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The Miss USA people are getting rid of Tara Conner, after all. No, she’s not being fired–her time is up.
The Miss USA pageant gears up to name a new queen this week in a live televised competition that organizers say will spotlight how reigning titleholder Tara Conner nearly lost her crown and ended up in rehab. “Certainly, our reigning Miss USA is going to be on television and we’re certainly not going to shy away from referring to what happened,” executive producer Phil Gurin told The Associated Press on Monday. “Why shy away from what’s part of our family? We embrace our family.”
 While not a centerpiece of the show, Conner will be “all over our telecast,” Gurin added. Viewers will be able to see Conner and “make their own determinations by seeing how she presents herself, what she has to say about what happened this past year … and that’s something we’ve never been able to do before.”
Published accounts last fall suggested that Conner, a native of Kentucky, was boozing it up at New York clubs — not exactly the kind of public behavior expected of a role model tapped to be Miss USA and then represent the United States in the
Miss Universe pageant.
The behavior of other Miss USA contestants over the last few months also drew unwanted public scrutiny: Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees lost her title after racy pictures of her surfaced on the Internet, and Miss New Jersey USA Ashley Harder resigned when she got pregnant.
Conner hung on to her crown after Donald Trump, who owns the Miss Universe and Miss USA contests in a partnership with NBC, decided to give her a second chance. She underwent a stint in rehab in Pennsylvania for her drinking. Trump’s decision sparked a war of words between The Donald and “The View” co-host
Rosie O’Donnell.
On Monday, 51 contestants representing all the states and the District of Columbia participated in a non-televised preliminary competition, each taking turns wearing a swimsuit and an evening gown and modeling them for the judges. The beauty queens met with judges on Sunday to conduct the interview portion of the competition.
The scores earned by contestants in the preliminary contest were not released. They are used to determine the 15 top finalists named early on in the telecast Friday.
Gurin said he doesn’t think the Conner flap has hurt the pageant’s reputation. “I think there’s been more focus on the pageant, perhaps, than there might have been otherwise, but I don’t think it’s tarnished anything,” he said. If anything, Gurin conceded, the controversy may draw more viewers to the show. “We don’t want to capitalize from someone’s misfortune,” said Gurin, who marks his fifth year producing the pageant. “Any time there’s something that stirs up the pot, certainly more eyeballs are going to come to watch.”
There’s not much doubt the Conner scandal helped get “Miss USA” back into the national spotlight. Who can name Miss USA 2005? Miss USA 2004? Any Miss USA from the last 20 years?
I don’t know who will win this year but Nicole Bosso, Miss Delaware USA (pictured in story above), looks mighty fine in that swimsuit. Then again, Miss Kentucky USA Michelle Stephanie Banzer, Miss Arkansas USA Kelly George, Miss Indiana USA Jami Stallings, Miss Georgia USA Brittany Swann, Miss Florida USA Jenna Edwards, and Miss Colorado USA Keena Bonella aren’t too bad, either.
     
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Another Miss USA tiara is changing heads. Ashley Harder, Miss New Jersey USA, has resigned because she is pregnant. Actually, the real reason she quit is because she can’t stand Donald Trump. They are all going to quit, one by one. [not really, heh]
 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.
Harder, who was crowned in October, told the newspaper she’s expecting her child in “late summer” and plans to marry her live-in boyfriend.
Pageant spokeswoman Lark-Marie Anton confirmed Harder’s resignation, but would only say it was “for personal reasons.”
The Miss USA pageant is to be held on March 23 in Los Angeles. The winner of that competition goes on to compete in the Miss Universe pageant. Both pageants are owned by Donald Trump and NBC.
At least she didn’t quit because she was photographed shoving her tongue down another girls throat.
source: ONTD
Todd Leopold offers CNN.com’s top 10 entertainment stories of the year:
1. The ubiquitous YouTube, MySpace, etc. Time magazine may have overstated the case with its Person of the Year , but certainly these Web sites are redefining who makes entertainment, when it’s available (whenever you want) — and what it is, for that matter. Not bad for that series of tubes called the Internets.
2. Britney Spears. Didn’t she used to sing?
3. Major deaths: James Brown, Ahmet Ertegun, Robert Altman. All incredibly influential, all deserving of more due. The world is a lesser place with their losses.
4. Mel Gibson. His drunken, racist tirade made him the center of attention in July. "Apocalypto" put him on top of the box office in December.
4a. Race and rants. Gibson’s outburst (and others, notably Michael Richards’) started talk about race, ethnicity and prejudice, but whether the discussion was enlightening or simply a frenzy of yelling is an open question. (a certain reporter.
7. Steve Irwin. The "Crocodile Hunter’s" death in September shocked the world.
8. Borat. Sacha Baron Cohen’s clever Kazakh character topped the box office and started discussions on the value of satire. High-five!
9. Celebrities and Africa. Some attracted cameras (George Clooney in Darfur, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Namibia), some appeared to invite them (Madonna). Regardless of the reasons, perhaps the exposure will do some good.
10. The old folks still have it. In an entertainment world, where youth is deified, Bob Dylan (65) topped the album charts; Clint Eastwood (76) made two of the best movies of the year; Judi Dench (72) earned raves for "Casino Royale" and "Notes on a Scandal"; and that’s not to forget Peter O’Toole (74), Helen Mirren (61) and that whippersnapper Meryl Streep (57).
What about the TomCat phenomenon? People obsessed for months on when and if Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes would get married, when their baby would be born, what its name would be, when the first pictures would come out, why they were seen around town without said baby (Suri), and so forth.
At least in the online world, “crotch shots” and its variants would be high on the list, with Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton all having well publicized (and searched) incidents. Ditto “beauty pageant scandals,” with the drunken behavior of Miss USA Tara Conner and Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees getting so much attention over the last couple of weeks. Of lesser note would be the Scarlett Johansson phenomenon, with the starlet suddenly appearing at the top of all the hot celebrity superlative lists.
A new picture of Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees from June of 2004 has been found! As if you haven’t seen enough of this woman … licking other women.
[heh]
picture source: pinkmeatcompany
You thought Tara Connor, Miss USA, was naughty? She’s got nothin’ on Katie Rees, Miss Nevada, who she beat out for the title.
TMZ has learned that Katie Rees, Miss Nevada USA 2007, has been stripped of her title after racy photos emerged of her kissing other women and exposing herself. Miss Nevada is in red. TMZ has exclusively obtained the entire graphic series.
[...]
Pageant spokeswoman Lark-Marie Anton told TMZ that that while Donald Trump approved Miss Nevada’s dethroning, it was Shugart who ultimately made the decision. “Mr. Trump runs a billion-dollar real estate company, besides owning the pageant,” she said, “His priorities are the title holders — Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.” Anton added that these types of decisions are made all the time, they are just more high-profile now, in light of the current scandal involving Miss USA Tara Conner.
The demand for naughty, lesbian beauty queens knows no bounds.
Plenty more photos where that came from, too. All have that annoying red star on the good parts, though.
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Miss Nevada Kissing Girls linked with Right Celebrity
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