Determining Category Winners

Bobbie Ward-Hinds
RodeoRoyalty.com Coordinator Corner - June 2004

Most pageants are based on a scoring system in which horsemanship, appearance and personality are worth equal points. Many have an 'other' division in which photogenic, speech, impromptu and other scores are tallied. A pageant may decide to award prizes and recognition to the high scoring individual in certain divisions. Here are some tips in determining those categories.

Horsemanship - A contestant's ability to ride and her knowledge about equine science and general horsemanship are demonstrated through the riding of one or more patterns. Your pageant may include within the horsemanship pattern a brief interview focusing on horsemanship knowledge, the carrying of a flag and a queen's arena wave. These points are tallied to determine the winner of your horsemanship award. Although appearance and personality are important they do not reflect horsemanship skills and knowledge and the horsemanship division is to select the young lady with the best skills and most knowledge.

Photogenic - When setting up your pageant determine beforehand how you will handle this portion of the judging. Will the scores be based on a photograph the contestants submits or will it be scored using photos taken by the pageant photographer throughout your event? Will the contestants be required to use one 'official' photographer for their submission or are they free to select their own photographer? No matter which scenario you choose to use let the contestants know in advance if you will be using the photograph submitted for scoring. This will prevent any misunderstandings between pageant personnel, parents and contestants. Scores are based on the contestants attire, general attractiveness, depth of personality (welcoming and friendly) shown and some consideration should be given to the quality of the photograph.

Speech - The speech award is generally based on the delivery and content of the prepared speech. Impromptu questions are usually placed in the 'other' or 'personality' categories. If you combine your speech and impromptu question scores it is important to balance the two and to let the contestants know which quality is 'most' important - the ability to develop and develop a speech or the ability to answer questions on your feet. Generally speaking pageants go with a much larger portion of points available for the speech than for impromptu questions.

Appearance and Personality - These two categories are often awarded prizes. However, if you want the final naming of your queen to be somewhat of a surprise then awarding these two awards may take that away from your experience. The scores from all aspects of the pageant should be tallied for these two categories to determine the winner.

Congeniality - Miss Congeniality is traditionally selected by her fellow contestants and the voting is done at the end of the pageant prior to the handing over of the final results. If a tie exists for Miss Congeniality it is appropriate to ask a person who may have been around the contestants for some time to weigh in with their opinion. For instance if your queen is involved with behind the scenes activities she may be able to tell you which of the tied contestants has been most congenial, and you as a coordinator can also make this determination. However, always let the contestants know beforehand that if a tie exists in this area then the reigning queen, the coordinator and/or other committee members will break the tie.

This link will take you to a color-coded award chart. Each category award has it's own colors to help you visually see how a category award is scored. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding this. Best of luck to you as coordinate your Miss Rodeo Queen Pageant!

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