Eligibility

Miss Orlando, Miss City Beautiful, and their Teens are statewide titles. Contestants who live, work, or attend school within the State of Florida are eligible to compete.

Miss Winter Park and Miss Winter Park's Teen are eligible to women who live, work or attend school in Orange County, Seminole County, Lake County and Hillsborough County.

Eligibility:

To compete for Miss Winter park or Miss Orlando, you must meet the age criteria as shown below.

Please be advised that the age criteria for Cycle 2026 is different from all previous cycles.

Miss 18-28 – must be 18 by state competition, and no older than 27 at state competition
Teen 14-18 – must be 14 by state competition and no older than 18 at state competition.

Teen Age Criteria- Additional Notes:

Miss America HQ is reinstating the option for 18-year-old contestants to have a ‘pivot’ year to decide whether they would like to compete in the Teen or Miss divisions.
A TEEN must not be more than 18 years old at the FIRST DAY of the State competition and must be at least 14 years of age. To clarify, the date of determining this age criterion remains the first day of the published State competition schedule.
Additionally, once an 18-year-old decides on the division she may compete in, she may not change divisions until the next cycle. Please proceed to your applicable State online application.

Check Other Eligibility Requirements Here

Phases of Competiton

Private Interview - 30% (Interview Attire)

Each contestant participates in an individual 10-minute press conference-style interview with our panel of judges. Each Contestant begins the Interview with a 30 second Community Service Initiative opening statement. Contestants are questioned on their background as presented on their resume, their educational and career goals, their opinions on current events and social issues, and their interests, hobbies and extracurricular activities, including their Social Impact Initiative. With the final 30 seconds of the interview, candidates are given the opportunity to share a closing statement.

Scoring is based on overall communication skills, including personality, intelligence, validated opinions, emotional control, overall first impression, and whether the contestant possesses the overall qualities and attributes of a Miss America Contestant.

On Stage Conversation - 10%

Each contestant will be asked a question on-stage before an audience during the pageant. Questions will be different for each contestant and will not necessarily be related to her platform or fact sheet. Questions will be determined by the Miss Orlando Board to be of relatively equal degree of difficulty. As with the private interview, scoring is based on overall communication skills, including personality, intelligence, validated opinions, emotional control, overall first impression, and whether the contestant possesses the overall qualities and attributes of Miss America.

Talent/HERstory - 20%

Contestants perform a 90-second routine of their own choosing. Some possible talents include all types of singing, dancing, gymnastics, instrumental music, dramatic or comedy monologues, spoken word, baton twirling and ventriloquism. Other talents, however unconventional, that can be performed solo on a stage are also possible. E-mail us if you have a question about your talent presentation. Scoring is based on contestant’s skill and personality, interpretive ability, technical skill level, stage presence and the totality of all elements, including costume, props, voice, use of body and choreography.

Health & Fitness - 20%

Contestants will dress in athletic wear and demonstrate that they are physically fit, healthy and full of life. Scoring will be based on overall fitness, stage presence, personality and wellness.

Contestants are required to wear Miss America X Rebel Wear Athletic Outfits. Competition Wear options for this phase of competition are to be purchased by the competitor from this link: https://rebelathletic.com/collections/curated-styles-for-miss-america-organization

Evening Gown - 20%

Contestants will present themselves in evening wear, which could be a gown or something a young woman might wear for a formal evening event. Judges do not judge the contestant's attire, but rather her walk, personality, poise, personal style and fashion sense.