Welcome to the U.S. United Pageant! We will be honoring females from across the United States for their personal, professional, and community achievements.  Our 7th anniversary show promises to showcase each contestant on her own merits and personality and will give the audience a fabulous night to remember.  We focus on the individual inner beauty of each contestant, as well as her individual achievements, community involvement and personal strengths and talents.  The 2010 U.S. United Pageant will take place July 9 – 11, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia.  Your weekend in Atlanta, Georgia will be a memorable one.  Below is very important information about the pageant.  Please read the information in its entirety.  Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

ENTRY DEADLINE:
The pageant's entry deadline is May 15, 2010.  This is when all applications and additional paperwork must be turned into the Pageant Office.   If you know someone that would like to compete, please urge them to go ahead and mail in their application.  The deadline for all optional category entries is June 15, 2010.  All fees MUST be paid in full by June 1, 2010.  Hotel reservation MUST be made by June 10th in order to secure the discounted rate.

FEE PAYMENT:
Your Pageant fee is $295.00.  The application fee is $40.00.  You may pay your fees in the following ways:  Cashier’s Check, Money Order or Paypal.  The Paypal address is usunitedpageant1@aol.com.  Make all money orders payable to:  U.S. United Pageant.  Please retain your receipt for your records.  Your fee includes your state banner,  limo tour of Atlanta, inspiration breakfast, spa-jama party, and much more!

The pageant fee for the Princess division contestants is $125.00 plus the $40 application fee.
The Princess Pageant fee includes the Princess Tea Party, rhinestone crown, banner, gift basket, formal photo shoot and trophy.

State crowns may be purchased for an additional $30.

ADS:
All ads must be camera-ready. These should be submitted to our office no later than June 12, 2010. We can not be responsible for the printing of ads or patrons that are submitted after this day.  Please contact our office if you have any questions.  We will accept business checks from businesses for ads until June 12, 2010. After that date, all monies must be in the form of a cashier’s check or money order.  Each contestant is responsible for any return check fees, which will be deducted from pageant fee.

AIRLINE RESERVATIONS
When you are making airline reservations, please let the reservationist know you need to fly into the Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.

HOTEL RESERVATIONS
The host hotel will be the Sheraton Gateway Hotel located 5 minutes from the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.  The room rate per night is $94.00. Reservations should be directly with the hotel by calling (770) 997-1100.  Reservations should be made by June 10, 2009 in order to guarantee the rate.  Please ask for the U.S. United room block.  The hotel offers complimentary airport shuttle service.

DELEGATE/QUEEN’S CONTRACT
Each contestant will sign a contestant’s contract and a queen’s contract.  These contracts spell out, in detail, what is expected of you.  Please review and sign both contracts, make a copy for your records and return the originals by the due date.

HOW TO CONTACT OUR OFFICE
When mailing in forms, please mail them to the address below:

Marchia Mickens
U.S. United Pageant
P.O. Box 191
Conley, Georgia
If you need to contact me by phone, you may call (404) 434-7331.  I may also be contacted at usunitedpageant1@aol.com

PAGEANT VIDEOS
The Pageant will be professionally video taped and photographed.  The official Photographer and Videographer is StudioPRIMETIME.  Flash photography or videography will not be permitted by anyone else during the pageant.

SCORES
Scores will be available 30 minutes after the pageant.

PRIZES
Each contestant will receive a participation trophy on stage during the pageant. Gift baskets for the winners will be awarded at the 2009 pageant and only after the contract has been fulfilled. Gift baskets for the runner-ups will be given AFTER pictures have been taken. If for some reason you do not stay for pictures, your prizes WILL NOT be mailed to you.


Competition Wardrobe And Judging Guidelines

Opening Number Outfit –TBA

Personal Interview
Interview is 40% of the contestant’s score.  The total amount of points to be given in this Category is 40 points.  Contestants should wear a business suit.  You should look as though you are going to a job interview or making an appearance.  You may wear a matching pant or skirt suit.  Please be mindful of the length of your skirt.  You be will judged on written and oral communication skills, confidence, poise, charisma, projection of personality and sincerity of your answer.  The judges will generate questions from your judge’s information sheet.  PLEASE have someone look over your form.  Many contestants have lost points because of misspelled words, grammatical errors, etc.  Information sheets MUST be typed.  You will turn in five (5) copies of your information sheet at registration. Please keep in mind that this competition weighs the heaviest in the total score.

On-Stage Personality
On-Stage Personality is 30% of total competition score.
You will be wearing your opening number outfit for this competition
In this competition, you will introduce yourself to the audience and briefly speak about your accomplishments, achievements, or, hobbies and your platform if you have one. You will have up to 30 seconds for your speech.

Summer Casual Wear
The Summer Casual Wear Competition is 15% of the contestant’s score.  This is an outfit that you would wear to a nice casual event.  This should not be a dressy outfit. This outfit should not have an access of rhinestones or sequins.  A casual pants suit, , capri outfit or shorts is appropriate.  You may accessorize with a hat, purse, etc.  You will be judged on poise, stage personality, presentation, and confidence.  Generally, contestants who wear a matching outfit seem to score higher than those who just wear a pair of slacks and a shirt.

Evening Gown
The Evening Gown Competition is 15% of the contestant’s score.  Contestants should wear a floor length gown.  The price of the gown is not important.   You will be judged on poise, grace/elegance, overall presentation, eye contact, and confidence while on stage.  Be sure your gown fits you well and is not too tight.  Make sure it compliments your figure and is age appropriate.

Other Clothing Needed
Saturday will be a very busy day for our contestants.  We will be touring Atlanta.  Be sure to bring comfortable clothing.  You may also want to bring a bathing suit to relax by the pool.  For the tour, you will wear white, navy, or black bottoms, a white top and your state banner..  You may wear tennis shoes.

OPTIONAL COMPETITIONS

Scores from optional competitions have no bearing on the division winner.  Contestants are not required to enter the optional competitions
Optional Competition Fees, EXCEPT TALENT, may be turned in at registration.

Talent Competition
The Talent Competition is an optional competition and does not affect the overall outcome of the pageant. The talent entry fee is $20.  Your talent may be a performing or non-performing talent.  You will need to have your Talent Entry form & Entry Fee to the Office by July 1, 2010.  We need this information ahead of time because these names have to be added to the computer score sheet.. 
 
Photogenic Competition (optional $20.00 fee)
Contestants in this competition should submit 2 photographs. You should bring them with you.  Photographs will be returned after the pageant.  Please be sure you pick them up. Photographs should be at least a 4 X 6 and no larger than an 8 X 10 and may be either in color or black and white.  One photo must be a headshot.  . 

Community Service (optional $20.00 fee)
Community Service Awards will be awarded to a contestant THAT SIGNS UP, pays the $20 fee and submits a separate community service resume or scrapbook. You should bring your resume or scrapbook with you. Please be sure to pick this up after the pageant.

People’s Choice
We’re going to do the People’s Choice Award a little different this year. In the past, the People’s Choice winner has always been the contestant who had the most people at the pageant. Being that this is a national pageant and contestants will be traveling from as far away as California, this would make it virtually impossible for a contestant that did not live in the vicinity of the pageant to win. We’ve created a way to make the “playing field” a little more competitive. You will be able to collect votes from family and friends at home and bring them with you. Each contestant will have a box with their picture on it.  You will be able to drop your votes in your box before the pageant begins. Family and friends will also be able to vote online beginning in June 2010. The People’s Choice Award will be awarded to that ONE contestant who obtains the most votes ($1.00 per signature), There is no optional fee for this award.  The People’s Choice winner will receive a tiara, floral presentation, 20% cash award, and trophy. The signature form can be downloaded from the website. ANY ADS TURNED IN WILL ALSO COUNT TOWARDS THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD.

U.S. United Scholar (no fee)
Contestant will present official transcript from school or college and write an essay about their academic achievements (can not have been out of school for more than three years).  You may be in or have graduated from high school, undergraduate, graduate or vocational school. The U.S. United Scholar will be awarded to a contestant in the middle school/high school age group and in the college level age group. The winner will be the contestant who has shown outstanding achievement in academics. 


Contestant Gift
We will be doing a gift exchange during the weekend.  Each contestant is asked to bring two gifts.One gift will be for the gift exchange and the other will be for the outgoing queen. The cost of each gift should be between $5.00 and $10.00 each.