Only the beautiful need apply

Anyone who has relaxed by one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes has most likely noticed the constant stream of muscular, athletic or downright sexy bikers and runners that pass by, along with the occasional you-really-should-have-your-shirt-on jogger.

But how do the Twin Cities stack up against other places in the United States when it comes to the number of Tyra Banks or Johnny Depp types?

America will soon find out.

ABC is casting "The Great American Beauty," a new prime-time reality TV show that will put contestants in a house together in Los Angeles to compete for "a big cash prize" -- and presumably, the title. Producers are combing rural or hidden pockets of beauty across the country, and Minneapolis-St. Paul made the cut, at least by ABC's standards.

Casting director Sheila Conlin runs the Conlin Co., which manages casting for several major networks' reality shows, including "Hell's Kitchen."

"It's going to be one of the biggest shows they've ever done, because they are in search of the Great American Beauty," she said. "That's why we love Minneapolis, St. Paul: It's the girl on the farm, the guy on the tractor ... it's the undiscovered."

A pair of producers stopped in St. Paul last week for two days of open auditions that drew about 130 hopefuls. Other targeted cities ranged from Jackson Hole, Wyo., to Savannah, Ga. Aspiring reality TV stars from Minnesota will find out by the end of this week whether they have landed a final call-back in L.A.

Melanie Hodges, one of the producers scouring the Midwest, refrained from making an outright judgment about Minnesotans' looks and beauty.

"Omaha is more like a south Midwest, kind of a different look. Iowa, we got really beautiful farm, small-town ... people," she said. "Here we got, of course, the typical blond-haired, blue-eyed Scandinavian girls. But there's really diverse people here."

But even for a show with such a superficial premise -- at the local call-back auditions, producers took photos of each candidate in a swimsuit or bikini -- the strategy behind auditions and the logistics of advertising them are fairly complex.

Debbie DeLisi, who works out of New York City and the Twin Cities to recruit for film and TV, had less than two weeks from the time she got a phone call from ABC to the first day of open-call auditions in St. Paul. DeLisi and six colleagues hit the streets for days, scouting potential American beauties at bars, tanning salons, gyms, restaurants and the Mall of America. Abercrombie & Fitch stores proved to be a crucial location for recruiting, DeLisi said.

"But to me, it's more than just a pretty face," she said. "What I try to find for my casting producers is interesting people: I like the girl from northern Wisconsin who hunts and fishes."

"We care about our people, we invest time and energy in them, we get their story, and then we have to sell them," Hodges said. "We become really big fans of theirs, and we want to represent the Midwest."

One wannabe American Beauty said you must have a gimmick to stand out among the throng. The secret is to immediately present yourself as a character who will stick in producers' minds, said Donovan, 25, of St. Paul, who has been cast for an MTV reality show before (and goes by just a single name).

"They always think of me as ... the loud mouth with the strong personality," she said. "It's just natural for me to fill that role, and I'm really not acting for them. ... I got to take my personality and turn the dial up to 10."

Her strategy worked: At the end of her 20-minute call-back interview, producers told her she'd be perfect for the show. But the final call is up to the bigwigs in L.A., and whether or not they think America will want to watch Donovan fight it out for the title of the Great American Beauty.

Patrick Lee • 612-673-7452