Set up scoring this week.

Why scoring setup happens now, not pageant week.

The most common pageant-night disasters aren't logistics. They're scoring problems that should have been caught two months ago: a category configured with the wrong score range, judges who can't log in fifteen minutes before they're supposed to score, a tabulation that doesn't account for a tie-breaker the director never told the platform about.

The fix is simple in principle: set up scoring the same week you publish your registration page, then run a complete test before the first contestant has paid. If something doesn't fit Bombyhead, you find out with two months of runway, not two hours.

How the free scoring system works.

The free scoring system is intentionally simple, which means the vocabulary is small. Here's the whole model:

• Areas of Competition are the things judges score — Interview, Beauty, Talent, Evening Gown. Each area gets one score from each judge (not sub-criteria).
• Each area has a weight — a percentage of the total. Weights across all non-optional areas must add up to 100. Interview 30, Beauty 30, Talent 25, Evening Gown 15 is a typical split.
• Each area has a number of judges. You can have a different panel scoring Interview than scoring Talent if your show works that way. Most pageants use the same panel for all areas.
• Areas can be optional. An optional area is scored but doesn't count toward the overall ranking — useful for stand-alone awards like Most Photogenic.
• Areas can be assigned to specific divisions — handy when, say, only the Miss division does Talent.
• Score range applies to all areas — one minimum and one maximum for the whole pageant. Common: 1–10 or 1–100.
• Three login roles. Judges enter scores on tablets or laptops. The Tabulator watches scores come in and views the running tally. The Emcee sees just enough to announce results. Each role gets its own login.
• Tabulation is automatic. Each judge's score for an area is averaged with the other judges scoring that area, the area average is multiplied by its weight, the weighted scores sum into the contestant's total. Highest total wins.

Set up your areas of competition.

From your dashboard, click Setup Scoring Criteria. You'll land on the Scoring Configuration page. The first table is Areas of Competition — that's where you define what judges score and how it's weighted.

Click Add Competition to add an area. For each one, set:

• Name. What the area is called on the judge's screen — Beauty, Interview, Talent, Evening Gown. Use the name contestants and judges already know.
• Number of judges. How many people will score this area. Most pageants use the same number across every area, but you can vary it (e.g., a 5-judge interview panel and a 3-judge talent panel).
• Weight. The area's percentage of the total. Weights across all non-optional areas must add up to 100. The system will warn you if they don't.
• Optional checkbox. Tick this if the area is a stand-alone award — like Most Photogenic — that's scored but doesn't count toward the overall ranking. Optional areas don't need a weight.
• Divisions. Pick which divisions this area applies to. Most areas apply to all divisions; uncheck the ones it doesn't apply to (e.g., Talent might only apply to the Miss and Teen divisions).

Below the table, set the Score Range — the minimum and maximum a judge can enter. Defaults are 0 and 100. Common alternatives: 1–10 (simpler for judges) or 1–100 (more granular). One range applies to every area.

What the free scoring system supports today.

Read this list as "if you need any of these, Bombyhead's free scoring can do it":

What it doesn't (yet) support.

Read this list as "if you need any of these, the free Bombyhead scoring isn't the right tool — review PageantScore.com (our sister product) and other judging platforms to see which one fits your scoring rules."

The free Bombyhead scoring is intentionally simple. We don't plan to add the items below — keeping the system small is what makes it reliable. We can't promise PageantScore covers every gap either; it's a separate platform with its own capabilities, so look at what it actually does before committing.

Add judges, tabulator, and emcee.

Three login roles run pageant night. Set them all up now so any "I can't log in" issues surface during setup, not fifteen minutes before crowning.

Pageant Judges. Click Add Judge for each one. Give each judge a short Login ID (anything memorable — first name works fine) and the judge's name. Bombyhead generates a Quick Link for each judge that pre-fills their login — you can copy it and send via text or email.

Tabulator (Auditor). One Tabulator login per pageant, set under Pageant Tabulator. The Tabulator watches scores come in live and sees the running tally as judges submit. Multiple people can share the Tabulator login (typical setup: a Tabulator and a backup Auditor reviewing each other's interpretation of close results).

Emcee. One Emcee login per pageant, set under Pageant Emcee. The Emcee sees just enough information to announce results from the stage — placements and award winners, without the underlying judge-by-judge scores. Useful when your emcee isn't a tabulator and shouldn't see the math.

Things to tell every login holder in advance:

• Bring a tablet or laptop. Phones technically work, but the scoring screen is dense — a 10-inch screen is the minimum for comfort.
• The venue needs Wi-Fi. Scores save as the judge enters them, so a connection drop mid-pageant is recoverable but stressful. Confirm the venue has working Wi-Fi at least a week before the show.
• The login URL is bombyhead.com/tally.html. They'll need their Login ID and the contest ID. The Quick Link bundles both, so it's the easiest way to send the invite.
• Each judge needs their own Login ID. Don't share between judges. The audit trail depends on knowing who scored what.
• Send a practice invite two weeks before the show. They should be able to log in, see test contestants, and click around without entering real scores. See Chapter 07.

Load contestants, then test the full flow.

This is the most important chapter in the guide. Setting up scoring isn't done until you've watched the system tabulate against real-shaped data. Bombyhead makes this much easier than it sounds — there's a one-click test mode that loads dummy contestants and random scores so you can verify everything works without having to fake-judge thirty real people.

How contestants reach the scoring system in production:

• If you collected registrations on Bombyhead — after registration closes, click Load Registered Contestants Into Judging System. Everyone who paid an entry fee is pulled in.
• If you collected registrations elsewhere — click Import Contestants and upload a CSV with three columns: name, division, email. Bombyhead handles the rest.

The test flow, before the real contestants are loaded:

1. Click Load Test Contestants and Random Scores from the Testing section near the bottom of the Scoring Configuration page. This loads a roster of dummy contestants and pre-fills random judge scores for them, so the system has data to tabulate.
2. Open your Tabulator Quick Link in one browser tab. You'll see the running tally — placements, totals per area, the math that produces a winner. Take a moment to convince yourself the rankings make sense given the random scores. If something looks off (weights misadding, an area absent, scores in the wrong direction), this is the moment to find it.
3. Open one Judge Quick Link in another browser (or an incognito window). You'll see the test contestants ready to score. Enter scores for one or two — confirm the score range matches what you set, the area names are right, and submission feels smooth.
4. Refresh your Tabulator tab. The new scores you just entered should flow through to the tally instantly.
5. Open the Emcee Quick Link in a third browser/tab. Confirm the Emcee view shows what you'd want announced — placements and winners — without exposing raw judge-by-judge scores.
6. Click View Contestant Scoresheets from the Scoresheets section. Look at one of the test contestants' sheets. Read it the way a contestant or parent would. Anything confusing, ugly, or wrong? Email us before it goes out for real.
7. When you're done, click Reset Scores to clear the test data. Judges and Tabulators will need to refresh their pages to see the cleared state.

What to expect on pageant night.

If you've followed Chapters 01–07, the show itself is the easy part. Here's what to know:

• Judges sign in once and stay signed in. Their scoring screen stays open the whole show. As contestants come up, judges score them and submit. Scores save instantly.
• The Tabulator watches the math live. They don't have to do anything except sit somewhere with a screen and confirm rankings as the show progresses. Tabulation is automatic — the Tabulator's job is to verify, not to compute.
• The Emcee sees announcements when they're ready. Their view simplifies — placements and winners, no judge-by-judge scores. They announce from the same page they're already logged into.
• If a judge loses connection mid-show, scores already entered are safe. Worst case: pull them off the venue's Wi-Fi and onto a phone hotspot for ten minutes. Don't ask them to "start over."
• Crowning is whatever you make it. Bombyhead doesn't do anything magical at crowning — the math is just instantly ready when the Tabulator says go. The director picks the moment.
• Scoresheets are ready when scoring closes — but you choose when to send them. From the Scoring Configuration page, click View Contestant Scoresheets and then Send. One click delivers every contestant her individual scoresheet by email. Bombyhead does not auto-send — the timing is your call.

For a fuller pageant-night runbook, watch for the upcoming Pageant Night Guide — coming after we hear from a few directors how their first ones went.

If your scoring needs don't fit.

Bombyhead's free scoring is intentionally simple. The whole model fits in two tables (Chapters 04 and 05). Sub-criteria, weighted criteria, prelims-and-finals, drop-the-high/drop-the-low, automated tie-breakers — those are not on the roadmap. Keeping the system small is what makes it free, fast, and reliable.

If your show needs more than the free Bombyhead scoring can do, our sister product is PageantScore.com. PageantScore is a separate judging platform with its own capabilities — different model, different feature set. Some of the items in Chapter 05 are things it handles; some aren't. We can't promise it covers every gap, so review what it actually does and decide whether it fits your scoring rules. It's also worth comparing against other judging platforms before committing.

What to do, depending on your situation:

• Your needs fit Chapter 04's "supports" table. Use Bombyhead's free scoring. Set it up this week and run the test from Chapter 07.
• You need anything from Chapter 05's "doesn't support" table. Review PageantScore.com and other judging platforms to find one that handles the specific rules your show requires. Bombyhead handles registration, payments, and People's Choice voting cleanly regardless of which judging platform you ultimately pick.
• You're not sure which one fits. Email support@bombyhead.com with a description of your scoring rules. We'll tell you honestly whether the free Bombyhead scoring will work for your show. We won't oversell PageantScore — we own both products, but we'd rather you land on the system that genuinely fits than the one we own.