Child beauty pageants are a billion-dollar industry in the U.S. While some critics see the pageants as an exploitation of innocents, others—particularly pageant parents—view the competitions as a way for a young talent to enter the entertainment industry.

A conscript hugs a girl as he says goodbye to family members at a local railway station during departure for the garrisons, in Sevastopol, Crimea on November 9, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters)

Darryl Horner jnr riding Flying Agent (bottom R) races away to defeat Steven Pateman riding Bit of a Lad in Race 6, the 3yb Scotty Stewart Brierly Steeplechase, on Brierly Day during the Warrnambool Jumps Carnival at Warrnambool Racing Club on May 04, 2021 in Warrnambool, Australia. (Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images)

American Song Contest winner, American singer, dancer and actress based in South Korea AleXa arrives to the 2022 Billboard Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 15, 2022. (Photo by Christopher Polk/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Traditional miners carry sulphur on the Ijen volcano complex on May 25, 2009 outside Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia. Miners carry the solidified yellow sulphur blocks from the crater floor to the rim for as many hours a day as they can tolerate, paid by the kilogram of sulphur they extract. The average wage is USD $.05 per kilogram of sulphur and a worker, depending on his strength and stamina, carry on average 3 baskets of 70-80kg per day, earning him around USD $11. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

People in boats approach “Die Badende” (“The Bather”), a giant sculpture showing a woman's head and knees as if she were resting in the Binnenalster lake on August 3, 2011 in Hamburg, Germany. The sculpture, which is made of styrofoam and steel and measures 4 meters high and 30 meters long, is a project by artist Oliver Voss and will be on display for the next ten days. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A woman poses for a photograph with light sculptures depicting animals that make up the twelve animals of the zodiac during a photocall to promote the Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Gardens in west London on January 29, 2016. The festival, to celebrate Chinese New Year 2016 – the Year of the Monkey, uses more than 50 hand-sculpted lanterns and is set to run from Febuary 3 to March 6, 2016. (Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP Photo)

Japanese businessman Kiyoshi Kimura has paid 1.38 million euros ($1.76 million, or 155.4 million yen) for a blue fin tuna – more than three times the previous high – which he also set one year ago. The 222-kilogram fish will be served to Kimura’s customers. Blue fin tuna is annually sold in a traditional New Year’s auction. Japan consumes 80 percent blue fin tuna caught worldwide.

Photo: President of sushi restaurant chain Sushi-Zanmai, Kiyoshi Kimura, displays a 222kg bluefin tuna at his main restaurant near Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market on January 5, 2013. The bluefin tuna was traded at 155.4 million yen (1.77 million USD) at the wholesale market, smashing a previous record. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)