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Tara Conner Profile |
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Birth Date: December 18, 1985
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Birth Place: Russell Springs, Kentucky, USA
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Birth Name: Tara Elizabeth Conner
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Height: 5'5"
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Biography |
Tara Elizabeth Conner (born on 18 December 1985) is a beauty
queen from Russell Springs, Kentucky who is Miss USA 2006
and has also competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant.
Conner graduated from Russell County High School in 2004 and
at the time of her Miss USA win was studying toward a degree
in Business Administration from Somerset Community College.
Apart from her role as Miss USA, Conner has been employed as
a model and waitress. She was a featured model on the HDNet
series Bikini Destinations in 2004, posing for the cameras
in Lake Tahoe. She has held the titles Miss Kentucky Teen
USA 2002, Miss Kentucky USA 2006 and Miss USA 2006.
In late 2006, Conner became the center of a public scandal
when news reports claim she had been drinking underage,
tested positive for the use of cocaine, and kissed Miss Teen
USA Katie Blair in public, among other things. She was
allowed to retain her title and entered a drug
rehabilitation programme.
Conner's first pageant experience came in 2001 when she won
the Miss Kentucky Teen USA title. In August 2002, she went
on to compete in the Miss Teen USA pageant held in South
Padre Island, Texas. After making the first cut, Conner
achieved the highest swimsuit score (9.18) among the 10
semi-finalists and had the fifth highest evening gown score
(8.79). The average of these two scores placed her second
overall after these two phases of competition. She
eventually placed second runner-up to Vanessa Semrow of
Wisconsin. Conner's placement equaled that of Kristen
Johnson, as the second highest by any delegate representing
Kentucky.
Conner returned to pageantry in November 2005 when she won
the Miss Kentucky USA crown, and was crowned by former Miss
Kentucky Teen USA 2000 and Miss Kentucky USA 2005 Kristen
Johnson. She was the third former teen titleholder to win
the Miss Kentucky USA title, others being Johnson and
Elizabeth Arnold, who held the teen title in 1998 and was
Conner's sister titleholder as Miss Kentucky USA 2002.
In March, while still Miss Kentucky USA, Conner traveled to
Los Angeles to tape a special episode of Deal or No Deal
which featured twenty five of the Miss USA 2006 delegates
and reigning queen Chelsea Cooley. The special aired in
April 2006.
Conner represented Kentucky during the nationally televised
Miss USA 2006 pageant in Baltimore, Maryland on 21 April
2006. She became the eighteenth woman to place at both Miss
Teen USA and Miss USA when she was announced into the top
fifteen. She competed in the official BSC Swimwear Thailand
for the swimsuit competition and made the top ten, where she
competed in the evening gown competition, wearing a
specially designed gown by Sheri Hill. Conner then made the
top five and completed the final interview round.
Prior to the announcement of the winner, Conner and her
eventual first runner-up Tamiko Nash shared a long embrace,
whilst Conner whispered to Nash. It was later revealed on an
E! special that Conner, believing Nash had won, was wishing
her luck for her reign as Miss USA and her participation at
Miss Universe. The traditional statement declaring that "if,
for any reason the new titleholder cannot fulfill her reign,
the first runner-up will take over" was then read, a
statement which would become pertinent following the scandal
surrounding Conner in December.
Conner was eventually announced as the winner of the
pageant, and became the first woman from Kentucky to win the
Miss USA crown. She was crowned by previous Miss USA Chelsea
Cooley, from North Carolina. Conner was the fourth former
Miss Teen USA state titleholder to win the Miss USA crown
since 2000, one of whom was Cooley, who was Miss North
Carolina Teen USA 2000.
Conner represented the United States at the Miss Universe
2006 pageant in Los Angeles, California in July 2006. She
placed fourth runner-up in the pageant, becoming only the
fifth Miss USA to finish fourth runner-up at Miss Universe.
Her roommate during the three weeks the delegates spent in
Los Angeles was Kenisha Thom of Trinidad and Tobago, who,
along with Conner, made the top 10 cut in the Miss Universe
pageant. |
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Other
Information |
Won Miss Kentucky USA 2006 at the 2005 pageant and became
the first ever Miss USA winner from the state of Kentucky
when she was crowned Miss USA 2006.
Placed fourth in the Miss Universe pageant in July 2006.
Has been competing in pageants since age 4. Won title of
Miss Young Russell County in Kentucky at the county fair
when she was 13 and, by 2002, was second runner-up in Miss
Teen USA. |
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