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Tara Conner handed over the Miss USA tiara to Rachel Smith. PHOTOS: AP

US rapper Snoop Dogg, who has been denied a visa to enter the UK on a European tour, is seeking to have the decision overturned, a spokeswoman said on Saturday.

The 35-year old, arrested during a disturbance at London's Heathrow airport last year, had been due to perform with fellow US rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs, at Wembley Arena in London on Tuesday, followed by gigs in Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow, and Nottingham.

"Snoop still sincerely hopes that the British Government will reconsider their decision and UK shows will be allowed to go on as planned," his spokeswoman said.

"Many routes are being explored to the prime minister to have the decision reversed," she added.

The Home Office said it would not comment on individual cases, but added that the government had the power to refuse entrance to individuals whose presence in the country would "not be conducive to the public good." Dogg was previously prevented from entering the UK in May of 2006.

It was not the first problem the rapper has encountered on his European tour. Earlier this month, Stockholm police arrested him and a woman in her early 20s for suspected narcotics use.

Vivica Fox has been charged with drunk driving.

Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, had been performing concerts with Combs, once his bitter rival in a notorious feud between the east and west coast US hip-hop scenes in the 1990s.

Actress Vivica Fox has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, prosecutors said on Friday, stemming from her arrest earlier this week after speeding past a marked police car.

Fox, best known for roles in the films Independence Day and Kill Bill: Vol. 1, was charged with one count of driving under the influence of alcohol and one count of driving with a blood alcohol level over California's legal limit.

If convicted, she faces a maximum punishment of six months in jail and a US$1,000 fine. She is scheduled for an arraignment on May 17.

Los Angeles attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan said Fox's blood alcohol level was tested at .09. The state's legal limit is .08.

Fox, 42, was stopped late on Tuesday night on a freeway in her Cadillac sports utility vehicle after passing a marked police car going 129kph — 24kph faster than the speed limit.

She also was unable to stay in the correct lane, according to the arrest report from the California Highway Patrol.

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."

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