Winning the Miss USA Pageant

Boxtop presents

March 9, 1998

Former Miss USA, Ali Landry, discusses the thrill of winning the coveted Miss USA Pageant. Landry talks to fans about the responsibilities of holding the Miss USA crown, the procedures involved in entering beauty pageants, and her future goals.

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CCCMyst: Talk City Presents in association with BoxTop Live (tm) welcomes You to tonight’s Feature Presentation. Tonight we welcome Ali Landry. And now without further ado, welcome Ali Landry. Talk City Presents is a joint production of BoxTop (tm) Live and Talk City(tm) Welcome Ali!

Meriwidow Says: Ali, did winning the Miss USA Pageant open many doors for you?

Ali Landry: It was definitely a wonderful steppingstone for me. I would not be where I am today without that extra push and again, it is what you make of it!

Parkie Says: Ali, Are all the appearances you have to make tiring? How do you keep up with where you are?

Ali Landry: Actually, I'm probably more busy now that I'm not Miss USA, then when I was! Yes, it's a hectic schedule but it's part of the job, and you make do, and make the best of it.

Minerva Says: There's a lot of controversy of Beauty Pageants, especially for the little girls. What are your thoughts on their validity and their pitfalls?

Ali Landry: Well, I definitely do not agree with pushing a child to do anything that a child does not want to do--that's a big no-no in my book. For myself, I love competition, and I think it's important that a child understands that winning or losing doesn't reflect on them personally and it's all for fun. However, some of the girls are very strong personalities and a beauty pageant can really boost their self-esteem so that's a great thing . but really, it's only if the child wants to do it.

Chopin Says: Ali, I think you have a great deal of poise and are an ideal spokesperson. What's in your future? And how the Miss USA Pageant shaped your goals and future plans?

Ali Landry: First, thank you very much. Right now, I just did a national commercial for Doritos that aired during the Super Bowl and that's pretty well turned my life upside down. I've been getting a lot of offers both in the hosting field, and in acting. Hosting is definitely that comes naturally for me, it's easy for me to do, so I would like to pursue that further, but what I really want to concentrate on acting. I'll be in TV Guide in this week or next week's issue and I just did an interview and photo shoot for Maxim magazine and I was also chosen by People Magazine for the May issue of the 50 most Beautiful People . so that's a great honor for me because it's mostly people who are established in the entertainment industry, so I was very surprised and excited about that!

Elsbeth Says: Ali what are some of the causes you support and why?

Ali Landry: I worked Special Olympics a lot last year. Right now I'm working with a home in LA called McLaren Hall where they take children from the court system and put them here and also the Los Angeles Women’s Mission, a home for homeless women I worked with so many wonderful charities last year but the one that is closest to my heart is the Cancer Foundation, because I had someone in my family who had cancer.

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