Beauty Queen Profiles: December 2007 Archives

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."

Former Miss USA 2004 and model Shandi Finnessey has swept the entertainment industry by storm, for a beauty queen. She was born on June 9, 1978 in Florissant, Missouri. In addition to winning beauty pageants, Finnessey has also written a children's book called The Furrtails. The book's aim is to help children appreciate their individuality and understand peers who have disabilities. She earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Lindenwood University in 1999. Finnessey's first pageant competition was in the Miss Missouri USA 2000 pageant. She finished first runner-up and competed the following year to win second runner-up. She also competed in the Miss Oktoberfest pageant and was again a runner-up. Then in 2002, she won the Miss St. Louis Metro local title in the Miss Missouri system and went on th win the Miss Missouri title. This allowed her to compete as Miss Missouri in the 2003 Miss America pageant, but she did not place. On her third attempt, Finnessey finally won the Miss Missouri USA pageant. She went on to become the first woman from Missouri to win the Miss USA title in 2004. She later placed as first runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant. During her reigns as Miss Missouri USA and Miss USA, Finnessey was involved in many charitable organizations such as the AIDS Foundation, Special Olympics in St. Louis Missouri and the Variety Club Telethon. She also continued to co-host many pageants such as the Miss USA 2005 and Miss Universe 2006 pageants. Since the end of her reign at Miss USA, Finnessey has appeared on several television shows as a co-host including GSN, NBC's reality show The Apprentice, CMT and Dancing with the Stars.

Miss USA 2003 Susie Castillo was born Jan. 6, 1980 in Methuen, Massachusetts. Her modeling career began at the young age of 16 when she appeared in many teen magazines and TV commercials. She graduated from Endicott College in 2001 earning a bachelors degree in Interior Architecture and Design. Her beauty pageant career began in 1997 when she was crowned Miss Massachusetts Teen USA. She beat forty other contestants to win this title. Castillo represented Massachusetts in the Miss Teen USA pageant in 1998, but only placed 13th that year. Later in 2002, Castillo competed in the Miss Massachusetts USA pageant and won. She was her state's first Puerto Rican titleholder. Then in 2003, she competed in the Miss USA pageant in San Antonio, Texas and was crowned the first Dominican-Puerto Rican woman to win Miss USA. During her reign as Miss USA, Castillo traveled around the United States with the Miss Universe pageant, making appearances for charities throughout the country. Since Miss USA, Castillo has made herself a career in the entertainment industry. She has appeared on several television shows such as On-Air with Ryan Seacrest and My Wife and Kids. She also co-hosted the Miss Teen USA 2005 pageant with Passions actor Galen Gering. She regularly appears in MTV's Total Request Live and Video Jockey (VJ) with another beauty queen, Miss Teen USA 1988, Vanessa Minillo. Castillo is also an active volunteer for an organization called "Help for Abused Women and Children" and also a spokeswoman for Neutrogena.