How many women can say they took on an entire country and won?

American Lisa Angeline prevailed in the February 2008 round of the Is She Hot contest, narrowly edging a famous personality from Iceland who had gained a lead going into the final day of the month thanks to her nation’s news media. By the end of the day, however, Lisa was in first place, closely followed by Icequeen.

“Icequeen is definitely the queen of Iceland,” Lisa said. “Judging from all of the people who support her, she’s the queen and that’s her army. They wanted to make sure their queen won. She kicked my ass that last day, and by some miracle, my own score managed to get all the way back up. I was still scared because I knew how close it was. That last day, when I woke up and checked my score, sleepy-eyed, my heart just sank. I figured I’d lost, but my friends at Savvy inspired me to keep going and not go out without a fight.”

Lisa had her own army of admirers, it seems, and they made February their beachhead to defend. Although peace and tranquility have been restored to the Savvy Nation, you could say Lisa won the battle but she hasn’t yet won the war. In eleven months, there may be a rematch if both women make it to the final event in Sydney to compete for $1 million.

“I'm sure we'll all get along fine in Sydney,” Lisa said. “We exchanged an email at the start of February, and she was very nice, complimenting me on my strategy. We wished each other luck. It will be fun to get to know these girls.”

Australia happens to be at the top of Lisa’s list of places she wants to visit. “I am so excited,” she said.

She grew up in Albequerque, New Mexico and now splits her time between Las Vegas and Newport Beach, Calif., working as a full-time model. She got into modelling about five years ago by way of car shows and has made lots of appearances as a NOPI girl and on a dozen magazine covers posed next to sweet rides.

“Most of my fans are automotive fans,” she said. “I want to take the modelling as far as it will take me. The kind of modelling I do is short-lived, so I want to do as much as I can for as long as I can. The stories I could tell are endless. The best thing that comes out of the shows, for me, are the friends I have made. I work with girls from all over the world. One of my best friends is from Indonesia. We come together and share stories and become friends. Some stories I can’t share!”

She’s also a popular promotional model appearing at trade shows and in Vegas clubs. She was Miss Hawaiian Tropic Latin America and Miss Golden Nugget last year and is currently Miss Rio for the Rio casino and, as of three weeks ago, holds the title of Las Vegas’ Top Model.

Perhaps we should take her gambling in Vegas and let her blow on our dice with the kind of good fortune she’s enjoying lately?

“I just have good luck. I think it is because of the positive energy that I put out. If someone asks me to vote for them, I always do it. I just believe in the golden rule and luckily, it’s come back to me.”

For the Savvy offensive, her strategy was simple: Keep the voters interested. Like a general preparing the troops for battle, she kept morale high in the ranks.

“I changed something every day on my profile to get them to come back and hopefully vote for me. I knew I had to set myself apart so I added a little bribery by awarding a print to one guy per day. I have pictures of myself all over the Internet, but I wanted to debut 10 new pictures that no one had ever seen before. Giving a picture away each day for those last 10 days was just an incentive to come back. They loved it and it worked.”

Taking the time to reply to her fans also paid off for her.

“I just wanted to show my gratitude to people for supporting me and let them know how much I wanted to be their friend too,” she explained. What’s more, she actually seemed sincere while doing this rather than just a kiss-ass.

“I don’t think I’m a very good butt-kisser,” she laughed. "I genuinely love meeting people and talking to fans."

Every warrior needs allies, and Lisa got some unexpected reinforcements on the battlefield to win hearts and minds.

“That was huge of (fellow ISH contestant) Jenn Thomas to ask people to vote for me, and I owe her big time. She’s such a beautiful person inside and out. That really touched my heart because we are competitors, and she was right up there with me. I definitely ‘have her back’ in the future,” she said.

Unlike January’s winner, fellow American Amanda Myers, Lisa kept quiet about her plans on spending a million dollars if she should win. But wait, that doesn’t mean she intends to squander it all on thongs.

“Luckily, my 'spending' phase is over. I'm a good saver, but there are a few organizations that are close to my heart that I would donate money to," she said. “First, there's an organisation that has done a lot to help the children in Uganda called Invisible Children. Everyone should hear their story. It really humbles you and makes you realise your own problems are so insignificant. I also try to donate whenever I can to PetFinder, which aids animals during disasters like Hurricane Katrina. They save animals that are homeless or abandoned, providing medical care, shelter and food. I already do what I can for these groups, but I’d love to give them a chunk of money if I can.”

For those who fantasized that Lisa would promote them from private to major to help her spend all of that cash, there’s devastating news from the front lines: “I’m in a relationship with an awesome guy. He is very supportive and is my number one fan.”

Spoils of war, Lisa. Spoils of war…

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From the War Room

Lisa offers some advice for other contestants still in the fight to win a month.

“Be yourself and try to do something to set yourself apart. It’s important to show people why you are different and put some effort into your page. A million dollars is a lot of money so it is well worth the effort,” she said.

She may not want the added competition, but she said Savvy is a great place for models to get exposure – and a lot more.

“Savvy was recommended to me by a friend a couple of months ago. At first, I didn’t really understand what it was, but the first day I signed up, there were already all of these people reaching out to me in friendship, asking questions about my life and encouraging me to do the contest. I’m overwhelmed by what a positive experience it has been. I’ve met a lot of cool people, and as we saw on the last day of the contest, they were there for me and pulled me out of the trenches. I'm so lucky."

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Visit http://savvy.com/profile/lisa and invite Lisa to become your friend NOW, if you haven’t already!