Miss California USA controversy, Raquel Beezley winner

Miss California miscount gives crown to Christina Silva, then to Raquel Beezley, website still in disarray.

Miss California USA controversy, Raquel Beezley winner Presidential elections are not the only place where you can find miscounted ballots. Apparently Miss California USA didn't go without a glitch either. The 24-year-old contestant Christina Silva was announced the winner of Miss California a week back, but after some of the judges started questioning the results, the ballots were re-counted only to find out that actually 21-year-old runner-up Raquel Beezley was the winner of Miss California. According to the beauty pageant organizers, it was simply a human error, but Christina Silva has hired an attorney and is looking into her legal options. "They never could explain their accounting error, but told me that if I didn't give up my crown to Miss Barstow, my personal integrity could be questioned, and my career could potentially suffer," Christina Silva was quoted.

Miss California organizers said that they will allow Silva to keep the original crown and refund her the entry fee, while a duplicate crown is being made for the rightful winner Raquel Beezley. At the end, Beezley will represent California at the Miss USA pageant next April. The beauty pageants have become the latest "hit" on the betting market, with the latest Miss World generating over 1 million bets world wide. And there a plenty of money to be made by the punters, for example the 2007 Miss Universe winner, Miss Japan, paid on odds 150/1. The 2008 Miss USA is also expected to be one of the betting hits of the year.

Published on 12/04/2007