Dear Bloggery

Olivia O’ Neil, a fifteen-year-old beauty queen from New Zealand has been forced to hand back her crown after the pageant organizer saw her sporting a newly hair color on a social networking site.

O’ Neil had a blond hair when she won the title Miss Teen Wanganui but she dyed it to dark brown three months after the pageant. Pageant organizer Barbara Osborne was shocked upon seeing the photos posted on Facebook and was quickly asked whether it is a wig.

Osborne wrote:

Is that a wig?”…I hope it is, don’t give me heart failure.”

Olivia admitted to Osborne that she dyed her blond hair dark. She also commented, that if she wasn’t allowed to dye her hair, then maybe pageant life wasn’t for her.

The comment may have displeased Osborne, so she said:

Well you better decide, miss. Hand over your crown with an attitude like that. I’m sure someone will step into your place with manners.

And to add insult to the injury, Osborne also commented that  O’ Neil “would not go far in this world.”

So, what can I say?

I find O’ Neil’s ‘pageant violation’ odd.

Why?

I have known a lot of beauty queens lost their crowns for so many reasons. But, this is the first time that I have known a beauty queen stripped off the title because of hair color. I mean, come on – if the pageant officials are claiming that Ms. O’ Neil should maintain the image she had when she won it, then, let’s have a rule wherein contestants are NOT ALLOWED to surgically enhanced their looks before and after the pageant.

Cheers,

Photo Credit: Celebrity Circuit