Filipino American baby is the Prettiest in America!

Fil-Am baby 'prettiest' in America
Cameron Dancel

Unknown to many, America 's reigning prettiest baby is a Fil-Am girl.

Yes, Virginia, one-year-old Cameron "Cami" Malia Dancel of Warren , Michigan , won the Beautiful Baby Search sponsored by "Live with Regis and Kelly" on ABC and graced the cover of Parenting magazine's June 2007 edition immediately after winning the nationwide search.

The $5,000 she won is already in a 529 college fund, her parents said.

Photos of about 150,000 babies were e-mailed to the ABC show and the entries were trimmed down to Top 10 contenders.

Viewers who were asked to vote online gave Cami more than 200,000 votes to become one of five finalists.

The five babies appeared on the show in New York City ; then editors of Parenting chose Cami.

Several videoclips are posted on YouTube.

"I really think it was her presence on TV that helped her win," said Cami's father Carl-Richard "Rich" Dancel in an interview with the Detroit Free Press during a red carpet welcome for the Fil-Am cutie-pie.

"When we watched the videos, we saw that every time she came on stage and the audience clapped, she would just turn on," he said. "She'd smile. She'd laugh. That captured a lot of hearts."

Mother Melody attributes her first child's beauty to big eyes, thick hair and a charismatic personality.

Cami was the youngest of the five finalists, and tiniest. Even now, at 30 inches tall, she weighs only 18 pounds.

"She is not only blessed with a lively, alert face, but represents the colorfully diverse future of America ," said Detroit Free Press' Susan Ager.

"Looking at Cami, you can't exactly guess her heritage, but you know her ancestors didn't come over on the Mayflower."

Cami's parents met as teenagers. Melody, 30, grew up in Windsor, Ontario, the daughter of Filipino immigrants.

Rich, 32, was born in the Philippines but moved with his family to metro Detroit when he was four.

They married five years ago. He's a design engineer for General Motors. She works part time for a credit union.

Family watches Cami when her parents can't; the family is huge and close.

About 150 cousins, aunts, uncles and others - including seven godparents - who all came to Cami's first birthday party on June 2 at a community center where they enjoyed karaoke, a big cake and traditional Filipino food.

"It was my mother-in-law who urged a bunch of us in the family to enter - my husband and two of his brothers had three babies within weeks of each other," said Melody, who entered her daughter's casual photo 90 minutes before the deadline. "We're the only ones who listened."

"Seeing how the Parenting photos came out at the shoot - how they showcased my daughter - was amazing," she added. "And it was great to witness Cameron relating to the show's audience in such a positive way. We weren't sure if she'd get scared and start crying."

"She enjoyed every minute of the audience clapping at the show, and loved the cameras at the photo shoot - she kept reaching for the lens. She really likes attention. We're going to remember this for the rest of our lives," said Melody.

As for a career in modeling, Melody said she's not going to push it right now.
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Article from the Filipino Reporter newspaper - New York dted, Aug.24-30, 2007 issue.