Pageant News Bureau - Miss USA 2002

A sporty model

Rebekah Decker likes the beach. And that's one reason she's so fond of her home state.

"People don't realize how beautiful Michigan is in the summer," she told us, and she compared it to some of the world's most scenic coastal areas.

With Robin Victoria Williams, Miss New Jersey USA, photo courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP

You'll notice that she did say "summer." Once, when she was doing an October modeling assignment on a boat in Lake Michigan, and the wind was blowing 60 mph, she knew she wasn't in the Bahamas. But she kept smiling as though she were.

Ms. Decker used to teach school, and she's a pretty good classical pianist, but she works as a model because of the travel and the flexible schedule.

She's a model who shows off other models. If that confuses you, remember that she's from the Detroit area, and Detroit is Motor City. That's right, she does auto shows.

In the old days, auto show models sometimes draped themselves seductively over cars, or just stood there in gowns while their teeth sparkled like chrome. But nowadays they talk, and they even explain what you're looking at. "We actually know things about the cars now," she said. So we quickly changed the subject, because we don't know a thing about cars.

But we do know that Rebekah Decker could be this year's most popular model.

Other photos by Sam Tang Photografix

Comfortable in a crown

Nicole Dawn Bigham is a beauty queen's beauty queen. She has been in pageants since age 11, and clearly she has never regretted a minute of it.

She was Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 1994. Later, competing in the Miss America system, she won the interview competition at the Miss Pennsylvania Pageant. She has been in Hawaiian Tropic and Venus competitions, and has even been a member of the Texas Bikini Team. We asked if she minded our writing about the swimsuit stuff, and she said, "Why should I mind?"

So she surely won't mind our telling you that she's Miss Pennsylvania USA, in case you hadn't guessed.

Ms. Bigham loves everyone in the pageant business, and everyone loves her. She would rather talk about her friends' pageant successes than about her own. Her sendoff party, with women and girls in every style of crown, looked like a League of Nations for royalty. And a photographer who has snapped many pageant stars phoned PNB to insist specifically that Ms. Bigham be profiled. Happy to oblige.

Her modeling career often takes her to New York City, and one job there has grown into something more substantial. "I started out modeling for fashion designer Stephen Yearick, and now I'm his showroom assistant."

Ms. Bigham may soon have to move New York, but if she does, she may not have much time for Mr. Yearick. Do you know what we mean?

Photos courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP