The organizers of each pageant may determine the rules of the competition, including the age range of contestants. For example, The Wall Street Journal, BBC News, CNN, Xinhua News Agency, and global news agencies such as Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse collectively refer to the four major pageants as 'Big Four' namely: Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth. Hundreds and thousands of beauty contests are held annually, but the Big Four are considered the most prestigious, widely covered and broadcast by media. Pageant titles are subdivided into Miss, Mrs or Ms, and Teen – to clearly identify the difference between pageant divisions. The term beauty pageant refers originally to the Big Four international beauty pageants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, talent, character, and charitable involvement, through private interviews with judges and answers to public on-stage questions. The winners of the International Pageant of Pulchritude 1930 competitionĪ beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. For other uses, see Beauty contest (disambiguation) and Beauty queen (disambiguation). 'Beauty contest' and 'Beauty queen' redirect here.
