LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — Four-year-old Destiny Christian of London and eight-year-old Emma Brock of Corbin will be featured on The Learning Channel’s (TLC) “Toddlers & Tiaras” in August.

A film crew came to London in early April to follow the girls as they prepared for the Beautiful Me “Rocking Around the Clock” pageant in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

The pageant is owned and directed by Angela Crawford Smith of Corbin.

The families were recently notified the show will air at 9 p.m. on August 29.

Destiny is the daughter of Desmond and Lisa Christian.

In April, the film crew followed the Christians as Destiny got her spray tan and hair done for the pageant.  Destiny got her hair done at Cuts 2000 and her spray tan by Becky Browning of TanTastic Spray Tanning, which is located inside Sugar & Spice Children’s Boutique, which will be featured on the show. They also filmed her during the pageant.

For Emma, it was getting her nails done and shopping for her gown.  She is the daughter of Vikki and Billy Brock.

Emma got her nails done at Fabulous Nails on the Cumberland Parkway in Corbin and she bought her gown, earrings and bows at Princerella’s Children’s Boutique, also in Corbin. The crew also filmed her at home while she practiced, tried on her outfits, and loaded suitcases in the car trunk for the trip to the pageant.

At the “Rocking Around the Clock” pageant, Emma won Ultimate Face Supreme and receiveda $250 and a $500 savings bond.

At the pageant Destiny won overall personality supreme and $100.

“She always wins overall personality supreme,” said Lisa Christian. “Almost in every pageant we go to she wins overall personality. I think personality equals beauty. I’m happy with that.”

Emma had never done a glitz pageant before the one in Gatlinburg.

“She’s always been natural,” her mother Vikki Brock said.

For the 50s-inspired pageant, Emma dressed up like I Love Lucy in her rumba outfit.

"I put a red wig on her,” Vicki said.

“She loves it,” she added. “She gets a little upset when she doesn’t win the supreme title. She tries to get the highest title out there.”

Vikki said Emma put so much more personality on stage than when she had cameras following her around at home.

“Me and my other daughter just kept laughing because ‘who was this child that’s up there?’ She just kept rocking it out. I was just in awe of what she was doing. She really ate the camera up. We’ll have to see what it looks like after they put it all together.”

Contestants on the TLC show do not see the edited footage prior to its air date.

The part of the whole experience Destiny loves the most is meeting the people.

“She loves all the people and she claps for everybody,” Lisa said. “Even when she’s not on stage, she’s a team player. She loves to be with the other kids.”

She does go into pageant mode, but she is pretty much on stage as off, Lisa said.

“She’s won 33 personality titles. I think the show will portray her like she really is. She’s just a real feisty little girl. She has a lot of personality. I think her personality is really going to take her somewhere. I don’t think they’ll portray her badly.”

This contest was her first glitz pageant and she was in the 4-year-old category.

“Everything went pretty good. She didn’t have any meltdowns or anything like that,” Lisa said. “She was excited, couldn’t wait to get on the stage.”



cmills@sentinel-echo.com