Don’t be fooled: This is not your grandmother’s beauty pageant.

This is not a pageant that features women in tiny, two-piece swimsuits while wearing high heels. This is not a pageant that values artificial and plastic smiles or a particular body aesthetic. No, this pageant is about being real, genuine, authentic.

[Beauty is defined in many different ways. MBB thinks beauty comes from deep inside — realness/authenticity is the highest form of beauty. Your challenge is to bare/reveal your realness to the audience.]

Yes, there will be tuxedos and evening gowns and emcees with questions-and-answers and musical performances and celebrity judges and standards that must be met, as well as generous and possibly life-changing prize packages and — of course — the coveted crown. But what will matter the most are three things and three things only:

1. Can you sing?
2. Are you real?
3. Do the panel of judges and the live audience believe that you are genuine?

That’s it. 

You — whoever you are — man or woman; young or old; gay, bi, straight or transgender; educated or uneducated; tall or short; thin or big-bodied; light-skinned or dark-skinned; et cetera — people are people, right? — you will only be judged on your voice and your realness — equally … and both the judges and the audience will share their opinions in real time.

Can you handle the spotlight?

Can you handle the pressure? 

It essentially comes down to this for potential contestants: Can you sing, and do you have the courage to be real? Because your stage presence and performance and your authenticity — and nothing else — will win you the crowd … and ultimately, the crown.