OK, so we'll admit it. When we first heard that a topless photo of Miss California/Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean popped up online that could zap her of her pageantry powers, we were a wee bit curious. Then we saw the so-called "racy" and "shocking" photo in question (pictured left), and well, we were shocked alright. Seriously? That's it? Considering the shit-storm over it, we were at least expecting a cameo by Joe Francis or something a little more, well, naked. But no, it was just a bare shoulder-and-back shot that revealed about the same amount of skin as her tiny pageant swimsuit. But still, it was too much for the Miss Amish USA, er, Miss USA officials to handle.
Now the controversy has kicked up another notch as it's been blasted across the media that Miss Rhode Island Alysha Castonguay (pictured above) appeared in Maxim (gasp!), posing in photos called "revealing," "topless," "racy" and "super hot cheerleader sexy" (full disclosure: that last one was us). Fortunately, she divulged the photos' existence ahead of time, and pageant officials were cool with it. So there in lies the pickle for pageant owner Donald Trump. Why is one sexy "topless" photo OK while similar photos are not? In the end, we won't lose sleep over it. But it does give us a damn good excuse to re-examine Alysha's photo gallery and offer this suggestion to The Donald: If you want more people watching your ratings-challenged pageants, embrace the sexiness. It works for us.