Alicia Hall extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Alicia Hall is an American fashion model. She was the winner of NBC's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search, a reality TV show which aired in January 2005. She stands 5'9" tall and weighs 115 pounds.

Contents 1 Early years 2 John Robert Powers 3 Star Search 4 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search 5 NEXT Modeling 6 Trivia

Early years

Alicia Hall was born in 1985 and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the age of seven, she told her family that becoming a swimsuit model was her lifelong career goal and, at an almost equally early age, she began practicing by sneaking into the bathroom to take pictures of herself in her swimwear.

John Robert Powers

As soon as she was old enough, Alicia began appearing in local fashion shows. At the age of 13 and encouraged by her mother and stepfather, the fledgling model strutted her stuff all the way into her first professional photo shoot in October 1998. As she continued to gain experience in the cut-throat modeling industry, Alicia began to realize that her part-time stint could blossom into a full-time career.

Alicia moved one step closer to her goal when she won a competition held by the John Robert Powers School, a well-established Las Vegas modeling institution. The school took Alicia in and gave her formal training, allowing her to graduate as a disciplined and confident model. To pay the bills as she continued to pursue her dream, Alicia offered up her creative services as a freelance Web designer.

Star Search

In January 2003, Alicia experienced her first brush with fame when she competed on CBS's revival of Star Search. She made it as far as the semi-finals in the model category before being eliminated by the celebrity judges. While it was tough to have her dream elude her again, the aspiring model grew stronger from having to deal with the public rejection of losing.

It would take almost two years for Alicia to get another stab at fame. In late 2004, she got word that NBC was taking in portfolios for a new reality series, and immediately jumped at the opportunity. The series, titled Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search, was a joint effort between the network and SI magazine. The show pitted beauties against one another in a six-episode modeling competition. The winner would be set up with a $1-million modeling contract and a spread in SI's annual Swimsuit Issue.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search

"I knew if I passed this up I would have never known how far I could go, so I ran with it."

-Alicia Hall, on her reason for competing in the SI Swimsuit Model Search.

Alicia was chosen from thousands of applicants to be one of the 12 finalists on the program, and she moved into a posh Los Angeles house with her fellow competitors. After a blitz of modeling sessions, physical training and catching some tough love from the judges, Alicia made it to the final two, facing off against fellow contestant Shannon Hughes.

Both girls were flown to Bora Bora for the final test, which included a head to head "shoot-out." Thanks to her combination of exotic good looks and girl next door appeal, Alicia was voted the winner by the American public.

NEXT Modeling

Alicia's victory was announced live on television in February 2005. As part of the prize package, she signed a modeling contract with NEXT Model Management and her sexy tropical photos were featured in SI's Swimsuit Issue that same month. She is no longer with Next Model Management, but she continues to model in Australia with Chic Model Management.

Trivia

• To celebrate the release of the 2005 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue - which carried her photo spread as part of the reality TV show's prize package - Alicia and SI publisher David Morris rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

• She became a model of Skechers.