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Meet This Year's Child Mullet Championship Finalists

Vanessa Romo
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A boy of around 8 with blunt fringe and blond straight mullet wears wraparound sunglasses and an American flag shirt.
Emmett, from Carthage, N.C., made it into the finals of the kids' division sporting this blunt, baby-fringe haircut.

Call it a Kentucky Waterfall, a Tennessee Top Hat or a Missouri Compromise, at the end of the day it’s the same iconic haircut: the mullet.

And now fans of the business in the front, party in the back hairdo have a chance to vote on their favorite styles in this year’s USA Mullet Championship.

Finalists in the kids and teens categories were selected earlier this week, and it’s up to online voters to decide who wins the dubious honor of champion mullet-head before polls close on Friday.

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.

Contestants pay $10 to enter and CBS reports that “all of the donations are going to the Michigan Wig Foundation for kids.” First place winners each take home a whopping $2,500 prize.

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For those who are curious and have the time to mull-et over, below are a few of the top finalists. Who do you think deserves to win?

A boy of around 3 wears a shoulder-length brown mullet on his head.
Rustin from Pocahontas, Ark., is among the contest’s youngest participants. (USA Mullet Championships)
A boy of around 15 sports a red mullet and large reflective wraparound sunglasses.
Cash has been rocking this blazing mullet around his home town of Ulysses, Ky. He is a teen finalist. (USA Mullet Championships)
A boy of around 16 wears his hair in long cascading blond curls, shaved at the sides.
A mullet like Fisher’s takes years to grow. The effort by the teen finalist from Hillard, Florida, could earn him the first place prize of $2,500. (USA Mullet Championships)
A boy of around 12 in sunglasses and brightly colored Hawaiian shirt wears his brown hair in a mullet.
Epic, from La Joya, Texas, proves that a full mullet effect isn’t complete without a pair of reflective sunglasses. (USA Mullet Championships)
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