Lynette Cole (born February 9, 1978), won the title Miss Tennessee USA in 2000. She went on to become the first woman from that state to win the Miss USA pageant, which was held in Branson, Missouri on February 4 2000. The Miss Tennessee USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Tennessee in the Miss USA pageant. ... Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley who competed as Miss North Carolina USA Miss USA 2004 Shandi Finnessey who competed as Miss Missouri USA Miss USA 2003 Susie Castillo who competed as Miss Massachusetts USA The Miss USA pageant (not to be confused with Miss America) is a beauty contest that... The Titanic Museum is shaped to look like the real Titanic and is a popular tourist attraction in Branson The Duttons performing their famous song where they all play each others violins at their theater in Branson Missouri Herkimer and Cecil are performing at the Presleys Country Jublee Branson is...

Cole hails from Columbia, Tennessee and was twenty-one years old when she won the national crown. Columbia is a city in Maury County, Tennessee, United States. ...

Family Background

Cole's heritage is Puerto Rican and Caucasian. At ten months old, she was living in foster care with her brother when she was adopted by Gail and Larry Cole, who had to move interstate to get around a law prohibiting adoption of children from a different race. Her adoptive parents had previously been foster parents to over 100 children (not at the same time). Adoption is the legal act of permanently placing a child with a parent or parents other than the birth parents. ...

Pageants

Cole's first major pageant win came in 1995 when she won the title Miss Tennessee Teen USA. She was a finalist at the Miss Teen USA pageant in that year, and also won the Miss Photogenic award. The Miss Tennessee Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Tennessee in the Miss Teen USA pageant. ... Run by the Miss Universe Organization, Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant for girls aged 15-19. ...

After winning Miss Tennessee USA and Miss USA 2000, Cole went on to compete at the Miss Universe pageant, held in Nicosia, Cyprus later that year. Her performance was strong enough to secure her a spot among the 5 finalists, and brought the USA back into the semifinals (after Kimberly Pressler had failed to advance the year before, breaking a streak of consecutive placements that had been going on since 1977). The Miss Tennessee USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Tennessee in the Miss USA pageant. ... Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley who competed as Miss North Carolina USA Miss USA 2004 Shandi Finnessey who competed as Miss Missouri USA Miss USA 2003 Susie Castillo who competed as Miss Massachusetts USA The Miss USA pageant (not to be confused with Miss America) is a beauty contest that... Logo of the Miss Universe event. ... Nicosia, known locally as Lefkosia (Greek: Λευκωσία) or Lefkosa (Turkish: Lefkoşa), population 177,410 (1992), is the capital of Cyprus. ... Kimberly Pressler won the 1999 Miss USA title, representing the state of New York. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ...

As Miss USA, Cole was a representative of the Miss Universe Organization. Her "sister" 2000 titleholders were Lara Dutta (Miss Universe, of India) and Jillian Parry (Miss Teen USA, of Pennsylvania) The Miss Universe Organization is the organization that currently owns and runs the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA beauty contests. ... Lara Dutta (born April 16, 1978) is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood films. ... Logo of the Miss Universe event. ... Jillian Parry, Miss Teen USA 2000 Jillian Pary was Miss Teen USA 2000, representing her home town of Newton and state of Pennsylvania. ... Run by the Miss Universe Organization, Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant for girls aged 15-19. ...

Sadly, Cole does not appear to have been the best example of an ideal titleholder or role model; she was notoriously difficult to work with according to sources both within and outside of the Miss Universe Organization. Many of her fellow competitors and peers reported her to be arrogant and cruel both during her competition days and afterward. The Miss Universe Organization is the organization that currently owns and runs the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA beauty contests. ...

After the Crown

Since winning Miss USA, Cole has become successful television host for NBC, CMT, ESPN, MTV, VH-1 and made many appearances on As the World Turns. Along with her hosting career she has also appeared in numerous print advertising campaigns and commercials. The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Country Music Television, or CMT as it usually called, is an American country music oriented cable television channel. ... ESPN (an acronym for the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ... MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network headquartered in New York City. ... VH1 (which stands for Video Hits 1) is an American cable television channel that was created in 1985. ... As the World Turns (ATWT) is the second longest-running American television soap opera, airing each weekday on CBS. It debuted on Monday, April 2, 1956 at 1:30pm. ...

Cole recently married Michael O'Nan of Nashville, and now owns a boutique and directs a local preliminary for Miss Tennessee USA. The Miss Tennessee USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Tennessee in the Miss USA pageant. ...