Even for the winners, the payoff isn't likely to involve stardom, despite the visual similarities between glitzed-up pageant kids and celebrities on a red carpet. This is especially true of glitz pageants. That proposition can inspire parents to spend thousands of dollars or even move cross-country in hopes that pageants will lead their child to a lucrative performing career.Ī 'Breaking Into Showbiz' section appears in each issue of Pageantry magazine, which describes itself as 'the Bible of the Industry.' This month, the magazine offers interviews with 'Access Hollywood' co-anchor Nancy O'Dell (who competed in pageants in the 1980s) and actress Lee Meriwether (Miss America 1955).Īlthough pageants promote the notion that any cute child can win, the reality, as skewered in the black comedy 'Little Miss Sunshine,' is that kids who do win are likely to be airbrushed pros by the time they've learned to read. The winners of these pageants are girl-next-door types - OK, little girl-next-door - rewarded for their outgoing personalities and stage presence.īut while the types of pageants vary widely, there are some common factors: nearly all offer cash prizes and rhinestone tiaras, and many promise that some of their judges will be modeling agents or talent scouts. Many of the country's largest pageant companies occupy a different niche: They are scaled-down 'natural pageants,' which don't allow makeup, teased hair or a swimsuit competition. At that time, the country's attention was focused on the so-called 'glitz pageants,' in which girls as young as five are dressed in sophisticated (or even sexy) evening gowns and loaded down with heavy cosmetics.

For some families, child beauty pageants represent a potential road to stardom, despite the scorn the pageant industry has endured in the decade since JonBenet Ramsey's death.

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