[imagesource: USA Mullet Championships]

Behold, the beauty of the child mullet.

I’m not sure you’ll see too many of these haircuts along the Atlantic Seaboard. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, it’s quite a different story.

On Friday, the finalists in the kids’ division of the USA Mullet Championships were revealed. Epic Orta from La Joya, Texas made the cut, as did a number of other laaities who will no doubt be forced to relive these photos at their 21st birthdays.

NPR has more on the competition:

According to organizers, the contest has grown from a local competition in Michigan in 2020 to a national extravaganza of flamboyant and questionable taste.

This year’s participants are supporting the full spectrum of the infamous haircut from patriotic vibes, featuring a shorn-in American flag, to the classier Mozart-esque flowing curly locks look.

You came here to see the mullets and we don’t want to disappoint:

Image: USA Mullet Championships

Image: USA Mullet Championships

Image: USA Mullet Championships

Image: USA Mullet Championships

Image: USA Mullet Championships

In order to enter the competition, contestants must pay $10. Take home first place and you’re looking at a $2 500 prize.

Voting closed on Friday and the winner was announced yesterday. The above mullet-wearers left empty-handed because eight-year-old Emmitt Bailey, who is apparently known as ‘Mullet Boy’ in his home town, was crowned champion.

Miller won with a total of 9 896 votes and Epic Orta came second with 8 404 votes.

BuzzFeed News spoke with Miller, who was in fine spirits after beating 688 mullets to the title:

“It’s awesome… It’s cool that so many people tell you that you got sweet hair.”

…Emmitt [below] said he’d been growing his mullet, which he has nicknamed “Mufasa,” for two years, and mom Erin Bailey confessed she didn’t initially support the plan.

Image: USA Mullet Championships

“He was pretty adamant about wanting the mullet since the beginning,” she told BuzzFeed News. “I wasn’t on board right away, but it’s just become part of his personality now. He just likes to do his own thing and have his own hair.”

Emmitt says he plans to spend his winnings on a go-kart.

The competition also helps raise money for Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids, a Michigan charity that provides wigs for children who are suffering from hair loss due to cancer, alopecia, or other disorders.

Add this to the fact that the mullet helped save an Australian town and it’s hard not to be won over.

[sources:npr&buzzfeed]