Photos by Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times

A little bored after waiting many hours, Kaili Hutchison (right) waits for a chance to audition for "America's Next Top Model."

Roanoke is among 37 cities where women are interviewing for a chance to compete on the show that airs on the CW Network.

Aspiring model Torrea Johnson tries to make the most of her 6-foot-3-inch height during an audition, held at 202 Market on Saturday.

Ali Ferguson breathed a sigh of relief after she passed the first audition test to be on "America's Next Top Model." The television show's screeners measured her height as the minimum 5 feet 7 inches, sans shoes.

"I'm really more like 5-foot-6 and ³₄-ish," said Ferguson, who got in line at 6:30 a.m. Saturday outside the 202 Market restaurant in downtown Roanoke, waiting nervously for interviews that didn't start until noon. A small sacrifice, said the 18-year-old. "I just love the show and Tyra Banks," the supermodel host of the CW Television Network production, which appears on Fox channels.

Winners of the on-air finale receive such prizes as $100,000 modeling contracts with cosmetics giant Cover Girl. Modeling experience isn't a prerequisite and there was little on hand Saturday.

Tensions were running high among Ferguson's competition: 42 other women in the specified age range of 18 to 27. Kristen McCarthy Bowen, 24, quickly headed for the 202 Market's bar after she finally got inside and registered. She ordered a double vodka and cranberry juice, but a waiter told her that only beer would be served until later in the day. She turned away in disappointment. "No beer. It could make me look bloated."

Six hopefuls were turned away at the restaurant door when they didn't meet the height requirement. Three others failed to bring the required three photographs, including a swimsuit shot.

Ferguson didn't learn of the necessary swimsuit picture until others in line told her. But a rival lent her a suit and she borrowed a Polaroid camera from another. She changed in the restroom of nearby Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea; her boyfriend, Kyle Short, snapped a picture. Ferguson's travail continued back in the line, where a bee stung her right hand. She was philosophical: "I'm just glad I'm not a hand model."

Indeed, hands weren't the focus of the screening panel's inspections. There's no resemblance to the Miss America Pageant, for example, where talents such as singing count heavily. In the Roanoke modeling preliminary, each contestant appeared for three minutes before a panel led by Debbie Reardon, director of creative services at Fox Channel 21/ 27. She coached each woman through a brief walk in front of a video camera positioned to show them from head to high heels -- which they slipped back into after the height measurements.

Still, Reardon said, the show's gatekeepers seek more than looks alone. "Personality goes a long way. How they act in front of people -- their attitude counts a lot. If they're cocky or arrogant, that can be a plus. That's what a model needs."

Seeming to sense a bit belatedly what Reardon wanted, McCarthy Bowen, a Virginia Tech student, asked for a second take of her videotaped walk. On the redo, she strutted, thrusting her hips wider and adopting a more sultry facial expression.

Reardon liked it. "Wow, did you see that attitude?" she exclaimed.

Then she popped a question that most candidates got. "What would you do to be on the show?"

McCarthy Bowen barely hesitated and her conditions were few. "I wouldn't lie or hurt anybody."

Before the live interviews, the candidates had to fill out written applications that dig deeper than many job applications.

The questions ranged from food preferences, such as "Are you a vegetarian?" to the very personal: "Describe you relationship with your father."

Morgan Kidd didn't mind the questions a bit and admitted that she had breezed through them without heavily weighing her answers. The 18-year-old Lynchburg College freshman's mother, Valerie Kidd, who accompanied her, said that to thoroughly address the 14-page application, "I'd need a lawyer."

But the contestant's mother brimmed with optimism about the audition. "It seems like every time we go somewhere, people are asking Morgan if she's a model."

Videotapes of all those who auditioned in Roanoke will be reviewed by Tyra Banks, among others, over the next few weeks, Reardon said. "We'll send them all, and we'll flag one -- the one that panel likes the best." She wouldn't name the favorite after the interviews were concluded.

But the Roanoke favorite will be among many recommended. From July 17 through 22, "America's Next Top Model" is holding auditions in 37 cities, including many large ones such as Atlanta, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. It's not uncommon for hundreds of applicants to appear in major markets.

Still, optimism abounded among those interviewed in Roanoke. Ferguson's confidence typified the outlook of her peers. When a panel member asked her, "What would you bring to the show?" the teen wasn't shy.

Her answer is a far cry from the beauty pageant cliche about wanting to work for world peace. With a big smile, she said quickly, "Legs. A body."