tonight on "nightline," pageant dads. we go inside the curious world of the child beauty pageant, where daughters compete in sequins, spray tans and swim suits to meet the fathers now pushing their little girls to be winners. hoping for a miracle. we meet the second patient in the world to join a radical new approach to fighting alzheimer's. could a cure be on the horizon? and, sounds good. from pop songs -- ♪ do you believe in life after love ♪ >> to comedy skilts. ♪ i'm on a boat >> reporter: to campaign spoofs. ♪ i'm not a witch >> reporter: auto tune is everywhere.

but can it fix our correspondent's singing voit ii? it's a "sign of the times." >> announcer: from the global resourtss of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 22nd, 2010. >> good evening. we're going to begin tonight with one of those colorful corners of american culture that can be mysterious to outsiders, but all consuming to those who participate. child beauty pageants. little girls as young as 3 compete for beauty crowns, all with the encouragement of their parents. but now, it's not just the moms, it's the dads, who are playing the role of head coach and cheerleader for their daughters. and tonight, andrea canning introduces us to pageant dads. >> reporter: they're a sideline staple on the pageant circuit. extreme stage moms accused of

living through their daughters. >> our next contestant is going to be ava perez. >> reporter: but now, there's a new and unexpected face emerging in the world of glitz and glamour. the pageant dad. >> shaky shaky. >> i don't know. i didn't see -- >> she did a back flip. >> reporter: on the hit show "toddlers and ttiaras," david per perez wants to take his daughter to miss america. >> i'm her biggest cheerleader. my wife and i are always joking that, if you need to fix a flat tire, you go to hear. if you need to win miss universe, you go to me. >> reporter: he's one of a growing number of damds behind the divas. >> this is 'em lip's trophy room. >> reporter: alex salazar grew up a jock, playing sports and

working on cars. he never imagined that one day he'd be practicing pageant routines with his 6-year-old daughter emily. are you more into this than your wife? >> oh, yes. >> reporter: you are a real guy's guy. how did you get into this world? it must have been so weird at first. >> i wanted her to play sports. she played tee ball one year and it was too sweaty for her. we didn't go there. >> reporter: so instead of teaching her how to throw, salazar and his daughter now design gowns together. >> we come up with ideas, color schemes. sometimes we clash, sometimes we don't. it just depends on what we're going for. >> reporter: so, with all due respect, what do you know about designing gowns? >> i have an eye for perfection. >> reporter: and perfection is what the judges are looking for. focusing on bodies and beauty. a study by the american psychological association raises concerns about pageants, saying the girls learn to see themselves as objects to be

looked at and evaluated, linking premature emphasis on beauty to low self-esteem and depression. you have a very unique perspective as a father. how do you feel when so much emphasis is placed on beauty and people are looking at your daughter in a bikini at such a young age? >> i really don't, because it's just like dress-up for her. she's done dance and had to wear costumes that i didn't agree with, but it's part of dance and cheer, and the same thing with the makeup. i know people say it's exploiting your daughter and stuff, but i don't see it. here is her displace case. >> reporter: he admits there's been some backlash, being a macho man in a girly world. >> the guys tease me at the beginning. my friends. you're going to go to the pageant instead of watching the game? but they saw how close me and my daughter are. >> crowns across the stop here. >> reporter: bryan late that also became a pageant dad for

his daughters. >> which pageant did you have the most fun at? >> reporter: and he, too, acknowledges the role reversal hasn't always been accepted. >> i got teased a little bit. because when i first started doing this, there weren't a lot of dads involved. through the years, more and more fathers have been coming around. >> reporter: the 6'3" general contractor builds the props for the girls' routines, mixes the music and even coordinates outfits. >> i haven't had many girls go on the stage, with a dad going on, it stood out. we thought, well, we work that angle. so i started dressing to match the girls' outfit. a tie or a shirt or whatever the case may be. i tried to play the angle where i would potentially help them. >> reporter: and, he says, it's all been worth it. what is it about daddies and daughters? >> it's undescribable. >> reporter: it's magic, isn't it? >> it really is. >> reporter: while fathers and

daughters do have that special bond, not every dad is so ready to enter the cut-throat world of spray tans, hair extensions and fake nails. >> do you think you can help me put nails on them? >> do you want me to? >> i would love it if you did. >> reporter: barry sterling reluctantly supports his family's passion for pageants. >> running around is unacceptable. >> brianne is acting like a spoiled brat right now. i'm not a big -- the big fan of the glitz pageants. that's a significant concern that i have, is they're competing against each other. >> reporter: he admits part of it is keeping the peace in his marriage. >> by opposing what jamie desires to do, it would create friction in the marriage. i didn't want to be fighting about it all the time. and there has to be a compromise. >> he met a pageant girl. if he didn't like that, he should have gone a different direction. >> reporter: salazar says that while it may not be manly, he wouldn't trade the bond he's built with his daughter for anything. >> i see it as time -- she's a

little girl and i'm going to be walking her down the aisle sooner or later and i'm not going to get those memories back. i will always have time for football later on in life. >> reporter: i'm andrea canning for "nightline" in new york. >> dads and daughters and those beauty pageants. thanks to andrea for that report. when we come back, we're going to turn to a radical new gene therapy that doctors hope will stop alzheimer's disease. we're going to meet a remarkable patient, who is also a pioneer. look at all this stuff for coffee. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it, though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah.

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right now, more than 5.1 million americans are living with alzheimer's disease. every few minutes. someone else develops this terrible scourge. alzheimer's is a hard journey for patients and their families. but and this is important, there is hope, and tonight, we want to take you into an amazing clinical trial that is testing a radical new treatment at several hospitals across the country. and we want you to meet a courageous couple who volunteered to be apart of it. >> the adventure begins. >> reporter: this is a story about courage and about hope -- >> very much so. >> reporter: and about another. rich smith has alzheimer's disease. he is 57. last december, rich and his wife sherry sherry, that's her real name, and she was capturing the day on camera. they arrived at georgetown university hospital to become pioneers in a bold new clinical

trial designed to fight alzheimer's. rich is the second patient in the world to undergo voluntary brain surgery as part of this cutting edge clinical trial that is testing the first gene therapy for alzheimer's. >> this is from when we first met. >> reporter: rich and sherry met 19 years ago in colorado. sherry is a professional psychic, on sirius-xm radio. it was love at first sight. >> it was a spiritual conference. there was people that could see things and they saw it happen to us, as far as our being connected. >> reporter: just clicked? >> oh, yeah. >> just perfectly clicked. we're exact on siments but we perfectly clicked. >> 100% opposites. >> reporter: then, about ten years ago, rich started having trouble. >> we put, label where the cups

and glasses are. >> reporter: he struggled with basic tasks, grew forgetful, then withdrawn, then depressed. >> at first i thought it was mid-life crisis and depression. >> reporter: could you feel, could you knnotice something happening to you? >> yeah, because it was so out of the norm. i would be frustrated. i would feel, like, what the heck is going on with me? >> reporter: the doctors were puzzled. rich was a strong and healthy man in his mid 40s. no family history of alzheimer's. then, in 2006, the diagnosis. it was alzheimer's. >> we just came home and we just sat in bed together and just -- we sat there for hours. and emotionally, we were kind of in mourning and in shock. >> reporter: alzheimer's is something that really tests a relationship.

you really find out what love is about, don't you? >> well, i just so happened to have a gem. >> we're both lucky to have each other. >> yes, we are. >> we're both lucky. >> reporter: so, sherry got to work, scouring the internet, looking for clinical trials to get into. she found georgetown. >> we're hoping to delay the on-set or stop the progression for five years, ten years, 20 years or perhaps even longer. >> we're going to be doing this gene therapy. >> reporter: here's the idea. through surgery, a gene is injected directly into the brain of a patient, and that gene produces a chemical, nerve growth factor. that, it is hoped, will stop the death of memory that is the hallmark of alzheimer's, by me venting the death of certain nerve cells in the brain. >> the goal is to keep those nerve cells alive and happy and working. so that the dementia does not continue.

>> reporter: two things you should remember. this is a clinical trial. at the very earliest stages testing a very experimental approach. just about every other approach to alzheimer's has failed. it is one tough disease. but it is exciting, as georgetown's dr. christopher calhorn, the team neuro surp on, told us. >> we don't know if this is work to work for this particular trial, but if the gene is able to, you know, restore neurons, then that's very, very exciting. >> reporter: yourself talking about a potential cure for alzheimer's -- >> that's potentially the case. at this point in time, things are very, very early. >> reporter: and then, the other thing to remember. when researchers test a therapy like this they need to give some patients the real gene and some patients a pla sceboplacebo. >> there's a sham surgery group, which gets sort of, surgery, but

not the active treatment. >> reporter: and that sounds almost radical. this is a sham surgery. >> correct. >> reporter: they get the surgery but not the medicine. >> correct. and this is the only way that we can determine if the medication works or not. >> tilt the top of your head towards me. there you go. >> how does it look? >> it looks nice. >> reporter: so, when rich smith voluntarily underwent brain surgery last december, he did not know whether or not he got the gene therapy or the placebo. and he still doesn't. but as this brave man told us, it's not just about him. you had to make the big decision, i'll do this brain surgery. >> yeah, i was -- i was happy with myself because i always wanted to be able to do something like that to help people behind me, so, being the forerunner. >> reporter: it's been about ten months now since that day in

december when sherry and rich came to georgetown for the surgery. and -- do you believe there's been a change? >> i would definitely say yes. >> reporter: a change for the better? >> uh-huh. >> there's been a lack of decline, just in our view, of day-to-day life. and some actual improvement. >> reporter: you think there's been actual improvement in your mental functioning since the surgery? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: can you feel that inside? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: again, they don't know if rich actually got the gene therapy, and it's very experimental. but while we were with him last month at a checkup, sherry saw something she wanted us to take note of. rich's socks. >> inside out. >> that's an improvement. recognizing the socks are inside out. and that it mattered. >> reporter: and there's more, they say. there's hope, whatever the source. >> he was always a friendly, outgoing guy and he had become

quiet and reclusive. and now that's coming back again, the personality is coming back. even if it's all in our head, you know, literally, all in our head, we are seeing what we consider improvement. >> reporter: they are fighting, sherry and rich, fighting for the love and the life they share, fighting this disease, really, for all of us. but sometimes, well, it's alzheimer's, and it hard. >> we do have our sad moments. you know, especially -- we definitely -- but especially if i think about a future without him. or a future where he can't be himself. you know, very disabled. and that day may come, but it may not come. >> reporter: what they do have

is today, and that's what counts. seems like you're still having fun. >> yeah. yeah. it's just a normal thing these days, is, if you can call alzheimer's a normal, but we're on an even keel and we just seem to rock and roll through life. >> reporter: so, rich and sherry, may you rock on. what a great couple. and alzheimer's researchers tell us that there's a real shortage out there of volunteers to participate in all the many clinical trials against this disease. so, for more information, go to our website, or check out the alzheimer's association website. up next, we're going to shift gears. we're going to check out a sound technology that can take voices just about anywhere from on a boat to top of the charts.

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> for the record producer, the technology is gold. a computer program that can make us slightly offkey voice sound perfect. that means fewer takes, less studio time and a healthier bottom line, but in practice, auto tune has found applications far beyond the studio, and for the soulful jeremy hubbard, that's a "sign of the times." ♪ this isn't going to be your normal "nightline" story ♪

♪ no it's not ♪ you're in for a real treat tonight ♪ ♪ but first ♪ let me set the stage just right ♪ have you noticed something strange when you listen to your favorite music lately? suddenly, nearly every pop star and rapper sounds like they're talking into a fan. they're voice is computer enhanced, auto tune. pretty much every song we hear on the radio has some level. >> some level of pitch enhancement, you know, augmentation. it became part of a sound, almost its own instrument. >> reporter: roy is an all owe answ audio engineer. auto tune can makely a slightly offkey voice sound perfect. sometimes artists just do it because it's cool. like cher, who maemd us believe in auto tune. we still can't get that song or the strange way they manipulated their voice out of our head.

but now, more than a decade later, suddenly, auto tune is everywhere. iphone apps, "saturday night live" skits. ♪ i'm on a boat >> reporter: even the news? a couple of youtube jokesters named the gregory brothers are auto tuning current events. ♪ i'm on the cardiac arrest shorty ♪ >> reporter: taking campaign videos ♪ ♪ i'm you ♪ i'm not a witch >> reporter: the local news clips ♪ ♪ climbing in your windows >> reporter: and turning them into catchy auto tune songs ♪ ♪ back it up ♪ back it up >> reporter: but can auto tune make a pop star out of anyone? here at the same studio where madonna and bob dylan once recorded, it's my turn. ♪ you really need someone to love ♪ ♪ you need to find someone to love ♪ ♪ and when you find that one to love ♪ ♪ you can really have a love okay, so, maybe i'm not ready

for itunes. but roy is about to work his magic. do we have the makings of a top 40 hit right here? >> you never know. >> reporter: it can take several hours behind the control board to tweak a voice to get it just right, especially one that needs a lot of work. >> if it is said really fast, you'll notice everything slightly out of tune. >> reporter: but when the engineers are done, they can create a sound that can sell millions of downloads. even if it lacks purity and soul. can anybody be a pop star if they're out of tune? >> luckily, i don't think that's true. i think auto tune is not going to save anybody's career. it's become a tool now. creativity is king. >> reporter: fact is, there does seem to be an auto tune backlash. the technology was sbaned on the british x-factor this year following public outcry after producers tampered with the performers voices to make she sound perfect before broadcast. even in the hip hop community,

jay-z has proclaimed the death of auto tune. but me, i actually kind of like it. they're finally done auto tuning my voice. here, again, the before ♪ you need to find someone to love ♪ ♪ and now the after ♪ you need to find someone to love ♪ ♪ and when you find that one to love ♪ finally, proof that with the help of a computer, anyone can sing. even yours truly. care for an encore ♪ ♪ i'm jeremy hubbard for "nightline" in new york ♪ yep. that's a hit. that's a hit. we got it. >> jeremy hubbard, going for it in the studio there. thanks for that report. we'll be right back. first, here's jimmy kimmel with what's coming up next. >> jimmy: tonight, katherine heigl, julia stiles, music from nas and damian "jr. gong" marley heigl, julia stiles, music from nas and damian "jr. gong" marley and "this week in unnecessary

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