Rachel Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rachel Smith Beauty pageant titleholder |
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|---|---|
| Birth name: | Rachel Renee Smith, |
| Birthdate: | April 18, 1985 (age 21) |
| Birth location: |  Panama |
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) |
| Eye color: | Brown |
| Hair color: | Brown |
| Ethnicity: | Multi-ethnic (African American and Caucasian American) |
| Title(s): | Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2002 Miss Tennessee USA 2007 Miss USA 2007 |
| Major Competition(s): | Miss Teen USA 2002 (Top 10) Miss USA 2007 (winner) Miss Universe 2007 |
Rachel Renee Smith (born April 18, 1985 in Panama) is a beauty queen from Clarksville, Tennessee who won the Miss USA pageant in 2007 [1] and who previously had competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant.
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[edit] Biography
Smith, a military brat, was born on an American army base in Panama and grew up in Clarksville after her parents were reassigned to Fort Campbell.[2]
Smith is a magna cum laude graduate from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee in 2006 with a bachelor of science in Journalism. Smith graduated a semester early, in December of 2006. She received a full tuition scholarship to attend Belmont due to her community service activities and academic achievements throughout high school.[3] While she was at Belmont she interned in Chicago, Illinois, for eight months with Harpo Productions, a company owned by Oprah Winfrey. In January 2007 it was announced that she had been chosen by Winfrey to volunteer for one month at her Leadership Academy for Girls.[4]
[edit] Pageants
[edit] Miss Tennessee Teen USA
Smith won her first major pageant title in 2001 when she was crowned Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2002. She won in her second attempt at the title, having placed third runner-up to Casey Porter the year previously. Smith then competed in the nationally televised Miss Teen USA 2002 pageant broadcast live from South Padre Island, Texas where she placed in the top ten and won the Miss Photogenic award.[5] Of the semi-finalists, Smith placed tenth in the swimsuit competition and seventh in evening gown, finishing ninth on average. The pageant was won by Vanessa Semrow of Wisconsin.
[edit] Miss Tennessee USA
On 7 October 2006, Smith became the third former Miss Tennessee Teen USA to win the Miss Tennessee USA title, following Lynnette Cole who held the 1995 teen and 2000 Miss titles and Allison Alderson, who held the 1994 teen title and 2002 Miss title. She won the title in a state pageant held at Austin Peay State University in her home town of Clarksville.[6] Her "sister" 2007 titleholder is Macy Erwin of Chattanooga, Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2007.
Smith is one of three delegates who placed in the final six in the Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2002 pageant to later win consecutive Miss Tennessee USA crowns, after Amy Colley won the title in 2005 and Lauren Grissom won it in 2006. A fourth member of that top six was Brittany Swann, who placed second runner-up. One month after Smith won her title, Swann won the Miss Georgia USA 2007 title, and both will competed against each other at the Miss USA 2007 pageant. Swann and Smith have the same directors, Greenwood Productions, which produce the Tennessee and Georgia state pageants.
[edit] Miss USA
Smith represented Tennessee in the Miss USA 2007 pageant[7] on March 23, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California,[1] where she became the second titleholder from Tennessee to win the Miss USA crown. Smith won both the swimsuit and evening gown competitions with consistently high scores. She was crowned by outgoing titleholder Tara Conner who she competed alongside at Miss Teen USA 2002. Smith is the third consecutive former Miss Teen USA delegate to win the title.
Unusually, Smith won the pageant wearing the same evening gown that she wore to win her state title. She was the first titleholder to win in a non-neutral coloured evening gown since Kelli McCarty also won wearing a red gown in 1991.
She will compete in the Miss Universe 2007 competition in May 2007 in Mexico City.
[edit] Reign as Miss USA
During her first week as Miss USA, Smith was involved in a number of media appearances, such as The Today Show and Late Show with David Letterman, where she presented a "top ten" list entitled "Top Ten Things I Can Say Now That I'm Miss USA".[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Associated Press. "Miss Tennessee Crowned New Miss USA", March 23, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
- ^ Hoang, Vivi. "Clarksville gal bound for Miss USA pageant with big dreams", The Tennesseean, 2007-03-11. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ Snyder, Eric. "Contestants to compete for Miss Tennessee title", The Leaf Chronicle, 2006-10-06. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
- ^ Sairro, Jaime. "Belmont grad to teach at Oprah's school in South Africa", The Tennessean, 2007-01-10. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
- ^ Clarksville Montgomery County Economic Development Council (2002-10-10). End Drawing Near for Year as Royalty. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
- ^ Tyndall, Melissa. "Clarksvillian crowned Miss Tennessee USA", The Leaf Chronicle, 2006-10-07. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.
- ^ Tyndall, Melissa. "Miss Clarksville wins: Hometown girl crowned Miss Tennessee", The Leaf Chronicle, 2006-10-08. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
- ^ Top Ten Things I Can Say Now That I'm Miss USA. CBS.com.
[edit] External links
- Miss Tennessee Teen USA & Miss Tennessee Teen USA offical website
- Miss Teen USA official website
- Miss USA official website
| Preceded by Jessica Myers |
Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2002 |
Succeeded by Alicia Selby |
| Preceded by Lauren Grissom |
Miss Tennessee USA 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Tara Conner |
Miss USA 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Greenwood Productions Titleholders 2007 |
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|---|---|---|
| Miss Georgia USA Brittany Swann Miss Georgia Teen USA Jena Sims |
Miss Tennessee USA Rachel Smith Miss Tennessee Teen USA Macy Erwin |
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| Miss Universe Organization Titleholders 2007 |
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| Miss Universe To Be Determined |
Miss USA Rachel Smith |
Miss Teen USA To Be Determined |
