People: Wrong Miss California Crowned

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BEAUTY PAGEANTS ARE BRUTAL: No, we're not talking about all of the gobs of makeup, buckets of hairspray and dangerously high heels that come with most pageants these days. We're talking about Christina Silva, who after being crowned Miss California on Nov. 25 (video above) had her crown revoked yesterday. No, she didn't do anything naughty like Miss USA Tara Conner. Instead pageant officials say the ballots weren't counted properly. "They never could explain their accounting error, but told me that if I didn't give up my crown ... my personal integrity could be questioned, and my career could potentially suffer," Silva said in a statement.

So, uh, congrats Raquel Beezley, you're now the winner. Even stranger: Go to the Miss California Web site, and you'll see that they aren't even acknowledging the top two winners, and are instead congratulating third runner-up Meagan Tandy. Doesn't this seem so Miss Congeniality?

This isn't the first time a California pageant has been mired in controversy. We happened upon a 1988 contest video in which a contestant pulled out a protest bra prior to the crowning ceremony. Yowsah. All these girls just want to follow in Michelle Pfeiffer's footsteps. [AP via CNN; NYT; You Tube]

» IN COURT: Oh, Akon. His lawyer says that he "deeply regrets" a "spontaneous reaction during a live concert" where he allegedly threw a 15-year-old off stage, causing the teen to slam into a woman, which gave her a concussion. But the rapper has pleaded not guilty in the incident, which happened earlier in the year. [Reuters via WaPo]

» TWINSIE COUPLES? Is it just us or do these two couples resemble each other? [People]

» NEXT YEAR'S HOT COSTUME: The Keira Knightley peg-leg look. [Dotspotter]