Booty queens

I, just like the other little girls of my age was awestruck by the concept of beauty contests. I used to be amazed and used to get totally absorbed by the flawless beauties sashaying down the ramp. The number of girls who brought famed international crowns to India grew in number and this pumped up the craze for beauty contests. I am not that naive a kid that I used to be (kid... no!naive... perhaps not) and I am making this attempt to decipher what exactly does one need to become a beauty queen or a handsome king. The first bouncer that always stikes me in my head with respect to this is why do beauty contests need a Q & A round.The typical answer that we receive is they are looking for a beauty with brains(ahem...).If intelligence is a must then why not consider graduates from renowed educational institutions alone.No!They still seem to be looking for brains in people who are supposed to be beauty queens(I wonder whats so brainy about the diplomatic and the much reharsed cliched answers that they mouth).Coming down to the point of beauty.So what is beautiful?The usual answer could sound like a fit and healthy body, lustrous hair, Sparkling big youthful eyes, beautiful arrangement of teeth, cute smile, and a sharp straight nose. If you look at some of the recent beauty queens they dont fit in any way into the description above. Malnutritioned ( sometimes I wonder if recession has hit us this bad) and with a face that we couldnt make out even if it is straight or upside down is probably a more appropriate description in this case. So it all brings me back to my first question, so what is the whole concept behind beauty contests? I have nothing against beauty contests but then I just wish they would be a little more clear about what they are actually looking for.