Someone messaged me last week about competing in the 2018 UK Galaxy Pageant and in it, they included that they felt it was too late as they would be too far behind in appearances……. my response was, absolutely not!
The fact that someone thought this made me panic a little (ok I lie, a lot!!) because this could not be further from the case. I know that there are weird and wonderful theories about how to win a pageant but I like to be able to use this blog to help break the fact from fiction. And so, I wanted to fully explain how appearances work within the UK Galaxy Pageant system – and for that matter, Miss Teen Great Britain and the UK Power Pageant that Pageant Girl also organise.
So, what even is an appearance?
Basically, an appearance is a time you wear your sash (and crown – if you have won!) in public to represent yourself and the pageant system. For example, you may be
- attending a charity fundraiser
- turning on the Christmas lights of your hometown
- visiting your former school (for example, you could read to the primary school children or tell the older pupils about the title & your platform if you have one)
- attending the opening of a new venue
- interviewed & featured in the local/national media
There are lots of examples of appearances and you tend to find at every appearance you attend, you will meet someone who invites you to another opportunity!
Making appearances is a fun part of being a titleholder but most importantly, appearances are something that are completely optional to do. The crown does not fall to the girl who has made the most appearances and that is absolutely not the criteria for winning! Indeed, in some instances the girl who ultimately wins has made the most appearances but this is seldom the case and so, don’t get bogged down focussing on how many you must make and definitely, don’t let it be a reason that you do not compete!
We understand that you lead busy lives …
In the Pageant Girl office (and the same is true for the Galaxy International Pageant), we recognise that competing in a pageant is your hobby but that you also have real lives to focus on too! For every division, we know there will be different things happening for you – for our Teens & Junior Miss finalists, we stress that the priority is education, and for our Miss, Ms and Mrs, many will have careers & work, plus possibly looking after a family too! Throw all of this together with making appearances, and that is one very busy week!
We do not expect you to make appearances every week! Sure, some people are able to do this and we think this is absolutely amazing – but (to stress again) this doesn’t mean they are guaranteed to walk in and win the crown.
Appearance points can earn you a maximum of 5 bonus points
In the UK Galaxy Pageant (and Miss Teen Great Britain & the UK Power Pageant), by making appearances, you have the opportunity to win a maximum of five bonus points.
Each appearance counts for half a point and so, by making ten appearances, you earn the full amount. If you make 50 appearances, fantastic – you should be so proud of your hard work and you are definitely going to enjoy telling the judges all about what you have been doing…. But note, this will not earn you an extra 25 bonus points! This is not to take away from the incredible work the contestants do who make so many appearances but I would HATE to think this frightens people into thinking that they must do a million appearances to even be in with a chance of winning! We have had many winners over the years (in all of our pageant systems) who have not earned the maximum bonus points.
Scoring at the Grand Finals…
At the grand final, there is a minimum of 150 points to be earned per round and so, that is 450 points overall! I definitely think having the full 5 bonus points is a help but, if you don’t get them – it is not guaranteed to be a case of you having no chance in the finals, it is quite the opposite!
Making appearances can definitely help to show your passion, dedication and determination to win the crown – and aside from that, I think they are a really fun thing to do with your title and importantly, it’s lovely to volunteer your time to help & support others. I also think that if you do make appearances, it gives you lots of instant topics to discuss in your interview! I absolutely love seeing our pageant contestants making appearances and really enjoying their time as a Galaxy Girl (literally, it makes me so proud when I see appearance photos like the one on this post!) but I think it’s really important for everyone to know, that if you are considering entering, you do not have to have a million appearances to show.
So, I realise this is quite a long post but I want to break down the preconception of how many appearances you must do in order to win a Galaxy crown. If you are one of the lucky winners, appearances will form a part of year – especially in preparation for America but you are not expected to be making them every week…. Yes, some do – and it’s great to see & I love this but I know it is impossible for everyone to do this amount. In the UK, if you haven’t made as many appearances but know you would be active if you won, you can use your interview with the judges as a way to tell them what you would plan on doing with your year and what appearances you would want to do.
If you do have any questions about the UK Galaxy Pageants, or any other competition that we organise, please contact us on [email protected] or you can call us on 01925 767884.
If you are aged eleven upwards, then get entering at https://www.galaxypageantsuk.com/enter-now/.
Lots of love
Holly & the Pageant Girl Team x