Rachel Smith
Template:Pageant titleholder bioRachel 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.
Biography
Rachel Smith was born on a U.S. Army base in Panama. She lived in Clarksville after her parents were stationed to Fort Campbell.[2] She attended Clarksville Academy and graduated from Davidson Academy for high school.
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]
Pageants
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 Jessica Myers 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.
Miss Tennessee USA
On 7 October 2006, Smith became the fourth former Miss Tennessee Teen USA to win the Miss Tennessee USA title, following Molly Brown who held the 1984 teen and 1987 Miss titles, Lynnette Cole who held the 1995 teen and 2000 Miss titles and won Miss USA 2000 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 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.
Miss USA 2007
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 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.
Miss Universe 2007
Smith competed in the national costume competition dressed as Elvis Presley, reflecting her home state of Tennessee. She moved on to the top 15 where she showed off her swimsuit and evening gown. During the evening gown round, she tripped and fell to the ground. She quickly got back to her feet and kept her composure as she finished her walk. She was booed after she, despite her fall, made the Top 5 and Mexico, the representative of the host country, did not. She was booed again when it was time for her to answer her final question for the judges. She remained poised and focused, and she finished by thanking the crowd. In the end, she became the 4th Runner-Up, losing out to Korea, Venezuela, Brazil, and the winner of Miss Universe 2007, Japan.
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]
During the Miss Universe competition, May 28, 2007, Smith fell during the evening wear segment and was booed by attendees of the show, which was held in Mexico. http://www.breitbart.tv/missusa.html It was believed she was booed as a response to the current American-Mexican relations.
References
- ^ a b Associated Press (March 23, 2007). "Miss Tennessee Crowned New Miss USA". Retrieved 2007-03-23.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Hoang, Vivi (2007-03-11). "Clarksville gal bound for Miss USA pageant with big dreams". The Tennesseean. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
- ^ Snyder, Eric (2006-10-06). "Contestants to compete for Miss Tennessee title". The Leaf Chronicle. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
- ^ Sairro, Jaime (2007-01-10). "Belmont grad to teach at Oprah's school in South Africa". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
- ^ "End Drawing Near for Year as Royalty" (PDF) (Press release). Clarksville Montgomery County Economic Development Council. 2002-10-10. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
- ^ Tyndall, Melissa (2006-10-07). "Clarksvillian crowned Miss Tennessee USA". The Leaf Chronicle. Retrieved 2006-10-07.
- ^ Tyndall, Melissa (2006-10-08). "Miss Clarksville wins: Hometown girl crowned Miss Tennessee". The Leaf Chronicle. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
- ^ "Top Ten Things I Can Say Now That I'm Miss USA". CBS.com.