included in fee we had paid, and the food was okay, but nothing special (buffet with some sandwihes, some french fries, wraps, chicken strips and the only thing I really enjoyed - salmon pieces) plus water.
Now; what was quite shocking to me, was the fact that literally everything else was for the money. And we are talking about: the professional photos from the event, the video of the event (each of those two things around 40-45 pounds), all the other Miss Pageant Girl UK gadgets and items from their sponsors and partners obviously as well.
The whole event took place in Manchester, England, and it was an interesting experience overall. It was a one day event, meaning that we needed to be present at Manchester Mercure Piccadilly Hotel at 9 in the morning, and the whole preparations part and the gala itself ended around 11 pm (meaning that most of the contestants needed to stay at the hotel the night before, and almost all of them booked a night at the exact hotel where the contest took place, and there was no discount or anything for the contestants, which I found quite odd, and I stayed in a completely different place).
The rehearsals part were quite a confusion in my opinion, and not only because there were around 30 girls for the Miss Pageant Girl UK division (some of them appeared out of the blue, as I haven't seen them presented on the website like my profile was shown among the others for example) and another 20 something for the Miss Teen Pageant Girl UK division, but also because of the fact that apparently during the rehearsals, the judges were supposed to call us out to conduct the interviews with us. Therefore; how to dress up? Should I leave the formal wear on, and walk and practice on stage with my heels on just in case I am being called out for an interview? Should I have a professional makeup on? Or should I (as suggested by the organisers) have flat shoes on not to strain my feet too much before the evening of the gala, and a comfortable dress that I would not boil in while practicing on stage? I decided to be somewhere in-between, and I was putting on and off my high heels from time to time, and took my elegant blazer off when going to meet the judges, which left me with a figure-hugging, but still classy dress. And my makeup was very light and natural.
We were told that what we tell the jury should be truthful and to present ourselves just as we are. And you really could not have imagined a bigger lie in my opinion. Not only the jury interview gave us 50% of the overall score (which I had no idea about), but also the questions they were asking, were to be answered in a very specific way in my opinion. They asked questions like: "What did you bring to this pageant?", and I believe I was supposed to say something like: "I brought the women empowerment which I am the best example of, my childhood experiences to never give up in following your dreams, all the charity work that I am doing in my free time, the commitment to saving the environment and a message for all the girls that hard work and dreams can walk hand in hand and will win you what you strive for". Instead; I was just being myself, and I said that I brought myself to the pageant - a person who would like to show the others that being a bit older than 20 years old, and having a lot of different life experiences, working and living in the UK as a Polish citizen, doing quite fine and having an interesting personality, could help you fulfill your dreams. And guess what - it did not go well I believe, because out of some aditional titles like "Best in Interview", "Miss Congeniality", "Miss Be-You_Tiful", "Beauty Queen Spirit", "Miss Elegance", I have not won absolutely anything. And I am really not writing it with sorrow or bad blood because I did not win, but some of the other contestants were awarded with multiple titles, which in my opinion is very discouraging for all the others that also have put hard work and financial resources in taking part in this competition.
The whole gala consisted of 3 parts so to say: a presentation in gold dresses (for the "adult" candidates) and pink dresses (for the "teen" candidates) as an opening dance, a presentation in a given by them black t-shirt and in jeans, and an evening gown walk.
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There were also additional mini competitions: Miss Talent, Miss Body Beautiful, Miss Photogenic, and Miss Beautifully Inspiring. And no, they were not for free to take part in. Each additional mini contest was 10 pounds added to the already paid fee. I decided to take part in only one of them - Miss Talent. As you might now, I sing, so my 90 seconds video was me singing the latest song by Halsey - "So Good". And I was not even shortlisted. There was some additional "mysterious" jury, who had shortlisted I believe 4 Miss Talent auditions. Now this is quite a disgrace. I am not going to brag about my talents, but I must say aloud that as a person, who was singing in a church as a soloist, having recorded live covers of the popular artists' songs for my own YouTube channel for several years now, singing live to the gigs in Poland, and in Edinburgh (Stramash Music Club), takking part in both "The Voice" in Poland and "X Factor" - I was not even shortlisted to have a chance of winning this mini competition? That does not seem to be fair at all. And again; the other additional competitions have been won mostly by the contestants that had already won some other titles, which again is really unfair towards the other candidates (like they had their favourite ones all along?). The Miss Talent award went to the second Polish girl (Natalia) who had taken part in the competition, which I was honestly happy about, but that was the only highlight there for me, because the girl is not only very talented (she presented a dance with boxing/fitness elements in her video), but also really down to earth and we did get along well.
Anyways; the whole contest in my opinion was rather a Miss Popularity and Miss Charity contest (taking part in any charity events was NOT a requirement, yet it was awarded as I saw afterwards; the problem is - not everybody has several spare hours to take part in charity events and travel the country simply because we - people not from the UK - need to work in order to upkeep our fairly normal lifestyle) rather than a beauty pageant, as not being rude to anyone - 80% of the contestants were not a beauty pageant material for sure and would have never been qualified if the contest took place in most of the European countries. Therefore; why not naming the pageant "Miss Best Personality" or "Miss Popularity" instead? Many really beautiful girls did not make it even to TOP10, let alone winning the pageant.
I was also very surprised that neither 2nd runner-up, nor 1st runner-up have not even received any smaller crown, which is a common practice in almost each beauty pageant that I have seen in my life.
Having said all that; I honestly think that it is almost impossible to win any local UK pageant (especially that most of them are being organized by the same person or team of people - UK's National Miss, UK Galaxy Pageants etc.) if you are not local (even if you are really beautiful, can speak English perfectly, and you simply stand out from the crowd with your face or personality), because not only you simply do not have that much spare time to travel the country in order to take part in some "Miss Brunches", charity events, meet-ups etc., but also you would just need to sink in into that community - hire a Pageant Coach (yes, such a thing exists), hire professional makeup artists and hairdressers at the day of the event (I was one of maybe 3 girls who had done their own hair themselves, and have had their makeup done themselves).
It was a both interesting, and quite disappointing experience that has left me with a bittersweet aftertaste. I mean - it was amazing to be on a catwalk again, present myself onstage in a few outfits of my own choice, hear all the people applauding and cheering for me, but at the same time - this thought at the back of my head that I did not have much chance at all is still there.
And what are your thoughts? Have you ever taken part in any of the local beauty pageants? Were they different from the international ones (I have a pretty good comparison, as I have taken part in international beauty pageants before, and in local ones in Poland)? What do you think about the pageantry in general? Share your thoughts below the post, and have an amazing day!
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