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The Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador Pageant is a teen pageant based out of St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. Founded in 1996, the pageant sets out to annually showcase the talents and achievements and build the confidence of the province's brightest young women, between the ages of 14 and 18. It is currently the longest-running teen pageant in the province, and one of the most widely recognized and successful pageants for teens in Canada.

Pageant History

The Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador Pageant began in 1997 to fill the void for a teen pageant in the province, after the cessation of the original Miss Teen Newfoundland Pageant in 1990. It is held annually at the St. John's Arts & Culture Centre, which, with a seating capacity of 1,013, is the largest theatre in the province. Since that time, it has emerged as a major player in the Canadian pageant industry, influencing the scoring systems of numerous other events, and actively seeking to alter the widely held views of what a teen pageant entails.

The pageant is traditionally held in February or early March. From 1997-2005, the pageant was held over a four-day weekend, however in 2006 it was reduced to three days. The committee has announced that the 2009 event will mark the return of the four day pageant weekend.

With unprecedented media coverage^[1], web traffic, participants, audience-goers and staff, it is currently the largest pageantry event in the province of Newfoundland & Labrador.

Scoring System

Dispelling the stereotypical view of pageantry, the Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador is not a beauty pageant. The scoring system consists of a 45% personal interview with the judging panel, a 20% academic test, a 15% fitness test (all of which take place in the days leading up to the pageant's final gala), and on-stage casual and evening wear competitions worth 10% each. Upon completion of the first half of the show, the top 10 contestants scoring the highest advance to the semi-finals, where they may give a speech on a topic of their choice, worth 25%. The top 10 are then narrowed to the top 5 contestants, who answer an impromptu question, again worth 25%. These scores are then tabulated by a professional auditor to determine the winner of the pageant.

For 11 years, the final round of the pageant included the top four contestant. However, in 2008, the pageant expanded to include a fifth finalist.

In addition to the winner and four runners-up, the pageant also hands out other individual awards, including Miss Teen Academic Achievement (to the contestant who scores the highest on the academic test), Miss Teen Fitness (to the contestant who scores the highest on the fitness test), Miss Teen Talent (an optional competition with its own separate judging panel), Miss Teen Photogenic (as judged by Sara Rostotski and Sharon Woodford), Miss Teen Friendship (voted on by the contestants themselves), and (as of 2008) the People's Choice Award (as voted by the general public via the pageant's website).

Weekend Activities

Prior to the pageant's glamorous final gala, the contestants participate in a number of educational or recreational activities as a group. These have included in the past such things as glow bowling, rock climbing, educational seminars (haircare, public speaking, motivational seminars, etc), tours of the provincial Government House and House of Assembly, a boat cruise throughout St. John's harbour, taking in local community musical productions, etc.

Titleholders

In 2004, winner Renée Hodder elected to not sign the titleholder agreement, resulting in 1st runner-up Melissa Jenkins (Carbonear) assuming the title in October 2004.
In 1999, Crystal Freake was the winner of the Miss Teen Canada International title, resulting in the 1st runner-up Melanie O'Brien (Paradise) assuming the provincial title.

Trivia

Since 2002, the pageant's running crowning theme has been "You're a Superstar" by Canadian band Love Inc.

The pageant is traditionally co-hosted by the outgoing Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador, and has featured co-hosts such as Mark Critch (Newfoundland & Labrador comedian), Larry Jay (Oz FM radio and NTV television personality), Tom Osbourne (VOCM radio personality), and pageant assistant director Chris Fry. The co-host of the 2009 pageant has yet to be confirmed.

Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador appears annually on the cover of the provincial entertainment magazine 'The Newfoundland Herald'.

In 2008, the contestants were escorted on stage in the evening wear competition by members of the St. John's Fog Devils junior hockey team.

On October 5th, 2007, the pageant's website celebrated it's unprecedented one millionth visitor. According the web traffic ranking tool Alexa.com, the Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador pageant is the second most popular teen pageant website in the world.

Arlene O'Keefe (2000, Paradise) won the Miss Newfoundland & Labrador title in 2006, making her the first woman to win both provincial titles. Three other Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador past contestants (Crystal Snow, Aimee Power, and Sabrina Jenkins) have also gone on to win the Miss Newfoundland & Labrador Pageant.

Miss Teen NL 2003 Ashley Bursey placed as the 1st runner-up at the 2006 Miss World Canada Pageant, and placed in the top 15 of the 2007 Miss Universe Canada contest.

In 2006, Sabrina Fitzpatrick (Miss Teen NL 2006) was the winner of the Miss Teen Canada Scholarship Pageant in Niagara Falls, Ontario, while Kristen Parsons (Miss Teen NL 2002) was the winner of the Miss Canada Scholarship division that same night. Arlene O'Keefe also competed, however she did not place at the event.

Stephanie Brennan (2000 and 2001 Miss Teen NL 1st runner-up) was the first (and only) Miss Teen Millennium Pageant in 2001.

The pageant's judging panel has a star-studded history, featuring such notable judges as Natalie Glebova (Miss Universe 2005), Marjorie Clarke (2005 North American Hairstylist of the Year), Robin Barker (widely recognized Toronto hairstylist), Jimmy Steele (renowned Canadian pageant expert and coach), Christa Borden (Miss Teen NL 1998 and 'Popstars' competition winner), and local media celebrities Toni-Marie Wiseman and Danielle Butt (NTV), Leanne Sharpe (99.1 HITS FM), Claudette Barnes (VOCM), and Kevin Kelly (The Newfoundland Herald).

External Links

Official Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador Website
Jimmy's Pageant Page - Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador
Archive of Miss Teen Newfoundland & Labrador Media Coverage