Katie Blair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Katie Blair Beauty pageant titleholder |
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| Birth name: | Katherine Amanda Blair |
| Birthdate: | December 29, 1987 |
| Birth location: | Billings, Montana, U.S. |
| Height: | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| Eye color: | Blue |
| Hair color: | Blonde |
| Ethnicity: | White/Caucasian |
| Title(s): | Miss Montana Teen USA 2006 Miss Teen USA 2006 |
| Major Competition(s): | Miss Teen USA 2006 (winner) |
Katie Blair (born December 29, 1987) from Billings, Montana is an American beauty queen, who held the Miss Teen USA 2006 title. She was the first woman from Montana to win a major pageant title.
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[edit] Pageant participation
[edit] Miss Montana Teen USA
Blair represented Montana in the Miss Teen USA 2006 pageant held in Palm Springs, California on August 15, 2006, and became the first Montanan to place in the pageant. Outgoing titleholder, Allie LaForce of Ohio, crowned Blair as the new Miss Teen USA. Melissa Lingafelt of North Carolina placed first runner-up. Prior to Blair's win in the nationally televised pageant, Montana had been the only state in the competition's 23 year history never to have had a semi-finalist.
Blair's win was somewhat controversial.[citation needed] During the last phase of the competition, which is the basis for the judges' final ranking of contestants, her answer to the final interview question struck some observers as incorrect.[citation needed] Asked by judge Carl Lewis to describe what integrity meant to her, Blair responded that the term meant an all-out ambition to achieve her goals.[1] Blair's was the only somewhat objective question;[citation needed] other contestants were asked about their opinions on a wide variety of topics, such as the driving age and teen image issues.
Houston designer Gaspar Cruz styled Blair's evening gown, hair and makeup. Previously Cruz designed gowns for Gina Giacinto, Miss Nevada USA 2001, who was top five at Miss USA, and for Shauna Gambill, Miss California USA 1998, who was first runner-up at Miss USA.
Blair's Miss Teen USA winnings included a one-year modeling contract with Trump Model Management and a scholarship to The School for Film and Television in New York. She also earned a guest appearance in the NBC soap opera Passions.
On August 24, 2007, Blair passed down the Miss Teen USA title to Hilary Cruz of Colorado.
[edit] Reign as Miss Teen USA
Blair spent her year titleholder in New York City, living in a Trump Place apartment with Miss Universe and Miss USA. During her reign, Blair made appearances to raise money for charity.[2] She graduated from Billings West High School in 2006, and had planned to attend Louisiana State University, but postponed her commencement of college for her reign.[3]
Following her win, Blair gave interviews with various media organizations, including WPIX New York and Dayside on Fox News. In September 2006, she returned to Billings, Montana for her official homecoming as Miss Teen USA. The city council announced the day as "Katie Blair Day" and awarded her a key to the city. She crowned Chelsea Nelson, also of Billings, as the next Miss Montana Teen USA 2007.[4]
[edit] Controversy
In December 2006, Blair was the subject of publicity after she and Miss USA 2006, Tara Conner, were rumored to have been publicly intoxicated with Miss Universe 2006, Zuleyka Rivera, on Rivera's birthday. A source also claimed that Conner and Blair had kissed, danced on the table in a sexual manner, and snorted cocaine.[5] This led to speculation that Conner would be stripped of her crown, and that Blair might suffer disciplinary action. However, on December 19, 2006, Donald Trump announced that Conner would retain her title while entering substance abuse treatment center.[1] On December 20, 2006, Mothers Against Drunk Driving announced that because of Blair's alleged activities, they would no longer use her as a spokesperson against underage drinking.[6] During the premiere of MTV's new reality show Pageant Place, Donald Trump revealed that Blair was the one who turned in Miss USA Tara Conner for alcohol and drug abuse because she felt that Conner was trying to steal her boyfriend. Also in the episode, she firmly denied she had kissed Conner.
[edit] Television
Blair currently stars in Donald Trump's new MTV reality show Pageant Place along with Rachel Smith, Hilary Cruz and Riyo Mori. The show started airing on October 10, 2007. Connor also makes appearances on the program. Recently Katie and Tara Connor rekindled their friendship on the show.
[edit] References
- ^ Healy, Donna. "Miss Teen USA's smile, personality open doors", Billings Gazette, 2006-08-17. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
- ^ Healy, Donna. "Amid life of glamour, home suits her fine", Billings Gazette, 2006-09-07. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
- ^ Cast, Cari. "Miss Teen USA Visits Billings", KULR-TV, 2006-09-09. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
- ^ Hathaway, Jodi. "Miss Teen USA", KULR-TV, 2006-09-10. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
- ^ Piazza, Jo. "Queen is way out of line", Daily News, 2006-12-16.
- ^ Castle, Heidi. "Statement of Attribution on News Reports of Miss Teen USA Drinking Alcohol Underage", MADD.org, 2006-12-20. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Kendall Powell |
Miss Montana Teen USA 2006 |
Succeeded by Chelsea Nelson |
| Preceded by Allie LaForce |
Miss Teen USA 2006 |
Succeeded by Hilary Cruz |
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| Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera |
Miss USA Tara Conner |
Miss Teen USA Katie Blair |
