Recently in Beauty Queen Profiles Category

Kristen Haglund was born on November 30, 1989 in Farmington Hills, Michigan. She graduated from Walled Lake Western High School in Michigan in 2006 and is currently attending The University of Cincennati, where she is majoring in Musical Theatre.

Haglund won the Miss Oakland County title and went on to compete in the Miss Michigan title for the first time in 2007. She won the preliminary swimsuit competition, then went on to win the title of Miss Michigan. She was eventually crowned the 83rd Miss America on January 26, 2008. She is Michigan's fifth Miss America in twenty years and she was the youngest girl in the competition at age 19.

Haglund's family has a history of pageants, as her grandmother was crowned Miss Michigan 1944 and her mother an active pageant volunteer. After the pageant, Haglund pledged to use her crown to bring awareness to eating disorders, which she suffered from when she was only sixteen years old. She uses eating disorders as her personal platform. She received a $50,000 scholarship and a one year stint as the spokesperson for the Miss America organization. She also won the Lifestyle and Fitness award and a $1,000 scholarship. After her reign as Miss America, she hopes to become an aspiring Broadway star. 

Miss Venezuela 2007, Dayana Mendoza, was crowned Miss Universe 2008 at the pageant in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 13, 2008. The Venezuelan beauty queen was born on June 1, 1986 in Caracus, Venezuela.  Early in her life, at the age of 15, Mendoza became independent and lived in many different countries without her parents and without the knowledge of the languages in those countries. She said her greatest accomplishment is that she succeeded in working with different cultures and learning from them.

Mendoza is a model and signed with Elite Model Management in 2001, in Nice, France. She also works with companies such as Max Mara and Costume Nacional where she has modeled in nine different countries for Versace, Robert Cavalli and other fashion designers. She speaks 3 languages: Spanish, English and Italian.

Mendoza is the fifth Venezuelan to win the Miss Universe title and is the first winner from the country since Alicia Muchado won in 1996.  She was crowned with a tiara worth $120,000. Her prize package includes  a year contract promoting Miss Universe, world travel and a New York City luxury apartment. She will also receive a $100,000 stipend for a two-year course at the New York Film Academy and be given free access to famous fashion houses and beauty parlors.  Mendoza will spend the year traveling the world to lecture on humanitarian issues and to promote education regarding HIV/AIDS.

Zana Krasniqi  finished in the top ten at the 2008 Miss Universe pageant in Vietnam. Zana stood out in her custom Sherri Hill pageant dress.

Miss America 2007 is a beauty queen from Lawton, Oklahoma. Born in 1986, Nelson is the sixth Miss Oklahoma to be crowned Miss America.  
Nelson was crowned Miss Teen Oklahoma in 2004, which allowed her to perform at the 2005 Miss America pageant. Along the way, she won the Miss Oklahoma State Fair pageant and then competed in the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 2006. She won the title and a $16,000 scholarship, making her the youngest contestant to become Miss Oklahoma.  
Jan. 29, 2007, Nelson represented Oklahoma in the Miss America 2007 pageant and was crowned the 82nd Miss America. She received a $50,000 with the title.  
Nelson is a student at the University of Central Oklahoma and her goal is to be a Broadway performer. She showed off her vocal skills during the talent performance of the competition. She has also expressed support for Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.  
Most recently, Nelson teamed up with Josh Walsh from FOX network's TV show America's Most Wanted to assist in the apprehension of potential child predators. As of May 1, 2007, Nelson stated that she did not plan to return to testify, but reports state that she changed her mind and she will testify against the perpetrators.

Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry was born on July 18, 1983 in Houston, Texas. She graduated from an Oklahoma high school in 2001 and attended the University of Oklahoma, earning a degree in elementary education. Before being crowned Miss America, Berry competed in numerous competitions such as the Miss Grand Lake competition in Oklahoma. She won both the talent and swimsuit competition. She also competed in the 2001 competition and went unplaced, made the top 10 in 2002, placed third runner-up in 2003 and 2004 and then finally won the Miss Oklahoma title in 2005. In 2006, Berry won the Miss America crown after winning a preliminary talent award for her ballet performance. She was later crowned the first Miss America titleholder crowned outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey. During her reign as Miss America, Berry's platform issue was "Building Tolerance to Drunk Driving and Underage Drinking." She worked on behalf of MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Lifelong ballet dancer, Riyo Mori from a village near Mount Fuji won Miss Universe 2007. Mori wore a striking black gown with colored lapels for the final. "My mind went blank," she said of the winning moment.

The 2005 Miss USA Chelsea Cooley was born on October 30, 1983 in Mint Hill, North Carolina. She attended the Art Institute of Chicago and has a wide range of hobbies from snorkeling, to jet skiing, to shag dancing. She began her professional pageant career by winning the Miss North Carolina Teen USA pageant in 2000. She later represented North Carolina in the Miss Teen USA pageant but did not even place. In 2004 Cooley enter the Miss North Carolina USA pageant and placed 1st runner-up. She still won North Carolina's Miss Photogenic award that year. The following year, Cooley took another shot at competing in the Miss North Carolina USA pageant and won. Cooley won the Miss USA 2005 pageant live from Baltimore, Maryland. The following month she competed in the Miss Universe pageant and advanced to the top 10. Natalie Glebova of Canada was eventually crowned Miss Universe. During her reign as Miss USA, Cooley attended many charitable events and became a popular face and name across the globe. One of her greatest achievements was raising $22.8 million for breast and ovarian cancer research. She also participated in a USO tour of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since Cooley passed down her crown, she expressed interest in becoming involved with the entertainment industry, following the footsteps of former Miss USA winners Susie Castillo and Shandi Finnessey. She also runs her own image consulting company called Stand Out Productions, Inc. and is currently writing a book titled "The Pageant Principle: An 8-Step Plan to Help You Face Any Challenge with Grace, Style and Confidence."