Australian beauty pageant scraps bikini section and 'awkward' onstage question, encourages male contestants
Announcement posted by zanthii communications 13 Mar 2019
An Australian beauty pageant has bucked the trend by eliminating the 'awkward' onstage question and answer, and banning the bikini modelling section.
Charlie and Morgan Mancini, the mother and daughter team behind Miss & Mr Diamond Australia, drew on their own personal experiences to eliminate the harsh stigma behind pageantry, and this is what they say sets their system apart from the pack.
“We simply ask contestants onstage to name their chosen charity, and explain why they chose it - confidence building at its finest,” said Charlie.
“The kids are able to answer as they know about their charities.
“We have also banned the bikini section of the competition as there is no need for such a round within pageants, especially those which are not based on appearance.”
The pageant directors also not only support, but actively encourage, contestants to compete in pageants outside of their own.
“The Miss Grand International pageant system made waves recently by revoking the title of a former winner because she entered a competing pageant after the completion of her reign,” said Morgan.
“We actively encourage people who want to seriously compete in pageants to come to us first, and to consider our system as a stepping stone to other pageants.
“Our system empowers entrants to go on and compete in international pageants. We have had many contestants credit their wins at other pageants to what they learnt with us at Diamond.”
Another big difference is rather than focusing on the beauty aspect, Miss & Mr Diamond Australia base their competition on contestant's community work and their potential as positive role models.
“First and foremost, our charity concept means each finalist is empowered to choose a charity close to their heart,” said Morgan.
“Many pageants force contestants to raise money for the pageant's charity, we don’t do this.
“We also do not collect charity money on behalf of contestants, the contestants send all monies raised directly to their charities of choice, and provide us with a letter from the charity to show the funds have been received.”
Morgan, who has entered multiple pageants herself, knew that she didn’t fit the 'cookie cutter' pageant mould, and wanted to start her own pageant that included everyone, regardless of height, weight, age or gender.
“Our pageant has categories from age 6 for females and 16 for males with no upper age limit,” said Morgan.
“Diamond is one of the very few pageants in the world to eliminate age restrictions. We celebrate the beauty and diversity of every individual.
“Our current Miss Classic Diamond Australia, Analieze Newton is 50 years old and she says that prior to our pageant, she was a lost soul, a ghost. Miss Diamond Australia has changed her life, she now sits on the judging panel at pageants around Australia and the world, and is a bit of a celebrity.”
Unseen in most pageants here in Australia, the unique system of Miss & Mr Diamond Australia encourages men from all walks of life to compete, even including “Mr” in their pageant name.
“There is often a very one-sided view of pageantry, which we feel has impacted the interest of men entering pageants. However, they have just as much to gain and enjoy as the females do,” said Morgan.
“We are excited to see who will fill the very large boots of our current Mr Diamond Australia, who has done amazing things during his reign and is now an ambassador for male pageantry.”
It is clear the entrants of Miss & Mr Diamond Australia have only good things to say about the system and its directors, as Morgan Mancini has just been awarded “Best National Pageant Director” by the world's leading pageant website, Pageant Planet.
“We were over the moon, Morgan won fourth place last year, and first place this year for Best National Pageant Director. The winners are determined by feedback received from contestants, with the Pageant Planet director, Steven Roddy making the final call,” said Charlie.
“Pageant Planet receives thousands of entries from all over the world, including from all of the big American pageants, so it really is the highest accolade anyone can receive in the pageant industry.”
Applications for Miss Diamond Australia 2019 are now closed, with the gala grand final crowning event taking place on Saturday, 13th of April, 2019 from 5PM at The Emporium Hotel South Bank, Brisbane.
More information about the Miss & Mr Diamond Australia pageant can be found at the website: https://www.missdiamondaustralia.com and the application form for Miss & Mr Diamond Australia 2020 hopefuls can be found here: https://www.missdiamondaustralia.com/application-form.
-ends-
For all interview/photo requests, please contact:
Joanne Rahn
Director
zanthii communications
Phone: 0402 148 334
Email: joanne@zanthii.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/zanthiiau
Charlie and Morgan Mancini, the mother and daughter team behind Miss & Mr Diamond Australia, drew on their own personal experiences to eliminate the harsh stigma behind pageantry, and this is what they say sets their system apart from the pack.
“We simply ask contestants onstage to name their chosen charity, and explain why they chose it - confidence building at its finest,” said Charlie.
“The kids are able to answer as they know about their charities.
“We have also banned the bikini section of the competition as there is no need for such a round within pageants, especially those which are not based on appearance.”
The pageant directors also not only support, but actively encourage, contestants to compete in pageants outside of their own.
“The Miss Grand International pageant system made waves recently by revoking the title of a former winner because she entered a competing pageant after the completion of her reign,” said Morgan.
“We actively encourage people who want to seriously compete in pageants to come to us first, and to consider our system as a stepping stone to other pageants.
“Our system empowers entrants to go on and compete in international pageants. We have had many contestants credit their wins at other pageants to what they learnt with us at Diamond.”
Another big difference is rather than focusing on the beauty aspect, Miss & Mr Diamond Australia base their competition on contestant's community work and their potential as positive role models.
“First and foremost, our charity concept means each finalist is empowered to choose a charity close to their heart,” said Morgan.
“Many pageants force contestants to raise money for the pageant's charity, we don’t do this.
“We also do not collect charity money on behalf of contestants, the contestants send all monies raised directly to their charities of choice, and provide us with a letter from the charity to show the funds have been received.”
Morgan, who has entered multiple pageants herself, knew that she didn’t fit the 'cookie cutter' pageant mould, and wanted to start her own pageant that included everyone, regardless of height, weight, age or gender.
“Our pageant has categories from age 6 for females and 16 for males with no upper age limit,” said Morgan.
“Diamond is one of the very few pageants in the world to eliminate age restrictions. We celebrate the beauty and diversity of every individual.
“Our current Miss Classic Diamond Australia, Analieze Newton is 50 years old and she says that prior to our pageant, she was a lost soul, a ghost. Miss Diamond Australia has changed her life, she now sits on the judging panel at pageants around Australia and the world, and is a bit of a celebrity.”
Unseen in most pageants here in Australia, the unique system of Miss & Mr Diamond Australia encourages men from all walks of life to compete, even including “Mr” in their pageant name.
“There is often a very one-sided view of pageantry, which we feel has impacted the interest of men entering pageants. However, they have just as much to gain and enjoy as the females do,” said Morgan.
“We are excited to see who will fill the very large boots of our current Mr Diamond Australia, who has done amazing things during his reign and is now an ambassador for male pageantry.”
It is clear the entrants of Miss & Mr Diamond Australia have only good things to say about the system and its directors, as Morgan Mancini has just been awarded “Best National Pageant Director” by the world's leading pageant website, Pageant Planet.
“We were over the moon, Morgan won fourth place last year, and first place this year for Best National Pageant Director. The winners are determined by feedback received from contestants, with the Pageant Planet director, Steven Roddy making the final call,” said Charlie.
“Pageant Planet receives thousands of entries from all over the world, including from all of the big American pageants, so it really is the highest accolade anyone can receive in the pageant industry.”
Applications for Miss Diamond Australia 2019 are now closed, with the gala grand final crowning event taking place on Saturday, 13th of April, 2019 from 5PM at The Emporium Hotel South Bank, Brisbane.
More information about the Miss & Mr Diamond Australia pageant can be found at the website: https://www.missdiamondaustralia.com and the application form for Miss & Mr Diamond Australia 2020 hopefuls can be found here: https://www.missdiamondaustralia.com/application-form.
-ends-
For all interview/photo requests, please contact:
Joanne Rahn
Director
zanthii communications
Phone: 0402 148 334
Email: joanne@zanthii.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/zanthiiau