beauty pageant

Today, the Miss Universe organization has found itself immersed in controversy once again when Miss Delaware Teen USA Melissa King resigned after a pornographic movie surfaced that allegedly features Melissa just months after she turned 18. Melissa denies that it's her, even if the girl in the video looks exactly like her and mentions personal details that match up. Last year, the Miss Universe Canada pageant was in hot water for disqualifying transgender beauty queen Jenna Talackova for not being born a woman. After a huge backlash from Jenna's supporters, the Miss Universe organization has reversed its decision.

The beauty pageant world has been riddled with scandals, missteps, and fallen-from-grace pageant royalty, as the somewhat sexualized nature of the competition seems at odds with the strict rules (you can be penalized for playing beer pong, for goodness sake). So click on to learn some of the scandalous and sexy moments in the 60-year history of the emotional and bikini-filled Miss Universe beauty pageant.

At only 28 years old, former Miss Venezuela Eva Ekvall has died from breast cancer. Eva was just 17 when she was crowned Miss Venezuela in 2000, and then the following year she was third runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant. But Eva was much more than a pretty face, as she went on to be not only a wife and mother, but a model, actress, television news anchor, and author before her life was cut tragically short.

Ironically, the pageant queen's most lasting legacy may be that of her battle against Venezuela's obsession with beauty. Eva said in an interview, "It's absurd that there should be a taboo about breast cancer in a country of breast implants, where women have few reservations about showing off their surgically-enhanced breasts." With shows like Toddlers & Tiaras, we may think the US has a beauty pageant addiction, but Venezuela is known for its focus on looks. The country has one of the biggest markets for breast augmentation in the world, and its beauty schools for girls churn out pageant queens (it even holds the record for most Miss World wins).

After being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in 2010, Eva wanted to make a stand against this focus on appearance. She chronicled her struggle with the disease in her book, Fuera de Foco, which means "out of focus," and is photographed bald for the cover. In an interview she said, "I hate to see photos in which I come out ugly. But you know what? Nobody ever said cancer is pretty or that I should look like Miss Venezuela when I have cancer."

See this remarkable woman over the years now.

Last night Miss Venezuela Ivian Lunasol Sarcos Colmenares was crowned Miss World 2011. And while there were the expected pageant waves, tears, sparkly dresses, and plastered-on smiles, there's more to the 60-year-old beauty pageant than meets the eye. Here are some of the fun and juicy tidbits about Miss World that you may not know:

• Venezuela is the country with the most Miss World wins, Ivian is the sixth to be crowned!
• Miss World is the oldest major international beauty pageant, having begun in the UK in 1951, a year before Miss Universe.
• The pageant controversially chose Nigeria's capital Abuja as the host city for the final in 2002, despite the country having a woman awaiting a death-by-stoning sentence for adultery. Many of the contestants boycotted the pageant, and ultimately it was moved to London.
• Feminist protesters scared host Bob Hope when they tossed flour bombs at the pageant in 1970.
• The US had a poor showing when the first American to win, 1973's Miss World Marjorie Wallace, had to give up her crown 104 days in because she wasn't living up to her royal responsibilities.
• Several countries boycotted the 1976 pageant because South Africa had both a black and white representative. It wasn't until 1991 that the country changed its policy and was allowed back to the competition.
• Miss World's 1980 winner, Gabriella Brum of Germany, resigned a day after the pageant, saying her boyfriend didn't approve. But in reality, Gabriella got the boot due to some naked magazine photos she had taken.

See more photos of Miss World Ivian looking like beauty pageant Barbie now!

It's not often you see beauty pageant contestants competing by throwing logs, playing the bagpipes, and running with water jugs. But 122 Miss World hopefuls are doing just that as they participate in the Miss World Highland Games in Scotland. Created in the UK in 1951, the Miss World pageant is the oldest major international beauty pageant. And to celebrate its 60th birthday, the organizers have taken the competition to the great outdoors with an all-women twist on the Scottish Highland games.

The highland games are ancient competitions that have been going on for centuries — before recorded history! — that celebrate the culture and history of the Scottish Highlands. So the ladies of the Miss World pageant are trying their hands (and feet) at everything from Scottish dancing, the caber toss, bagpipe playing, and the farmyard dash. Watch these girls throw caution to the wind as they get down and dirty, smiling the whole time, in the Miss World Highland Games!