TMZ linked Fakih to Prejean and all the others in a gleeful report that called the photos “seedy pole-dancing pictures.” Similar fates have befallen other beauty pageant contestants dating back to Vanessa Williams, who had to relinquish her Miss America crown in 1984 after nude photos of her surfaced. Last year, Miss California USA Carrie Prejean had gotten in trouble when it was discovered she had posed partially nude for at least two different photographers.
The photographs in question and the video from which they come had been on the Mojo in the Morning website since 2007, but nobody seemed to take any notice of them, not even when the dark-haired beauty became Miss Michigan USA to earn a spot in the Miss USA pageant that was held last week in Las Vegas.īut as soon as Fakih was crowned Sunday night, the tabloid media started digging for dirt on her. And so I got up there to get the party started and say, ‘Hey, you know what? Hop on up here and show ’em what you learned today.’ ” It actually involved doctors and lawyers, everyone in Detroit.
“ collected about 100, 115 women, and they teach them how to dance and be sexy. I just want to make it clear, it was not a stripper pole contest it was actually a promotional event that my friend, who’s a DJ at that radio station, had - for women,” Fakih said. She was just there to help promote the 2007 event that took place in Detroit. She had not, as TMZ reported, entered the contest to take lessons in doing a striptease, she said. ( is part of, a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft.)įakih did want to set the record straight, however, on how the pictures came to be taken. But Donald Trump, who jointly owns the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants with NBC, quickly stepped in to say there was nothing wrong with the pictures, in which Fakih remains completely dressed. see it as a mere pole dance,” Fit said.Fakih is dressed in short red shorts and a blue tank top with a high neckline in the pictures, which caused a bit of a contretemps Monday and Tuesday when the gossip site TMZ made it seem as if the Lebanese-American beauty had done something that would jeopardize her crown. “It is vertical gymnastics the splits are done from a vertical position. The doubles prize went to Yvette Dusol and Jade Tinkler of Britain. Natalia Tatarintseva of Ukraine took the women’s title, while Ke Hong of China won the men’s event. Each routine lasts between 3½ and 5 minutes and is “a combination of gymnastics, acrobatics and rhythmic gymnastics,” Fit said.
Contestants were judged on their costumes, the tricks they performed and entertainment value. There were also men’s and doubles finals. It has developed a lot from where it started, from the clubs in the 1960s.”Ĭontestants from 12 countries, including China, Russia, Britain, Italy and Romania took part in the women’s final held at the Children’s Palace in southern Bucharest. “It’s a new sport and often due to prejudice, people are reluctant or they don’t know much about it,” she said.įit hopes that pole dancing will become an Olympic sport. They left after speaking to one of the organizers and no action was taken, organizer Cristina Fit told The Associated Press Wednesday. The Alliance of Parents from Romania called the Romanian national finals, where youngsters compete, “a step toward infantile prostitution,” and more than 100 non-governmental groups signed a petition.