Rules for entry to Commonwealth International Beauty Pageants
Introduction
Rules for entry to Commonwealth International Beauty Pageants Miss Commonwealth Pageant Limited (MCPL) Rules for entry to Commonwealth International Beauty Pageant.
1. Entry form: Contestants must submit an entry form ensuring proper completion all sections including their achievements, talents, goals and ambitions and declaring that they have read, understand, and agree to be bound by these conditions of entry.
2. Photos: Forms must be submitted with 3 high-resolution photos:
A. Head and shoulders;
B. Half body;
C. Full body.
3. Citizenship: The country represented by a contestant must either be A. the country of which they are a citizen or
B. The country of origin of one of their parent’s
4. Age limits: To qualify for entry into a pageant category, contestants must, by the day of the final pageant be:
A. Miss Teen: ages 16 to 19 inclusive;
B. Miss: age 20 plus;
C. Mrs: age 25 plus;
D. Mr or KFC: age 18 plus;
E. Queens and Kings of Friends of Commonwealth: age 18 plus;
F. Cultural sector pageants: age 18 plus.
5. Marital status:
A. Miss Teen and Miss: I must not be, or have ever been, married; ii. Must not be pregnant; iii. Must not have given birth to a child; iv. Must not become any of the above whilst reigning as a pageant titleholder and must notify MCPL if they do;
B. Mrs.: I must be married.
6. Illegal activities: Contestants must not at any time have been involved in illegal activities of any nature and must not have had a Police Record.
7. Nudity: Contestants must never have posed nude or semi-nude for any photographer for any kind of production, for example social network, publication, play or film.
8. Prostitution: Contestants must never have been involved in prostitution.
9. Pageant’s Purpose: Contestants acknowledge awareness that the principal purpose of the pageant is to promote Quality of Life Improvement.
10. Contestant’s Aim: Contestants accept that they are admitted into the pageant in the good faith that their principal aim is to undertake responsibility as vehicles for the promotion of the pageant’s principal purpose which is promotion of community Quality of Life Improvement and delivering the community benefits of the pageant.
11. Awards and Prizes: These are always subject to the availability of resources/sponsorship.
12. Judging: Contestants must co-operate with the judging process. The decision of the judges shall be final. The panel of judges will focus on a set of criteria (summarized as poise, intelligence, self-confidence, ability to communicate opinions clearly, intelligently & confidently, give substantive answers to interview questions, and overall beauty and charm) to enable the selection of a winner who most shows the possession of a set of qualities of the distinct personality of:
A. an ambassador to represent the pageant, her nation and the Commonwealth; and
B. a role model for others.
C. Thus, the panel will consider the following elements:
i. In Fitness Attire: Physical condition and fitness, figure, grace, facial charm, and confident comportment;
ii. In Evening Wear: Carriage, composure, self-confidence, grace, dignity, and presence, sense of style, elegance and sophistication;
iii. In Interview: Knowledge, intelligence, eloquence, poise, charisma, and sophistication; iv. General attributes:
a. Originality, individuality and general comportment;
b. Presentation, performance, entertainment, creativity, and artistic talent;
c. Relevance to native culture and cultural awareness;
d. Enthusiasm, mental discipline;
e. Connection to the audience, on stage presence and awareness.
13. The Roles of Pageant Queens:
A. Miss Teen, Miss, and Mrs Commonwealth will each become a representative of, and an ambassador for, MCPL for one year. In addition to their respective roles below, queens are required to:
i. carry out five or more personal appearances at charitable events organized by other organizations;
ii. Set up at least two personal charity fund-raising pages at http://www.JustGiving.com, one to raise money for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and the other to raise money for any other charitable organization; and either
iii. Organize a charitable event to raise money for any registered and reputable charitable organization or project, or
iv. set up an essential and perpetual charitable community project anywhere in the local or wider community.
B. Individual Queen’s Roles:
i. Miss Teen Commonwealth, who will usually still be a student, will live at her usual place of residence and make public appearances during weekends and school vacations. She will, for the period of her reign:
a. Be a role model for teenagers, and promote good citizenship;
b. Promote youth civility, truthfulness, safe sex, and respect for parents, elders, the law, authority and nature;
c. Campaign against teenage truancy, crime, drug use, pregnancy, suicide, and underage alcohol drinking.
ii. Miss Commonwealth will, for the period of her reign:
a. Travel to meet VIPs and participate in official charity and social events;
b. Appear on TV (whenever it can be arranged) speaking on a variety of community issues
c. Promote national cultures and tourism, world peace, and global attention to humanitarian and environmental causes and work;
d. Help women to advance their education, careers, personal goals and improve their lives.
iii. Mrs Commonwealth will live at her usual place of residence and make public appearances during weekends and school vacations, at times that suit her domestic arrangements. However, subject to her domestic and family circumstances, she may be required to travel to, and make public appearances at locations distant from home. In the period of her reign, she will:
a. Be a role model for, and promote family life;
b. Present a good corporate image for the nation;
c. Act as an ambassador for married women and family values;
d. Promote women’s welfare;
e. Offer good advice to young women;
f. Promote safe sex and motherhood responsibilities among younger mothers;
g. Promote charity for breast and ovarian cancer, homelessness, disability, and the prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS, etc;
h. Participate in MCPL’s programme for cultural awareness promotion at home and abroad where possible.
14. Use of Pageant Queens’ photographs: These are exclusive to MCPL. Pageant queens may only use them for honourable purposes and subject to obtaining the permission MCPL prior to their use.
15. MCPL’s Property: All titles, sashes, certificates, awards, photographs, journals, publications and other items bearing the name of, or having any reference to this pageant, and all reproductions/copies thereof, are the property of MCPL and are immediately returnable to the organization upon request. No property of MCPL must be reproduced/copied/altered in any way whatsoever, except with the expressed written consent of MCPL.
16. Attendance of Appointments: Pageant queens must attend all prearranged appointments with MCPL and in respect of any performance of their stated roles. Inevitable non-attendance due to unavoidable circumstances must be established by early notice in advance; if due to illness, this must be supported by the provision of a doctor’s certificate.
17. Commitments: Pageant queens will honour all pageant commitments to the best of their abilities. These include, but are not limited to, requested appearances and crowning their immediate successors, as well other duties which the pageant may add to the list of commitments at any time as they think fit.
18. Runners-Up Responsibility: Runners-Up will accept the responsibilities of the principal title-holder as and when required.
19. Parental support: Teen pageant queens guarantee MCPL their parents’ full support for, and non-interference with, the performance of their stated roles.
20. Involvement with the Media: Contestants and queens will notify MCPL of any intended involvement with the media and receive necessary advice and guidance in advance and will furnish MCPL with full reports of associated results and developments.
21. Conduct:
A. Pageant contestants and queens will be of good character, act honourably & respectably, exhibit good sportsmanship and project the good image of the pageant while participating in the pageant as contestants and through-out their year of reign as queens. Pageant contestants and queens, as well as their parents, family members, associates, consultants and sponsors will be respectful of, and not be malicious or slanderous towards, other contestants, queens and members & agents of the pageant.
B. Pageant contestants and queens are required to accept and carry out pageant instructions and to do so with decorum. Pageant instructions and notices between the pageant, on the one side, and the contestants/queens, on the other side, shall be go directly from the one to the other party and never via any kind of third party, notwithstanding the third party’s relationship to either of the parties. Any infringement of this requirement will be regarded and dealt with as misconduct.
22. Participation in other pageants/contests: Pageant queens will not participate in any other beauty pageant or contest without MCPL’s prior written permission.
23. Invitations by Third Parties: Pageant queens must not accept any public invitation from any third party at home or abroad unless it has been endorsed by the organization. Upon receiving a public invitation from any third party, every queen must immediately inform MCPL of the invitation so that they may carry out necessary safety checks to ensure that the invitation is safe for the queen and will not compromise her safety & security in any way. This rule does not affect invitations of a personal nature:
A. which do not address and are not aimed at the invitee in her capacity as a queen or member of the pageant, and
B. which therefore the invitee may attend without any reference to herself as queen and of any official attire, paraphernalia and title of the organization.
24. Disqualifications: A. Pageant queens may be disqualified for any infringement of these terms, and if found to have given false material information in the contest entry application process.
B. Disqualification will result in the immediate stripping of titles and any other honours awarded in the pageant. This will be made public for security reasons.
C. All awards and prizes must be returned.
D. Fees paid by contestants or by their sponsors are not refundable.
25. Fees non-refundable: Fees are not refundable on demand though MCPL may choose to do so if they think fit.
26. Third party liability: MCPL accepts no responsibility for any third party’s liabilities or loss that may arise from the postponement or cancellation of a contest.
27. Declaration:
A. By completing and signing the entry form for this pageant and making the declaration regarding awareness of the content of the pageant’s rules, the contestant/queen vows and enters into an agreement with the pageant to abide by the rules and the consequences of infringing any part thereof.
B. This constitutes the agreement and represents the terms and conditions controlling each contestant’s and queen’s membership of the pageant, which is known as Miss Commonwealth International and which includes the parts known as: Miss Teen Commonwealth International, Miss Commonwealth International, Mrs Commonwealth International, Miss Commonwealth Africa, Miss Commonwealth Asia-Pacific, Miss Commonwealth Caribbean, Miss Commonwealth Euro-Atlantic, International Queen of Friends of the Commonwealth, International King of Friends of the Commonwealth and
C. All those other parts referred to by the titles of Miss Teen Commonwealth, Miss Commonwealth and Mrs Commonwealth suffixed with the names of Commonwealth member-nations, for example, Miss Teen Commonwealth India, Miss Commonwealth England, or Mrs. Commonwealth South Africa; and
D. Of the pageants known as “Queen Of Friends Of The Commonwealth” prefixed by non-Commonwealth country names, among others. MCPL reserves the right to amend these rules at any time!