IRELAND WILL HOST a ‘Toddlers in Tiaras’-style children’s beauty pageant later this year, after the organisers secured a venue for the event.
Annette Hill of the Universal Royalty Beauty Pageant – which runs beauty contests for babies, toddlers and young children – said there had been huge interest from Irish parents.
“Over 300 parents have emailed me” from Ireland, she told Newstalk Breakfast, adding that this country is the pageant’s third biggest fanbase after the US and Australia.
Several boys are among the children whose parents contacted her, but the majority were girls, she said.
It was reported by the Evening Herald yesterday that the pageant was having trouble finding a venue after being rejected by several hotels. However, Hill said this morning that a venue had been agreed, and the pageant would take place in November.
It will consist of three rounds, she said:
One of course is the gown. The second part is talent [...] We also have an outfit of choice, where the children can wear whatever they want to to wow the judges.
She rejected allegations that such beauty pageants sexualise children, and said that the popular TV show Toddlers In Tiaras did not represent the reality of child pageants. Hill said:
We don’t like makeup on the babies or any of the toddlers. When you get to a certain age group, four and up, we do like a certain amount of hair and makeup, but just enough to accentuate their natural beauty.
She said the Irish pageant would be a private event for families and friends of the contestants.
Universal Royalty Beauty Pageant describes itself as the event where “no one goes home empty handed” and “every child receives a trophy”.
The company also offers modelling lessons for contestants “of any age”, and a photo retouching service whose options include enhancing eyelashes and removing blemishes.
This video shows the winner of a Universal Royalty event earlier this year:
YouTube/MissUniversalRoyalty
This clip shows part of an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras which focused on the Universal Royalty Pageant:
YouTube/TLCToddlersTiaras
