Preliminary Participant Information
Cinderella is a natural pageant. This means we are looking for real kids in real clothes. We are not looking for hair pieces, lots of makeup, flippers, etc. We are interested in seeing the participants, so clothing should be simple in design, color, and material. You won’t see much tulle, sequins, and lace. Please refer to the about section of our website (listed below) for more information on clothing or ask me for more specific examples. Also, for our division, we go by age as of 9/1/22.
The participants in our preliminary pageant all participate in partywear/formalwear and casual wear modeling. Our modeling is very simple. The stage will have 4 X’s in a T pattern. When there is a ding in the music, you move from 1 X to the next. Participants under 3 must be accompanied by a chaperone on stage. We host a modeling workshop before the start of the pageant to demonstrate and practice the modeling. You can checkout a great modeling tutorial here.
Partywear is for boys ages 0-6 and girls ages 0-12. For boys, partywear could be a suit or something you would wear for Easter or to a nice wedding. For girls, this is a street length gown, preferably just above the knees. Girls 0-6 usually wear ruffle socks and white shoes, girls 7-9 usually wear white transparent nylons with white shoes with small to no heel, and girls 10-12 usually wear nude nylons with white shoes with a small to medium heel. Teens and women (age 13-29) wear a floor length gown.
Casual wear can be thought of as more of a business casual type of outfit, not jeans. For boys, a pair of khakis and button-down shirt or sweater. Girls can wear a dress, romper, pants suit, or something along those lines. Casual wear modeling includes an introduction. For preliminary pageants, you can just say your name, age, and where you are from. For little ones who are not able to talk into the microphone, their chaperone can speak for them.
Participants ages 3-6 also do a brief onstage interview called Tot Personality. The emcee will ask them questions from the emcee forms (that you will fill out at the pageant) and they answer. The best way to practice this is to have them practice sitting still and ask them random questions.
Participants age 7+ perform a talent. Talent can be anything entertaining. It can be dance or singing, but we’ve also had karate, monologues, instruments, painting, and many other talents! Talent is a maximum of 2.5 minutes. We do not allow scenery for talent. You can use props if they are small and an integral part of your talent. If you play an instrument, you must provide the instrument. If you have music to accompany your talent, the director of the pageant will let you know how to submit that.
Every participant receives a title at a preliminary pageant, and we do not double crown. In each division, we have an overall winner as well as a beauty, personality (for ages 0-6), talent (for ages 7-29), and photogenic winner. If there are more than 4 participants in a division, we will have alternate beauty, personality/talent, and photogenic winners.
If you win a preliminary pageant, we like to encourage you to attend our state pageant, but there is no requirement to do so. Anyone who participants in a preliminary pageant will receive a $100 discount to our state pageant. If you plan to attend our state pageant, you will receive a letter of intent and instructions on how to reserve your spot. If you win your division at our state pageant as a Tot through Woman, you are required to attend the national pageant, or you must forfeit your title and will no longer be able to participate in Cinderella. Our State Pageant is at the Seven Springs Resort over Memorial Day weekend.
Our preliminary pageants usually run approximately 9am-2pm from registration to the end of awards. The exact times will be given approximately a week before the pageant. We begin with registration, then a modeling workshop for the participant and chaperone. We then open the doors for any other guest (guest passes are $5 each) and begin the pageant with casual wear. Our preliminary pageants are usually 10-15 participants, so everyone should plan on lining up at the same time. Casualwear is followed by party/formal wear and finally Tot Personality (please stay in your party wear dresses) and then Talent. Your music for talent can be emailed to me ahead of time or you can just hook up to our Bluetooth at the pageant. We have changing rooms available and will have some space to hang dresses. After talent, those participants should change back into their partywear/formalwear clothing for awards.
When you arrive the day of the pageant, you should plan to bring a headshot for photogenic. This should be no larger than an 8x10. This does not have to be a professional photograph but does have to be printed off. You will also fill out an emcee card. This will be read on stage and will be used to ask questions during Tot Personality if your child is 3-6 years old. You will also receive your participant number and complimentary chaperone wristband. This is also when you will turn in your souvenir and signup for any side awards.
Souvenirs are just little tokens of good wishes to the other participants. Most people give a small amount of candy in a little baggie or some cute container. You can also do some fun trinkets. A cute one that won best souvenir at one of the pageants was a little container of sand that had crowns stars and little shells in it. Another winner was a pack of pop rocks that had a phrase like “blow it away today”. These should be individually packaged with your child’s name, division, and hometown on a tag or sticker. I have gift bags setup at registration, and you will just drop 1 of your souvenirs in each bag. These go to all the participants, the royalty, helpers and judges. You can count on bringing approximately 20 souvenirs, but a more exact number will be given approximately a week before the pageant.
The $110 registration you paid fully covered your participant for the required events of a Cinderella preliminary pageant. However, we also do side awards, which are completely optional and includes best photo, best smile, best personality, and best souvenir and will cost $20 for all 4 awards.