Miss California Wins Miss USA

Maybe it's just me (but I doubt it), but I think Miss Tennessee got hosed.

You're hired!

Miss California Alyssa Campanella was crowned the new Miss USA 2011, taking the title over first runner-up Miss Tennessee Ashley Durham—her best friend!

With a panel of judges including Rocco DiSpirito and Real Housewives' Caroline Manzo, E!'s own Giuliana Rancic and Bravo's Andy Cohen hosted the Donald Trump-owned competition held in Las Vegas at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. The pair sent off the 21-year old L.A. resident down the runway for her first official walk.

During the competition, Campanella had been asked about the legalization of marijuana, and apparently her answer—in which she said she wasn't sure that it should be legalized, but that she recognized its medical value—was a winner.

New Miss USA Rima Fakih Working the Pole

Well, that didn't take long.

Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih was a contestant in a stripping contest sponsored by a Detroit radio station, MyFOXDC.com is reporting.

Fakih appears in several photos on Mojointhemorning.com, a morning show on Detroit's Channel 955.

Two of the photos are from a strip tease contest held in 2007, and show Fakih performing on a stripper pole in front of an audience of women dressed in their underwear.

"Congratulations to Miss Michigan, Rima Fakih who was crowned Miss USA on Sunday night! Rima is a Dearborn resident and the first Arab American to wear the crown," the site states. "Rima is a Mojo In The Morning listener who has joined us in studio and at events. Check out Miss USA Rima Fakih when she won Mojo In The Morning's 'Stripper 101' contest in 2007."

The judges were strippers, and awarded Fakih first prize. The prizes included jewelry, gift cards, adult toys and a stripper pole for home use, according to the website.

The event was attended by women only, and Rima never removed her clothing at the event, the radio station said in a statement.

There wasn't anything topless so there's probably nothing to complain about, except for the fact Miss Oklahoma should have won.

She's definitely pole-worthy.

Great News: Politics Once Again Arises in Miss USA Pageant

After the Carrie Prejean fiasco of last year is anyone surprised some pinhead judge brought up Arizona's new immigration law? Knock me over with a feather. Here's Miss Oklahoma saying she supports states' rights but playing both side of the border fence by saying she's against profiling, which, of course, the new law prohibits even though opponents who haven't read the law insists it does. I suspect this judge hasn't read the law.

So naturally Miss Oklahoma lost to Miss Michigan, who tripped over her gown and who couldn't answer a simple question. But since she's of Arab descent, we have to give her the award, of course.

Lebanese immigrant Rima Fakih says it was a certain look from Donald Trump that tipped her off that she had won the 2010 Miss USA title.

The 24-year-old Miss Michigan beat out 50 other women to take the title Sunday night, despite nearly stumbling in her evening gown.

She told reporters later that she believed she had won after glancing at pageant owner Trump as she awaited the results with the first runner-up, Miss Oklahoma USA Morgan Elizabeth Woolard.

"That's the same look that he gives them when he says, 'You're hired,'" on Trump's reality show "The Apprentice," she said.

"She's a great girl," said Trump, who owns the pageant with NBC in a joint venture.

Fakih took top honors at the pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip after strutting confidently in an orange and gold bikini, wearing a strapless white gown that resembled a wedding dress and saying health insurance should cover birth control pills.

Trump should be embarrassed for presiding over such a charade, but he's incapable of shame.

Fakih, an Arab-American from Dearborn, Mich., told pageant organizers her family celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths. She moved to the United States as a baby and was raised in New York, where she attended a Catholic school. Her family moved to Michigan in 2003.

How long until there's a fatwa on her for parading around in a bikini?

Trump Aims to, Um, Revive Interest in Miss USA Pageant

I'd say he's got my interest. Well, at least Miss Minnesota does.

Miss USA contestants are letting it all hang out this year!

Vamped up, cleavage-baring beauties -- dressed in no more than lacy lingerie or fishnets -- are gracing the Web site of the Miss USA pageant, in an eye-popping reversal from the competition's traditional, homespun look.

Now the girl next door is lucky to have a bra.

The new sexy version of Miss USA, which airs this Sunday, comes a year after Miss California Carrie Prejean lost her crown when seminude pictures of her emerged after the competition.

Prejean was already in hot water after giving a tortured explanation of her opposition to gay marriage.

Donald Trump -- who owns the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe competitions -- argued that Prejean's sexy shots crossed a line that these Miss USA snaps don't.

"Those were quite a bit different. There's no open exposure [in the current Miss USA pictures]," Trump told The Post yesterday.

The 51 Miss USA wannabes were photographed for their black-and-white "glam" shots last week in Las Vegas by pageant shutterbug Fadil Berisha.

You can see all the photos here. Of course as a public service we feel obliged to offer up a few more of our favorites.

Here's Miss Connecticut.

I've got a sudden desire to visit Idaho.

Things are looking fine in Mississippi.

After visiting Idaho, I'll head south east to Wyoming.

And finally, Miss Virginia. Let us hope they'll be strutting their stuff wearing these outfits during the pageant.

Update: Thanks to Jedi for pointing out my geography error in relation to Wyoming and Idaho. My mind was elsewhere at the time.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Who Died and Made Mario Lavandeira Boss?

I had no idea freaky boy's real name was Mario Lavandeira. I had suspected the name on his birth certificate may have said Luntz, based on his hairstyle.

Whatever the case, someone in the media has stepped up to ask: Who put this twit in charge of popular culture?

So wait … how is it Perez Hilton, the gossip blogger who built a career by drawing male genitalia and cartoon cocaine on celebrity photos, is now the media’s official spokesperson on one of the most important civil rights issues in America?

Oh, yeah! The Internet … the same series of tubes that gave us LOL Cats, Chocolate Rain, Susan Boyle and easily accessible pornography. God love you, Internet. You sure do keep our world interesting.

Whether or not you follow Donald Trump’s Miss USA pageant, it’s hard to escape the fallout following Sunday’s nationally televised event. During the Q&A portion of the pageant, “celebrity judge” Hilton asked Miss California, Carrie Prejean, whether she supported gay marriage.

Read the rest.

Speaking of Trump, who's been unusually silent (for him), he finally commented today and noted most of the calls and emails he's received have been supportive of Carrie Prejean.

The owner of the Miss Universe franchise finally addressed the scandal surrounding his Miss USA pageant to FOX News Thursday, saying that he has received thousands of calls and letters, the majority of which support Miss California's comments on gay marriage.

Trump had been mum during the firestorm that followed the Sunday telecast, when first runner up Carrie Prejean's responded to a question about the controversial issue of gay marriage.

Considering the overwhelming majority of Americans do not support gay marriage, including President Obama, this really comes as no surprise. Maybe Mario Lavandeira and all the Hollywood nitwits so quick to jump on Prejean might want to step back and realize they're the ones in the minority on this issue.

Then they might want to consider growing up.

Let's Hear It For Miss California

Since we mentioned her little dustup with that freak Perez Hilton yesterday, we figure it was worth some more intensive research to bring you all the yummy goodness that is Carrie Prejean, Miss California, who probably is more recognized now than Miss USA winner, Kristen Dalton.

So in the public interest, we bring you a few more photos of the lovely Miss Carrie Prejean, who apparently hails from La Jolla. I always knew there was a reason I like visiting that town.




For those of you into black and white photography, we haven't forgotten you.

I believe the operative words here are hubba hubba.

Of course, since Kristen Dalton of North Carolina was the actual winner, we hereby pay homage to her.

How does she feels about gay marriage?

Who cares? All I know is I have a sudden urge to climb trees. And with that, another bikini shot of Miss Dalton.

Memo to Donald Trump: I'm much more qualified to judge these ladies than that freak Perez Hilton. I'll be happy to participate next year.

New Miss USA Crowned

Of course, we'll always have fond memories of Tara Conner, but let us now congratulate the new Miss USA, Rachel Renee Smith, Miss Tennessee.

Now stay out of trouble. Otherwise, you'll become a fixture here. Actually, you may become a fixture anyway.

If you can stand it, here's a slideshow.

The Jawa Report has more.

Tara Conner on Shorter Leash

I provide you with Tara Conner news because I can. It's really that simple. Now get your perverse minds out of the gutter. The headline wasn't my idea, but it works. I found this on Page 10 of the NY Post, although they call it Page Six.

MISS USA Tara Conner is out of rehab, but Donald Trump and the Miss Universe Organization are keeping a tight leash on her. Friends say the beauty queen has moved from her Trump Tower pad to a bigger apartment farther uptown, which she now shares with a chaperone. "She is not allowed to go to clubs anymore," dished the spy, "and she has a lot of new rules for going out." A spokesperson for Miss USA said, "Plans to move to a bigger apartment with a chaperone have been in the works for months, and Tara is free to go wherever she wants."

Tara Conner Goes Free

According to TMZ, the lovely yet troubled Miss USA is wrapping up rehab. We have a soft spot for the young lady and wish her well. This also provides another opportunity to post her photo, always a big hit with the male set.

TMZ has exclusively learned that Miss USA Tara Conner will be getting out of rehab on Sunday, and that Miss Universe officials are "licking their chops" because her imminent release will cause a "news frenzy."

We're also told that people who run the facility say she's back on track. Conner spent the last few weeks at a treatment center in Pennsylvania, after the Donald decided not to fire her for her wild, hard-partying antics and dalliances with multiple men, as TMZ first reported in December.

Since then, two of her fellow contestants in the pageant, Miss Nevada Katie Rees and Miss New Jersey Ashley Harder have been forced to turn in their crowns.

Miss New Jersey USA Resigns

I'm starting to think we have a problem with these young ladies. What will The Donald do now?

Another Miss USA tiara is changing heads.

Ashley Harder, Miss New Jersey USA, has resigned because she is pregnant, The Philadelphia Daily News reported in Monday's editions.

Harder, 20, told the newspaper she voluntarily stepped down because it's against pageant rules to compete while pregnant. She could not be reached for comment by The Associated Press.

Both the pageant and the runner-up for 2007 Miss New Jersey USA confirmed Monday that the reins have changed hands. Erin Abrahamson, 23, said pageant officials called her Friday to let her know she would be assuming the title.

"Whatever made her resign, I wish her lots of luck and hope she's OK," Abrahamson said of Harder, adding that pageant officials didn't tell her why she would be taking over.

Harder's resignation is the latest to hit the pageant.

Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees was stripped of her title after racy photos of her appeared on the Internet. Miss USA Tara Conner, who was caught drinking in New York bars when she was still underage, was allowed to keep her tiara after she agreed to go into rehab and undergo drug testing.