Miss Illinois Katherine Shindle won the 1997 Miss America competition Sept. 13 in part by belting a well-known showtune and by her talk about AIDS prevention. For the talent portion of the competition, Shindle sang "Don't Rain on My Parade," the Jule Styne-Bob Merrill tune made famous by Barbra Streisand in the original production of the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl.
The title carres a $40,000 scholarship and the chance to spend 1998 attending speaking engagements on AIDS prevention.
-- By Robert Viagas