The Contest

(Updated for the May contest)

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Miss Coconuts? We'll bet that it wasn't an eloquent speaker. Or even a tech-savvy spokeswoman.

Yes, this is not your typical beach babe bombshell contest. We are looking for females who can become spokesmodels that can rise above the stereotypes. One who is equally at home at the beach demonstrating sunscreen lotion application as well as at the mega computer trade show explaining how to add RAM to your computer.

So, ladies, there are no height requirements, hair color requirments, or even the dreaded measurements requirements. Each of these alone does not constitute the ideal Miss Coconuts. In fact, we want each of you to tell us why you think you're the ideal Miss Coconuts. We are looking for that unique combination of beauty, brains, personality, and communication skills.

To do so we came up with this monthly contest. Contestants will submit a photo of themselves putting them in their best light. The pose, lighting and everything else is left to the contestant to determine what will give us a very good first impression of her. The only stipulation to the photo is that her face must be clearly visible. They will also answer a thought provoking question that will help us learn a little more about the contestant. 5 judges will pick the 10 best entries. These 10 contestants will attend a Miss Coconuts photo shoot where in addition to the photos that will be used on the website, they will conduct an on-camera interview. Both the submitted photo and the video interview will be posted on the website for all 5 of these contestants. The 5 judges scores and critiques will be posted as well which count for half of the contestants score. The other half of the score will come from the voting general public. So, ladies, you are not just making a good impression for the 5 judges. You are also making a good impression for the general public. The winner is the one with the best overall score.

Entry

The general theme is making a good first impression.

There are 3 parts to this entry: a photo, contestant info, and a question.

1. Contestants will submit two photos, one clearly showing their face (professional or not)
2. Contestants will also provide their first and last name, age (for verification), hometown, occupation, email address and phone number for contact, and myspace link if applicable.
3. Contestants will answer the following question - "Why should we choose you as our next Miss Coconuts?"

We are ultimately looking for a representative who can present and carry themselves well, has a great personality and is ready to help us define who "Miss Coconuts" should be. 

Please Note -

We will notify all entried by the 9th of the month they are competing in, and we must have a confirmation from them about the group shoot no later than 3 days after we notify them. Incomplete entries and no confirmations will result in an automatic rejection of the entry for that month's contest.

Top 10 Selection

The Top 10 contestants for the month will be selected from all entries received by the judges from 313 Photography, the host of this event. The judges will be looking for the overall first impression of the contestant- 50% of score based on the photo and 50% of the score based on the answer to the question. Images with the Top 10 highest scores will be chosen as the Top 10.

The Top 10 will be notified via the contact info they provided and invited to the Miss Coconuts photoshoot. They will be given a few days advance notice to make their own travel & lodging arrangements as the photo shoot will be on April 13th. They will need to bring their own wardrobe for the photoshoot. More details will be provided to them when they are notified.

The Top 10 Photoshoot will be a scheduled event. During the photoshoot sessions, each of the contestants will be photographed and will be interviewed on camera. This photoshoot is to simulate the experience of what Miss Coconuts could be hired for.

After the photoshoot is done, the Top 10 will be introduced on the Miss Coconuts website. A pictorial from the photoshoot and their video interview will be posted of each of the Top 10 contestants for the remainder of the month for review and voting by the general public. Each of the Top 10 are encouraged to get their friends and family to vote for them. Also, banner ads will be made available for those contestants to post on their personal web pages like Myspace, Facebook, or even their own websites.

Miss Coconuts Voting:

There will be a Judging Panel consisting of 5 judges: 3 host judges and 2 guest judges. These are working professionals from the modeling industry such as photographers, makeup artists, hair stylists, models, and celebrities. They will give their professional critique of the girls and give each of them a score. The judges scores will be added together and the monthly winner will be the one with the highest score.

We have now added more contest categories and have moved the public vote into one of these new categories. In addition to the general public vote, we have added the following categories: Funniest Interview, Sexiest Outfit, Best Photo, Wildest Girl. Voting will be open to the general public during the last 4 days of the month. Everyone will have the chance to review each girl's pictorial and interview and then vote for their favorites during this time. The new categories will be an online vote except for the popular vote which will be an email vote with a limit of 1 vote per email address per day. You must be 18 and older to vote.

The Prize

1. Cover photo on misscoconuts.com homepage for the month she is the winner (ex: March 1-March 30th)
2. Miss Coconuts Photoshoot
3. One paid group shoot at a studio location
4. Online photo merchandising sales
5. Photo used in the next Miss Coconuts Calendar
6. One free Miss Coconuts Calendar
7. Discount on additional calendar purchases
8. A Limited Edition Miss Coconuts Tank Top (not the same as the Top 5 Tank Top).

The winner will host a Q&A forum during the month she has the title of miss coconuts.
The winner will have the opportunity to represent Miss Coconuts at various events and is encouraged to seek these events out herself during the month that she has the title. More prizes will be added with more sponsor participation. (MissCoconuts.com and it's affiliates reserve the right to substitute, add and/or remove prizes based on availability and sponsorships. Please check the prize listing for each contest period.)

Timeline:

Apr 1, 2008: Submissions open for the May 2008 contest
Apr 7, 2008: Last day for submissions.
Apr 13, 2008: Miss Coconuts Top 5 Photoshoot
2-3 days later: Top 10 announced on Miss Coconuts website
Top 10 posted for viewing during last 2 weeks of the month
Public voting opens: last 4 days of month
Winner published on site - May 1st

Eligibility

Open to any females, 18 and older.

Transportation is contestant's sole responsibilty.
Must be able to travel to our studio location for the Top 5 photo shoot and the group shoot.

Contestant must be able to pay a small fee (currently $12) to help cover the cost of materials and fees incurred to make the Top 5 photo shoot happen.
 
Submitted photos must contain no nudity. Implied is permitted. Amateur or professional photos accepted. These may or may not be published on the internet.  These photos will be used to select the Top 5. Must have rights to submit the image and for publication on the misscoconuts.com website and other marketing materials. Image size no more than 500 pixels in either dimension.

Entries must be received by email or via website form submission if available by the designated deadline. Entries received after the deadline will be entered into the following month's contest.