Free Republic

It started out as a joke from a friend and ended with fame. Alyona Pisklova, who would ordinarily never be confused with Miss Universe, nearly made the trip to Quito, Ecuador, as Russia's representative in this year's international competition. The 15-year-old from the Moscow region turned the Miss Universe competition upside down for a few weeks as she swept ahead of all the long-legged favorites in an Internet poll designed to select Russia's delegate. Instead, Alyona won't be among the 12 finalists competing this week in the final round of Internet voting. Voting for Alyona quickly became a movement against...