Part 2 of "It's not about Da money or Da crowns, it's about Da scholarships.." - Contestant # 4

     After the shrimp episode I had enough of the food and couldn't imagine ever eating again. I was ready for the rest of the night to begin. I was still uncertain of exactly what I was doing because no one really gave me directions. How hard are you supposed to judge 9 to 11 year olds? What if I accidently put the scores on the wrong score sheet? (with my luck that would happen) Do these parents know I don't know anything? I wouldn't be happy if the person judging my daughter didn't know anything. I decided I would just wait and ask my new found judge friend all these questions when moved to the judges table for the pageant.

      However, when we were moved I realized the word 'table' was incorrect and the word was really 'tables.' I was moved to my own table where me, myself, and I were going to have to figure out how to judge this pageant. I forgot to mention that there were only 5 girls in the pageant... with only a mere 400 people there to watch!! I was sitting so close to the family members that I could literally hear them whisper...a.k.a they can see and read everything I am writing. The pressure was on. If you know me I do not handle pressure well. Let me clarify - when I say I don't handle pressure well, I mean I become frantic. I was already feeling self conscious because I felt like I looked 40 years old with my sleeveless long floral print dress, being the tallest person in the room, people were eating shrimp heads, I had only watched one full pageant in my whole life, a photographer that wouldn't stop taking pictures of us, and now parents were close enough to read my score /comments... who wouldn't be frantic? 

      Before the pageant one judge told me that things moved pretty fast, in other words stay on top of things. Did I mention I am ADD? (Well...self-diagnosed that is) The announcer, 5 little girls moving around, loud music playing, people speaking a language I didn't understand, while simultaneously trying to concentrate to write comments/score was going to be a struggle for this self-diagnosed ADD judge.            

     The pageant started and they began with a traditional Filipino dance. The clothing they wore was Filipino, but the clothing reminded me a lot of the Hispanic Culture clothing. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I wasn't allowed because I was a judge. They were very cute and you could tell they were as nervous as could be. I thought, there is no way I can give these little girls low scores. I've seen the TLC show 'Toddlers and Tiaras', I saw how low scores devastated them. The girls finished their dance and went to go change into their play wear. While they were getting ready for the next portion, they had an act prepared to keep the audience entertained. They accomplished their goal. A 40 year old Filipino man walked on stage and dedicated his song performance to everyone under 16. The music started and I thought surely this is a mistake.. he isn't going to be singing this song? Sure enough the 40 year old man starting singing The Climb by Miley Cyrus. This was the highlight of my evening.  Let me repeat: a 40 year old man wearing a see-through shirt was singing Miley Cyrus....enough said. 

    The pageant continued with play wear, formal wear, question, and talent. By the way, is lip-singing really a talent? I find this very hard to believe. Any ways, formal wear was very interesting. I do not even know where people would get dresses like that. Next the contestants had to come out and introduce themselves. They all said various things, but my favorite was contestant #4. She said her name, school, hobbies, and finished her introduction with,"It's not about Da money or Da crowns, it's about Da scholarships." Nothing else was out of the ordinary, the little girl that over half the crowd was there to see ended up winning. This was definitely an experience to remember.  Not that I will ever be asked to judge again because who in their right mind would ask me to judge in the first place. But if I ever go, watch, or judge another pageant I will always compare it to Little Miss Philippine Hawaii and hope they don't serve shrimp.