Can a new girl with limited or no pageant experience NCGTM?
This is a question I get all the time!
Answer is YES! With lots of proof that this has, and can, happen to you!
When we say ANY girl can be an NCGTM girl, we mean it!
I believe every single year we have had new girls or girls with very limited pageant experience take titles at our WCG finals or NCGTM Nationals! Also at regional pageants this happens all the time!
Going by finals - as we have had so many regionals and prelims I couldn't possibly list them all - but there has ALWAYS been at least 30-50% brand new girls win!
2010 - our first WCG summer finals, where yes, everyone was new to pageants, we had some girls who had done all 3 prelims so did have some practice and a bit if a leg up on the brand new girls at finals, yet in that group we had Robin Sanford (about 13 years old at the time!) come in and take the teen title. I believe our toddler and baby were brand new, and tiny miss was in her 2nd one (had done one prelim).
2011 - WCG summer finals when there had been a few more pageants, at finals we had 2 sisters come in and take the petite and teen titles- first pageant for them ever!
2012 - First set of National royalty. At this point, pageants were getting bigger, we had some glitz going on, coaching was really becoming a bigger thing, and girls were far more prepared. In walked Kristy, who blew us away! First pageant ever and she swept the pageant with one of the highest scores! She just had a aura about her, she flowed on stage, spoke beautifully and was a clear front runner! We also had Marliese take a title, and the only thing she had ever done was a one category Canada Day pageant! Emma was our tiny miss and was also super new at that point. I believe she had done one other, which was more glitzy. Our teen winner Natasha had also only ever done one pageant before, which was also a glitzy type pageant.
2013 - This was our first true Nationals with girls from other areas of the country, and little Sophie from interior BC came in and blew us away and took the tiny miss title. This was a little girl who had never seen or been in a pageant ever! She just had confidence on stage, had a great intro and was super likable! Many of the other winners that year had some experience or limited experience. It was a good range.
2014 - Nationals had a couple of brand new winners! Emily, our teen, was in her very first pageant ever! Roslyn, our young miss, had only ever done one small NCG prelim type pageant out in New Brunsick, as had our Petite Miss Addison - just one small one! Carolyn, our little miss, was from Ontario and had only done about 2 very small local pageants that were very different to NCG. I also believe our tween, Kansas, had only done 2 small local pageants at that point.
2015 - Our little Miss Rory had only ever been in one regional NCGTM pageant in New Brunswick before coming and taking the big title! She had extremely limited experience! Kiellah, our toddler miss, also had only ever done the NCGTM local regional. Our Teen Gaby had done 2 glitz pageants before taking her title last summer. Karen, our Miss, at that point had done a couple of small local pageants.
As you can see, we get a fair amount of girls who are new or have very limited experience as our National winners! Will YOU be one of our 2016-17 National winners??!! We are going into our 7th year!
Also, don't forget we have our AMBASSADOR title, which is given to a girl who embodies the NCGTM spirit, not based on stage scores at all! We also have our new National Canadian Jr. Miss and National Canadian Sr. Miss titles!!! New girls could easily take these too!
#jointheprestige
Sunday, 17 April 2016
Friday, 15 April 2016
Pageant Headshots
Let's talk Pageant Headshots!
Your pageant headshot is the photo you use for the program and if the pageant has a delegate listing on their website, it will appear there.
I know that pageants require a lot of money and investment, and some newer people might not yet be at the level where they want to invest in this, and that is fine. Take your daughter and your camera outside, use natural light and try a few different tops. Let the wind blow the hair back a bit and just take tons of photos. There is a good chance you will have something to work with! Anyone can do this for free. Selfies do NOT make for a good pageant headshot. A photo of your daughter at the carnival with cotton candy stuck to her face does not make for a good pageant headshot! If you are going to put the time and money into going to a National pageant, but some time into getting a photo that looks like your daughter will at the pageant or interview (to the best of your ability).
It is important to have a photo that looks like YOU and shows your personality or brand. Your photo should look similar to how you will most likely look on pageant day. Your hair and makeup should be done similar to how to expect to look that day or in interview.
It should be a good clear head and shoulders shot. You should not be wearing your crown/sash in this photo. Your headshot can be, or doesn't have to be, what you end up using for photogenic awards.
Judges reference these photos a LOT throughout competition. They often have their program book opened and as they are judging, sometimes they even put notes beside photos to remind them of something. I have seen things like 'red dress, great smile, super cute' or 'made no eye contact, blue dress, scored 32/40' - so they have a baseline to compare other contestants to. You want the judge to look at you on stage and be able to see you in the program right away and not wonder which contestant you are!
What is your brand or image? Your headshot should reflect that! Branding is more for an older pageant girl, but are you the cute, quirky and bubbly blonde? Are you the super serious brunette who loves to read? Are you a go-getter who can't do enough charity work? Are you super scholastic? Are you in the Miss category and consider yourself to be sweet with a bit of sex appeal? What image do you want to portray to the judges? Your headshot should reflect that.
Let's take a look at these photos of Megan. Her image/brand in pageants has always been the likable blonde, who has a sense of humor, but is also quite intelligent (so basically - her - she isn't being someone else - she is being herself).
Here are photos from a session we did. These were some top picks we liked.
Your pageant headshot is the photo you use for the program and if the pageant has a delegate listing on their website, it will appear there.
I know that pageants require a lot of money and investment, and some newer people might not yet be at the level where they want to invest in this, and that is fine. Take your daughter and your camera outside, use natural light and try a few different tops. Let the wind blow the hair back a bit and just take tons of photos. There is a good chance you will have something to work with! Anyone can do this for free. Selfies do NOT make for a good pageant headshot. A photo of your daughter at the carnival with cotton candy stuck to her face does not make for a good pageant headshot! If you are going to put the time and money into going to a National pageant, but some time into getting a photo that looks like your daughter will at the pageant or interview (to the best of your ability).
It is important to have a photo that looks like YOU and shows your personality or brand. Your photo should look similar to how you will most likely look on pageant day. Your hair and makeup should be done similar to how to expect to look that day or in interview.
It should be a good clear head and shoulders shot. You should not be wearing your crown/sash in this photo. Your headshot can be, or doesn't have to be, what you end up using for photogenic awards.
Judges reference these photos a LOT throughout competition. They often have their program book opened and as they are judging, sometimes they even put notes beside photos to remind them of something. I have seen things like 'red dress, great smile, super cute' or 'made no eye contact, blue dress, scored 32/40' - so they have a baseline to compare other contestants to. You want the judge to look at you on stage and be able to see you in the program right away and not wonder which contestant you are!
What is your brand or image? Your headshot should reflect that! Branding is more for an older pageant girl, but are you the cute, quirky and bubbly blonde? Are you the super serious brunette who loves to read? Are you a go-getter who can't do enough charity work? Are you super scholastic? Are you in the Miss category and consider yourself to be sweet with a bit of sex appeal? What image do you want to portray to the judges? Your headshot should reflect that.
Let's take a look at these photos of Megan. Her image/brand in pageants has always been the likable blonde, who has a sense of humor, but is also quite intelligent (so basically - her - she isn't being someone else - she is being herself).
Here are photos from a session we did. These were some top picks we liked.
I love this photo of her. It's fun, and has great energy. We just didn't feel it was "You want to meet me" and we also felt it was more 'Hey im the fun blonde' and not Meg's total pageant image and brand. This photo HAS done well with photogenic competitions though.
This photo is pretty, her hair looked fabulous -but it was a bit too serious for Meg.
This photo was one of the photographer's picks, but we felt it didn't show her personality.
This is the photo we ended up using. Good eye contact, relaxed, pretty, draws you in and makes you want to meet Megan and see what she is all about! It shows her personality well.
I hope these tips help! Happy shooting!
Monday, 4 April 2016
Fun in Saint John NB!
What a whirlwind of a weekend!
I flew from Vancouver to Saint John on April 2nd, leaving at 1:35pm - flight was on time to my connection in Toronto, flight was on time leaving Toronto - things were off to a good start - BUT - then just as we were boarding our SJ flight in TO, they announced there was heavy fog in SJ and they were sending us to Fredericton! WHAT??!! Nooooooooooooo! I need to be in SJ to run the pageant for 11am! In panic I look up bus schedules, flights - nothing was any good. So I figured just relax and have a nap, and see what happens. If all else fails there is always hitch hiking right?? :)
I had a fantastic flight from Vancouver to Toronto, nice upgraded premium seating makes these longer flights so much more enjoyable. Air Canada also has great tv and free movies, and I ended up with an amazing seat mate who turns out to be an amazing (almost famous!) choreographer from Vancouver, who was heading to TO to choreograph a big show for 10 days! I didn't even watch a movie, we chatted for probably 3 out of 4 hours! He was fabulous!
Had a great bulkhead row to myself on my next flight- always makes for a good flight :)
They announced about 3/4 into our flight that we would be landing in SJ and not Fredericton - HUGE sigh of relief! I fell asleep for the last bit of the flight knowing I didn't have to worry!
Arrived in SJ around 1:15am and the hotel had sent a cab for me! I went outside and there was no one with a sign - just a guy yelling "Liz McKinnon - are you here?" LOL! He was great and super talkative on the 15 min trip to the hotel.
We held the pageant at the Amsterdam Inn Quispamsis - I actually asked the cabbie how to say that and it is 'Quis-pam-sis' - just as spelled out - go figure LOL.
Checked in and what a cute little hotel this was! Such friendly staff at 2am - not sure I could be that friendly at 2am! lol.
When I got into my room I found a lovely surprise gift! That was fun!
I went to bed but couldn't sleep - it was only 10pm to me - so I laid awake until about 5:30am - and then got up at 8:30 to get everything ready.
Hotel had a great breakfast- had a waffle. I was so lucky that I had Helen on the other end who went in the day before and set everything up! That sure helped! Thank you Helen and Rebecca!
I only had a few things to do, and then on a whim, a few of the moms, the judges and I decided to switch the room around a different way so we had a blank wall in the background! With only 19 girls, we were on a lower budget, so bringing in a professional big backdrop couldn't happen - but we flipped it around and used the crown table as a backdrop! All worked out!
Was so much fun to see all my NB girls again - another year older, getting so grown up! Also met some amazing new girls!
Pageant ran on time - thanks Kelda for bringing me lunch!
We have a new set of NB Royalty!
Baby miss Bonnie Rain
Toddler miss December
Tiny miss Aliyah
Petite miss Alexis...
little miss Autumn
Young miss Rea
Tween miss Rebecca
Ms. Arkene
Junior Ambassador Sophie
Ambassador Kathryn
After the pageant, around 3pm, I conked out until about 6:30pm and ordered some dinner, then tried to sleep again - I slept from about 11pm-12:30am and then was up all night- no way was I sleeping! So I sat on the phone with friends all night and then had a shower around 3am and off to the airport at 4am!
Had a nice warm taxi waiting for me- brrrrrrrrrrrrrr it was cold and I had no jacket with me! lol. Walking across the runway to the airplane at 4:45am in the -10 weather with a strong wind - no coat- not fun!
Flight from SJ to Toronto was cramped and full - not as much fun as the flight in. Thank goodness I had that same great seat in premium for the long flight to Vancouver :)
Hit Toronto and it was snowing quite hard!!
I was excited to see this plane in person there - as I am a massive Disney fan!
Flight was delayed just over an hour AFTER we boarded - but I fell asleep fast! I watched Daddy's Home (cute movie) and slept some more, finally getting into YVR, grab my car at the valet and barely remember the drive home!
I texted Meg I was starving and when I got home - she had pizza and chocolate chip cookies waiting for me!!! What a great girl! I then fell asleep for about 4 hours! hahaha.
Off to my next adventure in Sydney NS in 2 weeks!!! :)
I flew from Vancouver to Saint John on April 2nd, leaving at 1:35pm - flight was on time to my connection in Toronto, flight was on time leaving Toronto - things were off to a good start - BUT - then just as we were boarding our SJ flight in TO, they announced there was heavy fog in SJ and they were sending us to Fredericton! WHAT??!! Nooooooooooooo! I need to be in SJ to run the pageant for 11am! In panic I look up bus schedules, flights - nothing was any good. So I figured just relax and have a nap, and see what happens. If all else fails there is always hitch hiking right?? :)
I had a fantastic flight from Vancouver to Toronto, nice upgraded premium seating makes these longer flights so much more enjoyable. Air Canada also has great tv and free movies, and I ended up with an amazing seat mate who turns out to be an amazing (almost famous!) choreographer from Vancouver, who was heading to TO to choreograph a big show for 10 days! I didn't even watch a movie, we chatted for probably 3 out of 4 hours! He was fabulous!
Had a great bulkhead row to myself on my next flight- always makes for a good flight :)
They announced about 3/4 into our flight that we would be landing in SJ and not Fredericton - HUGE sigh of relief! I fell asleep for the last bit of the flight knowing I didn't have to worry!
Arrived in SJ around 1:15am and the hotel had sent a cab for me! I went outside and there was no one with a sign - just a guy yelling "Liz McKinnon - are you here?" LOL! He was great and super talkative on the 15 min trip to the hotel.
We held the pageant at the Amsterdam Inn Quispamsis - I actually asked the cabbie how to say that and it is 'Quis-pam-sis' - just as spelled out - go figure LOL.
Checked in and what a cute little hotel this was! Such friendly staff at 2am - not sure I could be that friendly at 2am! lol.
When I got into my room I found a lovely surprise gift! That was fun!
I went to bed but couldn't sleep - it was only 10pm to me - so I laid awake until about 5:30am - and then got up at 8:30 to get everything ready.
Hotel had a great breakfast- had a waffle. I was so lucky that I had Helen on the other end who went in the day before and set everything up! That sure helped! Thank you Helen and Rebecca!
I don't normally take food photos -but this is meg's fave and I sent it to her to make her jealous! lol
I only had a few things to do, and then on a whim, a few of the moms, the judges and I decided to switch the room around a different way so we had a blank wall in the background! With only 19 girls, we were on a lower budget, so bringing in a professional big backdrop couldn't happen - but we flipped it around and used the crown table as a backdrop! All worked out!
Was so much fun to see all my NB girls again - another year older, getting so grown up! Also met some amazing new girls!
Pageant ran on time - thanks Kelda for bringing me lunch!
We have a new set of NB Royalty!
Baby miss Bonnie Rain
Toddler miss December
Tiny miss Aliyah
Petite miss Alexis...
little miss Autumn
Young miss Rea
Tween miss Rebecca
Ms. Arkene
Junior Ambassador Sophie
Ambassador Kathryn
Sorry for the bad photos- waiting on better ones!
After the pageant, around 3pm, I conked out until about 6:30pm and ordered some dinner, then tried to sleep again - I slept from about 11pm-12:30am and then was up all night- no way was I sleeping! So I sat on the phone with friends all night and then had a shower around 3am and off to the airport at 4am!
This was yummy! Again, one of meg's faves so I took a photo to make her jealous! lol
Had a nice warm taxi waiting for me- brrrrrrrrrrrrrr it was cold and I had no jacket with me! lol. Walking across the runway to the airplane at 4:45am in the -10 weather with a strong wind - no coat- not fun!
Flight from SJ to Toronto was cramped and full - not as much fun as the flight in. Thank goodness I had that same great seat in premium for the long flight to Vancouver :)
Hit Toronto and it was snowing quite hard!!
I was excited to see this plane in person there - as I am a massive Disney fan!
Flight was delayed just over an hour AFTER we boarded - but I fell asleep fast! I watched Daddy's Home (cute movie) and slept some more, finally getting into YVR, grab my car at the valet and barely remember the drive home!
I texted Meg I was starving and when I got home - she had pizza and chocolate chip cookies waiting for me!!! What a great girl! I then fell asleep for about 4 hours! hahaha.
Off to my next adventure in Sydney NS in 2 weeks!!! :)
Sunday, 20 March 2016
Awards!
Everyone loves Awards! Everyone loves CASH too!
Did you know that National Winners can win up to $1000 each for winning their title, but also our runners up take home part of the prize pool this year too??!! 1st runners up could take home $500 each, 2nd runners up $250, 3rd runners up $150 and 4th runners up $100! With 12 categories, that means we are giving away up to $24,000 this summer at West Edmonton Mall!!!! That is a LOT of cash!!!
To see our Awards list go here:
http://www.ncgpageant.com/2016awards.html
We give out tons and tons of cash, trophies, crowns, sashes, gifts, medals and more! NO ONE goes home empty handed from NCGTM!!
Did you know that National Winners can win up to $1000 each for winning their title, but also our runners up take home part of the prize pool this year too??!! 1st runners up could take home $500 each, 2nd runners up $250, 3rd runners up $150 and 4th runners up $100! With 12 categories, that means we are giving away up to $24,000 this summer at West Edmonton Mall!!!! That is a LOT of cash!!!
To see our Awards list go here:
http://www.ncgpageant.com/2016awards.html
We give out tons and tons of cash, trophies, crowns, sashes, gifts, medals and more! NO ONE goes home empty handed from NCGTM!!
Thursday, 17 March 2016
September 2013!
TBT to a crazy time! NCGTM director Liz had just launched in Quebec and about 3 days later, France launched a big campaign to ban child pageants. Dozens of news outlets found Liz because of the Quebec pageant, and her phone started ringing off the hook! Also dozens of emails piled in with interview requests. Liz gave over 25 interviews via phone and email in one crazy week long period! Her phone was ringing as early as 5am, as Quebec was on a different time zone! At one point Liz almost got flown to Montreal to appear on a talk show, but thankfully the media attention on pageants died down. Liz wrote down some key phrases and kept them by the phone so she was ready. The phrase "PAGEANT HAS BECOME A DIRTY WORD" was coined at this time! This phrase seemed to become the standard for every interview she did! Here is one we dug up!
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/sep-19-2013-1.2909389/france-bans-child-beauty-pageants-for-sexualizing-girls-1.2909392
Enjoy!
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/sep-19-2013-1.2909389/france-bans-child-beauty-pageants-for-sexualizing-girls-1.2909392
Enjoy!
Meet Bella-Rose!
Bella-Rose won the National Tiny Miss title at Nationals last summer at age 5.
From her Mom:
"Bella-Rose is now 6 years old and has been doing pageants since she was 3.
After the first pageant, both Bella-Rose and I fell in love with pageants, what they stand for, and the friends we've got to know. As a mother I love NCGTM because I've watch my daughter confidence grown and I'm proud to say its due to NCGTM Bella-Rose has made some wonderful friends. She is so happy to be royalty. This spring we plan to make braclets and fishing tackle to raise money for children's hospital. Bella-Rose just loves the pageant environment, being on stage, feeling special and being with her friends from all over Canada."
Here are a few photos of Bella-Rose!
From her Mom:
"Bella-Rose is now 6 years old and has been doing pageants since she was 3.
After the first pageant, both Bella-Rose and I fell in love with pageants, what they stand for, and the friends we've got to know. As a mother I love NCGTM because I've watch my daughter confidence grown and I'm proud to say its due to NCGTM Bella-Rose has made some wonderful friends. She is so happy to be royalty. This spring we plan to make braclets and fishing tackle to raise money for children's hospital. Bella-Rose just loves the pageant environment, being on stage, feeling special and being with her friends from all over Canada."
Here are a few photos of Bella-Rose!
Sunday, 13 March 2016
Join us this Summer!
National Canadian Girl, Teen & Miss is not just a pageant!
It is an EXPERIENCE
This is not just about coming to a pageant, going on stage 2 or 3 times and leaving with some crowns - this is an entire EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME!
One you won't forget! Bring the family!
This will be like nothing you have ever experienced before!
#ncgtmexperience #summervacation #ncgtm #ncgtmopportunities #ncgtmisunique
www.nationalcanadiangirl.com
Thursday, 10 March 2016
The Winning Moment!
Final 2! So exciting! Who is it going to be?
Love these photos!
Will YOU be in the final 2 and have this moment in July??!!!
Love these photos!
Will YOU be in the final 2 and have this moment in July??!!!
Meet Kiellah!
Kiellah is an adorble little girl who at 3 years old captured our judge's hearts last summer!
She is a bright and talkative little thing, and scored perfect in baby playtime with the judges!
She had an amazing wardrobe, very supportive mom and dad (and extended family too!) who all supported her at Nationals!
From Fort McMurray Alberta to National Royalty - here is a story from her mom!
"Far North AB Toddler Miss Kiellah's way to Nationals was after winning Regionals. Though the competition is generally the same, the experience was completely different yet equally fantastic. Kiellah made friends and gained sisters, and not even with her age group alone. The love and guidance she received from all the girls was so heart warming to see....even, I made a few great friends!
Though still shy Kiellah approached Nationals with such a curious attitude because of all of the fantastic things Liz had planned for the girls. Though Kiellah was in a younger age group she was still able to participate in so many any activities through out the weekend. From the shopping outings, to fun with the girls around the hotel and she remembers it like it was yesterday. Her confidence and pride are glowing these days. I can't help but notice her care for and guide younger kids she encounters these days the way her older NCG sisters had done for her.
Aside from that we have tons of memorabilia from that great weekend! Gifts, goodies from shopping, friendship bags and everyone went home with at least one crown!
Though we did run into a few i times I was lost in regards to rules and what to do with fundraising, being a new pageant mom, Liz was more than helpful and informative. Not only that, some of the other wonderful parents were so open,welcoming, and offered support where they could!
The journey to Nationals was long and costly but you better believe it was worth it and we had a blast on the way!!"
Beauty Wear
Casual Wear
Pink Wear
Kiellah's Dad gets a King Crown!
Awards
Winning Toddler Miss
All Smiles!
During Baby Playtime!
Friday, 26 February 2016
Spirit Jerseys!
These seem to be all the rage!
Now taking orders! If you are interested, please see the post in this group
Now taking orders! If you are interested, please see the post in this group
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