As anyone who's seen Miss Congeniality knows, Miss United States isn't a beauty pageant ... it's a scholarship fund. And for these five women, walking away with the crown (and a hefty chunk of pocket change!) was just the beginning. In honor of today's MADE, read up on a few high profile ladies who used their pageant success to jump-start their careers!

If you followed the 2008 presidential elections, you might remember that Sarah Palin's got some old pageant gowns gathering dust in her closet. The former Miss Wasilla placed third in the Miss Alaska pageant in 1984, then went on to become Governor of Alaska (and VP nominee, don'tcha know)!

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• Girls Next Door star Holly Madison gives us icky mental pictures (and ickier real-life pictures) of her swapping spit with her new Albino boyfriend, Criss Angel. (Scandalist)

• Steve Martin has just been announced as 30 Rock's latest desperate ploy for ratings celeb guest star. Hooray! (E! Online)

• Sarah Palin pardons one lucky Wasilla turkey while the bird's not-so-lucky brethren meet an untimely death at the slaughterhouse. Also, peep that (newly purchased?) Burberry scarf! (BuzzFeed)

• Kathie Lee Gifford is the best/worst Today Show host ever! (Defamer)

• Ashley Dupre's belated heart-to-heart with Diane Sawyer makes us nostalgic for the days when "Client 9" jokes were all the rage. (Gawker)

• Apparently, big stars don't always translate into big ratings (**except when your name is Oprah). Jennifer Aniston's episode of 30 Rock was the sitcom's lowest rated show this season. (E! Online)

• Rosie O'Donnell says she'd love to share a brewsky with Sarah Palin! But that doesn't mean O'Donnell wanted Palin anywhere near the Oval Office. "If [John] McCain won," says the former View cohost, "I would be in the depression unit of the ICU." (Usmagazine.com)

• MADE coach-turned-Bachelorette ex Jesse Csincsak says he and DeAnna Pappas are still friends despite the whole not-getting-married thing. But for now, he's taking things "one day at a time." (OK!)

• Holly Madison on stepping on her sugar daddy/employer Hugh Hefner with creepy magician/boyfriend Criss Angel: "I thought I'd be fired!" (Scandalist)

• Rumor has it Eliot Spitzer's callgirl, Ashley Dupre, may have had an on-camera heart-to-heart with Diane Sawyer. Hope she wasn't charging ABC by the hour! (Gawker)