Many beauty queens owe their crowns to this coach

Paula Miles of Aiken, S.C., has spent three decades coaching young women for the Miss USA Pageant. She now runs pageants in three states, including both Carolinas and Louisiana. As usual, she'll be in the audience Sunday, when this year's pageant airs 7-9 p.m. on NBC. Luck is on her side, with a track record that includes: four Miss USAs, two Miss Teen USA's, one Miss World, one Miss Universe, 45 finalists, and 11 first runners-up. This year, Kristen Dalton, 22, of Wilmington represents N.C. and Stephanie Smith, 21, of Goose Creek represents S.C.

Following are excerpts of an interview with Miles by reporter Mark Price.

Q. What details can you give us on the Carolinas queens?

Both won (state titles) in November and I know Kristen took a year off from school just to be Miss North Carolina. She has lived it, breathed it, since then. Her mother was Miss North Carolina USA in 1982, Jennie Boger. Stephanie (Miss S.C.) is still working a full-time job as a cosmetologist, so she's doing a lot of her (beauty queen) duties on weekends. She ultimately wants to be an entertainer and sees the pageant as a means to an end. Both she and Kristen have beautiful voices, though there's no performance talent contest in the pageant.

Q. What's the most important lesson you hope they learned the past few months?

Not to focus too much on the clothes and the tools. Beauty queens needed to stay grounded and be true to themselves. It's more about a mind-set and an attitude, learning who you are as a person and what you want to give back to the world. When you get comfortable and confident with that, the rest comes naturally.

Q. When a contestant does badly, how do you comfort them?

I don't go backstage, but they find me afterward. The thing that comes to mind is Caitlin Upton (Miss Teen S.C.) and the famous map question (during the Miss Teen USA pageant). Her answer ended up being a No. 1 video on YouTube. She found me immediately after the pageant. I think the way she handled herself after was amazing. She didn't run or hide. She came right out to the front of the theater, where we all were. She said: “If I hadn't messed up that question, I think I would have won.” I told her: “I think you would have won, too.” But she came back to South Carolina and it was like an immediate media blitz for her and she did well. My best advice for them in situations like that is: Focus, react and be natural.

Q. What's the most surprising moment you've had in a pageant?

Caitlin Upton and that question. I'm glad the camera wasn't on me.

Q. When it comes to the pageant, what makes you most nervous?

When they get ready to announce the semifinals. I crawl to the edge of my seat and grab the hand of whoever is on either side of me … I remember (in 1994) jumping up and down on top of my seat when I had three in the Top 5. Both my earrings fell off. I'm pretty reserved. I know the first time I ever cried with a winner was when Chelsea Cooley (of Charlotte) won Miss USA in 2005.

Q. What will you wear this year?

I never think about it until I pack. I recycle a lot of dresses, so I rarely go out and buy new outfits.

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Miss World 2005 Unnur Birna Fell On Satge

Since we have been discussing "falling beauties" for the last two days, I give you the last beauty queens I know who also fell on stage.

Miss World 2005 Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir fell flat on her arse after giving a speech at the Miss Iceland 2006. It is also a common knowledge because of its freshness what happened to Miss USA at Miss Universe for the last two pageants. Rachel Smith slipped in 2007 and Crystle Stewart in 20008.

But before I gonna give you the videos of these two ladies showing them falling on stage, you may want to know more about Unnur Birna, the Miss World 2005, the third winner from her country after Icelandic beauties won the same pageant in 1985 and 1988.

Unnur Birna is the lady who beat that year's early favourite and most loved Miss Philippines, Carlene Aguilar and Miss Puerto Rico's represenatative to the Miss Universe 2008 pageant, Ingrid Marie Rivera Santos. Ingrid was that year's second runner up.

Going back to Unnur Birna, did you know that her mother was also a Miss Iceland in 1983? Did you know also that Iceland during the Miss World pageant that year was pregnant and that baby is no other than Unnur Birna?

Her mother, Unnur Steinsson, won the Miss Iceland pageant in 1983 and was a finalist at the 1983 Miss World pageant. Unnur's mother was 3-4 months pregnant during the 1983 pageant. This was against the pageant rules and warrants disqualification. However, this was not found out until after the pageant was over.

Here is the video of Unnur when she fell.

Here is another video of the fall where you can hear the sarcastic and irritating reaction of one of the hosts.

As for the videos of the two Miss USA, here they are:

2008 Miss USA Crystle Stewart

2007 Miss USA Rachel Smith
As a bonus, here is a video of a model who fell many times on stage in a runway in Paris, France.