Pageant News Bureau - Miss USA 2005

The prettiest patriots

On April 11, 2005, the Miss USA competition will be held in Baltimore, the historic and picturesque port city in Maryland.

Baltimore inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner," that majestic but not easily singable American anthem. The words were written in wartime, in 1814, by a young American named Francis Scott Key. He had just watched as the British navy bombarded a Baltimore fort but failed to topple its flag. The sight of the tattered banner filled his heart with pride.

We can't promise anything quite so historic when the women take the stage at Miss USA. But we can promise this -- no bombardments.

Matchless in Virginia

Jennifer Pitts doesn't smoke cigarettes. Heaven forbid! But if she did, she would probably roll her own.

She's the queen of the unexpected. She's from tobacco country, but she speaks out about the health risks of smoking. She's a Miss USA contestant, but she says, "The Miss America program changed my life." She's young and beautiful, but she's also a powerful official in the Virginia government.

Born in New York state, Ms. Pitts grew up in North Carolina. She started her pageant career as a child. As she grew older, she got into Miss America preliminaries, because "I wanted to help my parents." She reasoned that if she won enough scholarship money, she could spare them the expense of putting her through college. She was right.

Ms. Pitts got a lot out of the Miss America system. She was a standout in swimsuit, and came close to competing at Atlantic City. With her earnings, she eventually earned her law degree. She has worked for the federal drug czar, and now works for the attorney general of Virginia.

Her job is "tobacco certifications." Tobacco companies have agreed to put large sums of money in escrow to settle health claims against them, and she ensures that the money is paid. It's a funny kind of legal dance between Big Tobacco and Big Government, as she recognizes. "The product is harmful, but it contributes a lot to our economy."

With former Miss Virginia USA Kristi Glakos.

As Miss Virginia USA, Ms. Pitts has done "a lot of modeling. It's a new world to me." Most of it is fashion, but she has also made an anti-smoking commercial. Eventually, she would like to become a legal expert for network television.

We asked her why she got into Miss USA competition after years in the "other" system. "I've always admired Miss USA," she said, "and the pageant was good for weight control." Well, it's a better method than smoking.

Photos courtesy of Miss Virginia USA.

Denver's darling

Lauren Cisneros is a second-generation model. Her mother started in the business at age 19, and modeled maternity fashions while pregnant with Lauren. So you might say that the future beauty queen made her debut in the glamour industry before she made her debut in the world. She did some modeling on her own as a child, but lost interest after a few years.

Now, modeling is her thing. In Colorado, this dark-haired, exotic-looking siren (of Native American, Spanish, Norwegian and French heritage) is recognized everywhere. She has met national celebrities who urged her to try her luck in New York or L.A. She might have been tempted, if she hadn't recently suffered a bite. From the pageant bug.

"A girl I met through modeling talked me into it. I had no real expectations. I enrolled with just one month to train, and I used an old prom dress. I really loved it." The feeling was mutual. She was crowned Miss Colorado USA.

Photo by Nik Moronese

"There's a chance I won't win Miss USA," Ms. Cisneros says playfully. "In that case, I want to do more film and commercials." And not just in front of the camera. She has studied public relations and advertising, and t. "I'd like to create my own commercials," she says. As long as she's in them, we'll watch.

She has a delightful motto: "I don't want to have any doubts. I don't want to have any regrets." And she lives up to it.

Top photo courtesy of www.ourpageants.com

Going places

Amanda Kimmel lives in Montana's Flathead Valley. It's not a pretty name for a valley, at least not to us. But it's a pretty place, the kind that made Montana famous. It's fun, too. "I live 10 minutes from a lake, 10 minutes from a ski resort," Ms. Kimmel says.

As much as she enjoys life at home, she doesn't stick close to it. She has been working as a model for years -- "runway, print, catalogue" -- and she logs a lot of hours on the road or in the air.

Sometimes she's away for months at a time, and she had to make adjustments early. "I left high school in my senior year and studied online instead."

Modeling is an education in itself. Wearing a swimsuit, she once joined two men in Speedos in a clear box on the back of a truck. They rode around Chicago on a cold day. She learned that a clear box doesn't provide much heat.

She has traveled for pageants as well as modeling. Last year, she spent four months in China as a contestant in the Miss World Kite Competition. It was a big, multi-stage event. There were custom-made dresses for the contestants, and there was even a talent competition. "I got to sing," she says, which she found almost as thrilling as walking the Great Wall and flying kites in 5-inch heels.

There were 140 contestants, but Ms. Kimmel, standing 5 feet 11 inches tall, soon caught the eye of the Chinese media. She appeared on a morning talk show as a sort of representative of the competitors.

Ms. Kimmel, who isn't related to actor Jimmy Kimmel, but doesn't mind if you think she is, models under the name "Manda." She --

Wait, we haven't said a word about how she came to be in the Miss USA Pageant. Well, it's too late now. If you've been looking at her, you know.

Photos courtesy of www.ourpageants.com

Miss USA 2005April 11, 2005, Baltimore, Md.

Miss USA 2005
April 11, 2005, Baltimore, Md.