How did National Canadian Girl, Teen & Miss become what it is today?
Well this blog post will tell you all about that!
In January 2010, Liz got the idea that Canada needed to try pageants! After extensive web research she couldn't find any other girls pageants in Canada. It does turn out there was one running in Ontario, but at the time, it didn't have a web presence so was unable to be found by her.
In Feb 2010 Liz launched her first Pageant - and the name was West Coast All Canadian Girl Pageant! It was a natural pageant where girls did an intro, beauty wear, casual wear and on stage question. It had the same sort of award system with a queen in each age group and a princess, then mini-princesses.
Not sure how it would go, Liz advertised, and by the first pageant in April 2010, 40 girls were registered! It took a lot of trust and faith on the parents part, as we were the first! There were NO photos of what it might look like, nothing to show but a few photos of crowns from the internet and a 'please come!'. We were quite proud getting the turnout of girls with nothing to show them!
The first pageant was pretty crowded, with lots of people wanting to see. Friendship bags were a big hit (and something still continued today!).
Crowning was a bit of a hot mess, as things just didn't go as planned, but luckily, people still loved it and at the next pageant in Burnaby about 35 girls attended!
There was one more pageant in Delta and again, about 35-40 girls attended!
Here is a great photo of some of the girls in Langley - OMG look at that terrible backdrop! It is almost embarrassing! I had ordered a stage and background and what arrived was NOT what I ordered, and there was no time to do anything about it!
We also had a problem with our sashes - they came in a half size! All kinds of things went wrong, but it was a great learning experience for the next one, and every day I am thankful these families gave me a second chance! For the next few pageants after Langley we did goodie bags that were similar to birthday party bags (but better stuff inside) and soon with lots of feedback from moms, we started doing more of 'one nicer' gift rather than a bag of 'stuff'! So many things were learned that first year!
Oh my what a hot mess! Look at how those sashes are on the wrong shoulders?!
Langley - YIKES did I ACTUALLY USE that background??!!
Delta Pageant
Burnaby Babies!
Burnaby Pageant Girls!
The first finals was held in a gorgeous theater and there were fun categories like 'What I want to be when I grow up". We had a fun pink party the night before at the Great Escape where many of the girls had a blast!
The pageant was just beginning, and it was really starting to take off in BC!
In July 2010 we crowned our first ever set of royalty!
Wow how different it was back then! Girls wore way different dresses then they did now. We even allowed denim! Although due to a few girls in short cutoffs, the no denim rule was born!
We didn't even have royalty jackets or anything, instead the girls wore matching pink polo tops Liz found in the states for $3 each on sale with white pants for their outings and appearances!
Summer Finals 2010
Our First Royalty! Look at those Miss America Style Crowns - the girls always complained because they wouldn't stay on their heads! hahahaha. To think all of these girls are 6 years older now - one even in her 2nd year of University (Robyn in the purple at the back)!
Summer Finals 2010!
2011
It was an insane day to say the least, and a lot of money was raised for Childrens Hospital!
At this point, WCG (as we called it back then) was still the only pageant system of this type in Canada - all natural (no routines, fake hair, etc...) and people were getting excited about it!
Throughout the year we did some fun Xmas pageants, another Canada Day pageant and had a ton of fun! Also a few fun appearances.
Ellie - who is now our Queen of Queens - and Meg at about age 14!!
Check out this fun video we made for 2010!
Our outgoing royalty from 2010 were the first girls to receive directors chairs from Director Liz! This has now become a tradition!
This is also the year we FOUND EVE! Or I should say, Eve found Liz - and the 2 have been working together since! WCG was the first pageant Eve ever shot!
See our cute $3 pink shirts??!!
Here was our new 2011 Summer Finals Royalty:
Still using those horrible Miss America Crowns -geez the girls really hated them - said their hurt their heads! LOL. Also still had not found the perfect sash person yet either!
Look at Baby Elle!!! She is now 5 years old and our current Lower Mainland Tiny Miss!
This is Elle in 2016! She has grown up as a WCG/NCG girl!
Lipdubs were popular in 2011 and all of the girls made a fun one at the Summer Finals! That was also the year every girl got a huge pink feather boa just for fun!
In 2011, Liz also started bringing in a few more glitzy pageants to try out - response was HUGE!
She hosted Rhinestone Beauties, NES and then decided to start her own Glitz System, Dreamboat Dolls! This is where Canadian pageants really started to change!
Not wanting to use all the same rules as pageants in the USA, Liz decided to adapt what she felt Canadian families would feel most comfortable with. Things like routine lengths. In the mainstream USA pageants, it was always 1:30, but Liz felt this was too long for a 0-3year old to be on stage. She made the time limit 1 min for this age group. Also jackpots in the USA generally are top scores, but Liz wanted it to be fair for ALL girls, and made jackpots as 'judges faves'. She was also big on EVERY GIRL getting a crown at her pageants. USA pageants were the winners only get crowns. Liz started every girl getting one, and again this is now something you see across Canada! Many of the 'rules' Liz instituted into her pageants have become the standard in Canadian Pageantry (Semi-Natural/Semi-Glitz) and any new pageant that has started in Canada tends to use all of these rules. Liz is quite proud of what she has built in Canada, becoming the trailblazer for future pageants!
She also allowed parents to go as far with the glitz as they were comfortable with - she didn't want parents to feel they had to go full on Toddlers and Tiaras if they didn't want to!
It was fun to give out bigger crowns! But Liz's heart still was with WCG - she loved the all natural and low stress part of WCG - you could find something to wear out of your closet and come to the pageant and win - no fancy outfits, etc... needed!
There was also a very impressive haul of nearly 1500 toys for the toy drive with a special charity pageant that year!
In 2011, Toddlers and Tiaras was very popular on tv, and pageants were getting more popular, along with her regular BC round of pageants, Liz decided to take it on the road!
In August of 2011, Alberta saw its VERY FIRST PAGEANT EVER!
Liz and Meg traveled to Kelowna, BC and then Strathmore, just outside of Calgary!
Response in Calgary was amazing! About 45 girls joined Dreamboat Dolls. Liz did not take WCG to Kelowna or Calgary, due to the fact it was not yet a National Pageant (but Liz had future plans!).
Pageants were born in Alberta!
Kelowna - not so much - Liz only ever did one more there and found it wasn't really a 'pageant town'.
Check out this news article: http://www.strathmoretimes.com/home/95-news-sp-558/august-19-2011-strathmore-times/1211-beauty-pageant-coming-to-strathmore-
Just think - if Liz had not come to Calgary that August - would Pageants be happening in Alberta right now? Probably not - but who knows! Liz is super proud to have started it there for all of the girls to enjoy! Most of the girls still competing in AB pageants started with Liz, whether it was at this one or one of the others she brought out there in the future!
Soon after, many pageants started popping up in Alberta and it really became a province full of pageant choices.
That fall was the very first Dreamboat Dolls - which had a castle crown theme!
Check out this Youtube from a feature done on this!
Liz definately brought a bit of controversy to the world of Pageants in Canada with this!
Never to be one to worry about what others think, Liz plodded on and kept at her pageants!
Also, at summer finals 2011, Liz named Ellie as her Queen of Queens, as she had done so much throughout the year - trucking through the mud with her mom to help set up Canada Day stuff, out in the community doing good all the time, and so much more. To this day, Ellie and her mom Denise are a HUGE part of NCGTM! They come to nearly everything, and never miss a Nationals - they will be in West Edmonton Mall this year and when you come to Nationals, make sure you get to know these 2 amazing ladies! Ellie is now 15 years old - oh how time flies!
Here is a fun Xmas lipdub we did at an Xmas Charity Pageant
2012
Liz held the first big weekend pageant event in Canada at her Tropical Weekend in Feb 2012!
This was so much fun and had both a Natural and Glitz side to it! 87 contestants poured into the Sandman Signature hotel in Richmond - even a few that had competed in Alberta and Kelowna the summer before! Pageants were getting even bigger! This is also where Casey Mac first got involved in Pageants!
Back to WCG - had another amazing Summer Finals at the theater, but had a goal of a big hotel weekend where the girls did full interviews, parties, etc.... She knew one day she could make this happen! It just needed time!
In 2012 Liz hosted a ton of glitz pageants, as they were quite huge at the time, but for WCG, she turned into NCG! NATIONAL Canadian Girl! Her goal was to spread this amazing scholarship program ACROSS CANADA! She had a plan!
After more local BC pageants, Liz crowned her Summer Finals Royalty as the first ever set of National Royalty! This was also the pageant that we did in person one on one interviews with the judges for the first time ever! I can't recall our other categories, but believe we also did tv commercial this year? Anyone remember?
This was the first group that REALLY got into the 'sisterhood' of NCG -these girls were so incredibly close all year and did so much together - and hey - do you notice the upgrade on a better appearance crown, matching jackets and gorgeous sashes?! Liz FINALLY had 'WCG' where she wanted it - or at least on its way! These girls went to Disney on Ice together. spa parties, bbqs and all sorts of fun things! We all cried so hard at Nationals the next summer! They were just an amazing bunch of girls! They are all still in touch and close today! Sisters for life!
Here is the lipdub from 2012 Summer Finals!
2013
Liz took NCG on the road, starting in Alberta and crowning new Alberta royalty!
First set of AB Royalty!
There was also royalty in other regions crowned, and this is also the year we started in Halifax!
We held a pageant in Toronto as well and becoming National was well on its way!
That summer Liz had her dream come true and held the BIG weekend pageant at a hotel!
Girls from all over Canada descended on an airport hotel and had the time of their lives!
Liz held a huge carnival party with real carnival games she rented, prizes like you wouldn't believe, a star karaoke booth where the girls recorded cds and more!
Look at these friendship bags!
Recording Booth!
Friends Forever!
Our Annual Directors Chairs!
I am really trying to find a new 2013-14 Royalty Photo and having a hard time! Here is one with BC and National Royalty combined! Not the greatest photo -but hopefully I can find the one I am after!
This year the outgoing queens also did a fun opening number!
Check out those adorable matching outfits!
This is also the year that Hope brought us to tears in the Speech Arts Competition!
This was also when Sarah helped Liz make this cute little promo video:
NCG was growing!!!
2014
Time for a new logo!!!
NCGTM was really going across Canada now! We had royalty in almost all provinces and Nationals that year were going to be amazing!
We took the girls in the big Santa Parade in Vancouver!
Another amazing hotel weekend, only this one with a spa party!
To see what we did - check out this video!
Also check out the royalty dance - which turned out pretty good considering they had about 2 hours to learn and practice it!
This is the year we introduced a LIMO RIDE to our photo shoot location!
The girls had a BLAST!
Girls from ALL OVER CANADA - nearly every province represented came to this Nationals!
Here are some Royalty Photos - OH BOY has it sure changed from 2010! Liz bought matching dresses for the girls to wear in the shoot!!
Liz had finally accomplished her goal she had since 2010 - have a huge nationals with all the bells and whistles and to set a new standard for Pageantry in Canada for young girls!
This is also the year we debuted our new crown!
2015
Liz mostly ran Provincial style pageants across Canada, skipping having smaller ones so that parents could save their money for the pageants where they could win the title!
Nationals 2015 was just amazing, and again, we had girls from nearly every province there! Liz took her first trip to Saint John NB and loved it! We had New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland, Ontario. Sask, Manitoba, Alberta and BC attended!
This was a year where Liz stepped it up a bit and changed it - she split Nationals into a 0-13 years experience and a 14-35 years experience. The younger girls all went to the Vancouver Aquarium on a bus trip and had a pizza dinner. The older girls were treated to a bus trip to Granville Island and then to see Hairspray as VIP guests with a BBQ dinner at Theater Under the Stars!
The pageants were also split and they competed at different times.
Saturday night all of the girls came together for a huge pj party - all of the provinces had gotten together and gotten the same pjs to wear as groups ! There was a huge scavenger hunt called "The Pajama Games" where girls ran around the hotel doing a series of challenges and taking photos and videos. I have never laughed so hard! At the end, all of the girls gathered at dusk by the pool and lit sparklers! It was Magical! To see all of these girls from across the country, getting together, playing, having fun, laughing - it was just so rewarding!
The older girls 14-35 years also did a fun little opening number! Fun Fashion was also added in!
Here is a great video Shaw TV did featuring Abby (our National Tween Miss - was Northern BC royalty at the time of the video).
A new set of royalty were crowned!
These are the 2015-16 royalty that you will meet at West Edmonton Mall Nationals!
2016 saw the last Dreamboat Dolls pageant, as Liz was now involved in producing a huge Nationwide Awards show she started in 2014, and she wanted to focus on NCGTM!
2016
Dates are set across Canada for upcoming Regional Pageants!
For the first time ever - Nationals will be held at WEST EDMONTON MALL!
Girls will be competing in a different style, all doing an opening number (Liz really wanted opening number dresses, but with a poll in her NCGTM mom chat group, it was decided moms didn't want the extra expense this year - but watch out 2017 - Liz has a plan! hahaha).
The pageant is COMPLETELY CHANGED - from the way we are going to do crowning, to the way the girls model on the stage. Every girl will attend super fun rehearsals and learn everything on site! All girls now do Intro, Interview, Beauty and Fun Fashion (Pink Fun Fashion for ages 0-13 years).
Casual wear, tv commercial, speech arts and talent are all optional! These are for fun extra prizes!
We want the most unique experience in Canada to be yours!
This year, all girls who come to Nationals must carry a title -either won at Regionals or Appointed. West Ed Mall has a lot in store for the girls, and we need them to all come as title holders!
Every title holder will have this new crown:
If you want a completely different pageant experience, combined with a family vacation - do NOT MISS THE PAGEANT OF THE YEAR!!! Join us at Nationals - www.ncgpageant.com
Currently NCGTM is the only National Scholarship System for Girls ages 0-59 Years in Canada! It is very very special - to the girls who have been, have held titles and to Liz. Liz loves the girls and has amazing things in store for them for the future!
If you want to try a National level Natural pageant that is run very similar to the big ones in the USA, then you need to check out NCGTM! Liz has attended many USA pageants and learned from the best - talked to the directors and also put in 6 long years of hard work - look at 2010 to now! Can you imagine what 2020 will be like??!!!!!
Bring your family to Nationals 2016! You won't be disappointed!!!
JOIN THE PRESTIGE!
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