shescrazy

Tara Conner ended her tumultuous reign as
Miss USA on a high note on Friday, turning her highly publicized stint in rehab for drugs and alcohol into a story of courage and female empowerment.
Conner handed over her tiara to Rachel Smith, Miss Tennessee and an aspiring journalist, ending a year in which scandals revived flagging interest in a pageant industry that seemed to have lost its relevance.

Smith, a 21-year-old brunette, was chosen from 51 contestants at the end of a two-hour televised show that embraced Conner's fall from grace and presented her recovery and honesty as a new kind of role model for young women.

Conner, now 21, saved her crown in December by tearfully agreeing to go to rehab -- a move that tarnished the image of the wholesome pageant princess but gave the 55-year-old competition unprecedented publicity.

Without detailing Conner's other admissions of using cocaine and being abused as a child, Friday's show opened with clips of the December news conference when Miss USA pageant owner Donald Trump said he was giving her a second chance.

Conner, a Kentucky blonde, then appeared alone on stage and said, to loud cheers and applause: "It has been the most unforgettable year of my life, and I am back and better than ever."

"Now I can live my life positively and move forward," said Conner, adding that she now had a new cause -- sobriety -- to champion to young people.


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