Thursday March 1, 2001

Miss USA 2001

They're all beauty and bright futures. But when EXTRA went behind-the-scenes at rehearsal for Friday's Miss USA pageant, we found some ladies who are much more than your average beauty contestant.

Miss Michigan's Kenya Howard may rev your engine, but she's also happens to be an engineer with General Motors. She says, "We build the four cylinder engine for cars like the Grand Am and the Monte Carlo."

Miss Oklahoma Cortney Phillips is a budding actress. But this veteran pageant queen is dealing with a real life drama … a stalker who breaks into her car and leaves notes. She says, "At first it was really aggravating and just kind of scary but you have to move on and after a while it started to make me angry."

But is she nervous about the pageant? Nah! "I'm a performer so I love being on stage."

Then you've got Miss Colorado, Katie Doland, a Denver Broncos cheerleader. She's thrilled that actor William Shatner's hosting the pageant. After all, Shatner played a host in "Miss Congeniality." And he'll travel to middle America, where the pageant's held this year.

But Doris Roberts of "Everybody Loves Raymond" is excited to be a judge. She told EXTRA about her own experience as a contestant. "The only thing I came close to not even a pageant was an amateur hour that I sang in and at the time I lisped so I sang … They game me the bell, the hook, the gong."

Well give these ladies a hand, their salad days are about to end. And Miss Colorado has a plan if she wins. "Well I think first, maybe eat a little chocolate and second just have a great year."