Five photogenic women with perfect TV hair, good diction and strong resumes are duking it out at the Fox affiliate in Roanoke.

There won't be a bathing suit competition or a tiara, but each woman hopes to be crowned anchor of the "10 O'Clock News" at Roanoke's Fox 21/27.

And, you, the viewer, get to chime in.

Another dreary summer reality show?

Not at all. Roanoke's Fox News affiliate is simply applying the "American Idol" formula to its selection of an anchor to replace the recently departed Jennifer Waddell. On "American Idol," a huge Fox primetime network hit, viewers determine which of the competing singers wins a recording contract along with the attendant fame and glory.

At Fox 21/27, a different finalist has sat in the anchor chair every night since Monday, and viewers have been invited to vote and comment on each one.

The process will wrap up on Tuesday or Wednesday. Chris Wolf, the Fox station's director of creative services, called the approach "interactive television."

"We're certainly not looking for this to be a popularity contest," he said. Journalistic credentials will be the primary criterion in choosing an anchor, he said, but station officials definitely will take note if there is a spike in audience response to any of the candidates.

"This is still a business of logic and gut feel," Wolf said. "There's no reason you can't ask your audience for feedback. I haven't heard of anybody doing this. I've heard of television stations focus group-testing anchor candidates. It's kind of an out-of-the-box way of doing it, but that's what Fox does. It would at least give us a feel for the local community."

While local Fox officials see the "American Idol"-style process as a good idea, media critics and journalism professors strongly question the approach.

"This is definitely merging entertainment with what should be news," Elayne Rapping, an American Studies professor at the State University of New York-Buffalo, said by in a phone interview. "What the news media has traditionally done is use focus groups, which is a very different thing than randomly asking the public to vote. It's new but certainly not surprising.

"I suspect people are flattered to be asked their opinion about something they are not qualified for," she said. "It's a popularity contest. Somebody should be making decisions and it shouldn't be some drunken bum in a bar. It's a publicity stunt to make the audience feel that they were in the decision."

Richard Goedkoop, a communications professor at LaSalle University and author of "Inside Local Television News," said via e-mail, "Obviously most viewers will cast their ballots upon appearance and likability. It's fairly obvious what this is intended to do: generate a lot of publicity for the station and increase ratings while viewers are 'involved' in selecting the anchor."

"An 'American Idol' approach to hiring a new anchor does indeed take the phenomenon to new heights - or more accurately, depths," Christopher Richter, associate professor of communication studies at Hollins University, said via e-mail. "Given that the Fox affiliate in Roanoke seems ready to make this journalistic sacrifice for ratings, an important question is, will the contest actually help their ratings?"

Fox ranked last among viewers 18 and older at 10 p.m. in the most recent (May) ratings for the Roanoke-Lynchburg market. Its newscast must compete against such hit entertainment shows as "ER," "Law & Order" and "CSI," however, because the other three network affiliates' news does not air until 11. The Fox 10 p.m. newscast attracted more adult viewers than the 11 p.m. news on WSLS (NBC, Channel 10) in May, but fewer than WDBJ (CBS, Channel 7) and WSET (ABC, Channel 13).

The finalists

Dawn Jefferies: Weekend anchor for Fox 21/27 and WSLS Newschannel 10. Interned at "American's Most Wanted."

Grace Polanski: Formerly at WKBW-TV in Buffalo, N.Y.

Natalie Faunce: KLKN-TV in Lincoln, Neb. Once worked at WJHL-TV in Johnson City, Tenn.

Krista Platzer: Global Television in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Vivian Tamayo: A news anchor and reporter currently freelancing as a reporter in Las Vegas for both the NBC affiliate KVBC-TV and the CBS affiliate KLAS-TV.