Okay, so I have received a few requests lately to keep posting, so here we go.
Latest update. Two of my daughters returned to state competition last April. One place queen (winner) and is currently reigning here in the state of Mississippi. The other placed princess, again. They both moved on to World competition in July in the beautiful city of Scottsdale, AZ. One made top twelve and one did not. As always, I was extremely proud of them both. However, I had to start thinking... what is separating my girls from those who are winning these pageants.
Well, this past weekend, we returned to state competition. My oldest daughter as visiting royalty and my other two as comptetitors. Both placed princess. This is the third time in a row that my youngest daughter (8 years old, beautiful as can be) has placed princess and of course as a parent, I don't understand why, but as a judge... it is becoming clearer. Then today when I received her judges comments what I already know hits me like a ton of bricks. Following are some of her actual judges comments to make my point:
Interview: ... don't be nervous, you are beautiful...
Sportswear: ... make eye contact with the judges, smile bigger you are beautiful, own the stage, you are great!...
Party Dress: ... SMILE YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL...
and my favorite from judge #2 ...LOTS OF POTENTIAL FOR WORLD CROWN, JUST SMILE AND SHOW THAT PERSONALITY...
Yep, there is the problem - confidence. How can a girl so beautiful be so lacking in confidence? The honest answer - who knows?
This is something I have seen in my past time judging pageants and directing pageants. The beautiful girl who finds it hard to win because she doesn't act like a winner. I have found myself writing these same comments on contestants cards and now I have to deal with it with my own daughter. The only question is how?
Well, I think that entering more pageants at this point is out. She has shown that she is lacking in confidence and if that translates to more losses then I think that is only going to work against us. So here is my plan and as we work over the next few months to prepare for World Competition in January - I will do my best to keep you updated.
Back to Basics
This means - 1) Daily practice smiling in the mirror. - I know this seems silly, but reminding her how she smiles when having fun and laughing while showing her how beautiful she is by looking in the mirror or taking pictures of these moments seems key.
2) Interview practice - Interview is normally the tiebreaker in the event of a tie at most pageants. Its not enough to sit still and look poised. We are going to build her up by practicing questions and allowing her to already have a good stock of answers for those most common interview questions. The more interview doesn't seem like a "pop quiz" the more she will speak up, make eye contact with the judges and smile. For more info on this check the archives for most often used pageant questions.
3)Practice, practice, practice, her modeling - Yep, she needs to know every modeling formation backwards and forwards and turns should be second nature. The less she has to think about these things the more she can concentrate on having fun (which I definately think is a skill, when you are being judged on your appearance).
Anyway, this is my three step plan and I will work hard on keeping you updated. I may even try to get some video up of our practice sessions.
More to follow,
Lindsey
