Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Shilah Phillips" in English language version.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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"
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."
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.
