It's that time of year again. Etta has been working hard all year long for the State pageant this year. She's gone to every preliminary in Las Vegas this year to have practice speaking on stage as well as with the judges behind closed doors. A lot of prep has gone into this week and she was ready. The morning after the Cameo pageant was a Getting Acquainted Party with all the girls competing.
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| Ready to get acquainted with all the tots at state. |
Everyone wears the same dress so they all look the same in the following group picture.
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| All contestants
After the group picture, we had to get ready for interview.
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I tried a cute new hairstyle with Etta. It looked awesome, but the hairspray I used obviously couldn't keep the curl up. Boo, I need to find something that will hold this look!
After all the interviews we had a welcome dinner followed by a bowling party. Etta and a few other tots got to bowl on the same lane and she had so much fun.
After the bowling party we headed back to the ballroom for the Souvenir Party. During interviews parents put a small gift in a bag for each girl and they each get their bag full or goodies at the end of the party. They do a lot of dancing like the Disco Cindy, YMCA, and several different group dance songs everyone would recognize from wedding parties.
The next morning the girls had to get ready for Tot Personality which I like to call on stage interview. Here are a few of the girls ready to be on stage with Cinderella.
Oh my, Etta was amazing on stage. Cinderella asked her about her favorite book and she said which book she likes the most and gave a description of the book. Cinderella asked about her favorite food and Etta said pumpkin seeds because they are salty and crunchy. Cinderella asked what she wants to be when she grows up and her answer was to be a contortionist for Cirque du Soleil. It was awesome, every question Etta came back with a great answer and a huge smile. It was probably the best on stage interview I've ever seen from her. The best part, she was excited after it because she felt she had done a great job.
After Tot Personality there was a big Fairy Princess Lunch and Party. The girls were so cute and they had so much fun.
That night was the Prince Gilbert Party. Prince Gilbert is a frog prince that is we only see at the state pageant in his true form, but we seem to always have frogs around during the year.
I love her little frog and lily pad dress, which will now be too small to wear after this year.
The next morning was modeling in a party dress. Here are several of the girls from the Tot group.
Here is Etta while she modeled.
This is the entire Tot group along with last year's state winner in the middle.
After the party wear modeling the girls had a Cindy Fair Lunch and Party. Each of last year's State winners had a game the girls could play and win prizes at. One even had a craft. It was a lot of fun. Here Etta is with one of her friends from last year who moved into the Mini Miss group.
Following the Cindy Fair the girls modeled in their casual wear. I had a hard time with her hair since we only had 45 minutes to be back in the ballroom so I left her hair straight. Hindsight, I wish I had done something different, but she still looked adorable.
That night each contestant had to turn in a garment bag with either their talent clothes or tot personality clothes and their casual wear. If they end up making the top 5 they have to recompete in those categories. After dropping off the bag the girls have a Pajama Party. Here she is all ready to go.
The next morning the girls had a two hour rehearsal for the Grand Finals Production. After lunch was the big Grand Finals. They announce the top 10 and then top 5. Etta made the top 5 and had to compete again in casual wear followed by tot personality.
The top 5 tots in their casual clothes.
Here Etta is being interviewed again by Cinderella. She was asked about her favorite book again, where she liked to go in Las Vegas (great answer with that question!), and what her mom told her to do on stage (another awesome answer that made everyone giggle and give me a hard time!). Man that was a great interview and she looked so cute too.
Etta was perfect all week long and even when she competed for the Top 5. We had to have a long discussion about possibly not winning, regardless of how perfect she had been. Last year she got fifth place and cried on stage. She was so upset. This year, she was warned she was not allowed to cry regardless of how she placed. When it was down to 1st alternate and she and one other girl was left I was so worried. I knew how much she wanted to win but she was announced as 1st Alternate. I was happy because of how she'd done, regardless of her place. What made me even happier was she didn't cry and she congratulated all the girls in the Top 5 including the little girl that did win. The bonus, she didn't cry. She still asks why she didn't win so we've had some great conversations about subjective versus objective and even compare it to grandma's dog shows. It's funny how she understood the comparison. She surely has matured and grown up this past year!
Tot Top 5
After dinner there were more awards handed out. Knowing that Etta had placed second, she would be given one of the other two crowns, either Tot Personality or Beauty, based on where the judges believed she belonged the most. Here are all the tots receiving trophies and crowns. There are crowns for Cover Girl (best picture from an advertisement), Congeniality (based on votes by all the tots on which girl was the nicest all week long), Photogenic (head shot from the catalog), Tot Personality (or talent for the other age groups), Beauty, and Overall (which was given during the Grand Finals).
As you can see, Etta was pretty darn excited about the Tot Personality crown. It's funny to think about the first pageant this year and all the pageants last year because she has struggled a lot with speaking on stage. She's either frozen in fear or been really quiet and reserved so to see her rock the stage all week long during her interviews sure made me proud. I think she's pretty happy with how she did too.
These are the Talent winners from each age group.
Here is Etta being introduced to the audience as the Tot Personality Winner.
A very happy Etta.
Etta has a trophy for 1st Alternate to Overall Tot and one for Tot Personality.
When we got back to our room I had wished I took her Cameo crown and sash to the ballroom because it would be have made a beautiful picture with the castle in the background. So we improvised in our hotel room. Here she is with her Cameo crown and her Tot Personality crown.
Next year she will be competing as a Mini Miss and will have to compete one of her talents instead of Tot Personality. It's going to be a hard jump into the next age group, but regardless Etta will want to do it. I keep thinking about how much she has grown the last two years doing Cinderella. I know a lot of you think of me as a pageant mom or think Toddlers and Tiaras when we do pageants but it's so different from that. She has come out of her shell and actually talks with other kids, adults, and has confidence in front of an audience. I'm so proud of Etta in so many ways.
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