A mother's pride in her little darling can mean big bucks for beauty pageant organisers.

Parents fork out between $10 and $100 for the entry fees for such events, which are seeing a growing participation rate.

And with organisers clinching cash support from sponsors, pageants can be a profitable venture.

Former Singapore Idol contestant Maia Lee, 29, whose three-year-old daughter has taken part in a few contests, says: "Most kids do it because their mothers want them to, and not because they want to be there."

These anxious mothers can be spotted backstage or even on stage sometimes, say organisers from Residents' Committees (RCs)and shopping malls.

And they can cause a big headache for organisers.

A West zone RC chairman, Mr Robert Teo, 60, says he has seen his fair share of cattiness.

He recalls the incident of a mother screaming at an emcee for "giving another child participant an extra two seconds on the runway" during a block party.

"She insisted that it was an unfair advantage," he said.

Indeed, mothers are often the competitive ones - not their daughters.

Mrs Wendy Yong, 33, who sends her six-year-old for two to three pageants a year, admits that her daughter is helping her "live out my dream of taking part in a beauty contest". Her daughter has won several trophies.

But the sales manager says she is cutting down on the number of events her daughter participates in.

She says: "Recently, I found out that some of the contests are sort of rigged. The winners are clearly decided before the results are announced."

Ms Lee agrees: "I have known of judges who had been briefed by the pageant organisers on who needed to win."

But she believes that child pageants are still a fun platform for children to make new friends and doll up. 

She has spent $700 on three outfits for her kid,who later won $14,000.

Ms Angela Tay, director of ERM Singapore Marketing, says they hold children's pageants twice a year during the June and December school holidays.

"These are usually times where parents are more willing to spend time on such pageants," she says.

She adds that she usually sees about 100 children entering these pageants, though the numbers are whittled down after the auditions and preliminary rounds.

Prizes differ for each contest, depending on the sponsors.

Ms Tay says there can be cash prizes of up to "thousands of dollars" and other prizes like clothes, shoes and modelling contracts of up to $10,000.

Contestants can be winners even if they don't have a place on the podium, she says.

"There are agents from artiste management companies who will come down to scout for talentamongthe contestants.

"Some of them walk away with contracts even though they don't make it to the top three," says Ms Tay.

She adds that she has noticed some parents who are "regulars" at the events.

Mrs Sarina Yee, managing director of Makin & Sorfina Productions, organised the Prince and Princess Asian competition last year.

Her daughter Sorfina, 10, used to participate in child pageants.

She reckons it's not surprising that Singapore parents want to groom their children to the fullest.

She says: "They'd want their kids to excel in other areas (besides academically), and taking part in pageants is also a good wayof exposingthem to the real world.

"Pageants can be a wonderful experience for children. For one thing, they get comfortable being in front of crowds.

"This can carry over into a multitude of other activities, like dance, drama, music recitals andfuture public speaking."

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