2011 MPA Rules

Age Divisions and Titles

Miss Plus America Elite Overall Highpoint Winner:

*Delegates in the Teen Ambassador division must never have been married and must never have been pregnant.

**Delegates may be single, married, divorced, widowed or separated.
***Delegates must be married by July 1, 2011.

Competition Requirements

• Each delegate must be size 14W or greater. See the Frequently Asked Questions page for a definition of this.

• Each delegate must be born female.

• Each contestant must be a citizen of the United States.  

• Age is determined by July 1, 2011, unless your DOB falls within a 2 week period before or after the pageant.  In this case, proof of date of birth will be required.

• Contestants may be single, married, or divorced,

• All Mrs. Division contestants must be married by the first day of the pageant.

• Delegates may represent the state they live in, were born in, hold property in, work in, or went to school in.

• Returning delegates must get permission from the Executive Staff to hold the same state more than twice in a row.

• All prior felony convictions must be declared and entry must be approved by the Executive Board of Directors.  Failure to do so will result in immediate dismissal from MPA and loss of any title awarded.

• Coronet Productions reserves the right to refuse entry to any applicant.

Teen Ambassador Competition Requirements

• Each delegate must be size 12W or greater.

• Each delegate must be born female.

• Each contestant must be a citizen of the United States.

• Age is determined by July 1, 2011, unless your DOB falls within a 2 week period before or after the pageant.  In this case, proof of date of birth will be required.

• Delegates must be single and have never been married.

• Delegates must have never been pregnant or given birth.

• Returning delegates must get permission from the Executive Staff to hold the same state more than twice in a row.

• All prior felony convictions must be declared and entry must be approved by the Executive Board of Directors.  Failure to do so will result in immediate dismissal from MPA and loss of any title awarded.

• Coronet Productions reserves the right to refuse entry to any applicant.

Competition Categories:

Preliminary Private Interview:

All delegates must possess excellent conversational skill. She must be able to express herself with clarity and diplomacy and exude a friendly and inviting personality. 

Interview Details:  
Each contestant participates in an individual 5-7 minute interview with our panel of judges.  There are typically 5-7 judges on a panel.  Interview will begin with a 30 second self-introduction.  The body of the interview will be a combination of questions from information given on your fact sheet as well as current events… (This can be anything from war to reality TV questions to questions about your platform.)  The interview concludes with a 30 second opportunity to make a final statement to the judges of “Why you’d like to be Plus America Elite.” As well as any information you’d like the judges to know that wasn’t covered in the interview itself.

Attire:  
Wear a dress suit for the interview competition.  No Pants suits!  (Dress suit being a nice     dress-suit you'd wear to a job interview.)

Judging Criteria:
Conversational skill, personality, character, knowledge of platform and current events, grooming, and fashion sense. 

Scoring:  
Interview counts for 50% of the total score. The judges’ decision is final. 

Preliminary Fashion Pant Wear:

All delegates must carry themselves with dignity, poise and sophistication.  Judges will be evaluating how well her choice of apparel suits her (such as fit, color, and style) as well as her on-stage presentation.  Click here for example of competition wear.

Fashion Pant Wear Details:  
Attire should be dressy. This should be a pants suit that you would wear to a cocktail party. It should be in good taste and not provocative or too tight.  No dresses, please.

Judging Criteria:    
Modeling ability, personality, grooming, and poise. 

Scoring:  
Sportswear counts for 20% of the total score. 

Preliminary Evening Gown:

All delegates must exude grace, poise, elegance and sophistication. Judges will be evaluating the gown and how well it suits the delegate (e.g., fit, color, style) as well as the delegate’s on-stage presentation.  Click here for example of competition wear.

• Evening Gown Competition Details:  
  Evening gown must be floor length.  Sophistication counts! All delegates are permitted to wear an evening gown of their choice. 
  
  Judging criteria:  
  Modeling ability, stage presence, poise and grace. 
  
  Scoring:  
  Evening Gown counts for 20% of the total score.

• Photogenic:

Each contestant will pose for a head and shoulders photogenic photo before she goes into interview.  This photo will be taken by our official photographer and judged by the panel of judges as your photogenic picture.

          Scoring:  
          Photogenic counts for 10% of the total score

NOTE:  Once the preliminary scores have been tallied, the top five delegates in each division will be announced on-stage on finals night.  This gives us the top 15.  The top 15 will compete in evening gown (25% of the score), Fashion Wear (25% of the score) and On-stage Interview Final Question (50% of the score) on finals night.  The delegate with the overall high-point score (of finals scores) will win the title of Miss Plus America Elite.  The highest score in each division after the Elite winner has been determined will be awarded the division titles.  In the event of a tie, preliminary scores will be added to the finals scores to determine the winner.  In the event that does not break the tie, those delegates who have tied will be asked to answer one final on-stage question.  The winner will be determined by our panel of judges.

Teen Ambassador Competition Categories:

• On-Stage Interview - 50%
  Delegates will be interviewed on-stage immediately after the casual wear competition.  Interviews will be judged on personality, eye-contact, confidence and conversational skill.

• Fashion Casual Wear - 25%
  Wear something that expresses who you are as a normal American teen-ager!
  This will be judged on confidence, poise, modeling ability and stage presence.

• Evening Gown - 25%
  Wear something that expresses your style and is age-appropriate.  Low cut dresses should not be worn. In the same respect, high cut dresses and low-back dresses should be considered inappropriate. 
  Evening Gown will be judged on poise, stage-presence, modeling ability and grace.

• The Teen Ambassador is not eligible for the Elite title.

Official Optional Competition Categories: 

• Talent: 
  This is a competition separate unto itself.  It has its own entry fee.  Talent may consist of singing, dancing, poetry reading, sign language, etc.  No piano will be provided.  This competition is judged on stage presence, originality and difficulty of routine.  Props are allowed. Talent acts must not exceed 4 minutes.  No fire acts, please.  Each delegate must provide a CD of their own music for performance.
   

• Fashion Runway Modeling:
  This is a competition separate unto itself.  It has its own entry fee.   Contestants in this category provide their own music and do a professional catwalk routine.  Costuming and presentation are important!  Routine Time Limit:  One minute.  This competition is judged on stage presence, originality and difficulty of routine.  Props are encouraged.
   

• Photogenic Portfolio:
  This is a competition separate unto itself.  Bring no less than five, no more than ten photos of yourself in a presentation folder.  This competition is judged on variety of poses, originality and photogenic appeal.  No crown photos allowed.
   

• Spokesmodel:
  This is a competition separate unto itself.  Prepare a speech, no longer than one minute in length on "The Strength of a Plus Size Woman". This competition will be judged on projection, stage presence, speaking ability and confidence. 
   

• Internet Covergirl:
  This is a competition separate unto itself.  The Internet Covergirl is chosen in an online competition.  The winner will be the delegate with the most votes.  You do not have to be a delegate in the Miss Plus America Pageant to enter this competition.  The winner will be on the back cover of the 2010 Miss Plus America Program Book!  The photo submitted MUST be a professional color photo.  Crown photos are not allowed.
   

• Humorous/Dramatic Interpretation: 
  This is a competition separate unto itself.  This is a competition where contestants will perform a humorous or dramatic monologue or a humorous/dramatic poetry or prose reading.  This is for the actors out there!  Costuming is important!  Props encouraged.  This competition is judged on stage presence and difficulty of routine.  If a lavaliere microphone is not available, the contestant MUST use a hand-held microphone.  Time limit is no more than one minute.
   

• Commercial Performance:
  This is a competition separate unto itself.  Choose your favorite product from the store or create your own product and sell it to the audience!  This should be less than one minute.  Props encouraged.  The more you can engage the audience, the better you'll do!  This competition is judged on stage presence, originality and difficulty of routine.
   

• Scrapbook:
  This is a competition separate unto itself.  Bring a scrapbook that tells the story of your life.  The winner of this competition will be the contestant who is the most creative and consistent in theme.  This competition is judged on originality, creativity and consistency in timeline.

NOTE REGARDING OPTIONAL COMPETITION:  MPA budgets on the total fees of your entry.  Withdrawing an optional competition at the end of the year and not paying for the optional competition you entered will result in forfeiture of your title.  In the same respect, and as stated above, you will not receive your crown/banner until the entirety of your fees are paid, including optional competition fees, ad fees and ticket sales.  If you are UNSURE of whether or not you will be entering an optional competition PLEASE select the "don't know" button. 

NEW RULE - At no time during any competition is the state delegate allowed to approach or by proxy, approach the judges with any gift, prop, souvenir, brochure, etc.  Activity such as this will result in disqualification. 

All delegates must adhere to the official MPA Code of Conduct. Click the link to read.

(Click here for all entry fee information)