i.
Smart registration forms.
A mobile-friendly link that auto-calculates fees, only shows divisions a contestant qualifies for, and collects headshots, files, signatures, and shirt sizes in one pass.
The pageant management system — Spring 2026
Run the pageant
contestants want to be in.
Forms that work. Payments that clear. Scores that tabulate the moment the last judge finishes. Every contestant goes home with her scores. No spreadsheets, no paper packets, no 3 a.m. arithmetic. Founded 2022. 166 pageants in. A modern platform, already proven.
Free · No credit card · 30 sec
Chapter01
The way pageants used to be run.
Here's the same job, two ways: with paper packets, group texts, and a rented projector — versus with Bombyhead.
Pageant image
The old way
A Facebook event page indistinguishable from every other small pageant in the state.
With Bombyhead
A website contestants screenshot, sponsors take seriously, and parents bookmark.
Registration
The old way
Google Forms, Jotform, PDF packets, and emailed Word docs — form builders collect entries, but that's where they stop.
With Bombyhead
One mobile-friendly link. Auto-calculates fees, only shows divisions a contestant qualifies for, collects everything in one pass.
Payments
The old way
Chasing Venmo requests. Waiting on checks in the mail.
With Bombyhead
Stripe collects fees instantly. Money lands in your account the same day.
Photos & files
The old way
Headshots scattered across email attachments and Dropbox links.
With Bombyhead
Contestants upload once. Photos stay organized and carry over to next year's pageant.
Judging
The old way
Stacks of paper scoresheets, calculators, and 3 a.m. tabulation.
With Bombyhead
Judges score on tablets or laptops. Tabulation is instant — the result is ready when the last score is in — and every mark is on an audit trail a parent can recheck.
Scoresheets
The old way
Numbers stay with the director. Contestants leave the show without ever seeing how they were scored.
With Bombyhead
Every contestant gets her individual scoresheet the moment you release it — judges' scores, written feedback, category breakdown. Release after each round, or all at once; standings stay yours until crowning.
Fundraising
The old way
Bake sales, raffle tickets, and chasing reluctant sponsors.
With Bombyhead
Turn on People's Choice voting — something no form builder offers. In 2026, more than half of directors made more from voting than from entry fees.
Next year
The old way
Rebuilding everything from scratch every season.
With Bombyhead
Clone last year's pageant in one click — divisions, pricing, deadlines, colors.
The transparency promise
Every contestant. Every score. When you're ready.
Chapter02
Three steps — start to crowning.
No installation, no setup call, no contract. Sign up and you're in the dashboard the same minute.
1· Register
Make an account.
Email and a name is all we ask. Free, no credit card.
2· Build
Build your pageant.
Pick your divisions, optionals, deadlines, and entry fees. Or clone last year's in one click.
3· Run
Run a paperless show.
Share the registration link, watch entries arrive, judge on tablets, crown your queen, send scoresheets — all from the same dashboard.
Chapter 03 — A quiet revenue line
Add a fundraiser without adding work.
Turn on People's Choice voting, share the link, and let supporters vote online. Bombyhead tracks votes, payments, and the leaderboard automatically. We only earn when you do — and in 2026, more than half of directors made more from People's Choice than from entry fees.
$2k–15k
Extra revenue per pageant. The 2026 median director added $3,723.
75%
Your share after Bombyhead’s 25% cut — before Stripe’s card fee.
$0
Setup cost. No risk to try, no contract to sign.
From the field — what the data shows
$1.59
Raised in votes for every $1 of entry fees — the 2026 median. Voting out-earned entry fees for most directors.
60+ days
Optimal contest duration. Launching when registration opens drives a 3× revenue lift.
75%
Of revenue arrives in the final week. Build to a crescendo, never a hard cutoff.
+79%
Lift when the prize includes an exclusive title. Prestige beats payout.
−35%
Revenue lost when prizes mention cash or fee credits. Don't price the crown.
Read the full best-practices guide →
New — Photo contests
Fill your next pageant with a photo contest.
Run a pay-to-enter online photo contest — contestants submit and pay per photo, your judges score the images, and every entrant leaves with a certificate. It’s the low-effort way to find new contestants: everyone who enters is a warm prospect for your next pageant. No stage, no venue — it runs entirely online, on your schedule, on the Bombyhead account you already have. You keep 75%, before Stripe’s standard card fee.
New names
Every entrant is a contact for your next pageant — a feeder for your roster.
75%
Your share, before Stripe’s card fee — same split as People’s Choice.
Any season
Yearly, quarterly, or monthly — revenue and engagement between pageants.
Chapter04
From the field — the last twelve months.
Running since 2022 — though the more useful number is what this past season looked like.
75
Pageants run in the last twelve months — about one every five days, from county fairs to state titles.
1,404
Contestants registered, judged and emailed their own scores in those twelve months.
66
Pageants on the 2026 calendar. All of last year was 50. Directors keep bringing the next one back.
Chapter05
What the best-run pageants don't think about anymore.
Eight things Bombyhead handles so you don't have to.
ii.
Stripe payments, instant deposits.
Entry fees flow straight into your Stripe account. No checks to chase, no Venmo screenshots to reconcile.
iii.
Instant tabulation. The scoresheet that's ready the same night.
Judges score on tablets or laptops. Weighted tabulation is instant — results are ready when the last score is entered, not after a back-room spreadsheet. Every contestant gets her individual scoresheet — judges' scores, written feedback, category breakdown — emailed the moment you release them, often that same night. No "we'll get back to you."
iv.
People's Choice voting.
Built-in fundraising with a real-time leaderboard, text reminders, and an upsell engine. Directors typically raise $2k–$15k per pageant. You keep 75%, before Stripe’s standard card fee.
v.
Duplicate last year, one click.
Clone everything — divisions, pricing, deadlines, colors, optional categories. Setup drops from days to minutes.
vi.
Photo library & reuse.
Once a contestant uploads a headshot, it's saved to their library. Next year, or in their next Bombyhead pageant, it's already there.
vii.
A world-class score audit.
Scores go from the judge's screen to the scoresheet untouched — time-stamped, logged, never hand-tallied. Any score changed after entry is flagged, your tabulator records what the judge said, and an independent auditor — with their own read-only login — signs off on every flag. Close each round as it ends and the scores are settled — a judge can’t revise a number after a contestant already has it in her inbox. When a parent asks for a recheck, you open the audit, not an argument. How it works →
viii.
It keeps working when the wi-fi doesn't.
Fairgrounds are metal buildings with one bar of signal. Every score a judge enters is saved on her own device first, then sent — and if the connection drops mid-competition, the scores wait and go the moment it comes back. Each box shows the judge whether it's saved yet. Nobody re-enters a round because the network blinked.
Chapter06
Every pageant gets a website.
Your pageant deserves to look the way you run it.
The pageants that look like real productions all have one thing in common: a website that takes them seriously. The pageants that don't are usually on a Facebook event page — and look small next to their competitors for it. Contestants weighing where to enter notice. Sponsors deciding whether to back you notice. Parents looking up call times notice.
Bombyhead replaces that with one polished page that does the work of a serious organization's website. Pick a theme, type your pageant name, drop in a banner and a schedule. The typography, layout, and contrast take care of themselves — every page looks art-directed, not assembled.
i.
One URL, forever.
bombyhead.com/p/your-pageant — the same address year after year. Search and shares compound across seasons.
ii.
You can't make it ugly.
Five contrast-checked editorial themes. Pick one; we control typography, spacing, and color rules so every page looks designed.
iii.
Built around your contests.
Contestant lineup auto-populates from registrations. Past winners stack up year over year — eighteen seasons, one URL.
Chapter 07 — The price
Free for directors. Always.
No monthly fee. No per-contestant charge. No credit card to start. Bombyhead earns only on the two optional ways you can raise money — and only when you do. Your money never passes through us — entry fees and votes go straight into your own Stripe account.
Free — always
- Registration & entry forms
- Payments + instant Stripe deposits
- Judging & scoring
- Scoresheets, released when you choose
- Your pageant's website
- Photo library & reuse
- Clone last year, one click
$0to run your pageant
Paid options
- People's Choice votingSupporters pay to vote for contestants.
- Standalone photo contestsContestants pay to enter and be judged.
Keep 75%before Stripe’s card fee · 25% is our only cut
If you ever credit Bombyhead in your pageant program, on your website, or on a sponsor card — thank you. Word from one director to another is how other directors find us, and it's how "free, always" stays free.
Director guides People's Choice Director contracts
Chapter08
In situ — the screens directors run on.
A quick gallery of the screens directors, judges, and contestants actually see.
Run your next pageant the way the ones you admire are run.
100% free · No credit card · Nothing to install
Already use JotForm or CognitoForms for registration and only need judging, scoring, and tabulation?
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