PLAYING AT PAGEANTS

(3 of 3)
There is certainly no evidence that JonBenet was performing against her will--and judges say it is alarmingly obvious when a child does not want to be onstage. Indeed, those who saw JonBenet compete say the child was a natural--spirited and spontaneous. One of the events JonBenet was preparing for before her murder was sponsored by Amerikids, a nonprofit youth development group based in Denver. JonBenet and nine other girls ages five to 18 planned to dance next month at the local Ronald McDonald charity ball. "JonBenet and her mother were here every week to practice," says Suzie Dolan, the event's organizer. "They dedicated a lot of time to the performing group, but it's not what you see on TV--the pageant stuff. People need to know that what you see on TV is not what JonBenet was like. It wasn't just beauty stuff. She was just a regular kid. She wanted to be an Olympic skater. She loved the interaction with the other girls."

Parents and pageant organizers also claim that competing dramatically enhances a young child's self-confidence. "I started with my daughter, who was beautiful but shy," says Griego. "She became much more outgoing. But the real difference was in my son, who was very shy and never walked with his head up. Now he's a totally different person. Very confident."

And in many ways the little girls who look strangely like little adults act grown up as well. "The children who participate in these contests are extremely intelligent as well as extremely attractive," says LaCour. "They can hold a conversation with anybody. They're quick thinkers; they have to be--they have to know how to alter a long-practiced routine if someone ahead of them has just done what they were planning to do. They have what's known in the industry as the 'whole package.'" JonBenet Ramsey may have had that but, notes LaCour, "There are hundreds more just like her."

--Reported by Cathy Booth/Boulder, Tammerlin Drummond/Miami, Jeanne McDowell/Los Angeles and Lisa H. Towle/Raleigh