The History and Guide to the Beauty Contest

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HISTORY OF THE Beauty Contest

The Beauty Contest is a contest whereby people showcase their beloved pets to get people to vote for them, and whoever gets the most votes in that species wins some NP and a trophy. If they win overall, they win TWO trophies, a Neopoints prize AND a rare item, which can be worth more than 500,000 NP.

When the Beauty Contest (aka BC) first started, it was FULL of cut-and-paste artwork, where people just dressed a pre-drawn image drawn by The Neopets Team to enter. As the years progressed, more and more users chose to draw the entries themselves, and such have become the norm, whereas cut-and-paste artwork has been frowned upon by many because it became the symbol that someone is not putting effort into their work.

A significant event which took place in the History of the Beauty Contest is when side account pets were no longer allowed to take part in the Beauty Contest. Despite numerous protests, nothing has changed.

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VOTING SYSTEM

The BC voting system has changed greatly since I re-joined the Beauty Contest in January 2003 with my FIRST pet Xoloitzcuintli2003. Then, the number of votes could be seen, and when the BC drew to a close, many entrees would be campaigning madly away while constantly refreshing the voting page to see how many votes they got.

Then, in 2004, the voting system changed in such a way that one could only see the number of votes they got after the contest ends.

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Beauty Contest REWARDS:

Overall 1st: 20,000 NP + ONE rare item + 1 gold trophy

Overall 2nd: 10,000 NP + ONE rare item + 1 silver trophy

Overall 3rd: 5,000 NP + ONE rare item + 1 bronze trophy

Species 1st: 10,000 NP + 1 gold trophy

Species 2nd: 5,000 NP + 1 silver trophy

Species 3rd: 2,500 NP + 1 bronze trophy

ALL overall winners are also species winners, so they get both the overall and the species prizes (which explain why they have TWO trophies).

So how many votes does it take to win overall/species? It depends from week to week. For example, when I got overall 3rd with my Wocky _Funeralii_ it took only 273 votes. Yet, for some weeks, it can take over 1,600 votes just to get overall 3rd, so it definitely depends on the competition and number of votes and such.

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BAN

If your pet gets overall first and/or first in species, the pet will be banned for a period of time. When I first started entering the Beauty Contest in January 2003, the gold ban was 30 days. As more and more people entered the Beauty Contest, the ban was increased to 60 days, and to the current 120 days.

There are only a few ways to get around the ban:

1. Get a species change (the lab ray usually does this for free, but you can choose to use other means).

2. You may transfer another pet which is not banned, but this pet must NOT be the same species as the pet which got banned.

I wouldn't advise changing your pet species on purpose (using Morphing/transmogrification potions) because the cost would be way more than what you might be getting. But if you want to spend so much, and want to join for the sake of the trophies, go ahead.

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TIPS AND REMINDERS

1. Try not to enter the contest with a cut and paste image. Yes, you CAN enter, but the chances of winning anything are very slim, if at all.

2. Only pictures taken directly from Neopets.com, drawn by the staff of Neopets, can be edited. DO NOT edit pictures drawn by someone else who does not work there. The rules state that the artwork has to be your own, so please respect that.

I have had lots of cases where my adoptables/artwork were taken and put in the BC. If you see any artwork stolen, you can report them by clicking the "report entry" at the bottom AND stating where you saw the image coming from.

3. If you're new to the Beauty Contest, try to avoid competitive species like Aisha, Lupe, Kougra, and Limited Edition Pets species, because they tend to be harder. GENERALLY, species like Chia, Pteri and Kiko are easier to win, though you never know.

4. If your pet is a lab rat, try not to lab your pet while it is in the Beauty Contest. If you accidentally do and it changes species, no one would be able to vote for it.

5. TRY to enter only one pet per competition, or at the most, two pets. Reason being if you have more than one pet, chances are, unless the art is amazingly good, people are likely only to vote for one of the pets. If you're entering competitive species like Aisha, it's best to enter only that one pet. Personally I have been lucky that I have won 2 consecutive first in species more than once, but that's only after I have built my reputation as a BC member here.

6. Posting the same thing over and over again on the Beauty Contest boards won't get you anywhere. When people realise, "oh, this person's just a spammer," chances are they're not going to vote for the pet. Joining in the competition other than just blatantly begging for votes will definitely have a better result.

7. The better your artwork, the more votes it is likely to get.

8. Even if it is a good piece of artwork, no one's going to know about it unless you advertise for it.

9. Experiment with different styles and poses in drawing.

10. The better your artwork, the higher the probability that people will vote for you.

Hand-drawn works especially receive higher votes, PROVIDED they're drawn well. People often think that they can draw better with a computer, but this is NOT true. It all boils down to skill and practise.

11. Never vote trade. It's illegal.

12. Try to campaign more at the beginning few days and the last few days of the BC, when more voters are about.

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CONCLUSIONS

I have shared all that I know about the Beauty Contest, and hope that this guide will help you perform better in the next Beauty Contest. The Beauty Contest is not just about winning, but also about meeting new friends and getting to see new artwork. It can also be a good chance to see how you can improve your artwork as well.