“How many judges should I use for my Pageant?” is a very good question. I get this question a lot and that is probably because there is a good reason to use a different combination depending on your Beauty Pageant.

First thing to remember is that the smallest judging panel you can use is three. You should always have an odd number to eliminate the possibility of ties and favoritism.

For children pageants three is enough. Pageants that use an interview  category will need five judges. You also need five judges if there are evening gown and swim wear rounds in your Beauty Pageant. These rounds can benefit from the extra opinions because the judges have more complicated decisions to make.

There really is no need for more than five judges. The big pageants may introduce ten judges at the beginning of the event but they use five judges for the Teen Competition and a different five judges for the Miss Competition.

I once used a sixth judge at a pageant because an extra judge showed up and wanted to be involved. This judge was called a Specialty Judge and they decided on specialty awards like Overall Most Beautiful, Overall Fashion, Photogenic, Portfolio, Best Eyes, Best Smile, etc. These categories are for the children divisions.

In the older divisions a Specialty Judge selects Photogenic Awards (these are selected from photos presented by contestants upon registration), Portfolio Awards, Best Gown and Best Swimsuit. These awards are selected, not scored. It has no bearing on the outcome of the pageant winners.

However the Miss Plus America has Photogenic competitions that do score the photos, and these score are added to the contestants grand totals. Glitz pageants also score these category and awards. A lot of time these scores can determine the final winners. So use your discretion.

For the adult divisions another  extra judge is called an Honorary Judge. They score the contestants just like the other judges but their scores are  only used in breaking a tie. This person could be a celebrity, an important figure or community member.

The more judges you use the longer it takes to tally the score. So if you’re pageant is blessed with say 60 kids then a three judge panel makes a lot more sense.

Check out this video about How many Judges should I use in my Pageant:

Yours in Pageantry

Shelly