Shilah Phillips

Shilah Precious Phillips is an American entertainer, beauty pageant contestant, and the 2006 winner of the Miss Texas title. She is the first African American winner of the crown in its 75-year history. She was also First Runner Up in the Miss America 2007 pageant.

Early life

Phillips grew up in Denver, where she attended a performing arts school from sixth to twelfth grade. She studied voice at Howard University before dropping out and moving to California to try to become a singer, making demo records and auditioning for American Idol (Season 3).[1][2]

She returned to Texas, studying vocal music at Collin County Community College.[3]

Miss America runner up

Phillips entered the Miss Frisco 2006 contest after friends warned her that at 24 she was getting close to beauty pageants' cutoff age. She won the title on October 30, 2005, also winning its talent portion and swimsuit contest.[1][4]

On 8 July 8, 2006, at age 24 years, Phillips won the Miss Texas 2006 title, becoming the first African-American to hold the Miss Texas title in the 75-year history of the contest.[5][2]

This was the first time Phillips took part in the Miss Texas pageant.[2] She is only the second woman in the history of the program to win the title on her first try.[6] She competed as Miss Frisco, sponsored by the Miss Plano Frisco Scholarship Organization.[7]

Between the Miss Texas pageant and the Miss America pageant, Phillips took part in an MTV reality show called Pageant School: Becoming Miss America.[8] According to Slate, "The centerpiece of this inaugural Pageant School was Miss Texas. She’s tall, bright, and powerfully glamorous, with that intimidating Lone Star star quality. Her tears welled up sincerely when she talked about how proud she was to be 'the first African-American Miss Texas.'"[8]

Phillips competed in the Miss America 2007 pageant on January 29, 2007. Awards in several categories were based on votes from viewers. Phillips took first place in the viewer voting contest for talent.[9]

As one of the final five contestants, Phillips performed live near the end of the evening, singing Whitney Houston's hit "I Believe in You and Me."[10][11] According to the New York Daily News, "Some of the loudest applause for a surviving finalist was for 24-year-old Shilah Phillips."[12]

Phillips was first runner-up to Miss Oklahoma (Lauren Paige Nelson), who was crowned as Miss America 2007.[13]

References
  1. Rad, Sallee (July 10, 2006). "Aspiring singer becomes first black Miss Texas". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 21, 2020. But Phillips had a strong grounding in music, having attended a performing arts school in Denver from sixth to 12th grade and studying voice for a year at Howard University. She has also completed two and a half years at the Collin County college and been accepted to the jazz studies program at the University of North Texas.
  2. "First black woman wins Miss Texas pageant". My Plainview. July 8, 2006. Retrieved February 21, 2020. Phillips, an aspiring music student who auditioned unsuccessfully for the "American Idol" talent contest, said that loss would only work to her advantage on a Miss America pageant-centered reality television show, which will film contestants living together in a group setting. "I'm very excited about it because I have reality TV experience," she said.
  3. "A Music Major at the University of North Texas Is the First Black Woman to Be Crowned Miss Texas". Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. July 27, 2006. Retrieved February 22, 2020. Shilah Phillips studied voice at Howard University for one year before dropping out of college and moving to Los Angeles with the hope of landing a recording contract. After two years encountering limited success she went home to Texas and enrolled at Collin County Community College in Plano.
  4. Miss Frisco 2006 Archived 2006-06-19 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Miss Texas' colorful history". Dallas News. June 28, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2020. Also in 1965, the Miss Texas Pageant banned a black contestant who had tattoos on her arm and knee. Pageant officials said the woman's race wasn't a factor in the decision. More than 40 years later, the first black Miss Texas, Shilah Phillips, was crowned.
  6. Miss Texas 2006 Archived 2006-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Miss Plano Frisco Scholarship Organization Archived 2006-09-06 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Patterson, Troy (January 29, 2007). "Girls Gone Mild". Slate. Retrieved February 21, 2020. The centerpiece of this inaugural Pageant School was Miss Texas. She's tall, bright, and powerfully glamorous, with that intimidating Lone Star star quality. Her tears welled up sincerely when she talked about how proud she was to be "the first African-American Miss Texas."
  9. Hennessey, Kathleen (January 30, 2007). "A Crowning Moment For Miss Oklahoma Lauren Nelson Is Named Miss America". Washington Post. Retrieved January 17, 2020. Producers took cues from "American Idol" and incorporated interviews with judges and text-message voting after the swimsuit, talent and evening-gown competitions. Phillips, a singer and choir director's daughter, was the fan favorite in the talent competition.
  10. Abel, Fred (2007). "MAO's Las Vegas Replay". Pageantry Magazine. Retrieved February 21, 2020. Thus, the focus this year fell squarely on the contestants, with all of the Top 5 performing live in the Talent competition...Snippets from each interview were then woven into the live Talent presentations, which saw Shilah Phillips singing the ballad "I Believe in You and Me"
  11. King, Wendy (January 26, 2007). "Blaire Pancake Competes In Swimsuit & Evening Wear". The Chattanoogan. Retrieved February 21, 2020. Shilah Phillips, who became the first African-American Miss Texas last summer, won the talent segment with her rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Believe in You and Me" from the film "The Preacher's Wife" before an appreciative crowd at the Planet Hollywood/Aladdin Performing Arts Center.
  12. "THERE SHE GOES, MISS NEW YORK. BAY RIDGE BEAUTY FAILS TO MAKE FINAL 10 CUT". NY Daily News. January 30, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2020. Some of the loudest applause for a surviving finalist was for 24-year-old Shilah Phillips, the first black Miss Texas and a former "American Idol" competitor.
  13. "There she is: Miss America". CBS News. January 29, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2020. Miss Oklahoma, Lauren Nelson, reacts to winning Miss America 2007 with Miss Texas, Shilah Phillips...The first black Miss Texas was first runner-up while Miss Georgia, Amanda Kozak, was second runner-up


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