The path that leads to the sole survivor of NiniMomo's Doll of the World 2010 began weeks ago with the first step in narrowing the field of 135 Delegates to the Top 80 that made the first cut into the preliminaries. These 80 Delegates were hand picked by NiniMomo's Nik and Marie. The two know better than anyone the work that goes into creating each of these beautiful representatives from the sketch stage to the final release. The Top 80 represent the duo's favorites from the collection thus far and both are satisfied and proud of this elite group. The hardest part of the judging process was the elimination of yet another 30 Delegates down to the final group of 50 that will compete for the ultimate title of Doll of the World 2010. With the process being overseen by NiniMomo, the final 50 Delegates were chosen through an arduous elimination round based on email voting throughout the world with friends and acquaintances all connected to the World of Pageantry, Barbie and Fashion.

Now that the Top 50 have been chosen, the final round of competition begins with the announcement of our panel of judges. We are excited that this year's panel of judges includes some prominent figures within the Fashion Doll World. We will be announcing their names shortly along with all our judges for this year's competition. Amongst the judges, NiniMomo also likes to include their customers in the judging process, having them represent the public at large. We appreciate each and every judge on our panels from year to year as they are taking time from their personal lives to help us out. We know the process can be grueling, especially if indecisive about a winner.  Here are just a few comments from previous judges:

"Judging is always very difficult because each contestant is so unique! It takes me a very long time to choose the finalists as I give points for hairstyle, makeup, clothing and overall look. I narrow the field down several times and then re-rate them on a tighter scale to finally choose my winner."  -Janice D.

"Judging is always a challenge - it's more than looking at a pretty doll or a striking outfit.  I always have to take into account the design difficulty, level of craftsmanship, use of fabrics, trim and beadwork, and how well the potential winner(s) reflects the culture within the context of a beauty contest.  Not an easy task since all Ninimomo's are beautiful - but then again judging is meant to be a wonderful challenge." Amber B.

"I love judging for Ninimomo but it's always a challenge to find the right balance in my finalists of Classic Elegance with Haute Couture. In the end it's always the total package that has to just speak to me on some level." Leigh M.
 

For those of you that are not aware how a judge goes about choosing a winner, the task is pretty simple. Everyone on the panel receives a ballot sheet via email and each judge is directed to the Doll of the World section on our website. From there, each judge looks through the 50 Delegates and their personal pages and simply chooses their Top 20 favorites, narrowing their field down from 20 to ultimately their #1 Delegate, i.e. their winner. The process of choosing the winner is based on a point system and the winner on a judges ballot sheet doesn't necessarily mean that Delegate will win the ultimate title of NiniMomo's Doll of the World. For example, in last year's competition, Miss Turkey 2008, our reigning Doll of the World, was chosen as winner only on two judge's ballot sheets. Fortunately, one of the judging sheets was Nik of NiniMomo which counts double, as does Marie of NiniMomo. Marie's choice for Doll of the World, Miss Albania, had an overall third place victory. For the most part, the consistency of placing well on many ballot sheets versus winning on one or two judge's ballot sheets can sometimes be the difference between an ultimate win and a runner-up position. It is important to know, when following the judging process, the point system NiniMomo has devised since the winner's victory is based on the highest number of points a Delegate ultimately receives. Another important fact to remember is that we never have a judge on our panel somehow affiliated with any of the Delegates competing - i.e. the owners of these Delegates are unable to be on our panel.

Since NiniMomo's beginning in 1996, the company has celebrated their work and their customers by hosting this pageant at the close of each collection, choosing the most stunning delegate to represent NiniMomo for the year. Hosting this competition is a wonderful way for our valued customers to win discounts towards future NiniMomo Delegates. The Winner's owner receives a 35% discount off a future purchase while their Delegate wins the sash, the crown, the flowers and the title, "NiniMomo's Doll of the World ".

Within the past few years, NiniMomo Delegates have become more and more elaborate with signature hand-beaded detailing as well as haute-couture patterning. Hence, in the case of the International Pageant Collection, we divided the 270+ Delegates into 2 years worth of judging. This current competition for Doll of the World 2010 is the first of the two.

Now, with fierce competition in the forecast, which of the 50 Delegates will impress the judges and take the title of NiniMomo's Doll of the World 2010? Will it be one of the 9 favored Delegates, each of whom won their mini-pageants thus entering the final round with a headstart of  50 points?.

It's truly difficult to believe that this is the 14th Doll of the World competition that NiniMomo is hosting. We cannot thank our customers enough for continually supporting us and falling in love with our creations throughout the years! For those customers competing in this year's competition, we wish you the best of luck! And may the best Delegate win......

Here are 10 interesting facts about the history of NiniMomo's Doll of the World competition:

1. NiniMomo's first winner for Doll of the World was from Africa (Zimbabwe) and 9 years later, another African, Miss Zimbabwe, took the title. In addition, 1999 and 2000 each saw an African Delegate almost take the title, finishing as 1st runner-up (Misses Ghana and Sudan). Let's see if our advancing Delegates from Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Namibia, Ivory Coast and Kenya can pull another victory for the African continent.

1997 marked our first Doll of the World competition and Miss Zimbabwe took the title			Doll of the World 2005, Miss Zimbabwe was the 2nd African to win			In 1999, Miss Ghana almost took the title but finished in 2nd place			A year later in 2000, Miss Sudan tried to accomplish what Miss Ghana could not and again had to settle for 2nd place

2. Miss Greece has been the only Delegate to have repeat victories, in 1998 and 2007. Although obviously considered the most winning nation, all other Greek Delegates have failed to make the finals

Doll of the World 1999, Miss Greece, was our first winner from this historic nation			Once again, Miss Greece took the title in 2006 with this smashing Dior vintage gown

3. Three winners have come from the Islands, Misses Trinidad & Tobago (2002), Dominican Republic (2004) and Cuba (2006). Miss Grenada and Miss Curacao each came close to winning the titles in 1998 and 2005. With only two representatives from the Islands this year, Misses Guadeloupe and Dominican Republic, its going to be a tough act to follow!

Our first Doll of the World from the islands came in 2002 with this Trini beauty

Two years later Miss Dominican Republic seized the title

2006 was Cuba's year to claim top prize

Years before, in 1998, Miss Curacao came close to be the first Island girl to capture the crown, finishing 2nd.

Miss Grenada finished third in the 2005 competition

4. 2nd Runner Up for Doll of the World 2003, Miss Nigeria, is the only Silkstone to ever place in competition

One of the few Silkstone Barbies to ever grace the NiniMomo stage, Miss Nigeria fell two slots short of winning the title. After much request, NiniMomo will be debuting several Silkstones at this summer's National Barbie Convention.

5. As NiniMomo considers Greece & Spain to be part of the Mediterranean area of the World, no European has won the title to date. Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland and Belgium all came very close by finishing as 1st runner-up in their competitions. A total of 7 European Delegates have entered the Top 50, two of which have won their mini-pageants, Misses Poland and Estonia.

Our first Miss Switzerland almost took the crown in 1997 but settled for 2nd place.			Miss Sweden would have nabbed the crown if it wasn't for Miss Philippines back in 2001			In 2005, Scotland was the closest European to the crown, finishing in 2nd place			Only 184 points separated this Belgian beauty from the Turkish Doll of the World in last year's competition

6. Who is the nation that has yet to win but has had the most placements? Italy. She has been among the favored for 9 competitions. She has been 1st runner up, 2nd runner up, top 10 twice, top 15 twice and has won three Non-Finalist awards in Doll of the World history. India is next on the list with 5 placements. Can the current Miss Italy better the stats? She's already advanced to the Top 50 so she has a shot!

1997's Italian Rep took Non-Finalist "Most Beautiful Gown" Award

Miss Italy won Nik's "Honorable Mention" award in the Non-Finalist category in 1998

In 1999, Miss Italy finished a formidable 7th place.

2000's Italian representative almost took the title finishing in third place

Another strong year for Italy finishing 7th yet again - three years in a row placing in the the top 10

The closest any Miss Italy came to winning the title came two years later in 2003

Another Top 10 placement for Italy, this time 8th in 2005

This Italian beauty took the Non-Finalist title of "Most Beautiful Gown" in 2007

Miss Italy finished an admirable 11th place for 2008

7. Oceania has yet to have a winner but has had multiple finalists throughout the pageant's history, the closest being Miss Australia's 4th place finish in 2007 and Miss New Zealand in 2001, also finishing in 4th place. Miss Australia 2009 has a shot for the title as she not only advanced to the Top 50 but won her mini-pageant to boot! Three other Oceanic Divas have advanced to the Top 50 - Misses Tahiti, Micronesia and Tasmania.

3rd Runner Up, Miss New Zealand from the 2001 competiton			3rd Runner Up, Miss Australia from the 2007 competiton

8. The Russian Republics also have yet to see a victory but came close in 2007 with Miss Tatarstan's Top 5 finish and Misses Chechnya and Ingushetia's Top 5 finishes in 2002. This can be a Russian year as 7 beauties from this area of the World have advanced to the competition round, three of which won their mini-pageants - keep an eye out!

Miss Tatarstan was an early favorite back in 2007			Miss Ingushetia finished in 4th and Miss Chechnya in 5th in 2002 This was the debut year of the Russian Republics to NiniMomo's International Pageant Collection.

9. Although Miss Venezuela took the crown in 1999, we're probably the only pageant where Venezuela has won ONLY once so far! Can our current Miss Venezuela pull off another victory for the South American nation? She's in the Top 50 wearing a Gaultier couture replica, so she's in the running!

NiniMomo's Doll of the World 1999 from Venezuela

10. Finally in the 14 years we've been holding NiniMomo's Doll of the World, we have yet to have a winner with blonde hair. This year, things may change as we have a strong field of blondes competing for the title!

Outside of some of the beauties mentioned above, keep an eye on the below Delegates as some of them may be the "Dark Horses" of the competition!

Showy and Exotic may catch the judges attention and maybe Miss Zimbabwe will be the second Delegate from her nation to win the NiniMomo crown	Dark and so very Haute-Couture, Bhutan can definitely be that dark horse.	With 20% of the Delegates in the Finals coming from Asia, Miss Japan can be the second Asian to win the crown (Miss Philippines did it back in 2001)	The beauty and elegance of Miss South Korea's ethnic ensemble may catapult her to the crown	One our favorite gown styles inspired from Christian Dior, Miss Chile and her couture evening gown is sure to get attention!	If ethereal can be sexy, then Miss Wales is definitely all that. Her exquisite hand-sewn beadwork is sure to get some votes	Can a whimsical Delegate steal the crown? Well it happened in 2002 and 2006 and Miss Malta may have to trade in her couture hat for a tiara!

If you'd like to see the past Delegates that have worn the NiniMomo crown, check out our Hall of Winners

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