Pageant News Bureau - Carissa Capobianco

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u

A star in the making

You've heard of Diana DeGarmo, the teen cutie who won a pageant and then became everybody's little sister on "American Idol." She put Gwinnett County, Ga., on the map.

Well, it must be a place where pretty girls grow in clusters. And a lot of them seem to have Italian names. Meet Carissa Capobianco, another Gwinnett cutie -- no, make that beauty. She already has a handful of titles. When you read this, she may be off somewhere competing at a national pageant.

She's still young, just in her mid-teens, and from some angles she seems even younger. She's perky and petite, with big, innocent eyes.

She comes from a big family and wouldn't have it any other way. She's the little sister you wish you had. (Not that your real little sister isn't a fine person.)

But Ms. Capobianco is more than all that. When the light is just right, you see the woman she is destined to become. Breathtaking.

Some girls sparkle as teenagers, then fade as they age. But others burn more brightly. Natalie Wood was one. And Carissa Capobianco is another. A star in the making, or maybe even a comet.

She shines.

Photo with flowers by Emmett Clower Studios; Crown photo in yellow-green dress by Joe Whiteko / PNB; others courtesy of Carissa Capobianco

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u